Pio ultimate squad surges
by Jeff Auxier
While traditional sports reap the majority of the press, Lewis & Clark College's Ultimate Frisbee team may be the College's most popular. It may also be one of its best.
For many reasons, Ultimate Frisbee at LC has grown to be one of the campus' most popular athletic endeavors. The coed team is open to all willing participants, and Milwaukee's Best Ice lines the sidelines for thirsty players.
The team name, Bacchus, honors the Greek God of wine, and jerseys advertise the Fulton Pub, the team's sponsor.
Furthermore, within the group's laid-back exterior lies one of the most powerful ultimate squads in the Northwest. Noah David and Nick Heppenstall are just two members of a solid core of juniors that, when combined with freshmen Patrick Law and Courtney Dale, make up the backbone of a team predicted to win this year's sectional finals.
"We've got the right players," said David. "We just got to have everybody giving their all."
Earlier this season the team overwhelmed competitors at the Reed Tournament and brought home the first place trophy. They were also crowned champions at the Linfield Halloween Tournament this past Fall.
Bacchus stays competitive against bigger teams with a combination of quickness and skill.
"Our team is based around speed and finesse, rather than height and strength," said David.
Bacchus' success is also due to a secret faculty connection. Watzek reference librarian Dan "DK" Kelley has become Bacchus' spiritual guide on the road to flying-disc fame.
Kelley, a veteran of top-flight national-caliber teams, occasionally drops by practices to give pointers.
"He knows everything about the game," said David.
LC's Bacchus will compete at the college sectionals in Corvallis April 13 and 14. The sectional champion will play in Santa Cruz, California.
Softball keeps focus, despite rain
by Jeff Auxier
This coming week will be a decisive one for Pio softball, as the team tries to maintain focus after a weeklong weather-induced hiatus.
The 2002 softball squad started the season with a pair of doubleheader victories against George Fox College, losses to Eastern Oregon University and St. Martin's College, and two doubleheader splits against Whitworth College.
Since then rain, the kryptonite of all Northwest diamond sports, has caused the postponement of four games and banished the squad to practices in the Pamplin gymnasium.
The transition from competitive games to indoor confinement has been a challenge for the Pioneers.
"The essence of the game is being dirty all the time. That's what I hate about the gym," said Jaymie Cox, sophomore first baseman.
Nevertheless, the team recognizes they must be prepared for the next two weeks. The Pioneers will have to make up the cancelled contests in addition to the games already on the schedule.
The result is a 17-game stretch played in 14 days. The team is excited about this season, despite the coming onslaught.
"I think this team can beat anyone we face," said Jennifer Piper, the team's first-year coach.
Piper has been pleased with her player's performances so far this season. Kyra Rohner, senior catcher, has been consistent at the plate with .296 average. She has also connected for the team's only triple.
The play of Kayla Bewersdorff, freshman second baseman, and Kim McBride, a junior utility player, has also been a surprise. Despite having just two weeks of preparation after their basketball seasons, the hoop stars have proven themselves valiant at the plate. McBride leads the team with a .438 batting average and Bewersdorff is the team leader in runs batted in.
"They haven't had much time, but they've stepped into their roles and played great," said Piper. "They've came up to the plate and made some clutch plays for us."
The role of Jauna Williams, senior pitcher on this year's softball team may say it all. Although every member of the Pioneers has a big role in the squad's success, there may be no player with more on her shoulders than Williams. Injuries have left Williams as the team's only ace. Alone on the mound, much of the Pioneers' success in the upcoming softball marathon relies on the strength of the all-conference pitcher's arm.
"I just got to stay tough for my team and do my job," said Williams.
The Pioneers' head to Orange, California this Sunday for eight games in the Sun West Tournament, and play Willamette Friday, March 29 in Salem. Their next home game is at noon on Saturday, March 30, against the same team.
Mietus introduces the Cell Phone Posse
by John Mietus
As many of you may already know, Michael Kirkham, freshman, is the proud owner of one bright red 1966 Ford Mustang.
Be careful how you refer to Mike's car, because if, for instance, you call it a Camaro or a Thunderbird or, best yet, an IROC, you are sure to be on the receiving end of the "Mustang Lecture".
Mike of course means well and actually has come to accept that people are going to mislabel his car once in a while, but the fact remains that underneath the courteous exterior lies a volcano waiting to erupt.
Mike has become the focal point of a group known as Camaro Mike and the Cell Phone Posse. This group of individuals, including Nate Kabanuck, sophomore, Josh Green, sophomore, and Adam Merino, freshman, can be seen sitting together frequently in the Bon, walking through lower campus, or even out in the Portland club scene.
To fully understand this group, we must understand each of the individuals involved.
Have you been to the weight room lately? Are you a rat ball regular in the gym? If so you probably have seen Kabanuck from time to time.
Nate has become the miniature Arnold Swarzenneger of our campus, spending countless hours in the gym toning the rippling ship of desire he calls a body.
The way to spot Kabanuck is to look for the cutoff Tommy Hilfiger T-shirt that he proudly dons upon entering the weight room. The shirt that appears to be slightly too small for him.
If you want to meet Nate all you have to do is shout, "Hey McGrath!" in his general direction. Kabanuck has been aptly nicknamed McGrath due to his obvious resemblance to the very sexy leader of the band Sugar Ray.
The third member of the group, Green, has a much more relaxed approach to LC than Kabanuck. An avid video game fan, Green may appear to have anything but school on his mind.
However this has recently changed as Green has become a fixture on the Lewis & Clark library scene. Whether this is a full time switch to the more studious lifestyle remains to be seen.
The final posse member, Adam Merino, has matured into his own man during the course of the year. At the beginning of the year, many members of the basketball team were skeptical of Merino, believing they had seen a second coming of Kabanuck.
However, Merino has separated himself from this longstanding tradition by openly criticizing the behavior of other Cell Phone Posse members. In particular, Merino disdains the way Kabanuck and Kirkham refer to each other by the cute nicknames "Pizzle" and "Dizzle", respectively.
"Are we in college? Well are we?" asks Merino.
As in any great posse, the sum of Camaro Mike and the Cell Phone Posse is better than its parts. With that in mind I decided to interview this mysterious group as a whole. The following is what transpired:
J.M.- Did Josh look like Ludacris with his hair in cornrows?
C.P.P.- Either Ludacris or Snoop Dogg
J.M.- Better band: Radiohead or The Strokes?
C.P.P.- Who?
J.M.- Better looking actress: Claire Forlani or Jennifer Connelly?
C.P.P.- What the fuck?
J.M.- Who is the leader of the group?
C.P.P.- Get out of here clown!
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Sports facilities to develop
by Liz Hummer
Ever wonder where our baseball and softball teams play? And what about the track team? Why don't we ever have a home track meet?
These, and many more pressing questions, can be answered by examining the extent of Lewis & Clark College's athletic facilities, and what future development and renovation plans are in the works.
LC's sports facilities presently consist of Pamplin Sports Center, Zehntbauer Swimming Pavilion, Griswold Stadium, Huston Sports Complex, the tennis dome, estate courts, and the sailing dock for the crew team.
Sounds like a lot, right? But we're still missing some things, like a racquetball court that was lost to the heating and cooling plant, and a throwing field that was paved over for a parking lot.
The latter is the main reason why fans can't ever root for the track team at home.
Steve Wallo, LC's Athletic Director, said, "Probably the biggest thing that's missing right now for intercollegiate sports is throwing space for track and field."
The College hopes to fill this void by building a large throwing field at the Huston Sports Complex. This site now consists of only baseball and softball fields, but several more acres are available for development.
The large field would not only serve the throwers (and enable home track meets), but would be a multipurpose field for fall sports practices, such as soccer. Amenities, such as more parking and restrooms, will also need to be added.
Although this would be a workable situation for several years, the ultimate solution involves acquiring property just north of Griswold stadium.
The College's Master Plan includes developing 10-30 acres of that property into several large playing fields. This plan would center LC's sports facilities in one main area.
"Our needs are more square footage, and the College's Master Plan addresses that," Wallo said.
According to Wallo, however, legal, political, permitting, and financial restrictions mean this is a long term projection.
Lights for the football field, on the other hand, will come sooner.
"Installing lights is, essentially, equal to creating another field for intercollegiate sports," said Wallo.
The expanded available playing time could also mean room for a varsity women's soccer team.
Although there is no concrete date set for light installation, the plans to renovate the training room in Pamplin will commence this summer.
Wallo explained that athletes often skip treatment to avoid the overcrowded facility. The expansion of this space will ensure quality care for top athletic performance.
Although these three development plans top the list, Wallo cited many other projects the Athletic department would like to see happen, the most pressing of which is combining the crew space and sailing dock into one location on the same side of the river. An expanded women's locker room, more multipurpose space, and an indoor hitting cage are also forecasted. These last proposals could all be housed in a second gym, often called a field house, that could also include an indoor jogging track, racquetball courts, additional aerobic equipment, and a rock climbing wall.
"We're the only school in our conference that only has one gym," Wallo said.
Many of these wishes would be granted under the Master Plan, which is "just a matter of timing and prioritizing," he added.
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Editor-in-Chief
Erin Haick
News Editor
Joe Clock
Forum Editor
Clifton Fels
Features Editor
Liz Hummer & Jovanna Schussel
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Elizabeth Miller
Sports Editor
Jeff Auxier
Calendar Editor
Erin Haick
Senior Staff Writers
Liz Hummer
David Archer
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Copyright © Pioneer Log 2001
0615 SW Palatine Hill Road, Mailstop 121, Portland OR 97219.
Phone: 503-768-7146. Fax: 503-768-7130. E-mail: piolog@lclark.edu.
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Sports in brief
Upcoming Events
Track and field:
April 6 - Willamette Open, Willamette University.
March 25-26 - Linfield Decathlon/Heptathlon, Linfield College.
Softball:
March 24-27 - Sun West Tournament, Orange, CA.
March 30 - Willamette University, Huston Sports Complex.
Baseball:
March 23 - Linfield College, Linfield College.
March 24 - Linfield College, Huston Sports Complex.
Athletics quote of the week:
"We can't stand UW. They give a bad name to the sport. They're not out there to have fun, and they complain too much."
-Noah David, junior Ultimate Frisbee standout, letting his feelings be known about the University of Washington Frisbee team.
Hoops: Final Four dreams are over
by Zach Mann
To be the best you have to beat the best.
It just so happened that the best ended a courageous run at the NCAA Division III Sectional Championship in Wisconsin for the Lewis & Clark men's basketball team.
Reaching the Elite Eight after a convincing 78-71 win over Wisconsin Oshkosh, Carthage College, the number one-ranked team in the country grounded the high flying Pios 85-70 in the Sectional Championship game.
Carthage not only played this game on their home court but the previous one as well, leaving the arduous traveling to the Pioneers.
Having a season record of 29-1, the Redmen received their well deserved royal treatment.
With a victory the night before, the Pios had momentum and were thinking upset. The underdog Pioneers were unable to overcome a 37-34 halftime deficit and a strong push near the end by the Redmen.
After cutting the lead to five with just under three minutes to play, Carthage finished the game on a free-throw-plagued 12-2 run relinquishing any hopes of a comeback. Colin Oriard led the Pios with 20 points.
Scott Davis ended his hall of fame career with 16 points and John Mietus also added 16 points and 9 rebounds, a team high.
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