ACHIEVING YOUR BEST

With four of their five upperclassmen running personal bests, the men’s cross country team placed fifth in 12-team 8K college division field at last weekend’s Bradley Open at Detweiller Park in Peoria while the women finished fourth of 11 in the 5K race.

“We had a pretty good race on the men’s side,” praised Roger Haynes. “Our top five guys ran good races and when you figure in two of them were freshman running the 8K for the first time, that’s pretty significant and bodes well for the future. I’m pleased with the progress of the men’s group.”

Leading the men’s group were sophomores Geoff Bird (26:14) and Jon Welty (26:47) who shaved 40 and 45 seconds off their career-bests, respectively. Bird placed 17th, just 34 seconds out of a top ten finish. Welty, in 30th position was 22 seconds shy of the top 20. Juniors Alan Rosiquez placed 49th with an improved PR (27:27) and Craig Maher was 71st (28:12) by trimming 30 seconds off his best time. Senior Tim Bentz – Monmouth’s final upperclassman to compete, finished 88th.

“Big lifetime PRs for those guys,” said Haynes. “They had good training over the summer and we ran a good race model as a group.”

The freshmen group impressed Haynes with their first attempt at the 8K distance. Connor Shields led the newcomers in 43rd (27:11), Paul Davies was 54th (27:40) and Nate Jones placed 80th (28:42). Rounding out the team was Jake Barr in 91st, Matt Gatlin 93rd and Peter Lipinski 124th.

“For Connor and Paul to run in the low to mid 27s for the first time at that distance is a very good start for their careers,” reported Haynes. “We have some talented freshmen men and I was pleased overall with the way the entire younger group handled the race. They had a pretty good concept of what the race model was going to be.”

What does the early improvement mean for the Scots men?

“It should be an indication of where we can be once the conference meet rolls around,” predicted Haynes. “We don’t have that really fast front-runner, but we have more depth and talent as a group which should translate to success on the conference level. Geoff and Jon should be able to challenge and we think we should be very good as a group.” 

While the women’s team didn’t show the marked improvement of the men, they did run a tight pack after Mary Kate Beyer and Katie Staab finished 4th and 8th (18:44 and 19:19, respectively). Beyer’s time was a Scots record for the course. Freshman Rachel Bowden led the main pack in 31st (20:44), Bri Flynn was 37th, followed by Amy Aghababian in 39th, Tori Beaty 41st and Brittany Frazier 44th. The five were within 46 seconds of one another.

“Rachel is one who will run really, really fast,” predicted Haynes. “She’s never run cross country before, but she’s ahead of three of our five all-conference runners from last year.”

Whitney Didier in 53rd, Marlee Lane in 72nd and Allison Carroll’s 80th place finish rounded out the Scots’ women.

“The freshmen girls ran well,” said Haynes. “Like the freshmen men, they ran very solid race models and exceeded my expectations. Our veterans didn’t run as well as we had hoped. Some went out too fast and some let the field pull away. The older women just didn’t run a good race. As a team, it was sort of a ‘B’ type day.For the first time in the history of our women’s program, we have pretty great potential and we need to reach that potential. They can be really fast, but they’ll have to work at it.”

The Scots will have a couple of weeks to regain their “A” game. The team will be off until they travel to the Augustana Invitational on Sept. 25. The flat course could mean faster times.

“That course is very much about how we run our race model,” claimed Haynes.

So, what is a “race model.”

The Scots use a series of charts based on practice sessions to maximize each runner’s abilities. A pace is determined to be their optimum speed and the runners then – Haynes hopes – maintain that pace during the competition.

“We need to use the race model to position ourselves,” said Haynes. “We can’t go out to slow and have to sprint to catch up, but we also can’t go out too fast and run out of gas down the stretch. We have to polish our race model and run the best WE can. It’s not so much about wins and losses – it’s about how we’re doing compared to ourselves.”

NOT PERFECT YET

Even with a 56-3 win over Lawrence last week, football coach Steve Bell could still see room for improvement.

“The defense played well, but offensively, we were still spotty,” said Bell. “We still had some peaks and valleys throughout the game. We’re really good at times, then we’ll have lapses and not be productive.”

The Scots were aided by nine – count ‘em – nine Vikings turnovers. Monmouth picked off four passes and recovered all five Lawrence fumbles. Three of the Vikings’ five first half turnovers were converted into points…all touchdowns. The first turnover – an interception – might have turned into points, but the Scots came up empty when Kyle Tuor’s 37 yard field goal attempt sailed wide left. Tuor did make all eight PATs, so we’ll forgive him for the field goal.

The Scots racked up 553 yards of offense while holding the Vikings to just 85 yards…and Monmouth had a +6 in the turnover department.

Alex Tanney recorded his second 300+ yard passing game this season – his fourth straight dating back to last year’s playoff run. His five TD passes tied Rob Purlee’s career mark of 83, and his still has at least eight games left – in his junior year.

“Did he really?” asked Bell when informed of Tanney’s accomplishment. “That’s neat, but I really don’t pay attention to that.”

What the coach DOES pay attention to is the details of the game. He had to be happy that ten different receivers hauled in passes and seven different backs had rushing attempts. Believe it, or not, sports fans, the Scots actually had more rushing attempts (48) than pass attempts (38).

“We don’t try to get one guy touches,” said Bell of the team’s propensity to spread the ball around. “It just depends on what the defense is doing. What worked one week may not work the next week. We’re not focused on one guy.”

The Scots connected on six TD passes on the day – Kyle Wantland was on the receiving end of three of those and finished with a team-high 99 yards. The ground game showed balance, too, as Clay Bricker led the backs with 66 yards, Nick Law added 58 and Caleb Pratt accounted for 47 yards. Bricker and Pratt also scored TDs.

Quarterback-turned-wide receiver Steve Zidow completed a feat not many players have achieved. Zidow hit Wantland with a seven yard TD toss for the Scots’ second score of the first quarter, then took a Tanney pass for a 54 yard TD reception with 1:31 left in the first half to give the Scots a 49-0 lead. Just think, if Zidow could have somehow gotten a carry, he might have completed the trifecta – a touchdown passing, receiving AND rushing.

Zidow’s TD toss didn’t exactly come about the way it was drawn up.

“Being a former quarterback actually helped Steve on that play,” reported Bell. “He was supposed to throw it to another receiver, but the defense shifted and he made the read that the primary receiver wasn’t going to be open and found Kyle in the back of the end zone. He made a nice read and kept his composure. That wasn’t the way it was supposed to go, but we’ll take it.”

Like they say, the best laid plans of mice and men….

Defensively, the Scots executed the game plan, forcing the Vikings into long yardage situations. Of course, all those turnovers didn’t hurt.

“They laid the ball down for us a few times,” said Bell. “That gave us the ball on a short field a number of times. The defense was flying around and doing a really good job of trying to get 11 guys to the ball on every play.”

With that many players around the ball, no wonder the Scots created nine Vikings’ turnovers. The offense was happy to finish off what the defense started – half of Monmouth’s scores came from drives of less than 50 yards, although the Scots’ sixth TD capped a 54 yard drive

Like the balanced offense, the defense shared the wealth, too. No one had double-digit tackles, although David Milroy led the way with eight stops and a sack. More than 30 players recorded defensive statistics on the day.

“Everybody played their assignment,” reported Bell. “Lawrence ran the triple option and our guys did a great job of getting to the football. You don’t get that many turnovers by just standing around.”

The Scots won’t be standing around this weekend when Beloit comes to town. The Buccaneers enter the game with a 2-0 record and are a team Bell thinks is on the cusp.

“They remind me of us when we first arrived in Monmouth,” said Bell. “The coaching staff has been in place a few years and they’ve got good athletes who bought into the program. They’ve got a good core group. I knew they would be good this year.”

The Scots aren’t too bad, either. D3football.com ranks the Scots 11th this week, up three spots from a week ago. They’re ranked No. 2 in Division III with a  4.5 turnover margin.

Watching the Scots score points (they’re 12th in DIII with a 47.5 ppg average) and create turnovers may be fun for the fans, but for the guys working the cameras for the webcast, it’s a challenge.

Speaking of the webcast, the home opener experienced some “technical difficulties” for some viewers. We’re told those problems have been fixed and fans may log on to www.midwestconference.tv to catch all the action Saturday beginning at 12:45 p.m.

NOW THAT’S CONSISTENT

While football coach Steve Bell wants more consistency out of his offense, women’s golf coach Molly McNamara would like a little less consistency from her team…at least on the number of strokes.

In three straight tournaments last weekend, on three different courses, the Scots fired rounds of 392, 392 and – you guessed it – 392. Not bad, but McNamara was hoping for consistent scores a little lower after the team finished 11th at the Lady Viking Invitational on Thursday, eighth at the Knox Invite Friday and 11th at the Fighting Scots Invitational Saturday.

“We were consistent,” chuckled McNamara. “Those scores weren’t the numbers we want to be consistent with. We think we can be consistent in the 360s. We’re still lacking in everyone being on at the same time.”

The upside is the Scots found some improved scores and everyone contributed. Kristin Humphrey’s 92 at Augustana was her season-low by seven strokes as she placed 17th and Nicole Hurst twice carded career-best 93s.

“Kristin and Nicole are coming around,” reported McNamara. “They’re gaining confidence with every round. Nicole is starting to figure out the college game.”

The grueling weekend – 54 holes in three days – was a good prep for the conference format. In reality, it may have been even more grueling. The Scots played 18 holes Friday, finishing around 6 p.m. and then hit the links Saturday morning at 9 a.m. That’s 36 holes in a little over 24 hours.

“We held up, physically, surprisingly well,” claimed McNamara. “This was a good experience for our younger players to get prepared for the conference tournament. They were a bit tired, but we were playing in 80 degree weather which is something we hadn’t experienced yet this year. We’re just looking at some consistency issues this week.”

They’ll travel to the Quad Cities this weekend for another 36 hole tournament, played over two days…on two different courses.

“We feel like we can score well on both courses this weekend,” said McNamara. “Each player has something to work on. Some need some swing consistency and for others it’s the mental focus. With just a couple of adjustments, we think we’ll be able to lower our scores. Everyone knows what they need to work on.”

EMERGING STARS

Behind every dark cloud lies a silver lining.

Volleyball coach Kari Shimmin is keeping that in mind after the Scots finished 2-2 at last weekend’s Grinnell Tournament. Shimmin was without the services of junior hitter Alyson Schroeter and senior setter Alexis Keller. Schroeter – out with an injury – could see action this weekend and Keller – taking academic exams (this is college, you know) – will return to the lineup for the two matches at Wheaton.

In their absence, the Scots have found a good setter-attacker combination in Megan Creen. Creen set in high school, but has been concentrating on hitting in college. The sophomore had a stellar tournament, serving up 41 assists (regular setter Laura Anton had 57) and recording a team-high 38 kills with a team-best .326 kill percentage. She and Chelsey Widdop were named to the all-tournament team as the Scots dropped Rockford in five sets, Mt. St. Vincent in three and fell in three to William Penn and conference foe Grinnell.

“I think we’ll play Grinnell differently when we meet them over there in a couple of weeks,” predicted Shimmin. “We’ll have Alyson and Alexis back by then and that will make a difference. This was a good test for our freshmen to play in the Grinnell gym in front of their crowd.”

Freshman Claire Hermie got a tall assignment – literally – in the Grinnell match: block 6-foot-0 middle hitter Claire Reeder. Reeder just happens to be the Pioneers’ leading attacker with 40 more kills than her nearest competitor.

The Scots’ rookie accounted for six blocks in the match and recorded nine against Rockford. She led the team with 22 blocks over the span of the four matches.

“Claire blocked really well all weekend long,” said Shimmin. “She’s still working on her offensive attack.”

Widdop honed her attack at Monmouth’s own tournament two weeks ago and last weekend, added more weapons to her arsenal.

“Chelsey seems like she’s involved in nearly every play,” said Shimmin. “She’s always active whether she’s passing, blocking or attacking. She also got us some points off her serves.”

The young Scots are also getting plenty of help from the entire lineup. Of the 10 healthy players on last weekend’s roster, all 10 saw action in each match.

“Everybody understands their role and their importance to the team,” reported Shimmin. “This team has really come together since our opening match against Cornell.”

The Scots, who dropped a three set decision to Lincoln Christian on Tuesday, have just one weekend left before they jump into conference play.

“This will be a tough weekend,” claimed Shimmin. “We’ll be facing some good non-conference teams. This should really help us next week when we open conference play.”

Not only do the Scots open conference play next week at home, they should also have a full roster of healthy players…and some emerging stars.

TOURNAMENT TESTED

The women’s tennis team took last weekend off from competition – sort of.

Patrick Montgomery took his team to the Quincy Invitational where team scores didn’t count, only individual results were recorded. All things considered, it looked like a pretty good week for the Fighting Scots who recorded their first win of the season Thursday.

The Scots’ first win of the season couldn’t have come at a better time, a 9-0 decision in conference play over Illinois College on Thursday. For the second week in a row, Amy Unzicker at No. 1 singles was involved in the day’s longest match, a three-set marathon win.

Ironically, Unzicker – a tennis/soccer athlete – faced her IC counterpart, Candace Norville who is also a tennis/soccer combo athlete. Unzicker got the better of Norville on the court, but it wasn’t easy in a 5-7, 6-0, 10-7 win.

“It was another tough one for Amy,” said Montgomery of the day’s longest match. “I think Amy and Candace had a bit of camaraderie going with both of them being soccer players as well. It was a challenging match, but Amy is a smart player and adapted her game accordingly. It took her a set to figure that out.”

That was about the only challenge the Scots had in playing the short-staffed Lady Blues. Monmouth swept the doubles competition and rolled in singles. No. 2 Kimi Wegner, No. 3 Nicole Anson and No. 4 Kiah Henry cruised to wins without dropping a game. Sarah McLinden, bumped up to No. 5, posted a 6-1, 6-1.

“I was pleased with the way we played, especially our freshmen,” praised Montgomery. “We moved a couple of people up because of an injury and they stepped up. It’s always nice to get that first win.”

While team scores didn’t count at the Quincy tournament, it was a valuable weekend for the Scots.

Playing at No. 1 singles, Unzicker advanced to the finals before falling. Kimi Wegner at No. 2 took fourth. The pair won the No. 1 doubles consolation bracket. Anson and Henry took seventh in the No. 2 bracket.

“It was good for Amy and Kimi to see some different players,” said Montgomery. “We saw different styles of play and some NAIA and Division II players. I told the women I just wanted them to focus on their game, it’s all about getting better as an individual. It was a good learning experience for all the women.”

Perhaps no one learned more than sophomore Julie Battcher. Battcher was called into duty in doubles play when two teams dropped from the tournament and the remaining teams chipped in a player each to form another full team. Battcher was teamed with Caitlin Lamkin of Westminster at No. 3 doubles. That could be quite an adjustment, teaming with a new partner with no practice time together…and meeting for the first time.

They must have jelled rather quickly. The tandem played well enough to finish seventh. As luck would have it, the mixed-team doubles played a familiar opponent in the seventh place game – familiar, at least, to Battcher – the Scots regular No. 3 team of Rachel Bognar and Kayla Seyller.

So did Battcher talk trash during the match and on the way home?

“Absolutely,” responded Montgomery to the obvious question. “She really enjoyed that experience and I think she may keep reminding Bogie and Kayla.”

Montgomery is hoping his team keeps reminding themselves of the lessons they learned last weekend as they prepare for the final half of the season.

“Everyone, especially the freshmen learned a lot at Quincy,” said Montgomery. “Kiah and Nicole made some great strides in their games. They played some high quality opponents and that will only make us better.”

The Scots could see the fruits of last weekend when they travel to Knox for a non-conference matchup today. They’ll then take a week off before heading to conference favorite Grinnell next Friday.

A HAPPY GUY

You might get an argument from the men’s soccer team, but coach George Perry is a happy guy these days.

Despite a 1-3-0 record in the early season, the Scots’ have played well, falling by just one goal in each of the last two games. A 2-1 overtime loss to Cornell on Sunday and a 1-0 defeat by the University of Dubuque Tuesday reflected the improvements the team has made – not only this year, but over Perry’s four years leading the Scots.

“I’m very happy with the progress we’re making,” said Perry. “We’ve had a lot of good sequences and possessions leading toward good shots on goal. We just need to cleanup that last touch or pass to get better chances on goal to finish it off.”

It’s not like the team hasn’t had their chances. The Scots outshot Cornell 34-8, but the Rams made the most of their tries, putting two of their four shots on goal in the back of the net.

“I felt like the second half of the Cornell game, the first seven minutes of the first overtime and the first six minutes of the second overtime were some of the best soccer we’ve played since I’ve been here,” praised Perry.

Of course, it wouldn’t have gone the extra sessions if not for junior defender Garrett White’s game-tying goal in the 89th minute. Danny Davis hit Daniel Medina’s corner kick to the back post and White took care of the rest. Did we mention that was White’s first career goal?

While White used his foot to actually put the ball in the goal, he used his head to set up his opportunity.

“Right before it happened, Garrett yelled over to me if we wanted everyone forward,” reported Perry. “I said ‘Yes,’ and Garrett put himself in the box and did a good job of finishing it off nicely.”

Not bad for a guy not normally that close to the goal on corner kicks, but that’s the way Perry likes it.

“That’s the whole idea with soccer,” said Perry in referring to White’s query of positioning for the kick. “It’s primarily for the players to play and run the game. The coaches observe and see how the game flows and to send in the occasional play. It’s all about the players making good choices. It’s good to see we’re beginning to mature as a team that way.”

The Scots made plenty of good choices in overtime firing seven shots in the extra session, many from point blank range, but couldn’t get any past the Rams’ ‘keeper.

“I know we don’t have a statistic to back it up, but I feel like we’ve already had more good scoring chances this season than we did the entire season last year,” said Perry.

Just for fun, the Scoop checked what stats WERE available – and while there is no listing of “Good Scoring Chances” there is “Shots on Goal.” In that category, the Scots have put 36 shots on target through the first four games. In last year’s 18-game season, the Scots put 70 shots on goal. That seems to back up Perry’s theory of more quality chances.

Monmouth didn’t face any easier task Tuesday hosting Dubuque. The Spartans entered the game with a 4-1-1 record and had the edge statistically, but was only able to muster one goal.

“Dubuque is one of the stronger teams we play,” claimed Perry. “We play these types of teams to prepare us for conference play. We again came out and played some of the best soccer since I’ve been here. Defensively, the guys are playing very well. They’re making good choices and doing a much better job of getting the ball to the players in front of them.”

The back four defenders – Joe Howell, James Scimeca, Andrew Sheller and White – have stymied offenses for long stretches. They’ll have another challenge Friday at Illinois Wesleyan.

“We’ll face another strong team at Wesleyan,” said Perry. “Our goal is to do well in conference and Wesleyan is another team that will help us in the long run once we begin the conference schedule.”

Perry is hoping the “long run” includes postseason play…and that would make him a REALLY happy guy.

BASEBALL, AN INSIGHT TO SOCCER

Women’s soccer coach Barry McNamara is a big baseball fan (Cubs fan, actually, but we won’t go there), so it’s no surprise he uses baseball analogies to describe the season’s 1-4-0 start.

“It’s like a pitchers’ duel,” analyzed McNamara. “WE make a mistake and they hit a home run, THEY make a mistake and we hit a warning track fly.”

The Scots can take comfort that – like the men’s team – they’ve loaded their non-conference schedule with some powerful opponents in preparation for the start of the conference season next weekend. The last two teams the Scots faced – Elmhurst and the University of Dubuque – sport a combined 10-2-0 record and downed Monmouth 3-0 and 2-0, respectively.

The outside observer might simply look at the outcome and not look into the deeper meaning of the numbers.

“Fans might look at the scores and say we’re not very good,” said McNamara. “That’s not what I’m seeing. We’re very close to winning these games.”

Case in point: the Scots got a shot against Dubuque late in the game from 10 feet, but the Spartan’s 6-foot-0 ‘keeper just got a finger on it to sail it high of the goal. Senior defender Whitney Ott also fired a rocket from point blank range but came up empty. That’s been the scenario for the Scots in ’09.

“It’s not a case of we’re not talented enough to score,” said McNamara. “We made two mistakes on one play and they scored. It’s a combination of we’re making one or two miscues and not catching a break right now.”

Elmhurst took advantage of early Scots’ errors to score the first two of their three goals in the first five minutes last week before scoring the game’s only “quality” goal according to McNamara. But the Scots weren’t without their good looks on goal, either.

“We had three nice chances,” said McNamara. “We had one go off the post at close range. Again, we could have been right there.”

It’s not all been doom and gloom. Lauren Vana has been doing her best to break the Scots out of their slump, creating three of the Scots four good chances for score against Elmhurst.

“Lauren’s playing well,” praised McNamara. “Hillary Broms is also playing well, as we knew she would. Actually, everyone is playing well.”

That would include the goal keepers. Three year starter Sarah Wintersteen is being challenged by sophomore Katerina Meletis. Meletis, back from an injury her freshman year, has been sharing time in goal where each has posted respectable numbers.

For the Scots, it’s been a case of staying focused on the long term goal – a conference playoff berth in a very balanced conference.

“It looks like Carroll and St. Norbert may be at the top of the heap,” claimed McNamara. “After that, there are a bunch of teams in the mix. I believe more teams than ever will be fighting for the final playoff spots. We’re learning now what it’s going to take to beat those teams later.”

“Later” actually comes next weekend when the Scots open the MWC schedule at always tough Grinnell. They’ll have two non-conference games first – at home with Central Saturday and at Greenville next Thursday.

So, what does the coach tell his team in preparation for the conference season?

“I tell the women it’s been just a lot of little things adding up,” said McNamara of the team’s early struggles. “These are all fixable items, and these aren’t conference games. We’re still 0-0 in conference. Everything we’re doing and shooting for is related to conference, winning the conference tournament and going to the NCAA tournament.”

McNamara may want to draw inspiration from that great baseball philosopher Yogi Berra who once said “It’s not over ‘til it’s over.”

ALMOST

Three sport athlete Tanesha Hughes came close, but wasn’t able to duplicate the feat of her basketball coach Melissa Bittner.

Hughes was named one of the 30 semifinalists for the NCAA’s prestigious Woman of the Year award – the same award Bittner was up for in 2003. Bittner not only won the Illinois competition, she was also named a top 10 finalist that year.

It was almost a repeat for Monmouth this year. Hughes was named to the field of 30 semifinalists following her selection to represent the Midwest Conference in the competition which awards points on academics and community service as well as athletic success.

The NCAA, Wednesday, announced the field of nine finalists – three from each of the three NCAA Divisions. Finalists are

·         Amanda Blumenherst (Duke, golf)Ashleigh Clare-Kearney (LSU, gymnastics)

·         Julia Hopson (Fredonia State, track and field)

·         Dani Huffman (Emory, volleyball)

·         Venessa Lee (Pittsburg State, cross country/track and field)

·         Tracy Menzel (Kenyon, swimming and diving)

·         Lacey Nymeyer (Arizona, swimming and diving)

·         Ashley Puga (Northwest Nazarene, cross country/track and field)

·         Kathleen Tafler (Grand Valley State, soccer)

While not in the field of nine, Hughes will be among the 30 women honored at the awards banquet in Indianapolis on Oct. 18.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Thurs., Sept. 17
Men’s Golf – at Scot-Fire-Viking Classic, Aledo, Ill., 1:00 pm
Women’s Tennis – at Knox, 3:30 pm 

Fri., Sept. 18
Men’s Soccer – at Illinois Wesleyan, 7:30 pm 

Sat., Sept. 19
Football – hosts Beloit, 1:00 pm
Women’s Soccer – hosts Central, 1:00 pm
Volleyball – at Wheaton Quad, 10:00 am
Women’s Golf – at St. Ambrose Invitational

Sun., Sept. 20
Women’s Golf – at St. Ambrose Invitational  

Wed., Sept. 23
Men’s Soccer – hosts Central, 4:00 pm  

SCOTSIVATIONAL

“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no help at all.” – Dale Carnegie