Everything seemed to conspire against the Warriors today at the Abbott Tennis Courts on the Westmont campus. The women’s tennis team was forced to play without Lorelei Belindean, the number one singles player, causing everyone to move up one notch. Westmont battled hard, but in the end, California Baptist (7-5, 5-5) pulled off a 7-2 upset of the #18 Warriors (6-6, 4-4).

In doubles play, senior Jenny Renfer and freshman Kristen Lee picked up a point for the Warriors at number one with an 8-5 win over Christina Lee and Chisato Imai. At number two, the Lancer’s Mallory Bailey and Dunya Wren defeated sophomores Gillian Ayres and Jennie Dunn by the same margin. Sarah Majors and Raphaela Jann also picked up an 8-5 victory over freshmen Christina Klein and Harmony Jones. Jones was playing in place of Belindean.

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After winning two of three doubles matches, Westmont men’s tennis (5-8) swept all six singles contest to post an 8-1 victory over the Mustangs of Western New Mexico (4-8) on Tuesday afternoon at the Abbott Tennis Courts. Due to spring break and a rain out on March 11, the match was the first played by the Warriors in 12 days.

Sophomore Eric Kinsey and junior Ryan Warner made quick work of their number two doubles opponents, defeating Rene Magaña and Emmanuel Hecher 8-0. “I just wanted to get to soccer practice,” quipped Warner who also plays on the Westmont men’s soccer team.

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Aaron Megazzi (far right) receiving NAIA All-American Honors.

Sophomore Aaron Megazzi finished in fifth place in the men’s 3000 meter finals at the NAIA National Championships in Johnson City, Tennessee to earn NAIA All-American Honors. Megazzi finished the race with a time of 8:30.19, which was 6.36 seconds better than his time in yesterday’s semifinal heat.

“It went out about the pace I thought it would, not too hard not too slow,” reported Megazzi. “I just got in with the front pack where I needed to be. It started to gap out and the two top guys broke away. That left me with two other guys which was good because it gave me someone to go off of. Later in the race I tried to push it and pass them and make my move, but I didn’t quite have it. I think the low mileage I have been getting lately didn’t allow me to drop the hammer on them.” Megazzi’s training has been limited due to recovery from injury.

Westmont’s 4 X 800 men’s relay team finished just one place out of earning All-American status in Friday’s finals at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships. The Warriors were in fifth place just 140 meters out, but finished in seventh in a time of 7:50.16. The top six teams are named All-Americans.

“I thought we had it,” said junior Ryan Borger who ran the first leg. “The Cornerstone guy had a great final leg.” Cornerstone moved from seventh into sixth in the final half lap. “It’s hard to go from thinking you are an All-American on the podium and 20 seconds later that guy has closed the gap and passed.”

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Westmont men’s 4 x 800 relay team placed fourth in the first heat to qualify for tomorrow night’s finals at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Johnson City, Tennessee. The 4 x 800 team consists of junior Ryan Borger, who held the lead in the first leg of the race, sophomores Robby Cherry and Jeff Thompson, who ran legs two and three respectively, and freshman Craig Donnelly who served as anchor.

The Warriors finished behind Oklahoma Baptist (7:51.53), Cornerstone of Michigan (7:51.66) and Warner Southern of Florida (7:52.72). Virginia Intermont (7:46.37) won the second heat followed by Azusa Pacific (7:48.84), Siena Heights of Michigan (7:49.08) and Oklahoma Christian (7:51.30). Five teams, including Concordia (Calif.) did not advance to the finals.

Ten Warriors will head off to Johnson City, Tennessee this week to compete in eight events at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships. The events will be held at the Memorial Center on the campus of East Tennessee State University, March 9-11.

Westmont will enter men’s relay teams in the 3200 Relay and the Distance Medley Relay. The 3200 Relay team, made up of junior Ryan Borger, sophomores Robby Cherry and Jeff Thompson, and freshman Craig Donnelly, will race first for the Warriors with the trials taking place at 5:15 p.m. (EST) on Thursday. The DMR team of freshman Andrew Dixon, senior Matt Kaddatz, Borger and junior Caleb Ambrose, will compete in the semifinals two hours later at 7:15 p.m.

The Warriors gave second rated and undefeated California Baptist a run for their money, but lost the second game of a doubleheader to the Lancers by a score of 10-7 after dropping the first 9-2. Westmont senior catcher Dominick Paluso hit two-run home runs in both the first and fifth innings of the second game to record a two-for-three performance at the plate and record four RBIs.

Sophomore John White started at pitcher for the Warriors and worked five and one-third innings.

“When we have White on the hill, we feel confident even against an undefeated team,” said head coach Rob Crawford. “We took the lead and thought, ‘this is it.’ We produced well. We didn’t have a lot of hits, but we took advantage of the walks. We moved guys over, manufactured three runs and executed well.”

[game 1 box] [game 2 box]