CMS Athletics Week In Review (3/28 - 4/3/16)
Athletics Week In Review (Full Version)
======== Spring – Women==========
Women’s Golf
In the final conference tuneup before the SCIAC Championships, the Athenas won the SCIAC #2 Tournament by five strokes April 2-3 at South Hills Country Club in West Covina. Kelly Ransom (CMC ’19) and Margaret Loncki (CMC ’18) finished in third and fifth, respectively. The Athenas now have three weeks off from competition before the SCIAC Championships, April 24-26 at Oak Valley Golf Club in Beaumont, Calif.
Women’s Lacrosse
The first place Athenas (8-2, 5-1 SCIAC) had the week off from competition, but a big week looms as the team has a pair of SCIAC matches. The Athenas travel to Occidental (April 6) and then host Pomona-Pitzer (April 9).
Softball
The Athenas now have won 10 games in a row, including the last three games in shutout fashion. CMS traveled to Occidental on April 2 and took both games by a score of 6-0 as starting pitchers Anna Gurr (CMC ’18) and Molly Rubidoux (CMC ’16) got the wins. CMS is now 22-5-1 overall and 15-1 (first place) in SCIAC. Back on the road again this week, CMS travels to second-place La Verne (April 9).
Women’s Tennis
No. 3 CMS went 1-1 with a 5-4 loss at Pomona-Pitzer (April 1) and a 6-3 win over No. 7 Middlebury (Vt.) (April 2) at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center. Jessie Cruz (CMC ’19) had a strong week, winning both of her singles matches. Kyla Scott (HMC ’18) sealed the win over Middlebury with a two-set win at No. 4 singles. The second-place Athenas host first-place Redlands in a key SCIAC match on April 8 and then host Azusa Pacific (April 9). CMS is now 12-4 overall and 3-1 in SCIAC.
Women’s Track & Field
The Athenas remained unbeaten against conference competition (4-0) as they defeated Redlands (107-55) and Whittier (129-27) on April 2 at Redlands. Vaiva Palunas (SCR ’17) officially broke the SCIAC discus record with a 46.40/152-03 attempt, just two centimeters short of her CMS record (46.42), which she set at February’s Rossi Relays during the preseason. She is currently the national leader in this event. CMS competes in the Pomona-Pitzer Invite on April 9.
Women’s Water Polo
A pair of one-goal conference wins highlighted a 3-1 week for the Athenas. CMS opened the week with a 13-6 loss to Brown (R.I.) (March 28) but then defeated Redlands (March 30) 9-8, Caltech (April 2) 9-6 and Occidental (April 2) 7-6. Roxy Kiessling (CMC ’18) scored what ended up being the game-winner against Redlands. CMS is 6-15 overall and in a tie for fourth place at 3-2 in SCIAC. CMS hosts Whittier (April 6) and travels to Chapman (April 9) this week.
====================== Spring – Men========================
Baseball
Behind a walk-off, extra-inning grand slam by senior MacKenzie Menthen (CMC ’16) in a 12-9 win over Caltech, CMS swept the three-game series against the Beavers. CMS won 17-6 at Caltech (April 1), 12-9 and 14-4 (April 2) at home. Menthen had 10 RBI over the course of the three games for the seventh-place Stags, who are 8-19 overall, 6-12 in SCIAC. CMS next plays on April 15, at home against Redlands in a game that kicks off a three-game weekend series. CMS is at Redlands on April 16.
Men’s Golf
At the 14-team West Cup Invitational, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men’s golf team tied for third place with a three-round score of 905 March 28-29 at Sierra La Verne Country Club. Just one stroke separated second-place Cal Lutheran (904), CMS and Redlands (905). Matt Shuman (CMC ’18) tied for 12th place and had the highest finish for the Stags. Shuman also had the low round for the Stags during the two days, a 2-over par 72 in the first round. Up next for the Stags is the SCIAC #2 Tournament April 9-10 at Anaheim Hills Golf Course.
Men’s Tennis
Three victories over top-10 teams and a 4-0 record marked a stellar week for the fourth-ranked Stags. CMS defeated No. 9 Williams (Mass.) (7-2) on March 30, No. 10 Pomona-Pitzer (6-3) on April 1 and Cal Lutheran (9-0) and No. 3 Middlebury (Vt.) (6-3) on April 2. Daniel Morkovine (CMC ’17) had a perfect week (4-0 in doubles and 3-0 in singles) for the Stags playing at No. 1 doubles and No. 3 singles.
Men’s Track & Field
The Stags moved to 3-1 in SCIAC competition as they defeated Redlands (100-61) and Whittier (100-61) on April 2 at Redlands. Michael Wagenveld (CMC ’18) won the pole vault with a PR of 4.91/16-1.25, which ranks No. 2 on the CMS all-time list and ranks sixth nationally this season. CMS competes in the Pomona-Pitzer Invite on April 9.
====================== Club Sports ========================
Men’s Lacrosse
The Cougars opened their 2016 MCLA divisional play with a home game on Saturday against UCLA, which resulted in a 12-7 loss. This week, the Cougars travel to top-ranked Chapman University on Tuesday night and to No. 8 UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. Claremont is 6-4 on the season.
Men’s Rugby
The Lions defeated a physical Santa Rosa College team 22-0 on Saturday. The win puts the team into the National round of 16 where they will face the University of Denver on April 16. The match will be held at the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo, Calif.
Women’s Rugby
The win over Occidental on March 26 qualified the Foxes for the USARugby DIV III playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the West Regional. The Foxes return to action April 9 in the first round of the national playoffs.
By Chris Watts
Director of Athletics Communication
Claremont McKenna College