Lewis & Clark athletes excel

Put on your orange and black. These are exciting times for Pioneer athletics.

• The College added two new varsity sports—men’s and women’s crew— to its roster of team sports. March 31 was a historic day for the Lewis & Clark athletics department. The Men’s Varsity 8 won its first ever match against Willamette. The College’s crew teams competed, this spring, in five events, including the University of Washington Huskie Invitational and the Salem Governor’s Cup.

   

• Lewis & Clark’s men’s basketball team finished among the strongest in the nation, making it to the third round of the NCAA III Tournament.

  For the seventh time in eight years, the Pioneers qualified for the national championship tournament. Last winter marked the team’s second straight appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament.

  The Pioneers defeated Linfield College, 101-88, to garner the Northwest Conference Tournament Championship and an automatic berth in the nationals.

  Lewis & Clark faced Linfield and, again, defeated the Wildcats, 101-89, in the NCAA tournament.

  Lewis & Clark advanced farther in the NCAA tournament than at any other time in the team’s history. It pushed forward to the Sweet 16 before losing to the University of Chicago, 62-52. The Maroons were the No. 1 ranked team in the country at that time.

  With no seniors on the team and with every player returning next season, the Pioneers stand poised to make another championship run.

   

• If you walk the hallway of the Pamplin Sports Center, you will see the Wagon Wheel trophy. The football team earned this traveling award with a 33-30 victory over Willamette University last November. In keeping with a long-standing tradition, the trophy goes home with the winner of this annual rivalry.

   

• The softball team has won seven of 10 games, stands five games above .500 and will be making a run for first place in the NWC.

   

• Pioneer fans can expect the men’s and women’s track and field teams to compete for top honors in the Northwest Conference.

   

• The men’s cross-country team finished second in the Northwest Conference and fourth at the NCAA regional competition.

   

—by Tom Galbraith, sports information director