November 12, 2007

Cross country teams are off to nationals

 CROSS COUNTRY

The Warrior men’s and women’s teams wrap up the season this weekend looking to establish new highs in the program as they take part in the annual NAIA Cross Country National Championships in Kenosha, Wis. 

The men’s 8-kilometer race begins at 8:30 a.m., PST, and the women’s 5-kilometer race follows at 9:45 a.m. 

The Warrior women are making their seventh straight appearance to nationals and are ranked No. 21 in the NAIA. The men are making their second straight appearance and are ranked No. 14. 

LCSC coach Mike Collins said both teams are looking to place better than their ranking, but it will be a tough challenge because of the number of strong teams in each field. Both teams won the Frontier Conference title, but the men were third in the Region I meet, while the women were fourth. 

The Warrior men are led by senior Calin Hantau, who became the program’s first male to earn NAIA All-America status last year by finishing in the Top 20 at nationals. Collins said Hantau ran a smart race in winning the Region I title and will need to run another smart race to duplicate last year’s feat. 

Fellow senior Aaron Galbraith also has run well this season but in order for the men to do well at nationals, the younger runners will have to perform well. 

The Warrior women are led by Jenny Jensen, who won the Frontier Conference race, and Emily Perkins, both seniors, and Kyli Astle, a sophomore. 

Although only six runners are allowed to compete – the top five finishers compose the team score – Collins is taking eight runners, which will include two alternates. He said he’s been to enough races where someone gets sick or is injured prior to the race so it’s always good to have extra runners there. 

The teams have been working out at Chief Timothy Park west of Clarkston because the hilly terrain is similar to the course at the Kenosha. 

“The teams are looking good and we’re excited to race this week,” Collins said. 

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

After suffering back-to-back losses in the regular season for the first time in 53 games, the Warriors look to get back on the winning track as they play host to the two-day Staples Classic at the Activity Center. 

In a time change, Westminster and Walla Walla University will now open the tournament at 2 p.m. on Friday. Walla Walla University is a Seventh-Day Adventist school and prefers not to play after sundown on Friday. The second game that day has Pacific University, an NCAA Division III school located in Forest Grove, Ore. 

On Saturday, Westminster takes on Pacific at 4 p.m., followed by LCSC and Walla Walla at 6 p.m. The pairings were pre-determined so the two Frontier Conference teams, LCSC and Westminster, wouldn’t play each other. 

Pacific will be opening its season in the tournament and is coming off an 8-17 season a year ago. Walla Walla University stands 2-4 on the season, but has a game against Eastern Oregon on Tuesday night. Eastern Oregon defeated Walla Walla 94-38 in the season opener, and WWU didn’t have much success against Frontier Conference schools earlier this season, falling to both Montana-Western 94-36 and Montana Tech 104-51. 

Westminster is a perfect 3-0 on the season, while LCSC is 2-2.

The Warriors are coming off losses to Azusa Pacific, ranked No. 16 in the NAIA, and Hope International University. Both teams play in the Golden State Athletic Conference. 

LCSC, which was ranked No. 12 in the NAIA preseason poll, will play its next five games on the road after the tournament, including a contest next Tuesday against Whitworth at Spokane. 

VOLLEYBALL

The Warriors put their eight-match win streak on the line in the eight-team NAIA Region I Tournament on Thursday-Saturday at the Spokane ValleyHub. 

The Warriors are the No. 3 seed in the tournament based on the final Region I rankings, which came out Monday. As expected College of Idaho and Southern Oregon were 1-2 in the poll as they have been for most of the season. LCSC was third, followed by Westminster, Montana Tech, Great Falls, Oregon Institute of Technology, and Rocky Mountain College. 

The Region I tournament divides teams into two pools. Each team will play the remaining three teams in its pool and the top two finishers from each pool advance to the semifinals.  The eventual champion earns a berth into the 28th annual NAIA Volleyball Championships on Nov. 28-Dec. 1 at Columbia College in Columbia, Mo. 

LCSC will join Southern Oregon, Great Falls and OIT in its pool.  LCSC played Southern Oregon during the opening weekend of the season in a tournament at Portland and lost 30-28, 16-30, 30-19, 30-24. LCSC has played Great Falls three times this season and is 2-1 against the Argos, sweeping them twice and also losing a five-game thriller on the road. One of the sweeps came last weekend in the semifinals of the conference tournament in Billings. LCSC and OIT haven’t played this season. 

The Warriors meet Great Falls to begin play at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, and then face Southern Oregon at 6 p.m., also on Thursday. OIT and LCSC meet Friday at 11:30 a.m.  

If any three-way ties exist, there will be playoff games at 2 p.m. to break the ties and decide the top two teams from each pool. The semifinals are set for 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Friday, with the third-place match (if needed) at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. The championship match is at 2 p.m.  

LCSC hasn’t won a Region I title or played at the national tournament since 1999, which also marks the only other time it has won both the conference regular season and tournament titles. LCSC has played in seven national tournaments – 1988, 1989, 1994, and 1996-99. 

Tickets for the Region I Tournament can be purchased the door. An all-tournament pass is $15 for adults and $12 for Seniors and students. Day passes are $7 for adults and $5 for Seniors and students. Children 12-and-under will be admitted free. 

The following are the pool seeds and the schedule for the Region I Tournament.

Pool A – #1 College of Idaho 22-7. #4 Westminster 21-8. #5 Montana Tech 19-10. #8 Rocky Mountain 14-15.

Pool B – #2 Southern Oregon 25-4. #3 Lewis-Clark State 21-5. 6, Great Falls 15-13. 7, Oregon Institute of Technology 23-10. 

Schedule

Thursday’s pairings
10 a.m. – College of Idaho vs. Rocky Mountain (Court 1); Westminster vs. Montana Tech (Court 2)
12:30 p.m. – Southern Oregon vs. Oregon Tech (C1); LCSC vs. Great Falls (C2)
3:30 p.m. – College of Idaho vs. Westminster (C1); Rocky Mountain vs. Montana Tech (C2)
6 p.m. – Southern Oregon vs. LCSC (C1); Great Falls vs. Oregon Tech (C2)

Friday’s pairings
9 a.m. – Westminster vs. Rocky Mountain (C1); LCSC vs. Oregon Tech (C2)
11:30 a.m. – College of Idaho vs. Montana Tech (C1); Southern Oregon vs. Great Falls (C2)
2 p.m. – pool playoffs if needed.
5:30 p.m. – Semifinal 1: Pool B #1 finisher vs. Pool A #2 finisher.
8 p.m. – Semifinal 2: Pool A #1 finisher vs. Pool B #2 finisher.

Saturday’s pairings
11:30 a.m. – Third place game (if needed)
2 p.m. – championship match.