Pacific: Lutheran university scene March 1N1
Sports
Spri n g Sports Previ ews M EN'S TENNIS - T h e j u ry is st i l i out, but coach M i ke Benson is
opt i m istic about the eventual verd ict for the 1 991 season . . . Ben son's S u p reme Cou rt is com posed of a dozen players - six retu rnees, six newco mers - who sho u l d be a force again i n the d i strict and conference . . . Th ree sen ior retu rnees a re the nucleus of Benson's net set . . . Al l-cou rt player Ian Haworth (1 5-5 last year), h ard-hitti ng David Thom pson (8-1 2) and agg ressive Shan non Affholter (7-1 3) . . . Sen ior Ken Steenis (2-2), j u n i o r Bryan benson (1 0-4) and soph Ross Lau rson (7-0) a l l saw part-time top-six duty l ast year . . . Freshmen David Benson, Andy Ja nsen and Jon Zepp a re all g ifted athletes with sol i d futu res. WOMEN'S TENNIS - Coach Rusty Ca rlson's Lady Lute netters, win ners of n i n e of the past 1 1 N C I C cha m p ionsh i ps, will zero i n on n u m be r 10 i n 1 99 1 b e h i n d se n i o r DeeA n n E l d red and a bala nced su pport i n g cast . . . E l d red, 20-7 l ast year, is PLU's t h ree-t i me # 1 singles p l ayer and l ost J u st fou r m atches t o NAIA oppo nents last season . . . J u n i o rs Bridget Rundle (1 4-1 0) and M e l i n d a Wi lson (9-1 3), both two-year top-six performers, have the i nside t rack at n u mber two through five, but talent i n that g roup is equal . . . Soph Joni Roback and frosh Shanon T i l l y shou l d be factors at #4 and #5, wh i l e sen i o rs L i n d a Garbi no a n d Ma rcy M aydole w i l l batt l e for t h e final top-six spot . . N icole Bened i ct. G i n a Procop i o and Alaina Weibner could also see l i m ited d uty. BASEBALL - Coach Larry Marsha l l 's Lute d i a m ond men, led by senior co-captain outfielders Bob Morris and Tod Byers, should be i m proved in all ph ases of the game as they look to better l ast yea r's 1 6-1 8-1 season record . . . Morris stroked the ball at a .405 cl i p with 41 RBis last ye� r, earn ing honorable mention Al l-America honors . . . Byers h it .302 With 7 RBis . . . Two Al l-District selections, sen ior p itcher Byron Kaerstner (6-0, 3 . 54 ERA) and j u n ior catcher Jason Mangold (.278) also return . . . Retu rnees G reg H a l l (RHPO, Casey Sexton (3 B/C, . 299), Howie Kroehl (SS/2B, . 3 54), Pat Mains (O F, _ . 325) and Doug DeM u l ling (RHP) sho u l d a lso be factors . . . Keep an eye on newcomers M ichael Davis (SS), Tu l ly Taylor (RH P), Scott Sass (1 8), Brian Joh nson Onf) and Ian Mcintosh ( DH/OF). SOFTB�LL - The gOOd. news is that eight of the ten players who started I n last year's national cha m p ionsh i p game a re back. The bad news? There isn't any . . . A l l signs point to another bang-up season for the Lady Lutes, last year's run ner-u p national champ i ons with a 40-8 record . . . Retu rning Al l-Americans Brenda Dobbelaar (SS, .439, 2 2 dou bles) and Jea n n i n e Gardner (1 B, . 349, 3 0 R Bis) lead the charge, along with LF Debbie Hoddevik (,321 , school-record 4 HRs) CF Tristin Castrey (, 355), 3 B Krista Larson (,33 3), and C Toni castrey (,32 1 ) and 2.B Kim PecCi a (,1 79) . . . Becky Hoddev ik (29-6, 0.92 ERA), a slx-9 ame wi n ner at nationa ls, leads a ful ly-i ntact pitch i ng staff . . . A m l e Gru nwa l d (1 0-2, 1 . 59) a n d Karina M cG u i re (1 -0, 0.00 also returnl. COLF - With good reason, coach Gene Lu ndgaard is a l l smiles when you ask h i m about his 1 991 Lute golf tea m . Five l i n ks retu rnees have n u m ber-one potential this spring as PLU looks to reclaim the NCIC trophy, which sli pped through tiheir fingers last yea r after a two-year hold . . . Co-ca pta ins Matt Walden and Pa u l F u rth were #1 and #2 last year, but should get a fight from a bevy of qual ity players . . . Walden is a steady player. Ditto for F u rth, who has a dandy short game . . . Returnees Kerby Court, Kris Syverstad and Darin Swan a re a l l qual ity perform ers . . . Cou rt has i m p roved d ra m atica l ly . Syverstad has i m p roved h is distance off the tee. Swa n is a straight h itter. Returnee Dave Hatl i n and newco m e rs T roy Helseth, Lane Kadel, Val Meyer, B rett Shoemaker and Matt M i helich cou ld also see action. WOMEN'S CREW - Open weight strength is the forte of K i m Morter Olson's wo men's crew t h i s spring . . . Sophomore S h a n non O'Do m l eads the o p e n weight eight. w h i c h ret u rns fou r rowers and its coxswai n . . . Soph Molly Tvedt, junior Kelly Shepherd and sen ior Ann Ost l u nd also have seats reserved i n the V-8, a l ong with cadence-ca l ler C i nDee G a rcia . . . Sop homore Bon n i e Godfrey, who teamed with O'Dom and two others for a third p lace fi n ish i n the novice fou r at nationals last yea r, heads the l i g htweight contingent. which wi l l be relatively an u n proven group . . . Sen ior Jenn ifer Laraby and j u n ior cox Chantal H u let a re PLU's top i nc u m bent l i g htweig hts. MEN'S CREW - A ha ndfu l of quality returnees a re the backbone of
m e n 's coach Doug Nelson's 1 99 1 crew . . . J u n i o rs Casey Cass a nd Randy Du rick, half of the light four that was second at the Pacific C C?ast Rowing Cham pionshi ps last year, lead the varsity eight. which Wi l l featu re a good mix of l ight and open weight strokers . . . Senior Greg Ing le, a fixture on the V-8 the past th ree years, also returns, a l ong with fo rmer nov ices Thad Pea rson and Sam Coo k . . . lig htweight Nea l Potts cou l d also see d uty in the heavy boat . . . Cass, Du rick and Potts could a lso be 75 percent of the l ight fou r.
WOMEN'S TRACK - If 1 0 is perfection, what's an 1 1 ? Coach Brad
Moore's Lady Lutes wi l l try and answer that Question as they take a i m a t their 1 1 th straight N CIC title t h i s spring . . . J u n ior A n n a Ovalle is the PLU record-holder i n the 1 00 m (1 2.22) and 200m (24.89) and leads
This Month In Japan
Olson Will He d u.S. Group At World University Games Pacific Lutheran athletic d i rec tor Dr. David Olson will head the Un ited States delegation to the 1 99 1 World U n i ve rsity W i nter Games M a rch 2-1 0 i n Sapporo, Japa n . Olson w i l l serve a s "C h ief of the M ission" for the U.s. Olympic Com m ittee and w i l l be responsi ble for approxi m ately 24 adm i n istrative and support personnel, 25 coaches, tra i ne rs, managers and officia ls, and 1 05 collegiate ath letes sel ected from various col l eges and u n i v e r s i t i es throughout the Un ited States. David Olson spans a received in exchange during the World Universitv Came in Sofia, Bul garia last March.
Th ree Lutes Ea rn D i strict Sc hol a r Ath l ete H o n o rs Desp ite being just one of 1 3 m e m be r i n stitutions of District 1 , Lute athletes claimed th ree of the five NAIA District 1 Scholar Athlete Awards for the fa l l sport season. Soccer m idfielder Ka rin G i lmer, footba l l defe n s i ve end F ra n k Johnson and cross country ru n ner Alan Herr were a l l recog n ized recently for their accom pl ish ments both on the playing fields and in the classroom . A l l th ree recipients are sen ior biology majors. G i l mer, who ca rries a 3 . 5 g rade point average, had five goals and five assists for PLU's runner up NAIA nati o n a l cha m p i o n wo men's socce r tea m that fin ished 20-3-1 . Johnson, who carries a 3.9 gpa, was a team capta in and starter at d efensive end on PLU's 9-2 grid squad that advanced to the quarterfi nals of the NAIA D i vi Sion I I national playoffs.
M o re than 1 ,200 participants from 40 cou ntries a re expected at the 1 991 World U n i ve rsity Ga mes. Pa rt icipa nts com pete in 45 events i n five sports: skiing, fig u re skati ng, ice hockey, short t rack speed skati n g and speed skating. O l son is an i nternat i o n a l ly respected leader i n amateu r ath letics and has an extensive back g round in amateu r ath letics. He was one of five u .s. educators invited to partici pate i n an edu cationists' session at the Interna tional Olympic Academy in Olym pia, G reece, in 1 984. A member of the U n ited States Colleg iate Spo rts Council s i n ce 1 986, h e served on the joint-co u n c i l of the USOC and t h e USCSC and was a member of t h e USOC House of Delegates in 1 986. He has a lso served on the NAI A's Intern ational Relations Co m m it tee (1 988) and was part of the U n i ted States' a d m i n istrative team at the World U n iversity Games i n Sofia , B u lgaria ( 1 9 89). He is also a past p resident of the NAIA (1 985-86l. Olson has been ath letic d i rec tor and dean of the PLU's School of Physical Education si nce 1 968. Herr has a 3.8 gpa and was a fou rth p lace fi n isher at the NCIC c ross cou ntry c h a m p i o n s h i ps. Herr also runs track for PLU .
the spri nty corps . . . Two-t i m e Al l-A merican Julie Hougen retu rns in the 400m . . . R u n ne r-up NAIA cham pion M i nta M isley is back i n the 1 500m (4: 30.80) . . . Casi Montoya com p l i ments M isley i n the m iddle distances . . . Two-sport A l l-Americans Heather Lucas and Kel l y Edger ton are the nucleus of PLU's d i stance corps . . . Lucas was second i n the . 5,000m (1 7 : 30.78), t h i rd i n t h e 1 0,000m (37: 3 7.89) last year at nationa ls . . . Erin Lee IS the Lady Lutes' top th rower. She's tossed the d iSCUS 1 3 1 -1 1 , the shot 3 7-6 1 /2 . MEN'S TRACK - 1 99 1 w i l l b e somewhat of a rebu i ld i n g yea r for Lute thlnciads, but don't be su rp rised if PLU wins its third stra ight N C I C t rack title . . . Ru nner-u p NAIA national cha m p ion and school record-holder Alan Herr retu rns i n the 3,000m steeplechase (9: 1 3.1 3) and IS ready for a big yea r . . . NCIC 1 00 m and 200m titl ist Jon Shuck went 1 1 . 01 and 2 1 .87 l ast season and heads the sprint tea m . . . So phomore tra nsfer Shane Cove l l i is a 2 3 -foot l o n g j u m pe r and a dandy decathlon p rospect . . . Aaron Li nerud has th rown the discus 1 46-0 and is the defend i n g N CIC champ . . . M iddle distance strength starts WIth NCIC 800m champ T i m Borshe i m and M i ke Lindaas . . . Jeff Taylor will defend the conference title in the 1 0,000m (34:04.8) and WI l l be complemented in the d istance events by Kirk Helzer.
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