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Turn to page past week on i 1 # l 4Bforthisweek ’ sreca P- ™ M:ko Bodo Sports Eds rn Page 28. |HE AJLIJ Calendar of Events Behrend Athletic Events Friday Men’s Tennis Alfred, 3:30 p.m. Behrend Tennis Courts Saturday Men’s Tennis Behrend Invitational Behrend Tennis Courts vs. Alfred, Thiel, Frostburg 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. (Round Robin) Men’s and Women’s Track and Field @ Case Western Reserve Invitational, 9 a.m. Women’s Water Polo @ Indiana Bloomington Tourna ment, vs. Mercyhurst 12:45 p.m. vs. Gannon, 5:45 p.m. Men’s Baseball Lake Erie (DH) Behrend Baseball Field, 1 p.m Women’s Softball Lake Erie (DH) Behrend Softball Field, 1 p.m Sunday Men’s Tennis Frostburg/Lake Erie Behrend Tennis Courts, 9 a.m Men’s and Women’s Track and Field @ Case Western Reserve Invitational 9 a.m Women’s Water Polo @ Indiana Bloomington Tournament vs. Washington & Jefferson, 10:45 a.m. vs. Indiana, 2:30 p.m. Men’s Baseball @ Case Western Reserve (DH) 1 p.m. Monday Men’s Baseball Pitt-Greensburg (DH) Behrend Baseball Field, 1 p.m. Women’s Softball Frostburg (DH) Behrend Softball Field, 1 p.m Wednesday Men’s Golf @ Washington @ Jefferson @ Lone Pine Golf Club, 1 p.m. Women’s Softball @ Thiel (DH) 3 p.m. Men’s Tennis Fredonia, 3:30 p.m. Behrend Tennis Courts Thursday Men’s Baseball La Roche (DH) Behrend Baseball Field, 1 p.m Women’s Softball @ Pitt-Bradford (DH) 3 p.m. Friday, April 12 Men’s Tennis @ Pitt-Greensburg 4 p.m. Women’s Water Polo @ Grove City Invitational TBA Intramurals Schedule Friday Intramural Badminton: Men’s, and Women’s; Men’s, Women’s and Coed Doubles - $3 - Teams must pick Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday games. Friday, April 12 Team Triathlon: three persons to a team, each perform one of three exercises - swimming, biking, and running All entries must be at the intra mural office by 4 p.m. on the Lions prove themselves at UP by Scott Soltis staff writer Anyone who said that the Penn State Behrend track and field team might be intimidated competing against Division I athletes was silenced last Saturday when the team traveled to the Jim Thorpe Invitational at University Park. The team excelled alongside some very skilled competition, qualifying six athletes for the ECAC championships. This was the very first outdoor meet due to cancellations, and the team took advantage of the opportunity. The team faced competition from Penn State University Park, Wheeling Jesuit (which won the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships last year), and St. Francis (which won its fifth straight Indoor Northeast Conference title this year). Behrend’s Jessica Sarver won the women’s 1500 at UP. She also qualified for the ECACs with her time of 4:57.10. Not only did she win the race, she won it convincingly, beating second place finisher Kate Curran (UP) by 10 seconds. In addition to winning the race and qualifying for ECACs, Sarver also established a new school record in the event. Sarver went into her races with a Freshman phenom Mike Barlett After qualifying for the ECACs, chip on her shoulder. continued his record-breaking ways Ober was awed by the team’s overall "1 felt going there 1 had something into the outdoor season. Barlett performance, to prove, like just because Igoto a finished fifth in the 800 with an "I thought that the meet was a great Division 111 school, there’s no reason impressive time of 2:00.31. This was experience for all of us by seeing how why I shouldn’t be as good as those a full second below the previous we compare to some of the Division girls,” said Sarver. She proved to the school record. 1 schools that we were up against,” rest of the competition that not only Dave Ober also carried a successful said Ober. "It was great td qualify so was she as good as those girls, but indoor season into the outdoor many people for ECACs in the first better than the other 1500 runners. campaign. Ober wasted no time meet of the season. It was a great way Lynn Herrmann also had an qualifying for the ECACs, as the to start off the outdoor season.” outstanding day for the women’s senior from Pittsburgh finished the Coach Dave Cooper echoed the team, as the lone senior qualified for 400 with a time of 50.95. sentiment of his players, the ECACs in the javelin. She Not only did the team finish strong “The Behrend athletes took a Sr A: Who's Behind the Scenes? Rob Wittman: Exercise your right to intramurafs ; by Kate Levdaasky Petrikis assistant sports editor This is Rob Wittman’s 11 th year at Behrend as coordinator of intramural and recreational programs. For the past six years, he has also handled the athletic facility scheduling. He also was the assistant women’s basketball coach from 1991 through spring 2001, which ended when the Junker Center opened March 12, 2001 and the facility duties became more in volved. Wittman also teaches an ESACT class in the summer, as well as summer golf classes. “Teaching is not part of the job de scription, but I do enjoy that aspect,” said Wittman. • Prior to Behrend, Wittman was an • assistant intramural director at Uni • versity Park while in grad school, • where he also coached high school • basketball and worked in the Com • monwealth Campus athletic office. • Beacon: How many programs do • you have? What are the programs? • Wittman: We have about 17 In • tramural programs (flag football, • arena football, soccer, softball, tennis, • golf, bowling, billiards, ping pong, • swimming, sand volleyball, 6v6 vol • leyball, 4v4 coed volleyball, cross • country running, 5v5 basketball, 3v3 l basketball), about 10 recreational ac • tivities (canoe trip, white water raft • ing, fantasy sports on the web, 3-point l shootout, 2-ball shooting competition, • team triathlon, 3v3 water basketball), • the aerobics classes, and the 100-mile • club. We also use Erie Hall as a rec • reation space where students can go • down at certain times and play vol • leyball, kickball, or whiffleball. • Beacon: How many students par • ticipate in the program? • Wittman: I deal with percentages • here, but first I would like to say that • we try to offer fitness/recreational op- J portunities as well as the more com- CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Jessica Sarver, left, Jessica Knapp,third from right, Suzie Szafran, second from right, and Claire Manelick, right compete in the 800 in the Jim Thorpe Invitational at University Park last Saturday. Sarver took first place in the 1500 against fierce Division I competition. captured third place in the event with a throw of 109-2. On the men's side, there were four ECAC qualifiers and many other outstanding performances. Isiah Meek had a busy day, qualifying in one event and setting new school records in two. In the 110 hurdles. Meek finished with a time of 15.28 to qualify for the ECACs and broke the previous school record. Meek finished in third place in the event behind two talented UP runners. In the 400 hurdles. Meek set a new school record with a time of 58.81. Rob Wittman has been the intramural coordinator for 11 years, petitive intramural sports because that those with the choice of recreational gives everyone a chance to get involved competitiveness. In any sport it is dif in something that interests them. Even ficult to keep out the competitive na with the intramural sports, we do your ture. We do offer the pick-up volley typical football, softball, and soccer, as ball, kickball, and whiffleball in Erie well as ping pong, badminton, and Hall where students can come down bowling. Last year, 60 percent of all and just have some fun. No referees - resident students participated in at least just for fun. one activity and 65 percent of all fresh man residents did the same. Beacon: Are the games competitive? What are the criteria for determining competitiveness? Wittman: Most of the intramural sports are competitive. Most students are there to win when they sign up for an IM sport. There are those that are there to have fun - and that, to me, is what it is all about, have fun, meet new people, and get some exercise. In some sports we have competitive and recre ational leagues so those that are really into it compete against each other and those that are there for fun play against in the track events, but it excelled in the field events as well. In the high jump, Jay Davids took fourth, clearing 6-4 and qualifying for ECACs. To put this height into perspective, Davids could have cleared NBA star Jason Kidd or Penguins legend Mario Lemieux (both stand 6-4). Pole vaulter Donnie Hackworth qualified for the outdoor championships by clearing 13-7. This leap was good for fourth place and also broke the old school record of 13-6 set in 1999. Beacon: Does competitiveness lead to aggression, l.e. fights? Wittman: Not necessarily, we keep that under control. Most teams are very good with sportsmanship. There are a few exceptions at times though. Beacon: Are the games serious, or fun? Wittman: They can be either de pending on the teams involved. I would like to label most as serious fun. They want to win but have fun at the same time. It really does depend on the teams involved. Beacon: Have any of your intramu ral players been recruited by other number of places that we hadn’t really even hoped for, but more importantly we had great performances,” he said. In addition to the six ECAC qualifiers and five new records set, 12 other athletes finished in the top six in their events. The Jim Thorpe Invitational was an event that will not soon be forgotten. Behrend, the underdog going in, faced nearly insurmountable odds but instead of faltering, the team excelled. The fact that Sarver won her race and many other Behrend athletes finished mere seconds or inches behind Division I competitors illustrates to the players how far the team has come this year. The Lions look to carry this momentum into the Case Western Reserve Invitational this weekend. The team had not competed in two weeks prior to UP last Saturday, and it was its first outdoor competition. The Lions are interested to see how well the team does now that it has warmed up. Behrend coaches? Wittman: We have had a few but | 99.9 percent of our varsity coaches • know who their athletes are through • their recruiting process. Beacon: What sport consumes • most of your time as the administra- • tor? ! Wittman: All [are] about the • same. Each tournament involves reg- • istration, making a schedule, a cap- tains’and officials’meeting. Some of • the one-day tournaments could be a • little easier than those that go on for * a few weeks. • Beacon: What sport costs the most • to run? Why? * Wittman: The sports with offi- • cials, probably football with about • three officials per game and four * games running simultaneously. Also, • football gets over 40 teams. • Beacon: Are intramurals a year- * round program? Wittman: We start two weeks into • the fall semester and end the last week * of class in the spring semester. We • typically have something going on • every Sunday through Thursday. We * do have things scheduled on a few • Saturdays, but never on Fridays be- • cause it is unsuccessful. * Beacon: Do you think the program • is developing more? • Wittman: Yes, and we are really * concentrating on the recreational and • fitness aspects. We try to tweak things • every year to make what we have bet- * ter and also attempt to add new ac- • tivities the students want. Student in- . put is always welcome. * Beacon: Why should students par- • ticipate? • Wittman: It is fun, you get to meet * new people, and get some exercise. • Every week, the Beacon will\ engage in a little “ask and re- J spond” with someone who • doesn’t make the headlines. ! Water polo ready for Southern Tournament by Kate Levdansky Petrikis assistant sports editor The Behrend water polo team is actively preparing for the Southern Tournament at Indiana University on Saturday and Sunday. Behrend opens play Saturday against Mercyhurst, and follows that up with a match against Gannon. The Lions will return on Sunday to face Wash ington & Jefferson and Indiana. Practice has been scheduled as usual, with nothing added or sub tracted in terms of time spent in the pool. The team has been concentrat ing on offense and conditioning. “We have to be able to last the en tire game in this huge pool,” said coach Josh Heynes. “Offensively, we are trying two new plays, and de fense has and will always be our strong point." In order to have a successful tour nament, Heynes said the team can't lose its focus. It has been two weeks since the Lions have played. The team has had some voluntary sub tractions, but Heynes said the Lions will stay vigilant in their game-play ing abilities. “We can’t assume anything for this tournament," said Heynes. "Even though we crushed Mercyhurst the first time, [it] does not mean it can or will happen again. The men’s team did the same thing this past year, and we ended up losing to them when we should not [have]. "The most important thing to learn from this tournament is that 30 meters by 25 yards all deep pool is the great equalizer." said Heynes. "Teams that are good in smaller pools tend to lose something in these large pools. Conditioning and good passing will be keys to any type of success.” Players to watch include offensive star Christine Williams and goalie Lauren Packer. In addition, Behrend needs strong performances from Tara Braden, Amanda Brown, and Hollie Stash. Heynes said the bench will see more minutes than usual, and will have to play with great in tensity for any amount of time that it is in the pool. BEHREND BEACON Christine Williams, top, and Hollie Stash, below, are two of the top players coach Josh Heynes will rely upon this weekend in the Indiana Tourna ment. The Lions take on Mercyhurst and Gannon on Saturday, plus Indiana and Washington & Jefferson on Sunday. The Lions defeated Indiana and Mercyhurst at the Behrend Invitational March 15 and 16.
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