Joseph Vanden Acker

Author: Joseph Vanden Acker

Vikings can’t get past quarters in MWC doubles

MADISON, Wis. — Lawrence University couldn’t get a doubles team past the quarterfinals during Saturday’s competition at the Midwest Conference Championships at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

At No. 1, the team of Katie Frankel and Lilly Endsley fell 8-1 to St. Norbert in the championship quarterfinals. Endsley and Frankel bounced back to beat Katherine Hinman and Liddy Wilson of Monmouth 8-2 in the consolation semifinals. Cornell’s Sophie Robertson and Shashanna Moll then downed Endsley and Frankel 8-3 in the consolation final.

Lindsay Holsen and Elana Lambert won their opening match at No. 2 8-3 over Beloit, but the Vikings dropped an 8-2 decision to St. Norbert in the championship quarterfinals and were eliminated.

Annie Harincar and Katie Nottberg also posted an 8-3 win at No. 3 over a team from Beloit. Harincar and Nottberg were then eliminated with an 8-1 loss to Carroll in the quarterfinals.

The singles competition takes place on Sunday.

Edwards, Bruning pace Vikings at AAE Invitational

WINNECONNE, Wis. — Max Edwards and Clare Bruning were the top Lawrence University finishers on Saturday at the massive AAE Invitational at Lake Breeze Golf Club.

Edwards finished 134th and covered the 8,000-meter course in 26:18. Josh Janusiak (161, 26:29), Jordan Atkins (224, 27:03), Ben Schaefer (234, 27:14) and Cam Davies (255, 27:31) rounded out the scoring for the Vikings.

Lawrence finished 37th with 1,008 points. UW-Eau Claire won the team title with 99 points, and Josh Thorson of UWEC was the winner in 24:18.

Bruning posted a time of 23:49 on the 6,000-meter course and finished 176th. Erin Schrobilgen (191, 23:57), Liz Landes (211, 24:10), Margaret Huck (224, 24:17) and Cora Williams (244, 24:40) completed the scoring for Lawrence.

Lawrence finished 39th with 1,046 points. Washington University of St. Louis won the team title with 136 points, and Megan Kellogg of St. Lawrence University was the winner in 21:12.

Women’s results

Men’s results

Vikings stay hot with sweep of Northland

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University volleyball team extended its win streak to six matches with a 3-0 nonconference sweep of Northland College on Saturday at Alexander Gymnasium.

Lawrence (8-16) routed the Lumberjills 25-15, 25-22, 25-18.

Rachael Wuensch and Arianna Neumeyer had seven kills apiece to pace the Vikings, and Colleen Nowlan and Nicole Witmer both added five kills.

Sydney Nelson paced Lawrence with 17 assists, and Nelson and Noelle Hele picked up three aces apiece. The Vikings finished with 10 aces for the match. Lauren Ray added 13 assists for Lawrence.

Libero Katie Kumbalek paced the Vikings with 15 digs, and Neumeyer had 10.

Bethany Best had a match-high eight kills for Northland (4-13).

Box score

Pioneers nip Lawrence with goal in final two minutes

APPLETON, Wis. — The Grinnell College men’s soccer team scored with two minutes left to pull out a 1-0 Midwest Conference win over Lawrence University on Saturday at Ron Roberts Field at the Banta Bowl.

The teams battled to a scoreless draw until Pearse Narum scored with 2:00 left in the second half. The Pioneers (7-6-0, 5-2-0 MWC) took a corner kick, and the ball was headed out of the penalty box by a Lawrence defender. Narum recovered the ball and his shot got past Lawrence goalkeeper Joe Krivit for the only goal of the contest.

Krivit made eight saves for the Vikings (2-11-1, 1-5-0), and Major May earned the shutout with six saves for Grinnell.

Grinnell had a 16-11 edge in shots for the match.

Box score

Pair of late goals rallies Vikings past Grinnell

APPLETON, Wis. — Ryan Berkley and Anne Leung scored in the final 13 minutes to rally the Lawrence University women’s soccer team to a 2-1 Midwest Conference victory over Grinnell College on Saturday at Ron Roberts Field at the Banta Bowl.

The Vikings (7-7-0, 2-4-0 MWC) trailed 1-0 after a penalty kick in the 67th minute gave the Pioneers (4-9-0, 2-5-0) the lead.

Ten minutes later, Berkley took the ball away from a Grinnell defender and beat goalkeeper Katy Oldach to tie the match at 1-1 at 77:45.

The Vikings were putting on the pressure again when a handball in the box gave Lawrence a penalty kick. Leung calmly slammed the ball into the left corner of the net, and the Vikings led 2-1 with 9:04 left.

Grinnell was unable to mount any kind of serious pressure in the final nine minutes.

Lawrence goalkeeper Patsy Kealey made 10 saves and a Lawrence defender also cleared the ball off the goal line in the first half for another save.

Box score

Burlingame passes Carroll past Vikings

APPLETON, Wis. — Kyle Burlingame tossed four touchdown passes and ran for two more scores to lead the Carroll University football team to a 42-6 Midwest Conference North Division win Saturday night over Lawrence University.

Burlingame’s big game spoiled the rededication of Ron Roberts Field at the Banta Bowl. The Carroll quarterback was 15-of-26 passing for 273 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran 11 times for 79 yards and scored on runs of 19 and four yards.

Kevin Jennings caught six passes for 147 yards and three touchdown for the Pioneers (3-3, 1-1 MWC North).

Quarterback Ryan Butterfield completed 6-of-7 passes for 96 yards a touchdown for the Vikings (1-5, 0-2) before leaving the game with an injury. Sophomore receiver Terrence Simon caught five passes for 76 yards and a touchdown for the Vikings.

Lawrence was limited to just 196 yards of offense while Carroll piled up 616 yards.

Jennings caught touchdown passes of 65 and 64 yards to stake Carroll to a 14-0 lead. Simon then caught a 56-yard scoring pass from Butterfield to trim the margin to 14-6 with 5:39 left in the opening half.

Burlingame then capped an 82-yard drive with a 19-yard scoring run with just 42 seconds left in the first half, and the Pioneers led 21-6 at the half.

The Pioneers took the opening drive of the second half, and Jennings capped a 61-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown catch for a 28-6 lead. Ryan Fuchs later caught another Burlingame touchdown pass, and Burlingame added a four-yard touchdown run to complete the scoring.

The big blemish on the night for Burlingame was a pair of interceptions. The Vikings stopped a pair of first-half drive with interceptions in their own end zone. Sophomores Alic Riedel and Carl Olsen both picked off passes for the Vikings. Olson and Jacob Lueck both recorded a game-high nine tackles for Lawrence.

Box score

 

Lawrence tops Illinois College in five sets

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University volleyball team won an epic five-set Midwest Conference match over Illinois College on Friday night by a 3-2 score at Alexander Gymnasium.

Lawrence defeated the Lady Blues 26-24, 15-25, 25-19, 18-25, 17-15.

Arianna Neumeyer led a balanced Lawrence attack with 14 kills, and Cyra Bammer and Megan Conley added 11 kills apiece. Arianna Cohen and Rachael Wuench picked up nine kills apiece for the Vikings (7-16, 6-2 MWC), who have won five straight.

Neumeyer also had a match-best 29 digs, and Katie Kumbalek picked up 28. Sydney Nelson led the Vikings with 28 assists, and Lauren Ray added 24.

Lisa Lowry led Illinois College (4-13, 2-5) with 18 kills, and she added 18 digs. Courtney Louveau handed out 46 assists.

Box score

Football preview: Lawrence vs. Carroll

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University football team returns from the bye week for the Hall of Fame game against Carroll University. The Midwest Conference North Division game is set to kick off Saturday at 5 p.m. on Ron Roberts Field at the Banta Bowl.

Prior to the game, the official rededication ceremony for Ron Roberts Field at the Banta Bowl will take place. Lawrence President Mark Burstein will be joined by Director of Athletics Mike Szkodzinski and multiple dignitaries to celebrate the renovation of the 50-year-old stadium.

Halftime of the game will see the introduction of this year’s Lawrence Intercollegiate Athletic Hall of Fame class. The group is former student-athletes Shannon Arendt LaRoux, Steve Blomberg, Shelley Ebert Navis, Courtney Miller Cameron and Felice Porrata and long-time swim coach Kurt Kirner.

Preview

Banta Bowl rededication caps busy weekend at Lawrence

bowl_coverAPPLETON, Wis. — The rededication of the Banta Bowl caps an epic weekend as Lawrence University also celebrates Fall Festival and hosts the Intercollegiate Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony.

School officials, led by President Mark Burstein, will conduct the rededication ceremony at 4:40 p.m. on Ron Roberts Field at the Banta Bowl. Burstein will be joined by Director of Athletics Mike Szkodzinski, All-America quarterback Chuck McKee ’68, lead donors Tom Rogers ’65, and Steve ’62 and Joan Gilboy and members of the family of legendary coach Ron Roberts.

Rogers, Steve Gilboy and Ron Roberts Jr., ’84, will serve as honorary captains as the Lawrence football team takes on Carroll University at 5 p.m.

Saturday’s events on Roberts Field begin at 11 a.m. when the Lawrence women’s soccer team faces Grinnell College. The men’s match vs. Grinnell follows at 1:30 p.m. In addition to the action on Roberts Field, the Lawrence volleyball team faces Northland College at 6 p.m. inside Alexander Gymnasium.

The rededication ceremony caps a hectic six-month renovation of the iconic stadium, which opened for play in 1965. The $4.5 million project has given the Banta Bowl a new life as it now serves as the home for men’s and women’s soccer in addition to football.

The stadium floor was raised four feet and expanded to accommodate both football and soccer. The natural grass surface was replaced with FieldTurf, an artificial surface that allows for more and varied use of the facility. The transformation of the field was made possible by Rogers’ gift, and he renamed it Roberts Field to honor Lawrence’s renowned coach.

The Gilboy Athletic Center, the new building constructed beyond the north end zone, was made possible by a gift from Steve and Joan Gilboy. The building houses the Lawrence locker room, a visiting team room, the training room, concessions, bathrooms and ticketing.

The facility also features new aluminum bleachers, an LED scoreboard adorned with “Roberts Field” and improved sound system.

A memorial to Bernie Heselton, long-time coach and director of athletics, is under the Lawrence flag. Heselton served as Lawrence football coach from 1938-64, won six Midwest Conference championships and served as director of athletics and head golf coach.

A memorial for Carl Berghult ’64, a friend and fraternity brother of Rogers, rests under the American flag. Berghult, a native of Chicago, Ill., was a running back for the Vikings and played in the final years of Heselton’s tenure. After graduating from Lawrence, Berghult was a lieutenant (j.g.) in the United States Naval Reserve, and he was killed in the flight deck fire aboard the USS Enterprise on Jan. 14, 1969.

The weekend’s festivities kick off with the induction ceremony for the Lawrence Hall of Fame on Friday evening at the Warch Campus Center. Five former student-athletes and one former coach are being inducted.

Long-time swimming and diving coach Kurt Kirner joins eight of his former swimmers in the Hall of Fame. Kirner coached from 1991-2007, won a pair of league titles and was honored as Midwest Conference Coach of the Year three times. Former softball and volleyball star Shannon Arendt, who earned all-conference honors four times, is joined by four-time all-conference basketball selection Felice Porrata. Two great runners, Courtney Miller and Shelley Ebert, combined to win 13 conference track titles and led the cross country team to a pair of league championships. The other inductee is former baseball and football star Steve Blomberg, who played five seasons in the minor leagues after leaving Lawrence.

St. Norbert shuts out Vikings

DE PERE, Wis. — The St. Norbert College men’s soccer team broke open a close game with four second-half goals and went on to a 5-0 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University on Wednesday at Schneider Stadium.

The Green Knights led 1-0 at the half after Sean Sladky’s goal with less than four minutes left in the opening period.

A penalty kick early in the second half gave the Green Knights a 2-0 edge, and St. Norbert put the game away with goals in the 66th, 73rd and 89th minute.

The Green Knights had a 17-2 edge in shots.

Box score