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
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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.
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Intramurals
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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