Joseph Vanden Acker

Author: Joseph Vanden Acker

Titans take down Lawrence

OSHKOSH, Wis. — The UW-Oshkosh men’s tennis team took four of the six singles matches Saturday to close out a 6-3 nonconference victory over Lawrence University at the YMCA Tennis Center.

Lawrence (4-2) trailed 2-1 after the doubles competition with David Jumes and Brian DeCorte picking up an 8-4 win at No. 2 for the Vikings.

Jumes and DeCorte also earned both singles wins for Lawrence. Jumes won 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, and DeCorte was a 6-3, 6-4 winner at No. 2.

UW-Oshkosh (3-5) swept the Nos. 3-6 singles matches.

UW-Oshkosh 6, Lawrence University 3

Singles competition
1. David Jumes (LU) def. Vincent Gorski (UWO) 6-3, 6-1
2. Brian DeCorte (LU) def. Adam Hawley (UWO) 6-3, 6-4
3. Adam Martin (UWO) def. Bill Schuman-Kline (LU) 6-4, 6-0
4. Ryan Kuzmanovic (UWO) def. Adam Busch (LU) 6-2, 6-0
5. Logan Zastrow (UWO) def. Ethan Perushek (LU) 6-2, 6-0
6. David Leffler (UWO) def. Izaya Turenne (LU) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. Vincent Gorski/Ryan Kuzmanovic (UWO) def. Bill Schuman-Kline/David Brooker (LU) 8-2
2. David Jumes/Brian DeCorte (LU) def. Adam Hawley/Adam Martin (UWO) 8-4
3. Logan Zastrow/Jordan Andersen (UWO) def. Adam Busch/Mitch Kasprzyk (LU) 8-0

Inside LU Athletics: Vikings look to answer a few questions on the diamond

The Lawrence baseball team has a strong group of returning players, led by All-Midwest Conference third baseman/pitcher Matthew Holliday.
The Lawrence baseball team has a strong group of returning players, led by All-Midwest Conference third baseman/pitcher Matthew Holliday.

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University baseball team has multiple questions heading into this season, but head coach Jason Anderson thinks his Vikings may have a few answers as well.

“Our leadership is very strong even though we have a young team,” Anderson said. “The intensity level and focus at practice is been as high as we’ve ever had it. I’m excited to see us play.”

Anderson doesn’t have much longer to wait as Lawrence opens its season on Saturday with four games in Jacksonville, Ill. The Vikings face North Central College, Carleton College and Elmhurst College this weekend on the turf at Lenz Field.

Lawrence lost a plethora of experienced arms, including pitchers with the top five earned run averages on the team. The cupboard isn’t exactly bare as Lawrence returners are led by All-Midwest Conference third baseman/pitcher Matthew Holliday and captains Brandon Klar and Travis Weber.

“Those guys (Klar and Weber) have really set the tone for the year,” Anderson said. “They work well with each other, and they are on the same page virtually 100 percent of the time.”

Holliday made five starts on the mound last season and hit .355 with a school-record 16 doubles to go with a homer and 35 runs batted in. Holliday is joined on the infield by Klar, Anthony Ortiz and Weber.

Klar, who hit .237 last season, played at second base and in the outfield, and Ortiz, a .235 hitter as a rookie last season, played both shortstop and second base. Weber started nearly every game behind the plate and hit .229 as a freshman in 2015. Look for rookie Nolan Spencer to make a big impact on the infield as well.

The Vikings lost slugging first baseman Luke Zablocki to graduation, but a pair of newcomers, Appleton natives Dan Rothbauer and Cole Erickson, will slide into that position. Both are Lawrence football players and decided not to take on a second sport as freshmen in 2014-15. Rothbauer also will be a mainstay of the rotation and can play the outfield.

“Dan was one of our top football and baseball recruits last year, but he really wanted to focus on academics,” Anderson said. “I expect him to bat in the middle of the order and be one of our top pitchers. He will move all over the diamond and do it well.”

Erickson, who was Rothbauer’s prep teammate at Appleton North High School, gives the Vikings some variety in the lineup.

“Cole’s our only left-handed bat on the roster,” Anderson said. “He’s making faster progress than I expected given the fact he had taken a year off.”

The Vikings lost all-conference and All-Central Region outfielder Jake Gordon to graduation, but sophomore Carl Olsen is back and joined by newcomers Dante Reese and Andrew Lauber.

While the Vikings look to be solid with their position players, their success will hinge on the young pitching. To go with Rothbauer and Holliday, the Vikings have returners Zach Rabideau, Kyle Duex, Cullen Ellis and Craig Batchelor. The Vikings also have the intriguing prospect of 6-foot-7 sophomore southpaw Chris Shaw and righties Adam McDonald and Cam Boerm, who are all new to the squad.

“Our pitching has shown to be a little better than I expected at this point in the year,” said Anderson. “We’ll see if we can continue to improve on that.”

The Vikings, who have a roster of just 17, get a tough test to start the campaign. Lawrence could see North Central’s All-America pitcher, Bryan Polowy, in the season opener.

“We play a pretty tough first four games. We’ll find out exactly where we are right off the bat,” Anderson said.

“This group will play hard and play with passion. Frankly, they’re a fun group to be around. It looks like we’re thin in numbers, but we’re as deep or deeper talent-wise than we’ve been.”

Basketball star Nikitas named finalist for Jostens Trophy

Jamie Nikitas
Jamie Nikitas

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University men’s basketball star Jamie Nikitas has been named one of 10 finalists for the Jostens Trophy, the award given each year to the top player in NCAA Division III.

Nikitas (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South), a senior guard, is the second Lawrence player to be named a finalist in the 19-year history of the award. Three-time All-American Chris Braier, Lawrence’s career scoring and rebounding leader, won the award in 2006.

“That’s a pretty unbelievable honor to be considered for,” Nikitas said. “I know Chris Braier won it, and to be mentioned in the same sentence with him at Lawrence is pretty humbling.”

The Jostens Trophy is awarded each year by the Salem (Va.) Rotary Club to an outstanding NCAA Division III men’s and women’s basketball player. The award, given for the first time in 1998, encompasses more than just basketball ability as work in the classroom and in the community are factors in selecting the winner.

“I’m thrilled to see Jamie as a finalist for the Jostens Trophy as he is one of the best young men I’ve ever had the privilege to coach,” Lawrence coach Joel DePagter said. “The Jostens Trophy looks for the well-rounded student-athlete, and that is exactly how I would describe Jamie.”

An economics major with a 3.40 grade point average, Nikitas is coming off a record-breaking season that saw him earn first-team All-Midwest Conference honors. Nikitas was second in the league and finished the regular season ninth in all of NCAA Division III in scoring at 25.1 points per game.

Nikitas broke Lawrence’s season scoring average record by 3.6 points per game and scored 577 points, which shattered the school’s season scoring record of 494. Nikitas scored a career-high 40 points at Carroll University on Jan. 12 and had six 30-plus point games during the season. Nikitas also set Lawrence season records for free throws made (156) and attempted (222).

Lawrence basketball star Jamie Nikitas is one of 10 finalists for the Jostens Trophy, which honors the top player in NCAA Division III.
Lawrence basketball star Jamie Nikitas is one of 10 finalists for the Jostens Trophy, which honors the top player in NCAA Division III.

In addition to being second in the league in scoring, Nikitas finished first in steals at 2.6 per game, sixth in rebounding at 6.7 and seventh in assists at 3.4. He was the only player in the conference to finish in the top seven in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals.

“To be one of the final 10 is pretty crazy and pretty special,” Nikitas said. “If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that I would be (a finalist for the Jostens Trophy), I would have told you were crazy. I wouldn’t be here without coach DePagter and coach (Chris) Kellett and the Giant (assistant coach Jon Meyer) and all my teammates. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

A two-time all-conference and academic all-conference selection, Nikitas was twice named the Midwest Conference Player of the Week this season. Nikitas also picked up two national honors as he was chosen as the United States Basketball Writers Association Player of the Week and selected for the D3hoops.com Team of the Week.

Nikitas ranks among the greatest players in Lawrence history and his name is all over the school’s record book. He finished fourth on the career scoring list with 1,406 points, trailing only Braier, All-American Ryan Kroeger and Lawrence Hall of Famer Joel Dillingham.

Nikitas also ranked second in Lawrence history with 188 steals, sixth with 474 field goals, ninth with 120 3-pointers, 10th with 229 assists and 11th with 521 rebounds.

“It has been an absolute privilege to build a relationship with Jamie, and the entire Nikitas family, over the past several years,” DePagter said. “Lawrence was lucky to have Jamie on campus the past four years, and it will not be the same without Jamie and his family around.”

The Salem Rotary Club’s Jostens Trophy Committee employs a numerical rating to narrow the list of finalists so that the decision can be made on the most objective basis possible. The 20 finalists continue thru the review process and a 32-member national selection committee determines the two winners.

Ballots from the national selection committee are due by March 9 with the winning schools expected to be notified by March 11. The awards presentation is scheduled for March 17 at the Salem Civic Center in conjunction with the NCAA Division III men’s basketball semifinals and championship in Salem, Va., on March 18-19.

The Jostens Trophy is a national award created by the Salem Rotary Club to honor the most outstanding men’s and women’s NCAA Division III basketball players of the year. The award takes into account three vital parts: basketball ability, academic prowess and community service. The trophy models the Rotary International motto of “Service Above Self” by recognizing those who truly fit the ideal of the well-rounded NCAA Division III student-athlete. This year’s class marks the 19th year the award has been presented.

The other men’s finalists are: Trey Bardsley (Nebraska Wesleyan), DJ Beckman (Alma), Dillon Bender (Mount Aloysius), Jordan Bolger (Concordia Moorhead), Tim Daniel (Greenville), Ben Gardner (Hope), Lucas Hausman (Bowdoin), Jared Holmquist (Trine), George Valle (Whitworth).

Stahl grabs pair of firsts at Grinnell Last Chance Meet

GRINNELL, Iowa — The Lawrence University men’s swimming team wrapped up its season by participating in the Grinnell College Last Chance Meet on Sunday.

Max Stahl led the way for the Vikings by winning the 50-yard freestyle and 100 freestyle. Lawrence’s Travis Charlow won the 500 freestyle, and Christian Bell took first in the 100 breaststroke.

The 200 freestyle relay team of Stahl, Bell, Kaleb Cooperman and Jordan Spalding grabbed first place, and the 200 medley relay team of Cooperman, Spalding, Grant Wilkie and Shuangmu Feng also took first.

Results

Five Vikings earn All-MFC honors

APPLETON, Wis. — Five Lawrence University fencers earned All-Midwest Fencing Conference honors based on their finishes at the league championships this past weekend.

Leading the way was men’s foil, which had two second-team honorees, Nathan Schlesinger (Austin, Texas) and Ben Carlick (Berkeley Heights, N.J.). Scheslinger placed sixth in Saturday’s individual competition at Ohio State University and Carlick was eighth.

Joe Davis (St. Louis, Mo.) earned honorable mention after finishing 10th in sabre.

On the women’s side, Natalie Hagopian (Madison, Wis.) and Shelby Guinn (Billings, Mont.) both earned honorable mention. Hagopian finished 12th in foil, and Guinn was 12th in sabre.

Men’s foil, sabre lead Vikings to fourth at MFC Championships

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Men’s foil and men’s sabre both grabbed third-place finishes Sunday to lead Lawrence University to fourth place at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships at French Field House.

The Vikings finished fourth in the combined team standings with 1,275 points. Ohio State won the title with 1,590. The Lawrence men were second with 690 points, and Ohio State took the top spot with 810. The Lawrence women were fifth with 585, and Northwestern was first with 785.

Men’s foil edged Northwestern 5-4 in the third-place match as Ben Carlick won all three of his bouts for Lawrence. Nathan Schlesinger picked up the other two wins for the Vikings.

Men’s foil started the day with a 5-0 sweep of Illinois, and the Vikings then edged the University of Chicago 5-4 in the quarterfinals. The Vikings fell 5-4 to Cleveland State in the semifinals but bounced back to win the thriller over Northwestern.

Men’s sabre also won a 5-4 nail-biter in the third-place match. Joe Davis won all three of his bouts to lead the Vikings to the win over Michigan State, and William Henry and Kai Kramer picked up one win apiece.

The Vikings swept Illinois 5-0 in the first round, and Lawrence defeated Wayne State 5-2 in the quarterfinals. Michigan downed the Vikings 5-3 to send Lawrence to the third-place match.

Men’s epee finished seventh with a 5-1 victory over Xavier in the seventh-place match. The Vikings started the day with a 5-0 sweep of Purdue in the first round before a 5-3 loss to Michigan dropped them into the consolation bracket. After a 5-4 loss to Illinois, the Vikings defeated Xavier.

On the women’s side, Lawrence’s sabre contingent finished sixth despite having only two fencers instead of three. The short-handed duo of Shelby Guinn and Erin Paxson defeated Chicago 5-4 in the first round before falling 5-0 to Ohio State.

Guinn and Paxson then tied Case Western Reserve 4-4 but won the touches tiebreaker 13-10 to advance to the fifth-place match. The Vikings nearly pulled that one out as well, but Michigan State hung on for a 5-4 victory.

In women’s foil, Lawrence took sixth place. The Vikings started with a 5-0 win over Michigan State before falling 5-0 to Northwestern. The Vikings then defeated Wisconsin 5-0 before losing 5-2 to Michigan in the fifth-place match.

Women’s epee lost its first round match 5-2 to Wisconsin and placed 10th.

Schlesinger, Carlick, Davis grab top-10 finishes at MFC Championships

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Nathan Schlesinger and Ben Carlick both posted top-10 finishes on Saturday to lead Lawrence University at the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships at French Field House.

Competing in foil, Schlesinger took sixth place and Carlick was eighth to pace the Vikings. Schlesinger and Carlick both reached the quarterfinals before being eliminated.

Jacob Hodges finished 28th and Jack Calkwood was 33rd to round out Lawrence’s foil contingent.

Joe Davis led Lawrence’s group in sabre by taking 10th place. Davis got to the round of 16 before losing to Michigan’s Nitikorn Dornjandaeng. Kai Kramer was 29th, William Henry took 36th and Aaron Phalin was 56th for the Vikings.

Moses Zarkin-Scott took 31st in epee to pace Lawrence with Connor Schurr coming in 41st and Phillip Ziller taking 48th.

On the women’s side, Shelby Guinn and Natalie Hagopian were the top finishers for the Vikings.

Guinn finished 12th in sabre and got all the way to the round of 16 before losing to the eventual champion, Alisha Gomez-Shah of Northwestern. Erin Paxson grabbed 18th place for the Vikings in sabre.

Hagopian placed 12th in foil and also reached the round of 16 where she lost to the eventual champion, Ohio State’s Eleanor Harvey. Lawrence’s Kali Thibault took 23rd, Tia Azimioara was 32nd and Ariana Colderon-Zavala was 52nd.

Lauren Phillips led Lawrence’s group in epee as she placed 17th. Jasper Olsen took 41st and Annabelle Tsai was 45th.

The team competition takes place on Sunday.

Distance medley relay races to second at MWC Championships

GALESBURG, Ill. — The men’s distance medley relay grabbed a runner-up finish Saturday to pace the Lawrence University track teams at the Midwest Conference Championships.

The team of Cam Davies, Tyler Herman, Mayan Essak and Ethan Gniot ran to second in 10:36.30. Lawrence was edged by the team from Grinnell College, which finished in 10:33.36.

The distance running duo of Max Edwards and Josh Janusiak scored the other points on the day for the men. Edwards grabbed fourth place in the 3,000 meters in 8:57.42, and Janusiak was eighth in 9:05.81.

Lawrence finished in eighth place in the teams standings with 39 points.

On the women’s side, the Vikings’ only placement on Saturday was the distance medley relay team of Sierra Polzin, Janey Degnan, Sammi Jo Nixon and Erin Schrobilgen, who took seventh in 13:40.47.

The Lawrence women finished ninth overall with 9.5 points.

Results

Vikings sweep past Wisconsin Lutheran

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s tennis team rolled to a 9-0 non-conference win over Wisconsin Lutheran College on Friday at Fox Cities Racquet Club.

The Vikings dropped just seven games total in the three doubles matches with David Jumes and Brian DeCorte posting an impressive 8-1 win at No. 1.

Lawrence didn’t drop a set in winning all six singles matches. Bill Schuman-Kline routed Ben Wordell 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3, and Izaya Turenne was an impressive 6-0, 6-2 winner at No. 6 for the Vikings (4-1).

Ethan Perushek rallied to win in straight sets at No. 5. After taking the first set 6-3, Perushek was down 3-0 in the second set before winning six straight games to close out the match.

Lawrence University 9, Wisconsin Lutheran 0

Singles competition
1. David Jumes (LU) def. Sallmann, Derek (WLC) 6-3, 6-3
2. Brian DeCorte (LU) def. Birner, Zach (WLC) 6-4, 6-1
3. Bill Schuman-Kline (LU) def. Wordell, Ben (WLC) 6-0, 6-1
4. Adam Busch (LU) def. Guichard, Cedric (WLC) 6-1, 6-2
5. Ethan Perushek (LU) def. Fitzgerald, Paul (WLC) 6-3, 6-3
6. Izaya Turenne (LU) def. Lewinski, John (WLC) 6-0, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. David Jumes/Brian DeCorte (LU) def. Sallmann, Derek/Birner, Zach (WLC) 8-1
2. Bill Schuman-Kline/David Brooker (LU) def. Wordell, Ben/Guichard, Cedric (WLC) 8-2
3. Ben Tomhave/Kieran Laursen (LU) def. Fitzgerald, Paul/Lewinski, John (WLC) 8-4

Distance runners pace Vikings on opening day of MWC Championships

GALESBURG, Ill. — The Lawrence University track team grabbed three of the top six places in the men’s 5,000 meters Friday and are off to a good start after the opening day of the Midwest Conference Championships at Knox College.

Freshman Josh Janusiak led all Lawrence finishers by taking second in the 5,000 in 15:36.92. Appleton native Max Edwards, the defending champion in the 5,000, came in fourth in 15:49.36, and freshman Ben Schaefer was sixth in 15:53.99.

Led by that group, the Lawrence men are tied for third place with 25 points. Monmouth College leads with 57 points.

Wautoma native Wes Hetcher took home a fifth-place finish in the pole vault as he cleared 13 feet, 0.25 inches. Ashwaubenon’s Ethan Gniot grabbed a seventh place in the mile in 4:29.38. The sprint medley relay team of Gniot, Tyler Herman, Jake Walker and Mayan Essek took sixth in 3:43.72.

On the women’s side, Erin Schrobilgen and Sage Greenlee were the top finishers. Schrobilgen took sixth in the mile in 5:27.48, and Greenlee took sixth in the high jump at 4-10.25. The sprint medley relay team of Greenlee, Sammi Jo Nixon, Janey Degnan and Sierra Polzin took seventh in 4:43.10.

The Lawrence women are in eighth place with 7.5 points.

The meet concludes on Saturday.

Results