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Inside LU Athletics: Stevens, Vikings shooting for another title

Sam Stevens is looking for the storybook ending – the hometown boy winning a championship in his own backyard.

Stevens, the lone senior on the squad, leads the Lawrence University men’s cross country team into the Midwest Conference Championships on Saturday with his eye on the Vikings repeating as champions. Stevens will be going for his second consecutive individual title on a very familiar course at Colburn Park in Green Bay, Wis.

“The team goal has always been to repeat,” Stevens said. “Individually, putting myself up toward the front and being the frontrunner is where we need me to be to win.”

Stevens grew up in nearby Suamico, Wis., and was a standout at Bay Port High School. Even though St. Norbert College is hosting the championship, Stevens has the home course advantage on the rest of the field.

“I’ve run there every year since my sophomore year of high school,” said Stevens, who won last year’s title with a time of 25:09.11 over 8,000 meters. Stevens is looking to be the first Lawrence runner to win back-to-back titles since Eric Griffin did it in 1985 and 1986.

“Sam’s run this course, between college and high school, about 20 times. He could pretty much run it with his eyes closed,” Lawrence coach Jason Fast said.

“Sam’s definitely motivated to go in and be the No. 1 runner we need him to be. This is his last conference meet, and I know he wants to go out with a team win. To do that, he has to do his part.”

Stevens was dinged up a bit earlier this season but feels like he is back in top form heading into the weekend.

“I’m feeling good now,” Stevens said. “The last few weeks I’ve been a little sick, a little hurt. I feel like things are going the right way now. I need that to translate into a race. I feel pretty confident with where I am.”

Lawrence won last year’s title with 51 points, edging Grinnell College by two points and breaking the Pioneers’ 14-year stranglehold on the trophy. For the Vikings to repeat, Fast said his team will need to improve over last year’s superlative effort.

In addition to Stevens, the Vikings return three other all-conference performers from a season ago. Junior standout Curran Carlile was fifth a season ago, sophomore Kyle Dockery was sixth and junior Jamie Brisbois was 19th.

“The biggest thing is improving on our performances from last year,” said Fast, the 2011 MWC Coach of the Year. “Going in, we expect to win. We’re going after the title. If you talk to the guys, that’s all they’re thinking about, defending their title and bringing another trophy home.”

The Lawrence women finished fifth last season, and Fast said the Vikings are again shooting for an upper-division finish. While the Vikings were led by all-conference runner and senior Emily Muhs in 2011, freshman Clare Bruning is leading the pack this season. Fast believes Bruning could make the all-conference team this season with a top-20 finish.

“Clare’s done far more than I thought she was going to do coming into her freshman year,” Fast said. “She has flourished under our training program, and she’s doing everything right. She’s working hard and racing smart. She’s seen nothing but positive results throughout the season.”

Soccer in the running

The Lawrence men’s soccer team enters the final weekend of regular season play battling for the fourth and final spot in the MWC Tournament.

The Vikings are 4-4-1 and in fourth place with 13 points. Lawrence wraps up its regular season on Saturday when it hosts Beloit, which is 6-2-1 in the league and already in the tournament.

Grinnell is 4-4-0 with 12 points, and St. Norbert is 3-3-2 with 11 points. Both the Pioneers and Green Knights have two games left and both could still overtake Lawrence.

Lawrence is attempting to make the tournament for the third consecutive year and the fourth time in five seasons.

Barthelmess closing in

Lawrence quarterback Luke Barthelmess is just 287 yards away from breaking the school’s career passing record.

Barthelmess, a junior, now has 5,145 passing yards and is closing in All-American Jim Petran, who stands atop the career list with 5,431 yards.

Mazur tops 200 again

Senior wide receiver Tyler Mazur had a career-high 225 receiving yards against Monmouth last Saturday. Mazur became only the second receiver in recent Lawrence history to top 200 receiving yards in a game twice.

Mazur, who had 220 receiving yards last season against Knox College, matches Appleton native Zach Michael, who topped 200 yards twice in the 2001 season.

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.

Mayer’s goal lifts Vikings past Cornell

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa — Karl Mayer scored in the 70th minute to lift the Lawrence University men’s soccer team to a 2-1 Midwest Conference victory over Cornell College on Sunday.

Mayer scored his first goal of the season off a pass from Simon Newsom at 69:19 to break a 1-1 tie.

Goalkeeper Kevin Aslett made seven saves to pick up the victory for Lawrence (7-8-1, 4-4-1 MWC).

Cornell (0-15-1, 0-8-1) grabbed the early lead with a goal in the ninth minute, but Lawrence struck back just 5:04 later. Joe Cullen scored his first goal of the season off a pass from Charlie Mann to tie the score at 1-1.

Jordan Setser made five saves and took the loss. Lawrence had a 14-9 edge in shots.

Box score

Vikings sweep past Knox

The Lawrence University volleyball team swept Knox College 3-0 in a Midwest Conference match on Friday night at Alexander Gymnasium.

Lawrence defeated the Prairie Fire 25-21, 25-22, 25-18.

Betsy Sorensen led Lawrence’s balanced attack with 10 kills. Jenna Picha and Megan Conley added eight kills apiece for the Vikings and Terese Swords had seven.

Diane McLeod piled up a match-high 36 assists and picked up 12 digs for Lawrence (8-13, 2-4 MWC).

Kaylie Prince led Knox (2-25, 0-6) with 12 kills, and Casey Stachelski picked up 27 assists.

Box score

Inside LU Athletics: Vikings ready to drop puck on new season

The Lawrence University hockey team came tantalizingly close to a huge breakthrough last season. It was like the difference between a puck clanging off the pipe or finding the back of the net.

The Vikings’ season ended with a 2-1 loss to 2011 national runner-up Adrian College in the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association Harris Cup semifinals despite dominating the Bulldogs. Lawrence begins the 2012-13 season on Oct. 27 when it hosts the Wisconsin Rampage in an exhibition game, and the Vikings are setting a very high standard.

“We are looking to continue to be a tough team to play against every night – a team that never quits,” Lawrence coach Mike Szkodzinski said. “We will work hard away from the puck and be responsible defensively if we hope to contend for an MCHA title.”

Lawrence, which was picked to finish third in the MCHA in the preseason coaches’ poll, finished 13-11-4 a season ago. The Vikings lost the most successful group of seniors in the program’s history, including All-MCHA selections Matt Hughes at forward and Jameson Raymond on defense, to graduation.

“We lost some great players, but more importantly, great humans to graduation last year and they will be difficult to replace,” Szkodzinski said. “We will need to find young men in this group who can step into more significant roles both on and off the ice. Strong leadership is the key to any successful team.”

Senior forward and captain Brad Scurfield led the team in scoring last season with 27 points and had a team-best 19 assists. The Vikings also have senior forward Phil Bushbacher back after he scored 13 goals and handed out 12 assists for 25 points last season.

“We feel like we added some depth and scoring this year,” Szkodzinski said. “However, we will need our returners to play a major role in our scoring.  Brad Scurfield and Phil Bushbacher worked extremely hard this summer and we expect them both to have a strong senior campaign. We also expect an up-tick in scoring from other returning players as they seem to be in great physical shape heading into the season.”

The Vikings return other experienced forwards, including Gustav Lindgren, Patrick Coyne, Paul Zuke and Huck Saunders. Lawrence also has newcomers Logan Lemirande, Rudi Pino, Matt Moore, Renato Engler and Brandon Boelter.

“The incoming freshmen have potential to make an impact from day one,” Szkodzinski said. “We will have to see how quickly they can adjust to the demanding schedule and pace of the college game.”

While the Vikings should be better on offense, Lawrence has a big hole to fill on defense with Raymond’s graduation. The good news is former all-conference selection William Thoren is back, along with junior Kevin Killian and sophomore Erik Soderlund.

“We fully expect William Thoren, Erik Soderlund and Kevin Killian to be the core of our blue line and help eat up the minutes that Raymond consumed over the past four years,” Szkodzinski said.

The last line of defense was occupied almost exclusively last season by rookie Peter Emery. All he did was set a Lawrence season record with a .924 save percentage while picking up 12 wins and a pair of shutouts. Lawrence also is deep with senior Michael Baldino and sophomore Anton Olsson.

“Peter Emery had a very good first season,” Szkodzinski said. “He gave a chance to win just about every night.  He will be challenged by Anton Olsson and Mike Baldino, both of whom have had a strong preseason.” 

Walk this way

The Mount Mary College volleyball team was late in arriving for its match at Alexander Gymnasium on Tuesday, and that’s because the Blue Angels’ bus driver led them astray.

The driver mistakenly dropped the team off at the Buchanan Kiewit Wellness Center, which is on the north bank of the Fox River. Alexander Gym is a half-mile away on the south side of the river.

Once the Blue Angels realized the mistake, the coaches called the driver but couldn’t reach him. The team then walked to Alexander Gym, and the match started 15 minutes late.

Lawrence rolled to a 3-0 win over Mount Mary in a match that lasted just 56 minutes. 

Topping  two grand

Junior setter Diane McLeod passed the 2,000-assist plateau in the Lawrence volleyball team’s win at Beloit last Friday. McLeod now has 2,057 assists for her career and ranks second on the career list behind Georgia Seals (3,100).

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.

Vikings roll past Mount Mary in three sets

The Lawrence University volleyball team swept Mount Mary College 3-0 in a nonconference match on Tuesday night at Alexander Gymnasium.

The Vikings (7-13) won 25-10, 25-23, 25-12.

The Lawrence attack was powered by Terese Swords, Jenna Picha and Betsy Sorensen. Swords had a match-high 12 kills and hit .370. Picha and Sorensen added nine kills apiece and both hit .412 for the match.

Diane McLeod handed out 29 assists and picked up 10 digs for the Vikings. Kathleen Rowland had a team-high 14 digs for Lawrence.

Stephanie Hardwick paced Mount Mary (12-10) with nine kills and 17 digs.

Box score

Vikings finish seventh at MWC Championships

MADISON, Wis. — The Lawrence University women’s tennis team finished seventh at the Midwest Conference Championships this weekend at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

The top finishers for the Vikings were Hannah Geoffrey and Melissa Heeren and the team of Christina Schaupp and Tess Vogel, who all reached the championship semifinals of their respective flights.

Geoffrey, playing at No. 3 singles, won her first-round match against Cornell College’s Samantha DeGannes in three sets, including a tiebreaker in the third. She then topped Grace Dowling of Lake Forest College 6-2, 6-4 before falling to eventual champion Constanza Alarcon of Grinnell College in the semifinals 6-0, 6-1.

At No. 6 singles, Heeren beat Knox College’s Emiley Brand 6-0, 6-1 in her first-round match and then downed Lake Forest’s Emily Rabin 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Heeren lost to eventual champion Julia Rumley of Grinnell in straight sets in the semifinals.

Schaupp and Vogel opened with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Cornell in the quarterfinals at No. 3 doubles but dropped a 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-4 decision to Carroll in the semifinals.

Ali Heiring won a consolation title at No. 4 singles. After losing her quarterfinal match, Heiring came back to beat Aimee Neilan of Knox in the consolation semifinals and then defeated Monmouth College’s Haylee Gustafson 8-0 in the consolation final.

Grinnell won the title during Friday’s team tournament, and Lake Forest was second. Carroll and St. Norbert tied for third, and Cornell was fifth with 33 points, Beloit College was sixth with 28 and Lawrence was seventh with 27. Knox was eighth, Monmouth took ninth, Illinois College was 10th and Ripon finished last.

Results

Vikings sweep past Bucs; McLeod tops 2,000 assists

BELOIT, Wis. — The Lawrence University volleyball team swept Beloit College in three sets in a Midwest Conference match Friday night at Flood Arena.

Lawrence (6-12, 1-3 MWC) defeated Beloit (2-18, 0-5) 25-13, 25-17, 25-22.

Terese Swords, Jenna Picha and Megan Conley powered the Vikings to the victory. Swords had a match-high 13 kills and a .462 hitting percentage for the match. Picha added 10 kills on a .643 hitting percentage, and Conley added eight kills and hit .462 for the night. The Vikings hit .313 as a team.

Lawrence junior setter Diane McLeod had 37 assists in the match and now has 2,007 for her career. McLeod ranks second on Lawrence’s career list and trails only Georgia Seals, who has 3,100.

Kathleen Rowland picked up 14 digs to pace Lawrence, and Betsy Sorensen added three blocks.

Box score

Inside LU Athletics: Women’s tennis set for MWC Championships

This is the end of the fall season for the Lawrence University women’s tennis team, but it’s a beginning for the Vikings as well.

Lawrence heads into this weekend’s Midwest Conference Championships at Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison looking for a strong finish to the fall season and build some momentum for the spring campaign.

“We don’t have any seniors playing so it’s good experience for everyone,” Lawrence coach Kevin Girard said. “It’s matches to improve and to look forward to the spring season.”

The Vikings failed to qualify for the four-team MWC Tournament for the first time in three seasons, but Lawrence is still shooting for the best finish it can muster.

“We just want to finish as high as we can, which is fifth,” said Girard, pointing out the four teams in the MWC Tournament on Friday are guaranteed the top four spots.

“Fifth is what we’re going for, but we can get more points than (one of the tournament teams), that’s one of our goals as well.”

Doubles competition is set for Saturday, and the championships finish with singles on Sunday.

“Honestly, if everyone plays as well as they can, they can do a ton of damage in their draws. One through six, we all have a shot,” Girard said.

Sophomore Christina Schaupp, the defending conference champion at No. 4 singles, is playing No. 1 for the Vikings this season and enters the weekend with a 5-9 overall record. Next in the lineup is junior Gayatri Malhotra, who is 10-2 overall and 4-2 since moving up to No. 2 singles last month.

“Gayatri’s tough,” Girard said. “She’s not a fun one to play against, that’s for sure. She doesn’t blow anyone out, but she’s hard to beat. When she gets into a groove, she hits as hard as anyone in the conference. If she gets into that groove against you, you’re in trouble.”

The Vikings round out the singles lineup with sophomore Hannah Geoffrey (9-4), freshman Ali Heiring (8-5), junior Polly Dalton (8-4) and sophomore Melissa Heeren (3-5).

The Vikings team Geoffrey and Heiring at No. 1 doubles, Malhotra and Dalton at No. 2 and Schaupp and sophomore Tess Vogel at No. 3. Geoffrey and Heiring are 8-3 overall and 3-2 since moving to the No. 1 spot.

“If Hannah and Ali are on, they can beat anybody,” Girard said. “Gayatri and Polly are really tough, and Tess and Christina are also playing well.”

Malhotra and Dalton are 8-4 and 5-3 since moving up to No. 2. That’s not bad, especially considering Malhotra had not played very little doubles in college until this season.

“Gayatri is a natural singles player, but this year she has really embraced doubles,” Girard said. “She loves the baseline. She loves her groundstrokes, but she is really working on her footwork and her hands.”

Given the changes in the doubles lineup, Malhotra and Dalton could prove to be a tough out for anyone in the conference.

“Seeding is going to be interesting. They are kind of the wild cards,” Girard said. “You don’t want to draw them in the first round, that’s for sure.”

Clean sweep

For the first time in the brief three-year history of the Gene Davis Invitational, Lawrence won both the men’s and women’s races last Saturday at Reid Golf Course. Junior Curran Carlile won the men’s race for the second time in three seasons, and freshman Clare Bruning took the top spot in the women’s race for her first collegiate title. Lawrence also took the men’s team title.

Nine is fine

The Lawrence women’s tennis team defeated Ripon College 9-0 last Friday, and that marks the second consecutive season Lawrence has shut out the rival Red Hawks. The Vikings now have a record nine consecutive wins over Ripon.

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.