page 12 - The Behrend College Beacon - Thursday, April 15, 1999 Lions hit national stride Behrend men’s track and fie Id earn national ranking by Jason Snyder sports editor Inaugural seasons in sports are supposed to be a celebration something new. The hype usually goes no further than the doors where the activity was started. Rarely does the word spread through the immediate area, and almost never does the sport get statewide recognition. But the Behrend men’s track and field team has taken the meaning to a whole new level. The Lions have not only made noise statewide, but the whispers that began in Erie Hall in the past years, are now roars being heard across the nation. The Behrend men are currently ranked 27th in the country and are number one in the NCAA’s Mid-East Region. This first-year team is the only team in Behrend’s history to be ranked atop their respective NCAA Region. As if the early season success isn’t Behrend baseball proves to be worthy AMCC contender by Jason Snyder sports editor The Behrend Lions baseball team jumped to second in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) with a busy week in conference play. The Lions opened AMCC play on April 6, sweeping Pitt-Greensburg at home followed by six more conference games in five days. The Lions are currently 6-2 in the conference and 16-9 overall. In the first AMCC game for the Lions, they hosted Pitt-Greensburg in a doubleheader. Behind the strong pitching of Ryan Smith, the Behrend men held the Bobcats to zero runs in Game 1 for the 5-0 win. Smith pitched the complete game, five-hitter to win his second decision of the season (2-0). Smith struck out nine and walked only two to record the shutout. Corey Walters gave the Lions a lift offensively with a two hits, two steals and one run. In Game 2, the Lions equaled their five-run total of the first game and relied on the pitching of Shaun Headley to lift them to the 5-1 win. Know Your Lions... Mandy Bodnor Softball by Jessica Tucci associate editor Technically she is a junior, but pitcher Mandy Bodnor still has two years of eligibility left which should make everybody in the Behrend softball program happy. Bodnor is ranked twelth nationally for most accredited victories, fourteenth in homeruns and seventh in RBl’s. She is batting enough, the Lions added to their power ranking this past meet at Wheeling Jesuit. The rankings are used to fairly compare teams across the nation. The Lions’ point total as of now is 106.2 in the dual meet rankings. Head coach Rich Hoffman said, “we have improved our power ranking since then [Wheeling Jesuit], but we will have to wait and see how that puts us with the rest of the country.” The Lions traveled to Wheeling Jesuit on April 10 to continue to improve upon past standards. Hoffman commented on the meet saying, "our meet at Wheeling Jesuit gave us an opportunity to run against a primarily Division II field, many schools that we don’t typically run against. That is always a very good experience as it forces the athletes to experience new situations and respond accordingly. We did a good job overall.” Doing a good job for the Lions was Freshman Chad Smith that improved on many of his past bests. Smith cleared Headley gave up six hits, but struck out six to hold Pitt-Greensburg to a single fifth inning run. Smith played big on offense and combined with Jeremy Brubaker for four hits, four RBIs and a homerun by Smith. The sweep moved the Lions to 2-0 in the AMCC. The Lions then trounced Pitt- Bradford two days later, combining for a 26-8 run advantage for the doubleheader. In Game I, the Lions roared to a 17-4 win behind an all around team effort. The Brubaker, Boyle, Walters combo totaled 10 RBIs. Boyle and Brubaker both hit homers. Behrend went 3-3 in stealing attempts. James Calpin recorded the victory on the mound, pitching five innings with five strikeouts. Behrend was challenged early in Game 2, trailing 3-0 after two innings. The Lions then reeled off nine straight runs to take a 9-4 lead into the seventh and final inning. Walters moved to 2-0 on the year with the win. Boyle drove in four (8 on the day), and added another homerun. Three more steals gave the Lions a perfect 6-6 on the day. ' After the warm-up against Pitt- Bradford. the Lions then took on the AMCC's only other undefeated team. over .400, and broke the Behrend softball single-season homerun record last week. She presently has eight homeruns on the year. As far as pitching goes, Bodnor presently has 71 strikeouts. Not only can Bodnor pitch, she plays third base also. Coach Jacobelli admits, “we have put lots of pressure on her at times, more pressure than anyone should ever have, but somehow she always exceeds our expectations.” 19’6.75” in the long jump for his best mark of the season. The jump placed him fourth overall. Smith then threw a personal best, 36’ 11.5” in the shotput, right behind teammate Steve Duda (36’ 11.75”). In the triple jump, Smith placed fourth overall with a distance of 42’8” and threw the discus 115’3”, to record the best effort for the college this year. Duda recorded Behrend’s best javelin throw of the season with a launch of 164’3.5”. Also impressive in the field events were Jay Davids in the high jump (6’o”, tied for seventh), and Duda, Garrett Arndt, and David Young in the discus (113’ 11”, 107’9”, 106’7”). On the track, the athletes were forced to deal with a strong headwind which affected the times of many Behrend competitors. “The sprint times were really affected by the wind,” said Hoffman. Tommie Stovall finished fourth in the 1(X) meter dash with a time of 11.65 In the battle of AMCC’s elite, Behrend and Frostburg battled through two nailbiters with Frostburg pulling out both games. In Game 1, the Lions struggled with the bat. Froslburg’s pitching held the Lions to only three hits in the game and no runs. Ryan Frederick pitched well for Behrend, giving up only one run in the fourth inning and two hits overall. The pitcher’s dual was won by Frostburg, 1-0. Game 2 again proved to be dominated by the pitching. Behrend jumped on top in the first inning and added to the lead in the third. Entering the fourth inning, the Lions led 2-0 until Frostburg scored one in the fourth and seventh to send the game to extra innings. After a scoreless eighth inning, Frostburg scored the game winner in the ninth to hand Behrend their second loss in the conference. Frostburg moved to 6-0 in the AMCC to clinch home field in the conference tourney. The Behrend men welcomed Laßoche on April 13 and took out any frustrations they had on the Redhawks. In Game 1, the Lions held Laßoche scoreless on the game and recorded seven runs. Frederick moved to 3-2 on v \\ • V V;. ■ V' As far as Bodnor is concerned, she is very pleased with the season and the improvements the team has made this year. “The team is a great bunch of gals. We get along, have fun, and that’s what matters.” In closing, Bodnor complemented her team saying, “I am extremely proud of the freshmen. They really stepped it up this season.” Sports seconds. He also placed in the 200 meter dash with a time of 23.79 seconds, good for eighth. Steve Omecinski was one of the few Lions to run a personal best on the day. Omecinski ran the 400 meter dash in a time of 51.57 seconds to place eighth overall and record the best time for the school this season. Adam Shrout ran a school record in the 400 meter intermediate hurdles with a time of 1:02.3. The relay teams placed well at the meet despite slower times. Keith Cerroni, Chris Schlosser, Alan Cordray. and Stovall teamed up to place seventh in the 400 meter relay with a time of 45.24 seconds. Cerroni, Schlosser, Omecinski and Shawn Furman ran the 4 x 400 meter relay in a time of 3:32.91 for a fifth place finish. Teammates Stovall, Arndt, Jason Pfadt and Greg Cooper ran the race in 3:36.01, good for seventh. Mark Suroviec ran his best time the mound with five scoreless innings and three strikeouts on the Game 2 saw the Lions hold a close 4-2 lead after four. A five-run fifth inning secured the win for the Lions and gave Calpin the win (3-1). Calpin gave up only three hits through his five innings of work and relied on another balanced scoring attack by the Lions. Behrend again proved supreme on the basepaths with another 3-3 stealing performance to contribute to the 10- 4 decision. The 6-2 AMCC record has the Lions trailing only Frostburg in the conference standings with only three league doubleheaders facing them before the AMCC Tournament at Frostburg on April 23-24. Behrend will host non-conference opponent Grove City on April 15 at 1:00 p.m. The Lions will then travel to Pitt-Greensburg on April 17, then host Pitt-Bradford on April 18 at 1:00 p.m. As a final tune-up before the tournament, the Behrend men will welcome Penn State Altoona on April 21 at 1:00 p.m. r ’jtpii*’ .■ a-: K' ! sKsO’ *“ m&t - X e?- Intramurals . Mil \ 'V NTRAMURAL Roundup FRATERNITY Zeta Beta Tau Kappa Delta Rho Tau Kappa Epsilon 928 Sigma Tau Gamma 801 Sigma Kappa Nu Delta Chi INDEPENDENT Too Point OH Scrubs RESIDENCE HALL in inaugural season of the season in the 800 meter run (2:04.00) to top the Lions in the distance events. The Lions also were able to enjoy the event from the stands. “A nice highlight of the day was when two time Olympic Gold Medalist Roger Kingdom ran the 110 meter High Hurdles. So we also got to see one of our sports’ greats compete up and close,” said Hoffman. The Behrend men hope to add to their national ranking at their next meet on April 17 at the Slippery Rock Invitationals. Meets at Baldwin and Wallace and Grove City will complete the season for the nationally ranked Lions. “We are looking forward to building on this ranking in the remaining weeks of the season,” concluded Hoffman. LIONS OR LaROCHE Behrend hosts Laßoche to determine host of softball’s AMCC Tournament by Jessica Tucci associate editor The softball team is still rolling through the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) with a 13-1 record. Last week they went 5-3 overall with all losses coming against non-conference teams. Two of their losses were up against a very good Allegheny team, and the third against Buffalo state. The first two games of the week were against Buffalo State. In the first matchup the women, they lost 3-8, but quickly redeemed themselves in the second game and came out victorious with a 9-8 win. Lisa Fox had five hits, Mandy Bodnor had three, and Stacy Blass had four. Bodnor pitched both games and finished with three strike outs. The next series of games for the Lions were against Allegheny College. The first game was a 2-7 loss and the second was 5-3 loss. Lisa Fox had five hits and Leslie Miller and Stacy Blass both added four. Bodnor pitched approximately seven innings and had four strikeouts. Emily Heidt pitched the remaining six and piled up two strikeouts. WOMEN CONTINUE IMPROVEMENT Maybe overshadowed by the men’s success, but not overlooked are the Behrend women who continue to improve despite a small team. The Lions had many strong individual performances at the Wheeling Jesuit Meet. In the field events, Lynn Herrmann threw the javelin 105’2.25" to place fifth overall. Hoffman said, "Jenny Detelich continues to run well.” She set seasonal bests in the 1500 meter and 800 meter run. Her 1500 meter time was 4:58.10, placing fourth. She placed seventh in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:25.76. Rounding out a superb day for the women, was Keri Lowman who ran the 3000 meter run in 13:03.98 for her best time ever. The women will compete in the same meets as the men and hope to continue their early season individual success. The next two games were up against a less skilled team in Lake Erie College. The Behrend women blew them away in both games. In the first game, the final score read 17-1 and the second, 15-0. Stacy Blass and Becky Rishel contributed three hits. Bodnor pitched only three innings and had three strikouts. Freshman Emily Heidt pitched the remaining seven. Finally, on April 10th the women played Frostburg State. Mandy Bodnor pitched a no hitter in the first game and the team prevailed over Frostburg 8-0. On top of the superb pitching effort, Bodnor contributed a homerun and two hits. In Game 2 of the doubleheader, the women were victorious once again 16-12. The Behrend women have a crucial week ahead of them with an opportunity to host the AMCC Tournament later this month. The Lions will host Laßoche on April 18 at 2:00 p.m. to determine the conference’s most dominant regular season team. The winner will also host the conference tourney. This game will follow a test versus Bethany College on April 17 at 2:00 p.m. at home. Finally, the week will close with another home game against Fredonia on April 20 at 3:00 p.m. SPRING 1999 WOMEN’S Alpha Sigma Alpha 715 Theta Phi Alpha Alpha Sigma Tau Niagara COED Scrubs ZBTNA KDR-Theta Phi Almy 975 740 390 175
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