2008-09 Weekly News and Notes | Nov. 10, 2008
LAST WEEK----------------------------------------------
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4
Volleyball (5) St. Olaf def. (4) Concordia 3-2 | Box
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6
Volleyball No. 6 St. Thomas def. St. Olaf 3-1 | Box
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7
Men's Hockey St. Olaf 3, UW-River Falls 1 | Box
Women's Hockey Concordia-Wis. 7, St. Olaf 5 | Box
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8
Men's Hockey UW-Stout 4, St. Olaf 3 | Box
Women's Hockey St. Olaf 1, No. 7 UW-Stevens Point 1 | Box
Football St. Olaf 27, Gustavus 20 (20T) | GN | Pr | Ph | Box
Men's Swimming and Diving Cows, Colleges Meet | Results
Women's Swimming and Diving Cows, Colleges Meet | Results
THIS WEEK----------------------------------------------
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14
Men's Hockey vs. Saint John's University, 7 p.m.
Women's Hockey @ College of Saint Benedict, 7:30 p.m.
Men's Swimming and Diving vs. MSU Moorhead, 6 p.m.
Women's Swimming and Diving vs. MSU Moorhead, 6 p.m.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15
Men's Cross Country Central Regional, 11 a.m. (Grinnell, Iowa)
Women's Cross Country Central Regional, 12 p.m. (Grinnell, Iowa)
Men's Basketball @ Bethany Lutheran, 7 p.m.
Men's Hockey @ Saint John's University, 2 p.m.
Women's Hockey vs. College of Saint Benedict, 7 p.m.
Football @ Hamline University, 1 p.m.
Men's Swimming and Diving vs. Gustavus Adolphus, 1 p.m.
Women's Swimming and Diving vs. Gustavus Adolphus, 1 p.m.
NEWS/NOTES----------------------------------------------
Men's Basketball
- The St. Olaf men's basketball team opens its 2008-09 schedule on Saturday at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato... The Oles return a solid core - including seniors Matt Christensen, Brady McMahon and Mitch Haugen - to lead the way... St. Olaf, 12-13 overall and 10-10 in MIAC play last season, opens league play on Nov. 18 at Hamline.
Women's Basketball
- The St. Olaf women's basketball team opens its season on Nov. 18 at Hamline University... The Oles were 8-17 and 7-15 in league play under then first-year head coach Dave Stromme... Stromme has three of his five starters back, including All-MIAC post player Elyse Erickson back this winter.
Men's Cross Country
- St. Olaf, off to ready for this weekends NCAA Division III Central Region Championships in Grinnell, Iowa, moved to 19th in the latest USTFCCA Poll and to the top of the Central Region rankings.
- First year head coach Phil Lundin was named the coach of the year and individual champion Dubuol Ruon the athlete of the year after each helped St. Olaf to a team title at last weekend's MIAC Championships.
- Lundin left Division I Minnesota, where he was head men's track and field coach, to take the job at St. Olaf this fall.
- Ruon, a sophomore, is in his first collegiate cross country season after playing soccer last year.
Women's Cross Country
- The St. Olaf women's cross country team was off this week in preparation for this weekend's NCAA Division III Central Region Championships in Grinnell, Iowa.
Football
- The St. Olaf football team (5-4, 3-4 MIAC) won its second straight game over a team competing for the league title with a 27-20 double overtime win over Gustavus on Saturday... Coty Watkins rushed for 131 yards and the game-winning score in the second extra session to give the Oles the win.
- Watkins had 18 carries for the total, good for 7.3 yards a touch... He also collected three receptions for 37 yards, including two key third down catches on the game-winning drive in the second overtime... Watkins has rushed for team-bests 680 yards and five touchdowns this fall... In two seasons at St. Olaf (he transferred from UW-Stout before his junior season), Watkins had rushed for 21 touchdowns which ranks fourth in school history.
- The overtime game was the team's third of the year (2-1)... The Oles beat the University of St. Thomas in six overtimes on Sept. 20 and lost to Saint John's in the first OT on Oct. 25... Prior to this season St. Olaf had not played in an overtime game since 1998.
- The Oles' win on Saturday also ensured the team would finish at .500 or better for the eighth time in nine seasons.
- St. Olaf plays at Hamline University on Saturday in the season finale... The team's senior class can win its 30th game in its four seasons with a win.
- Saturday will mark the end of the coaching career of Gerhard Meidt, the Oles' assistant and father of former head coach Chris Meidt... Gerhard was a longtime head high school coach and administrator at Minneota where he won a state record 48 straight games and three titles in the stretch... In all, he won four state championships and collected a 239-79 career record (.749) before becoming a collegiate assistant at Bethel and St. Olaf for a combined 12 seasons... He has been a part of over 325 wins in his career.
Men's Hockey
- The St. Olaf men's hockey team (2-2-0, 0-0-0 MIAC) split its weekend games, defeating UW-River Falls 3-1 on Friday before losing a 4-3 decision to UW-Stout on Saturday.
- The Oles' Nick Krauss made 51 saves in Friday's victory to earn the win... The host Falcons outshot the Oles 52-14, but St. Olaf had two goals from Isak Tranvik.
- St. Olaf opens MIAC play this weekend with a series against Saint John's University, on Friday at home and on Saturday at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
Women's Hockey
- The St. Olaf women's hockey team opened its 2008-09 season this weekend with a 7-5 loss at Concordia University-Wisconsin and a 1-1 tie with seventh-ranked UW-Stevens Point on Saturday.
- Kim McClintick had a three-point weekend for the Oles, getting a pair of goals and an assist in Friday's loss... Melissa Sailor had the team's goal in Saturday's tie with the Pointers.
- St. Olaf plays at the College of Saint Benedict on Friday in the league opener for both schools... The teams meet at Northfield Ice Arena on Saturday in the series finale.
Men's Swimming and Diving
- The St. Olaf men's swimming and diving team won five events at the Cows, Colleges and Contentment Classic including the 200 yard medley relay (1:35.00).
- In the 50 free, the Oles claimed four of the top six spots with Nelson Westby finishing first (21.96), Adam Meyer in second (22.55), followed by Brock Edwards (22.80) and Luke Murrel (23.01) finishing fifth and sixth, respectively.
- Junior Nate Bentley and first-year Chase Liaboe went one-two in the 1650 yard freestyle at 17:20.10 and 17:54.34.
- Sophomore Chris Bateman took first in the 400 yard IM with a 4:14.10. Bateman also finished second in the 200 breaststroke with a 2:14.74.
- Jake Koch finished first in the 200 IM with a 1:59.61 while also claiming second in both the 100 breaststroke (1:00.65) and 100 butterfly (53.94). The Oles' Adam Meyer finished third in the 100 butterfly with a 53.97, followed by a fourth place finish from Luke Money at 54.87.
- In the 200 butterfly, Luke Money took second with a 2:05.60, Chase Liaboe third at 2:08.17... Sophomore Danny O'Keefe finished third in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:06.89.
- St. Olaf hosts MSU-Moorhead on Friday and Gustavus on Saturday... Gustavus and St. Olaf have won every MIAC Championship since 1979-80... The Oles have won 22 (1980-98, 2001, 2007) and Gustavus seven (2000, 2002-06, 2008).
Women's Swimming and Diving
- First year Lauren Snyder won the 100 yard free with a 55.21 to lead host St. Olaf at the unscored Cows, Colleges and Contentment Classic on Saturday afternoon... Snyder also finished fourth in the 50 freestyle at 25.44.
- Alli Beardsley had two strong swims for the Oles finishing third in the 400 IM at 4:53.07, and fourth in the 100 breast at 1:10.60, 0.43 seconds behind UW-La Crosse's first-place finisher, Brianna Peyer.
- In the 500 yard free, Jessica Phillips and Lindsey Hickman finished fifth and sixth at 5:56.41 and 6:07.37.
- St. Olaf hosts MSU-Moorhead on Friday and Gustavus on Saturday.
Volleyball
- The St. Olaf volleyball team (21-12, 6-5 MIAC) defeated No. 15 Concordia College-Moorhead in the first round of the MIAC Playoffs on Tuesday before departing with a four-set loss at No. 6 and eventual champion St. Thomas on Thursday.
- The Oles' Kim Smisek was named to the event's all-tournament team after getting 21 kills and 15 digs in a five-set win over Concordia and recording 13 kills and eight digs against St. Thomas... Smisek finished the season with 461 kills, good for sixth all-time in school history.
- Jess Levin had 399 kills in her final campaign, which ranks 14th all-time... Levin had career bests in kills, hitting percentage (.285), digs (45) and blocks (130).
- Kelly Prunty's 1,323 set assists this season rank ninth all-time at St. Olaf.
LAST WEEK----------------------------------------------
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4
Volleyball (5) St. Olaf def. (4) Concordia 3-2 | Box
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6
Volleyball No. 6 St. Thomas def. St. Olaf 3-1 | Box
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7
Men's Hockey St. Olaf 3, UW-River Falls 1 | Box
Women's Hockey Concordia-Wis. 7, St. Olaf 5 | Box
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8
Men's Hockey UW-Stout 4, St. Olaf 3 | Box
Women's Hockey St. Olaf 1, No. 7 UW-Stevens Point 1 | Box
Football St. Olaf 27, Gustavus 20 (20T) | GN | Pr | Ph | Box
Men's Swimming and Diving Cows, Colleges Meet | Results
Women's Swimming and Diving Cows, Colleges Meet | Results
THIS WEEK----------------------------------------------
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14
Men's Hockey vs. Saint John's University, 7 p.m.
Women's Hockey @ College of Saint Benedict, 7:30 p.m.
Men's Swimming and Diving vs. MSU Moorhead, 6 p.m.
Women's Swimming and Diving vs. MSU Moorhead, 6 p.m.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15
Men's Cross Country Central Regional, 11 a.m. (Grinnell, Iowa)
Women's Cross Country Central Regional, 12 p.m. (Grinnell, Iowa)
Men's Basketball @ Bethany Lutheran, 7 p.m.
Men's Hockey @ Saint John's University, 2 p.m.
Women's Hockey vs. College of Saint Benedict, 7 p.m.
Football @ Hamline University, 1 p.m.
Men's Swimming and Diving vs. Gustavus Adolphus, 1 p.m.
Women's Swimming and Diving vs. Gustavus Adolphus, 1 p.m.
NEWS/NOTES----------------------------------------------
Men's Basketball
- The St. Olaf men's basketball team opens its 2008-09 schedule on Saturday at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato... The Oles return a solid core - including seniors Matt Christensen, Brady McMahon and Mitch Haugen - to lead the way... St. Olaf, 12-13 overall and 10-10 in MIAC play last season, opens league play on Nov. 18 at Hamline.
Women's Basketball
- The St. Olaf women's basketball team opens its season on Nov. 18 at Hamline University... The Oles were 8-17 and 7-15 in league play under then first-year head coach Dave Stromme... Stromme has three of his five starters back, including All-MIAC post player Elyse Erickson back this winter.
Men's Cross Country
- St. Olaf, off to ready for this weekends NCAA Division III Central Region Championships in Grinnell, Iowa, moved to 19th in the latest USTFCCA Poll and to the top of the Central Region rankings.
- First year head coach Phil Lundin was named the coach of the year and individual champion Dubuol Ruon the athlete of the year after each helped St. Olaf to a team title at last weekend's MIAC Championships.
- Lundin left Division I Minnesota, where he was head men's track and field coach, to take the job at St. Olaf this fall.
- Ruon, a sophomore, is in his first collegiate cross country season after playing soccer last year.
Women's Cross Country
- The St. Olaf women's cross country team was off this week in preparation for this weekend's NCAA Division III Central Region Championships in Grinnell, Iowa.
Football
- The St. Olaf football team (5-4, 3-4 MIAC) won its second straight game over a team competing for the league title with a 27-20 double overtime win over Gustavus on Saturday... Coty Watkins rushed for 131 yards and the game-winning score in the second extra session to give the Oles the win.
- Watkins had 18 carries for the total, good for 7.3 yards a touch... He also collected three receptions for 37 yards, including two key third down catches on the game-winning drive in the second overtime... Watkins has rushed for team-bests 680 yards and five touchdowns this fall... In two seasons at St. Olaf (he transferred from UW-Stout before his junior season), Watkins had rushed for 21 touchdowns which ranks fourth in school history.
- The overtime game was the team's third of the year (2-1)... The Oles beat the University of St. Thomas in six overtimes on Sept. 20 and lost to Saint John's in the first OT on Oct. 25... Prior to this season St. Olaf had not played in an overtime game since 1998.
- The Oles' win on Saturday also ensured the team would finish at .500 or better for the eighth time in nine seasons.
- St. Olaf plays at Hamline University on Saturday in the season finale... The team's senior class can win its 30th game in its four seasons with a win.
- Saturday will mark the end of the coaching career of Gerhard Meidt, the Oles' assistant and father of former head coach Chris Meidt... Gerhard was a longtime head high school coach and administrator at Minneota where he won a state record 48 straight games and three titles in the stretch... In all, he won four state championships and collected a 239-79 career record (.749) before becoming a collegiate assistant at Bethel and St. Olaf for a combined 12 seasons... He has been a part of over 325 wins in his career.
Men's Hockey
- The St. Olaf men's hockey team (2-2-0, 0-0-0 MIAC) split its weekend games, defeating UW-River Falls 3-1 on Friday before losing a 4-3 decision to UW-Stout on Saturday.
- The Oles' Nick Krauss made 51 saves in Friday's victory to earn the win... The host Falcons outshot the Oles 52-14, but St. Olaf had two goals from Isak Tranvik.
- St. Olaf opens MIAC play this weekend with a series against Saint John's University, on Friday at home and on Saturday at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
Women's Hockey
- The St. Olaf women's hockey team opened its 2008-09 season this weekend with a 7-5 loss at Concordia University-Wisconsin and a 1-1 tie with seventh-ranked UW-Stevens Point on Saturday.
- Kim McClintick had a three-point weekend for the Oles, getting a pair of goals and an assist in Friday's loss... Melissa Sailor had the team's goal in Saturday's tie with the Pointers.
- St. Olaf plays at the College of Saint Benedict on Friday in the league opener for both schools... The teams meet at Northfield Ice Arena on Saturday in the series finale.
Men's Swimming and Diving
- The St. Olaf men's swimming and diving team won five events at the Cows, Colleges and Contentment Classic including the 200 yard medley relay (1:35.00).
- In the 50 free, the Oles claimed four of the top six spots with Nelson Westby finishing first (21.96), Adam Meyer in second (22.55), followed by Brock Edwards (22.80) and Luke Murrel (23.01) finishing fifth and sixth, respectively.
- Junior Nate Bentley and first-year Chase Liaboe went one-two in the 1650 yard freestyle at 17:20.10 and 17:54.34.
- Sophomore Chris Bateman took first in the 400 yard IM with a 4:14.10. Bateman also finished second in the 200 breaststroke with a 2:14.74.
- Jake Koch finished first in the 200 IM with a 1:59.61 while also claiming second in both the 100 breaststroke (1:00.65) and 100 butterfly (53.94). The Oles' Adam Meyer finished third in the 100 butterfly with a 53.97, followed by a fourth place finish from Luke Money at 54.87.
- In the 200 butterfly, Luke Money took second with a 2:05.60, Chase Liaboe third at 2:08.17... Sophomore Danny O'Keefe finished third in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:06.89.
- St. Olaf hosts MSU-Moorhead on Friday and Gustavus on Saturday... Gustavus and St. Olaf have won every MIAC Championship since 1979-80... The Oles have won 22 (1980-98, 2001, 2007) and Gustavus seven (2000, 2002-06, 2008).
Women's Swimming and Diving
- First year Lauren Snyder won the 100 yard free with a 55.21 to lead host St. Olaf at the unscored Cows, Colleges and Contentment Classic on Saturday afternoon... Snyder also finished fourth in the 50 freestyle at 25.44.
- Alli Beardsley had two strong swims for the Oles finishing third in the 400 IM at 4:53.07, and fourth in the 100 breast at 1:10.60, 0.43 seconds behind UW-La Crosse's first-place finisher, Brianna Peyer.
- In the 500 yard free, Jessica Phillips and Lindsey Hickman finished fifth and sixth at 5:56.41 and 6:07.37.
- St. Olaf hosts MSU-Moorhead on Friday and Gustavus on Saturday.
Volleyball
- The St. Olaf volleyball team (21-12, 6-5 MIAC) defeated No. 15 Concordia College-Moorhead in the first round of the MIAC Playoffs on Tuesday before departing with a four-set loss at No. 6 and eventual champion St. Thomas on Thursday.
- The Oles' Kim Smisek was named to the event's all-tournament team after getting 21 kills and 15 digs in a five-set win over Concordia and recording 13 kills and eight digs against St. Thomas... Smisek finished the season with 461 kills, good for sixth all-time in school history.
- Jess Levin had 399 kills in her final campaign, which ranks 14th all-time... Levin had career bests in kills, hitting percentage (.285), digs (45) and blocks (130).
- Kelly Prunty's 1,323 set assists this season rank ninth all-time at St. Olaf.
