RUNNING INTO HISTORY

Buoyed by the return of their top seven runners from one year ago – and one newcomer – the women’s cross country team won their first Midwest Conference team title in school history Saturday and earned coach Roger Haynes the MWC’s Coach of the Year honor.

Monmouth ended Grinnell’s reign of four straight conference titles and their 55 points bested runnerup Carroll University by 13 points. The Fighting Scots had a school-record five runners named All-Midwest Conference. The top 20 runners receive all-conference recognition.

“The women prepped well all season,” praised Haynes. “They ran exceptionally well on the championship day. Our top five ran season-best times. Those five ran 1:31 faster than we had all year. It was the culmination of a lot of hard work. The women ran as well as I could have dreamed.”

Maybe Haynes shouldn’t wake up, the Scots gained ground and surpassed teams ahead of them in the MWC Top Times – and they have no seniors on the team.

The meet marked the first time the conference women’s meet ran a 6K distance, but the Scots showed no ill effects of the extra distance. Sophomore Mary Kate Beyer (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) who earned her second all-conference award, led the Scots’ charge finishing second with a school-record time of 22:03.73. Junior Katie Staab (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) picked up her third all-league honor, placing fifth in 23:28.38. Staab became Monmouth’s first three-time all-conference woman since Carrie Knauer turned the trick from 1995-97.

First year runner, junior Taryn Tang (East Moline, Ill./United Township), clocked a 24:25.69 to place 14th just in front of classmate Amy Aghababian (St. Charles, Ill./Burlington Central). Sophomore Whitney Didier (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) joined the all-conference ranks, placing 19th in 24:35.33.

“Taryn is interesting,” said Haynes of his rookie runner. “She goes at it simply and works hard at what she does. It’s pretty remarkable for a girl who has never ran competitively to finish 14th in the conference. She obviously was a big addition.”

Aghababian and Didier picked up their first all-league honors, helping the Scots run to a league championship.

“Amy, Whitney and Taryn were the difference in the race,” reported Haynes. “Mary Kate and Katie were only going to score so high. The three, four and five – even the six, seven and eight girls – all made substantial improvements. It was pretty amazing what Amy and Whitney did based on what they did a year ago.”

Junior Jayme Ayers and freshman Ashley Szabo completed the scoring runners for the Scots, placing 34th and 35th, respectively. Bri Flynn placed 48th, Brooke Potendyk 60th and Sara Ditzler was 80th.

Haynes was named the Women’s Coach of the Year in a vote of the league’s coaches. The Scots had back-to-back fifth place finishes the previous two years and hadn’t finished higher than fourth since 1997.

“I’ve always believed that honor is a byproduct of how well the athletes have done,” said Haynes. “It’s not necessarily what the coaches have done. Simply put, the women were exceptional.”

The men’s team placed third for the second consecutive year, behind league champion Grinnell and runnerup St. Norbert.

“That’s about where we thought the men would finish,” said Haynes. “We didn’t prepare well enough to challenge. We didn’t put ourselves in position like the women did.”

Junior Clay Staley (Hanna City, Ill./Illini Bluffs) picked up his third all-conference honor with an 11th place finish in 26:43.43. Sophomore Scott Sheller (Morton, Ill./Morton) placed 13th in 26:47.02 to also garner all-conference honors.

Brad Begyn led the Scots unintentional pack that just missed all-league honors, placing 21st through 24th. Begyn’s time of 27:24.58 was 21st, followed by Jon Welty, Alan Rosiquez and Geoff Bird. The foursome finished within eight seconds of one another, but only Welty and Bird had planned to run together.

Matt Peharda rounded out the scoring runners in 37th position with a time of 28:22.53. Tim Bentz and Craig Maher placed 42nd and 48th.

“Clay and Scott ran very solid races,” praised Haynes. “Alan improved his finish substantially from last year. He’s made a remarkable improvement.”

The teams will take this weekend off before competing in the NCAA Regional meet next Saturday in Rock Island.

“This is our culminating meet,” said Haynes said of the meet at Saukie Valley Golf Course. “The footing is a bit better. I’d be surprised if we didn’t run more P-Rs there. I think Clay has a shot to do well, but he’s not in quite the shape he was a year ago. It’s the best of the Midwest and that’s who we want to be running against.”

NEARING PERFECTION

When the 2005 football team completed an undefeated regular season, it had been more than 30 years since the 1972 team accomplished the feat.

With one game to go, the 2008 version of the Fighting Scots are on the verge of repeating an unbeaten regular season and must beat Knox to seal the deal. The 120th meeting of the rivals kicks off at noon Saturday at April Zorn Memorial Stadium. For those fans not able to attend in person, remember the game may be accessed on your computer by logging on to www.midwestconference.tv.

Last week’s 78-17 win over Illinois College clinched the Scots’ second NCAA playoff berth since the magical 2005 season and guaranteed them no worse than a share of the Midwest Conference title. The 78 points was the most since the 1900 team hammered Iowa Western 81-0.

The totals must have impressed coaches across the nation. The Scots moved up four notches on the AFCA poll – ranked 16th this week. Monmouth also debuted on the D3football.com poll, pulling in at No. 25.

While the polls are nice, it’s really just an opinion. The actual numbers don’t lie. The latest NCAA rankings show the Scots with the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense and the defense is rated second in pass efficiency. That’s what a combined 134-19 score over two weeks will do for you.

It didn’t look like a blowout early against IC. The Scots scored on their first three possessions, but the Blueboys were able to answer on their first two possessions. An IC field goal and an 81-yard kickoff return made it 15-10 Scots midway through the first quarter. That’s when Monmouth settled in and began to turn it on.

“Our first drive was not textbook,” said Steve Bell of the first possession where the Scots gained ground on only three of their eight plays, with four Monmouth and IC penalties mixed in. “Their offense came out and moved it down the field. Our defense did a really good job on that first drive to hold them to a field goal.”

By halftime the score had ballooned to 50-17, setting the team record for most points scored in a half. Freshman Caleb Pratt had three TDs and four other Scots found the endzone, including defensive back Willy Mason who ran one of his two interceptions back 38 yards for a score.

“We made some adjustments at halftime,” reported Bell. “After that, we played pretty well defensively. We reinforced that they can drive the field, but as long as they don’t score, those are empty yards and mean nothing. IC threw the ball a ton and took a lot of short drops so our defensive line didn’t have the time to pressure their quarterback because he got rid of the ball so quickly.”

IC’s 59 pass attempts meant the clock stopped on each incompletion, actually giving the Scots more time with the ball – and more opportunity to score. After Alex Tanney hit Keegan Jones with a three-yard TD toss to make it 57-17 midway through the third quarter, the Scots went into the basketball equivalent of a four corners stall, attempting just three passes the rest of the game.

“We ran the ball effectively, but we’re still waiting to put the whole package together,” said Bell. “I’m looking forward to the day when we get the offense and defense clicking at the same time.”

If there was ever a time the Scots want to have their entire package clicking at the same time, it’s probably this weekend – vs. Knox. The Scots are riding a nine-game winning streak against the Prairie Fire. That’s the longest unbeaten and untied streak by either team in the series which began in 1888.

“We better be ready to strap it up,” warned Bell. “We preach to our kids, ‘This is the game you’ll be remembered by.’ I’m confident our seniors will make sure everyone is focused going into this game.”

With a guaranteed NCAA playoff berth in hand, it might be easy for some teams to look beyond their last regular season game against a 3-6 team. Two things to consider: 1) an undefeated season on the line, and 2) it’s against the rival Prairie Fire.

Come to think of it, Bell is probably right. The Scots will be ready.

EVERYONE BACK IN THE POOL…THIS WEEK

One record fell and numerous others were threatened as the swim team split with Millikin University in the Fighting Scots’ season-opener last Friday at MU. The Monmouth women picked up a 116-80 win over Millikin on the strength of a school record and plenty of honor roll times. The men’s team, swimming at half strength due to the college’s club water polo team’s appearance at the national tournament, fell to Millikin 116-84.

“Fantastic,” said coach Dave Yez when asked to describe last Friday’s season-opening meet. “Our men’s and women’s teams did exceptionally well.”

That sentiment was echoed by third-year assistant Laura Miller.

“This was the best opening meet I’ve experienced since being here,” praised Miller.

Freshman Krysta Sparks (Montrose, Colo./Montrose) made the biggest splash for the women. Her winning time in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:11.18) broke the school record. She also swam a leg on the winning 200- medley relay, teaming with Lauren Nelson, Rachel Holm and Jamie Schingoethe.

“I knew Krysta would set the school record in the breaststroke eventually,” said Yez. “I just didn’t think it would happen in the very first meet.”

Rachel Buckham swam a personal-best in the 1,000-yard freestyle (11:59.72) while winning the event. She also placed first in the 500- freestyle (5:48.98).

Holm finished first in the 200- free (2:08.62) and the 100- fly (1:05.75). Kendra Kuehl took first in the 200- IM (2:24.07) and beat the field in the 100- backstroke (1:08.63).

The 200- free relay team of Buckham, Nelson, Holm and Schingoethe placed first (1:50.92). Colleen Zumpf placed second in the 100- free (1:00.93).

“I couldn’t have imagined we would swim that well this early,” said Yez. “Lauren had a solid performance. She and Jessica (Holbrook) are our only two upperclassmen swimmers, so the future looks bright. We had some good time trials early on, but to have actual meet times be so good this early is fantastic.”

On the men’s side, Harrison Heilman’s first place time in the 100-yard backstroke (1:00.87) was just .12 short of his personal-best, Josh Van Swol was second (1:01.77). Heilman also touched first in the 200- IM (2:12.70).

Tom Pederson won the 50- free (23.47) and logged a personal-best effort. He was joined by John Kaiser, Josh Van Swol and Ed Novak in winning the 200- free relay (1:36.98). Brant Furr teamed with Van Swol, Kaiser and Pederson to place second in the 200- medley relay (1:49.91).

Novak took second in the 1,000- free (11:13.56) and the 500- free (5:25.25). Kaiser took second in the 200- free (1:56.68) and the 100- fly (58.22).

“I was also pleased with the men’s performances,” said Yez. “We had some good early times there as well. Tom nearly swam his best 50- free time ever. Harrison was very good in the 100 back and Ed in the distance freestyles was very pleased with his times. He was well ahead of last year’s opening meet. It’s looking very promising.”

Although the Scots’ opening performance had Yez nearly giddy, he tempered that with the realization that it’s a long season.

“We’ve got quite a way to go,” said Yez. “They can get a lot better. We expect continued time drops throughout the season, peaking at the conference meet in February. We’ll fine tune the relays, but that won’t occur for a while yet.”

The men’s squad should be back near full strength this weekend at Lake Forest with the return of the water polo team. The Scots were 11 swimmers short last weekend due to the national water polo meet in Philadelphia.

“I’d say we had a very successful first meet,” praised Yez. “Our women, especially, had a very strong showing. Our men’s and women’s teams are showing a good work ethic and good character.”

Sounds like Yez has instilled more than just swimming fast as part of the training plan. 

FINAL FOUR

The volleyball team knew going into the season, it would be a challenge to qualify for the Midwest Conference tournament. After all, the format was changed this season to only allow the top four teams into the league championships.

The Scots, who held every tie-breaker advantage going into the final weekend, qualified as the No. 4 seed and will meet host and regular season champion St. Norbert in the semi-finals Friday night. Monmouth should be well prepared for the tournament after competing in the Washington University tournament last weekend.

Kari Shimmin’s club went 1-3 in the tournament, but got some valuable experience against high quality opponents and took Washington University – the No. 4 ranked team in the nation – to five sets before succumbing to the Bears.

“We weren’t very good Friday night,” said Shimmin. “We played similar to how we played our last few conference matches, very inconsistent. Saturday, we were able to make some adjustments and played very well. Saturday was the highlight of the weekend.”

Senior hitter Samantha Robinson brought her “A” game against the Bears, slamming 15 kills against two errors. Defensively, Robinson covered the net “from antenna to antenna.”

That momentum carried over to the last match, a 3-0 win over Culver Stockton.

“We put a lot of pressure on our serve receive,” reported Shimmin. “We wanted to handle the serve properly so we could have three attackers going to the net. It all came together on Saturday. We played with a lot of energy and aggressive confidence. Samantha was unbelievable against Washington.”

Robinson was so “unbelievable” she was named this week’s Midwest Conference Performer of the Week.

If the Scots are peaking, it’s coming at the right time, the week prior to the conference tournament. Shimmin is a bit like a kid at Christmas – she can’t wait for Friday.

“I’m really excited about this weekend,” gushed Shimmin. “We’re getting it all put together now and are very consistent in our play. We’ll need to duplicate the energy, focus and team play we showed on Saturday.”

St. Norbert will have a bit of revenge on their mind Friday. The Scots knocked the Green Knights out of last year’s tournament in the semifinals. One month ago, the Scots lost in three to the Green Knights by a total of seven points – that’s as close as anyone in the conference has come to defeating St. Norbert.

The winner meets either Ripon or Beloit for the title on Saturday. The Scots own a three set win over Ripon, but fell to Beloit 3-1.

The way the Scots have suddenly found their game, the No. 4 seed has a good chance to return to the conference finals for the second straight year and perhaps take their first league crown since 1982.

For those fans unable to make the trip to DePere, Wis., remember the MWC Volleyball Tournament will be available on the web at www.midwestconference.tv. The cost is $5.95 per match.

TOO BAD THE SEASON IS OVER

Men’s soccer coach George Perry has one regret – the season ended too soon.

The Scots showed steady improvement throughout the season and were playing their best ball over the final weeks. Monmouth fell to Beloit 3-0 and tied Lake Forest 1-1 on the final weekend. Beloit and Lake Forest finished just out of the four-team conference tournament.

“I felt like we played really well against Beloit, except for about 15 minutes of the first half and eight minutes into the second,” said Perry. “We had a lapse in the second half when we didn’t play as smart as we should have and that’s when we gave up goals. Outside of that time frame, we played well and created opportunities. We just lost track of some players in that 15-20 minute period.”

Speaking of opportunities, it was more of the same in the double overtime draw at Lake Forest. After a scoreless first half, the Scots scored first but surrendered the tying goal less than two minutes later.

The Scots, who missed a scoring opportunity in the first half, took advantage in the second half, scoring off a free kick.

“Joe (Howell) served the kick to the far post,” said Perry. “Lucas (Knox) didn’t have a good shot and headed it back across the goal to where Mark (Serio) was waiting.”

Serio then headed the pass into the back of the net for his first collegiate goal.

“It was a great sequence,” praised Perry. “Lucas had been doing a great job all game dominating in the air. It was a very smart pass to another player who had good position. Mark had a pair of good games last weekend.”

Playing a man down for the final 17 minutes of regulation and the two overtime periods, the Scots still had chances, but couldn’t find the game-winner.

“The guys were down at first when we lost a player,” said Perry. “After the initial reaction, they started picking it up and did a really nice job. We dominated in the overtime and created some quality chances to score. The last 30 minutes we probably played our best soccer of the year. That’s a tribute to how hard and smart the guys were working.”

The Scots ended the year 3-12-3, but showed a marked improvement over the last half of the season, scoring in six of their last nine matches – that included all three double-overtime ties.

Losing just two seniors makes the future look bright for Perry’s team.

“The guys are catching on,” praised Perry. “The freshmen are stepping up. Mark has really been coming on. Daniel Medina has been very strong for us. Eddie Martinez and Josh Del Valle, all these guys are going to be important players for us. There was a steady improvement over the last four or five games. That was nice to see.”

Also nice to see is the roster of returnees for next season. Howell and Knox return in 2009 as does goalkeeper Owen Robinson and 2007 leading scorer Danny Davis. Come to think of it, the Scots lose only two seniors – Chris Anderson and Rob Ruglio.

“We’re close, maybe a year or two away, from bringing in enough of the type of players we need to be highly competitive,” said Perry. “It’s not so much the physical play that will get us to the next level, it’s the mental approach. We need to be deeper so our training sessions will be more competitive. The players we have now have some still untapped potential.”

FIGURES LIE

At first blush, the women’s soccer team looks like their 7-8-3 record and sixth place conference finish was a step back from last year’s 8-7-3 campaign and fifth place league finish.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The team actually scored more goals, allowed fewer goals and outscored their opponents by nearly three-quarters of a goal per game this season. On top of that, the Scots shut out more opponents in 2008 and of the four teams they lost to last year by three or more goals, the Scots actually went 1-1-2 against this season.

That’s a significant improvement.

“We improved in nearly every category,” said Barry McNamara. “The numbers just don’t add up to show that we were actually a better team this year.”

The Scots wrapped up the season on the road, falling to Beloit 2-0 on Saturday and dropping a 3-2 decision to Lake Forest Sunday. Despite the knowledge they wouldn’t be in the MWC playoffs this year, the Scots came out firing against Beloit, but couldn’t get any of their 12 shots in goal.

A missed opportunity in the first 10 seconds came up empty. Another chance a few minutes later produced nothing and suddenly the Scots chances began to fade. The Bucs eased in a goal in the 28th minute and added another in the 63rd minute to hand the Scots the loss.

“It wasn’t for a lack of effort,” said McNamara. “We missed a couple of chances early that may have changed the complexion of the game. Sometimes that’s just the way soccer goes.”

Monmouth didn’t squander an early opportunity Sunday, scoring on Lauren Vana’s corner kick in the fifth minute. The Foresters collected the next three goals before Vana fed Becca Bauer for a goal in the 68th minute, but couldn’t quite make up the deficit.

“That was a great game,” praised McNamara. “Everyone played hard. It was an emotional game.”

The Scots lose one senior – Sarah Kisner - who ended her career with 29 goals. She is ranked third all-time in goals scored and fourth in total points.

Thanks to a talented returning group, McNamara is extremely upbeat about next season. He should be. He’ll have 80 percent of his goals returning and if he can keep everyone healthy, an extremely deep squad – even if he had no newcomers.

“Last season we didn’t have near the number of quality forwards we had this season,” reported McNamara. “The problem was we didn’t have them all healthy at the same time. Hopefully, Erica Kurth will stay healthy. Molly Ball got injured on our second day of practice and Niki Sue Williams was hampered throughout the year. It just seemed like we were snake-bit. If we can get all four forwards together next year, we’ll be pretty good.”

If nothing else, the Scots will be experienced next season – and the next season. At times, McNamara started six sophomores this fall.

“They’ll be juniors next year and that’s a great thing,” predicted McNamara. “They’ve had a lot of experience and you’ve got them for one more year after that.”

The hope is that experience and depth can get them over the hump and into the MWC playoffs in 2009. That’s something McNamara would like to count on.

MOVING TO HIGHER GROUND…OR WATER

The club water polo team’s trip to the Division III national tournament last weekend might not be considered a success if only the results were taken into consideration.

Monmouth dropped their first two matches, but rallied to take seventh at the tournament held in Philadelphia. More importantly, they got a first-hand look at what will be needed to be competitive when playing with the big boys.

“We now know what level we need to be at next year,” said coach Kurt Niemeier. “It’s a completely different skill level on the national stage as compared to the regional competition. All things considered it was a fun experience for us.”

Eventual runnerup, New York University jumped on Monmouth early in the first match and took a 7-1 lead at halftime. Monmouth came out firing in the second session and made a game of it before falling 17-12.

In the second round, Monmouth took the lead into halftime against Wesleyan University. WU rallied in the second half and edged Monmouth 11-8 in a seesaw battle.

Monmouth ended tournament play with an 11-6 win over Carnegie Mellon to place seventh. Joe Moran scored a hat-trick in the game which Monmouth led from start to finish. Jeff Skalon and Joe Testolin scored two goals each and goalkeeper Frank Wasielewski made seven saves.

This marks the second straight year Monmouth has placed seventh at the national tournament. Not bad for a club team in only its second year of existence.

They will take the winter off before playing a shortened tournament season in the spring.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Fri., Nov. 7
Volleyball – at MWC Tournament at St. Norbert, vs. St. Norbert, 7:00 pm

 Sat., Nov. 8
Volleyball – at MWC Tournament, at St. Norbert, Championship, 1:00 pm
Football – hosts Knox, 1:00 pm
Swimming & Diving – at Lake Forest, 2:00 pm 

SCOTSIVATIONAL

“Prove your worth by doing the ‘small jobs’ the right way. Show that no job is ‘beneath’ you.”  – Andrea Nolan