Page 12 The Behrend Beacon Calendar of Events Behrend Athletic Events Saturday Women’s Basketball © Penn State Altoona 1 p.m. Men’s and Women’s Swimming Frostburg 2 p.m. Men’s Basketball © Penn State Altoona 3 p.m Wednesday Women’s Basketball Pitt- Bradford Junker Center 6 p.m. Men’s Basketball Pitt-Bradford Junker Center 8 p.m. Men’s and Women’s Swimming © Washington and Jefferson 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2 Women’s Basketball © Frostburg 2 p.m. Men’s Basketball ©Frostburg 4 p.m. Men’s and Women’s In door Track & Field © Fredonia 12 p.m. Intramurals Schedule Friday Intramural Ping Pong: Men’s and Women’s Singles; Men’s, Women’s and Coed Doubles Entry Fee: $3 100 Mile Club Entry Fee: None Friday, Feb. 1 Intramural Arena Football Men’s and Women’s Entry Fee: $3 Aerboics Classes Tae-Robics: Mondays and Wednedays 7 -8 p.m. Step & Pump: Tuesdays and Thursdays 7 - 8 p.m. Fee: $l/class, $2O/semester All entries must be at the intramural office by 4 p.m. on the scheduled date Track and field gets off to impressive start at Fredonia Thirteen new re by Scott Soltis staff writer The Behrend Lions’ track and field team traveled »o Fredonia last Saturday to compete in a six-team indoor meet. The Lions made a very impressive Showing at their first meet of the year, considering they had only practiced as a team for two weeks. Of the 21 men and eight women whom coach Dave Cooper took to the meet, 13 either established or set new Behrend indoor records. Although the meet was not scored, it was a success for the Lions and serves as a great starting point for the season. The team will travel back to Fredonia in two weeks to compete in its first scored meet of the year. But on Saturday, the team boasted place winners in four events against competitors that have been practicing, and some competing, for the past few months. The team will look to build Hockey club aspires to become Behrend varsity sport by Mike Bello sports editor “There’s no hockey club at Behrend?” asked a group of inquisitive students last year. After they found out the answer to why this was so - that no one had ever started one - they decided to do something about it. Most other college students would have given up once they realized they would have been responsible for getting a hockey club rolling, but not these athletes. Tim McGill and Michael Fritts decided that it was time the Behrend campus put together a team, and that’s exactly what they have done. Last October, when SGA recognized the hockey club as an official campus club, a major hole in Behrend sports was plugged. McGill and Fritts put together a team sport that usually ranks fourth or fifth in terms of popularity among high school and college sports but was one that Behrend had not heard of before. That era has now officially Phillips , Lions rocket to second place in AMCC once again, getting a “W” in the up coming games is our goal,” said se nior Katie Weigold. “1 know Erin will come out ready to play like she al- ways does.” The Lions have been seeing more Ws lately, winning five of the last six games to get back to .500 (9-9) after being 4-8 on Jan. 6. The Lions also own second place in the AMCC with a 5-1 record. The only loss so far was a 24-point one to Altoona on Dec. 8. Behrend, which plays Altoona on Sat urday, will be looking for revenge. “We have a strong chance of win ning AMCCs,” said Phillips. “We have a huge game at Altoona this weekend. We are tied for first place Erin Phillips Watch Mleiiele Madison’s old record: 1409 Erin Phillips’Record: 1415 Rick BemskTs Record: 1468 Points to 60: 52 Average Points Per Game: 11.1 Next Games: Saturday @ Penn State Altoona, 1 p.m.; Wednesday vs. Pitt-Bradford, 6 p.m.; Feb. 2 @ Frostburg, 2 p.m. with them (5-1, although Altoona holds the tiebreaker) plus we want some paybacks for the loss we had against them earlier in the season. A win there would help our chances of hosting the tournament.” Against Greensburg, the Lions were unable to gain a lead bigger than five points in the second half after being up by one at the half 27-26. Both teams traded baskets for the en tire second half, but the ‘Cats missed two layups and a 3-pointer in the fi nal minute of the game that spelled their doom. Behrend found itself up 13-4 after five minutes of play, but Greensburg slowly chipped away at the lead head Friday, January 25, 2002 ords established at indoor meet ; Lions return to Fredonia Feb. 2 PHOTO BY MIKE BELLO / BEHREND BEACON Freshman Steve Feder practices his pole vaulting technique at the Junker Center on Wednesday. Feder established a new indoor track and field record with a vault of 12’6” last Saturday against Fredonia. on its performances and grab more team just missed winning the race and places in two weeks. came a close second with Keith The men took places in three events Cerroni, Billy McKinney, Mike with Dave Ober capturing a first in Barlett, and Ober all posting solid the 400 meters. The 4 x 400 relay times. The final male place winner ended, and gave way to a new one where quite possibly hockey will someday be an official sport and rank as one of the biggest at Behrend. For now, McGill, Fritts, and the rest of the team are designated as a club, without any money from the school, but that hasn't stopped their determination. The players have had to rely on themselves to help pay for the club. Each member had to pay more than $2OO this year, and will pay between $3OO and $350 next year. Each player also provides his own equipment. All of this really doesn't matter to the players, as long as they have a chance to “rink" it up. “We are having a good time and at the same time keeping our skill level high,” said McGill, the team captain. “We are also becoming better students by learning how to keep ourselves organized between schoolwork and hockey.” The club currently plays at the Igloo in an adult league (October through March) against teams that consist of players from bars or other FROM FRONT PAGE PHOTOS BY JEFF HANKEY / BEHREND BEACON At left, senior Kate Costanzo looks for room to dribble against Fredonia on Jan. 17. At right, Erin Phillips attempts to pass a rebound against Fredonia later in the game while Costanzo (foreground) and Chris tine Charnock (background) look on. ing into the half. The latest the ‘Cats had the lead was at 37 seconds when they were up by one. Phillips led all scorers with 21 points, including 11 -of-12 free throws. The game marked the fourth straight time she has scored at least 21 points. Costanzo added 16 points and eight rebounds and Erica Mozdy grabbed a team-high nine boards. The Lions shot only 31.4 percent from the floor compared to the Cats’ 39 per cent, but Behrend sank 19-of-27 free throws while Greensburg made 5-of -10. The streak the Lions are putting to gether can be attributed to one key fact: Behrend is not beating itself with mistakes and turnovers. “I really think the only thing that can stand in our way is ourselves,” said Weigold. “Earlier in the year we had talked about us beating ourselves, not other teams. We were making a lot of dumb mistakes and not playing together.” “The only thing that stands in the way of us winning the regular season groups. Opponents in the league have played for colleges and a few for the former Erie Panthers. One player, Scott Johnson, even played for the New York Rangers for a short time. The team has gotten its feet wet in college club hockey by playing the University of Pittsburgh’s second hockey club, losing twice by 3-2 scores, as well as scheduling games against Youngstown State University (Feb. 15 at Youngstown) and against Allegheny (TBA). The experience the Lions are gaining will give the team an advantage when they attempt to become a part of the Western Pennsylvania College Hockey Association in two years. The WPCHA consists of teams from Pitt, IUP, Youngstown State, West Virginia, Allegheny, California University of Pennsylvania, Pitt- Johnstown, as well as the western Penn State branch campuses. All of these schools’ hockey teams are recognized as clubs, and are overseen by their schools and by a commissioner. Each of these teams began just the same way Behrend’s is if we beat ourselves,” said Costanzo. “If we come out every game focused and execute our game plan, nobody can stop us.” On Saturday, the Lions played at La Roche. The Redhawks’ Sherry Hogue torched Behrend for 24 points, but the tandem of Phillips and Mozdy was too much for La Roche in an 85-73 win. Both players scored 21 points in front of 230 fans at La Roche’s Kerr Cen ter to lead Behrend. Costanzo added 14 points, while Mozdy led the way with seven steals. Behrend had one of its better games of the year, shooting 54.7 percent from the floor. Although La Roche shot slightly over 50 percent, the Li ons again avoided any sort of foul trouble. Behrend made 22-of-29 free throws while La Roche went to the line 16 times, making 12. With each win, the Lions are be coming more confident in their play, which they hope will carry them to a conference title. “I think the biggest thing is that we are playing together,” said Weigold. was Isiah Meek who hurdled his way to a third place in the 55 hurdles. All of the place winners also either set or established new school records in their events. Ober and Barlett set new marks in the 400 and 800, respectively. Also establishing new Behrend bests were Matt Hurray in the 200, Brian Wheeler in the 1000, and Steve Feder in the pole vault. All told, the men set new records in one out of every three events the team competed in. The women had a very impressive showing at Fredonia as well. The Lady Lions took only eight athletes to the meet and had one place winner. Taking second place in the 500 was Heather Efaw, who had an outstanding day. All of the women fared very well with six of the eight setting or establishing new Behrend indoor records. Efaw had the busiest day, setting records with her second in the 500, team began, by getting the word out on the team. McGill and Fritts knew of people who had played for high school or on travel teams, including the Erie Travel Team, as well as guys on the dorm room floor who enjoyed hockey as much as they did. They posted sign up sheets around campus and put the word out on a listserve email. The result: 17 players now make up the roster, with more, McGill hopes, signing up soon. The roster not only consists of McGill, assistant captains Fritts and Adam Lanier, but Eric Baluh (9 D), Fritz Busse (17 D), Joe Busse (8 F), Jeff Clorley (6 F), Justin Harris (81 F), Ken Harrison (3 F), Andy Kilmer (10 F), Sean Salem (33 F), Josh Smith (00 F), Jon Stull (pi G), Justin Woodall (24 F), as well as Chris Sinclair (G), Matt Osborne (F), and Ben Reppert (D). Because there is no rule against using the ‘pi’ symbol, Stull, an engineer, chose that as his number. Even though the team doesn’t have practices yet, the players are “Things are starting to click. We have also cut down on turnovers, which helps. 1 also think that with each win comes confidence, something that was lacking in the beginning of the After Altoona on Saturday, the Li ons return home for a televised game against Pitt-Bradford at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Behrend beat Pitt- Bradford 83-53 for its first conference game on Dec. 5. The Lions may not be unstoppable, but the players know once a team gets rolling, it is difficult to defeat. “We are playing really well as a team right now. Balanced attacks are hard to beat,” said Costanzo. “We know what we want, and we’re going after it. We want to host [the AMCC championships] and we want the title.” “We are finally starting to gel as a team,” said Charnock. “The begin ning of the season was rough, but I feel that we are a different team now in the second half.” Mike Bello, Sports Editor behrcol!s @ aol.com as well as her times in the 55 hurdles and as a member of the 4 x 400 relay team. The other members of the record setting relay team were Marlena McNutt, Suzanne Szafran, and Amanda Van Tassel, who all ran impressive times. Jessica Sarver set two school records with her times in the 1500 and the 3000. The final female record setter was Lindsay Schulte, who blazed her way to a new Lions’ 200 record. Cooper will take a few more athletes to the upcoming scored meet. With an impressive first showing, the team has a promising season ahead. The sheer number of records set on Saturday is a testament to the team’s off-season work ethic. Other teams may have had more practice, but the Lions' displayed their determination to excel at Fredonia. They hope to reaffirm it when they return in two weeks. having the time of their life just being able to continue their hockey careers. “The players are enjoying themselves just playing the game even when we don’t win,” said McGill. “I would say that the team as a whole gets along very well.” Anyone interested in playing can join the club now but will have to wait until next fall to try out for the team. For more information on the club, students can email McGill at tjm29l@psu.edu or Fritts at mjf2s3@psu.edu.