Sports Updates

Women’s Basketball Update

by Destiny Cooper Varsity women’s basketball dropped a 50-45 loss to Kansas Wesleyan Feb. 10. Highlight player Sammy Jo Peterson “came off the bench with a lot of energy and passion,” said assistant coach Kate Brickell. Peterson’s efforts helped her team stay in the fight against KWU. One way the team plans to build off this loss is continuing to play with a sense of urgency, knowing that every game is important, Brickell said. The players continue to excel at playing the explosive defense they bring to the court, she added. The JV women sealed a 60-47 win over Kansas Wesleyan. Their post players-Sara Yutzy, Allie Ostermann and Jordyn Lowrie--were the spark and strength of the team against KWU, said Brickell. Also, they will continue to dominate sharing the ball, running the floor, and finding the open player.

Men’s Basketball Update

by Tyrel Haynes With one last game remaining in the season, the Tabor College men’s basketball team went three out of five in the month of February with big wins against Kansas Wesleyan, Southwestern and Friends. Currently the team is in sixth place with two games behind McPherson for fifth place. The team has made a big improvement from last season, going from 6-21 to 11-9. Consistent play is coming from Nashom Carter, Bobby Shanks and Andre Nelson. With the COVID-19 season coming to an end, the men are looking to finish the season strong and to make some noise in the KCAC tournament starting Feb. 24.

Softball Update

by Jessica Klein The 2021 softball season is just around the corner for the Lady Bluejays.

After adhering to a strict practice schedule in the first semester, players are looking forward to the upcoming game schedule.

The team’s first official tournament, the SCS NAIA Invitational, will take place from Feb. 19-21 in Allen, Texas. Tabor will face off against the University of Houston-Victoria, Bellevue University, Ottawa University, Central Methodist University and Oklahoma Panhandle State University.

On Feb. 26, the team will travel to Tahlequah, Okla., to attend the Cherokee Nation Festival.

Baseball Update

by Emma Willison The Tabor College baseball team traveled to Shreveport, La., to face a pair of two top 10 teams for the season opening series, earning a split with both teams. The team went 2-2 for the weekend earning a win from both Louisiana State University-Shreveport and Freed-Hardeman. Tabor led Game 1 against LSUS with a 9-7 lead until the Pilots earned three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to take the 10-9 season-opening win. Day 2 started with another heartbreaking one-run game with a 2-1 loss from Freed-Hardeman. The Bluejays quickly rebounded versus LSUS with a 11-5 victory. The team closed out the weekend playing Freed-Hardeman with a dominating win, 7-1.

Indoor Track Update by Avery Unruh

As most NAIA teams struggle through another downfall of the COVID-19 pandemic, both the Tabor men’s and women’s indoor track teams are lucky to have any sort of season. Two competitors have stood out from the crowd the entire season, those being Toby Penner on the men’s team and Kaileigh Dill on the women’s team.

“Toby Penner has had an excellent indoor season,” said coach David Kroeker. Penner is currently ranked second in conference in the 600-meter dash and ranked third in the 800-meter dash.

Dill is ranked first in both the weight throw and shot put, hoping to finish out the season on top, Kroeker said.

Other competitors such as Jacob Skinner in the 60-meter hurdles and Chris Ruffino in pole vault also hope to help their team finish higher as both are ranked first in their events as well.

“The overall goal is always to win the conference championship,” said Kroeker. “I’m thinking a top-three finish on the men’s side and a first or second finish for the women.”

Kroeker said if the teams can accomplish these goals at the conference championship then it would be a successful season.

Tennis Update

by Shea Sutherland After strongly ending the fall 2020 season, Tabor’s tennis athletes are set to compete during their upcoming spring schedule. Expected to finish fifth by the KCAC head coaches, the men’s team opened the season in Hastings, Neb., at the beginning of February. This resulted in a loss to the Broncos by one point, 3 to 4. The women’s team, projected to finish fourth in the coaches poll, began their season hosting Emporia State University on Feb. 20, a week after the men’s home match agasint ESU. The matches for both weeks took place at the new indoor tennis facility located on Tabor College’s campus. As of now, the men are scheduled to compete at home four additional times, while the women are scheduled for five throughout the remaining season. The KCAC tournament will take place at the end of April.

Swimming Update by Emma Willison

The KCAC Swimming and Diving Championships were held Feb. 4-6 in Fremont, Neb. Throughout the three-day meet, Tabor’s men’s and women’s swimmers saw massive drops in their times.

Freshman Emma Heide had the highest individual finish for Tabor, taking ninth place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:13.06, the second fastest time in school history. Other contributors include freshman Millie Sechrist, sophomore Natalie Ford and senior Madison Sheppard, all with more than three-second drops in multiple events. Collectively, the Tabor women dropped 95 seconds. The Lady Jays finished conference at eighth place with 122 points. On the men’s side, junior Jonathan Austin provided Tabor with the highest individual place of the week. Austin finished seventh in the 200-yard butterfly, crushing his own school record by over seven seconds, turning in a time of 2:05.51. Freshman Blake Wiebe also dropped times in the 50 and 100 freestyle by nearly 11 seconds. The men finished seventh ahead of Lincoln College.