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OSHKOSH, Wis. — Freshman Jonah Laursen was a winner Friday night for the Lawrence University track and field team at the UW-Oshkosh Open at Kolf Sports Center.
Laursen grabbed first in the 5,000 meters with a time of 16:13.90, and teammate Curren Carlile grabbed second in 16:30.62.
The Lawrence men finished fourth with 52 points. The Lawrence women were fourth with 27 points.
The top finisher on the women’s side was Liz Landes, who took third in the 5,000 meters in 21:01.91.
APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University hockey team scored early in both the first and second periods and went on to a 4-1 Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Northland College on Friday at the Appleton Family Ice Center.
The Vikings (6-10-2, 5-6-2 MCHA) scored in the game’s first two minutes and then added two goals in the first 3:20 of the second period to take control.
Goaltender Fabian Sivnert made 25 saves to pick up the victory for the Vikings. Mason Riley stopped 44 shots for the Lumberjacks (6-11-1, 4-9-0 MCHA) and took the loss.
Freshman forwards Rudi Pino and Renato Engler had a hand in both of Lawrence’s first two goals. Pino scored off a pass from Engler just 1:56 into the game to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead.
Lawrence made it 2-0 just 21 seconds into the second period when another freshman forward, Matt Moore, scored off assists from Pino and Engler. The Vikings stretched the lead to 3-0 at the 3:20 mark when Patrick Coyne scored his first goal of the season off a pass from Paul Zuke.
Northland tried to get back into the game when Jamieson Webking’s goal cut the lead to 3-1 with 4:46 remaining in the final period. Lawrence answered with a goal from Phil Bushbacher just 33 seconds later to seal the victory.
Lawrence posted a 48-26 edge in shots on goal.
The teams wrap up the series Saturday afternoon.
Conor Klusendorf is not your prototypical power forward.
Standing just about 6-foot-4, Klusendorf looks more like a high jumper than he does a guy mixing it up in the paint and doing basketball’s dirty work.
But that is exactly what Klusendorf has done this season as his game has grown from the perimeter to around and above the rim for the Lawrence University men’s basketball team.
“Plenty of times I’m going up against guys who outweigh me or are bigger, but if I can use my length and my athleticism, that levels the playing field,” said Klusendorf, a senior from Chicago.
Klusendorf is third on the team in scoring at 11.2 points per game, but he ranks third in the Midwest Conference in field goal percentage at 60.9 percent. Klusendorf is taking more shots in the paint as he has seen his role expand closer to the basket.
“Conor thought of himself as a wing player coming in (to Lawrence), but his athletic ability is crazy for a Division III player. He can make up for stuff because of his athletic ability,” Lawrence coach Joel DePagter said. “With him playing in the post, he uses his quickness, and it makes other teams have to match up to us instead of the other way around.”
Klusendorf has turned up his production level since the Vikings returned from Christmas break. In his last four games, Klusendorf is averaging 13.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per contest. He attributes the improvement in his game to his work exclusively with the post players this season.
“I put up a nice little baby hook in practice, and from there it’s just really clicked,” Klusendorf said. “I know I can get ball in the post and be a threat down there.”
DePagter said he thinks of former Lawrence star Jon Mays, an all-conference selection in 2010-11, when he sees Klusendorf.
“I think you can draw some parallels with Jon Mays,” DePagter said. “Conor has put himself into a position where he went from being a role player to an all-conference player. Kids develop here and get better.”
Fans of the Vikings were used to Klusendorf turning in spectacular plays during his first three seasons at Lawrence. With tremendous leaping ability, Klusendorf was throwing down dunks on a regular basis.
“If it’s a steal and breakaway, I know I’m going up to dunk it,” Klusendorf said. “If it’s in the lane and it’s the Red Sea and totally opens up, then I know I can dunk it.”
“Our end-of-the-season banquet DVD wouldn’t be nearly as exciting without Conor Klusendorf in it,” DePagter said with a smile. “We’ve labeled him the human highlight reel.”
Klusendorf has worked hard to get to the point where he can rise up and make the crowd at Alexander Gymnasium gasp at another stunning dunk.
“The summer of my sophomore year (in high school) was the first year I dunked it. That was when I really started working on my legs and working out a lot. That really helped me out a lot,” Klusendorf said. “If you don’t work on it and don’t maintain it, you’re going to lose it. It’s not genetic. I’ve watched some of my Dad’s games (Dave Klusendorf was a standout at Loyola of Chicago in the mid-1980s) and he could probably dunk it. I wish I could say it was natural ability, but it’s taken a lot of hard work.”
Klusendorf isn’t just getting it done on the offensive end, he also has been a force on defense. Already Lawrence’s career blocks leader with 106, Klusendorf ranks fourth in the league at 1.4 per game. He also is sixth in the conference at 1.6 steals per game.
“The leaping ability has opened the door to get blocks. So much of it is timing and technique,” Klusendorf said. “It’s really nice because sometimes you see a guy going and see his eyes locked on the rim and he doesn’t see it coming. Especially at home, the reaction is just great. The crowd goes nuts.”
Klusendorf’s exuberance has been duly noted by the head coach, who has seen him take on new challenges with gusto.
“He’s kind of an Energizer bunny. If he doesn’t get in foul trouble, he can play 40 minutes,” DePagter said. “He’s done a great job. You couldn’t ask for anything more when he’s guarding 6-8 guys who have a hundred pounds on him. We have guys who are one-dimensional, but he has more than one dimension and that will make him tough to replace.”
Different year, same result
Junior guard Chris Siebert has made 17 of his last 18 free throws for a stellar 94.4 percent.
Siebert is up to 84.1 percent from the foul line this season, but he has a ways to go to break Jack Ehren’s school record of 90.9 percent set back in 1981-82. It was around this same time last season that Siebert hit 44 consecutive free throws.
National name
Freshman Logan Lemirande is near the top of the national statistics in NCAA Division III hockey.
The forward from Janesville is second in scoring by rookies at 1.27 points per game. He trails only Adrian College’s Shaquille Merasty, who is at 1.47. Lemirande also ranks fourth in the nation at 1.00 assists per game. Paul Rodrigues of Oswego State is first at 1.17.
Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a notes package written by Lawrence University Director of Athletic Media Relations Joe Vanden Acker. It will feature teams and individual players, recap weekly awards or highlights and take a look at what’s ahead for the Vikings.
The Lawrence University hockey team hosts Northland College in a Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association series this weekend at the Appleton Family Ice Center. Friday’s game begins at 7 p.m., and Saturday’s game is set for 4 p.m.
The Lawrence University men’s basketball team takes on a pair of Midwest Conference opponents this week. The Vikings host Carroll University at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Alexander Gymnasium. Lawrence then hits the road for a 3 p.m. at Monmouth College on Saturday.
The Lawrence University women’s basketball takes on Carroll University and Monmouth College this week. The Vikings face Carroll at Alexander Gymnasium at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday and then travel to Monmouth for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday.
GALESBURG, Ill. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team bolted to a big early lead and cruised to a 72-43 Midwest Conference victory over Knox College on Saturday at Memorial Gymnasium.
Conor Klusendorf and Ryan DePouw scored 13 points apiece to pace Lawrence (7-8, 5-5 MWC), and Klusendorf added a game-high nine rebounds. Chris Siebert and Tyler Mazur added 10 points apiece for the Vikings.
David Jones and Lukas Shaw scored seven points apiece to lead Knox (1-14, 1-9).
After both teams got off to a cool start, Lawrence led 4-2 when the Vikings scored the next 12 points. Siebert scored five points in that stretch and Klusendorf added four as the Vikings built a 16-4 lead.
Lawrence would continue to pull away early with Troy Miller hitting a 3-pointer to give Lawrence a 28-8 lead with 7:12 left in the opening half. The Vikings would go on to lead 39-17 at the break.
The Vikings put the game away early in the second half. Lawrence opened the second half on a 12-1 scoring run to build a 49-18 advantage with 15:46 remaining.
The Vikings would go on to lead by as many as 35 points.
Lawrence’s defense limited Knox to only 34.1 percent shooting from the floor, including 15 percent from beyond the 3-point line. The Vikings also forced 24 Knox turnovers.
Lawrence returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Carroll University in a Midwest Conference game.
The Lawrence University hockey team takes on the Milwaukee School of Engineering in a Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association series this weekend. The teams square off Friday night at the Kern Center in Milwaukee and then wrap up the series at the Appleton Family Ice Center on Saturday night.
The Lawrence University hockey season is like a road test in a driver’s education class.
You’ve got some young guys with their hands on the wheel, you know there will be wrong turns and poor decisions, but in the end, you know they’re getting it.
With nine freshmen on the roster playing a huge role, Lawrence head coach Mike Szkodzinski has chosen to let the young guys drive this team, and the Vikings appear to have turned in the right direction.
“Going into this year, we knew we were going to have to rely on some young guys, and the only way to get them experience was to let them play through their mistakes,” Szkodzinski said. “We stuck to our guns and allowed them to grow. They still have a lot of growing to do, but they have certainly adapted well to this point.”
Lawrence has received 53 percent of its total points from the freshmen, and the rookies played a huge role in last weekend’s pair of ties against seventh-ranked Adrian College. The ties moved Lawrence to 5-8-2 on the season, and the Vikings are in fifth place in the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association with a 4-4-2 record. Lawrence also is second in the Northern Division, just two points behind Marian University with two games left against the Sabres this season.
“There certainly have been some bumps in the road,” said Szkodzinski. “Young men are bound to make mistakes at times. This year, more than in the past few seasons, we have had to do a lot of teaching away from the rink. We have made sure our guys know what is expected to be a part of our program, how to prepare for practices and games, how to act on campus and how important it is to be active in their education. They have bought in to this point.”
Rookie forward Logan Lemirande leads the team with 19 points on four goals and 15 assists. He ranks fourth in the MCHA at 1.46 points per game and is second at 1.15 assists per game. Freshman forward Rudi Pino, also a golf standout for the Vikings, and freshman defenseman Brandon Boelter are tied for third on the team with 17 points. Pino has six goals and 11 assists, and Boelter has five goals and 12 assists.
Boelter is first in the conference in scoring by defensemen at 1.13 points per game, and Lemirande ranks second in the league in freshman scoring at 1.46 points per game. Pino and Boelter are tied for third in the same category.
Freshman forwards Matt Moore, Renato Engler and Ryan Rumble are also seeing significant action.
“(Assistant) coach (Kalle) Larsson did a tremendous job evaluating the talent at the junior level last year,” Szkodzinski said. “This allowed us to bring in some very talented young men. We certainly had hoped they would be able to fill the roles that they have filled, but it is never a guarantee that freshmen can make the jump to not only college hockey, but college life in general. We are happy with their progress.”
While Boelter has proven to be a high-scoring defenseman, freshman Steve Hughes has also proven to be a gritty defender. Hughes, the younger brother of former Lawrence star Matt Hughes, has a goal and two assists for three points.
The recent addition of freshman goaltender Fabian Sivnert, a transfer from Bemidji State, has given the defense a boost as well. Sivnert is 1-1-2 while facing three teams ranked in the top seven. He has a 4.08 goals against average and .894 save percentage.
“We are always looking to bring in quality people, not just quality players,” Szkodzinski said. “Each of these young men were, at some point, captains of their junior or high school programs. We expected a mature group, and they have proven to be that so far.”
The Vikings will need some poise down the stretch to make a move for a top seeding in the MCHA playoffs.
“They are on the right track, but we still have 10 important games to go starting with MSOE on Friday night. We will assess the progress of the entire program after the season,” Szkodzinski said.
“Each game is a new experience for them. At this time of the year, each game gets more important and more intense. As long as they play in these situations, they will continue to grow, and that should mean positive things for the future of Viking hockey.”
Boelter nabs award
Boelter was been named the MCHA Freshman of the Week after helping the Vikings to a pair of ties this past weekend against seventh-ranked Adrian.
A first-year defenseman, Boelter had a goal and two assists on the weekend. Boelter had an assist in last Friday’s 5-5 overtime tie. He scored on the power play in the first period on Saturday, and then assisted on the game-tying goal in the 4-4 overtime tie.
Boelter’s key assist came on Saturday with the Vikings trailing by a goal with less than four minutes left. His blast from the left point was tipped into the net by Brad Scurfield to tie the game and force the overtime.
Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a notes package written by Lawrence University Director of Athletic Media Relations Joe Vanden Acker. It will feature teams and individual players, recap weekly awards or highlights and take a look at what’s ahead for the Vikings.
APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University standout Brandon Boelter has been named the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association Freshman of the Week.
Boelter (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage) earned the honor after helping the Vikings to a pair of ties this past weekend against seventh-ranked Adrian College.
A first-year defenseman, Boelter had a goal and two assists on the weekend. Boelter had an assist in last Friday’s 5-5 overtime tie. He scored on the power play in the first period on Saturday, and then assisted on the game-tying goal in the 4-4 overtime tie.
Boelter’s key assist came on Saturday with the Vikings trailing by a goal with less than four minutes left. His blast from the left point was tipped into the net by Brad Scurfield to tie the game and force the overtime.
Boelter is the top-scoring defenseman in the conference at 1.13 points per game. He has five goals and 12 assists for 17 points.
Lawrence returns to action this weekend when it has a home-and-home series with the Milwaukee School of Engineering.
