Head Coach Russell Smelley has been named the Golden State Athletic Conference Men’s Track and Field Co-Coach of the Year. The award, which he shares with Kevin Reid of Azusa Pacific, marks the second time Smelley has received GSAC coach of the year honors for track and field, having previously won for women’s track in 1996

“I thought it was a nice reflection of the athletes’ efforts,” said Smelley. “If athletes run fast, they give coaches awards sometimes. We scored in every event we entered [at the Golden State Athletic Conference Championships] except one.”

Fresno Pacific (17-23, 12-16) completed a two-game sweep of the Warriors last night with an 11-1 win at East Clovis High School. With the loss, Westmont Baseball falls to 7-35 overall and 3-25 in the Golden State Athletic Conference.

Freshman left-hander Jon Sakoda (0-2) took the loss for the Warriors. He faced 23 batters in four plus innings of work, giving up seven runs on nine hits. Junior Jamie Barth took the mound in relief, giving up three runs on three hits in one and one-third inning. Sophomore John Evans took the mound in the sixth inning, giving the Warriors one and two-thirds innings on the hill. Evans allowed two hits and one unearned run. Senior Zack Turner pitched a final scoreless inning for the Warriors, allowing one hit.

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Westmont Baseball posted five runs in the first inning but stranded eleven men on the base pads in a 12-5 loss to Fresno Pacific (16-23, 11-16). Kiel Zielke (2-5) took the loss for the Warriors in a rare night game. He give up seven runs on five hits in one and two-thirds innings of work.

Freshman second baseman Nate Shaver led off the top of the first inning and reached first base when he was hit by a pitch. Senior right fielder Darren Fouret ran the count full before earning a walk that advanced Shaver to second base. Sophomore first baseman Eric Gaustad stepped to the plate and belted an RBI single on an 0-1 pitch. Fouret advanced to third, giving Warriors runners on the corners with no outs.

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The #16 Westmont women’s tennis team (11-11, 9-9) concluded the regular season this afternoon with a home loss to #12 Point Loma Nazarene (13-6, 12-6). Despite a solid come-from-behind performance by Lorelei Belindean at number one singles, the visiting Sea Lions won the match 7-2.

Belindean dropped the first set 6-0 to Ashley Strimple but tied the match at a set apiece with a 6-3 win in set two.

“It was hard to get into the groove in the first set because I did not feel confident in my shots,” said Belindean. “I hesitated to go for winners and go for what I know how to do. I let her dictate the point. In the second set she definitely had issues with some of her ground strokes so I stepped up and won 6-3.”

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As a result of eleven rain outs this season, #18 Westmont Women’s Tennis (11-10, 9-8) found itself playing two conference matches on Tuesday. An 11:00 a.m. match in Fullerton against Hope International (3-19, 0-17) resulted in a 5-1 victory for the Warriors. But a 3:30 p.m. in Costa Mesa game did not go Westmont’s way as the Warriors fell to #3 Vanguard (18-4, 15-3) by a score of 8-1.

Westmont earned enough points in singles matches against Hope International to secure the win and avoid having to expend extra energy in doubles play. After dropping the first set 1-6, junior Lorelei Belindean came back in sets two and three 6-4, 6-1 to pick up a win over Azra Bogucanin at number one.

[Hope International results] [Vanguard results]

Junior Joshua Collins scored 5,211 points on Friday and Saturday to earn the Golden State Athletic Conference Championship in the decathlon at the GSAC Championships which were held at Point Loma Nazarene. Collins is the third Warrior to win the GSAC Championship. Josh Wyper earned the honor in 2000 and Marc Syverson won in 1996.

Freshman Brandon Woods took third in the decathlon with 4,964 points. Both Woods and Collins will have to wait and see whether their marks earn them a spot in the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships which will be held at the end of May in Fresno. Only the top 16 decathletes are invited to participate in the national competition. Both Woods’ and Collins’ marks were within the top sixteen totals in competitions completed before April 17.

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At the GSAC Track & Field Championships on Friday and Saturday, seniors Laura Drake and Jessica Goulder posted NAIA Outdoor National Championship automatic qualification marks in their events. The national championships will take place in Fresno at the end of May.

Drake earned a spot in the championships with a time of 57.23 and a second place finish in the 400 meters. She finished just 0.37 seconds out of first place which was won by Lorraine Swaby of Azusa Pacific.

Goulder posted a time of 37:57.7 in the 10,000 meter race to finish fourth and qualify for Nationals by beating the automatic qualifying mark by more the 45 seconds.

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Westmont Men’s Tennis closed out the 2006 campaign with a 5-4 victory over conference opponent Concordia on Saturday. The Warriors won four of six singles matches to post a 4-2 lead, and then picked up the final point at number two doubles.

For his victory in both singles and doubles, as well as outstanding play, head coach Chris Elwood named senior John Hilp player of the game in his final match as a Warrior. Hilp earned a 6-3, 7-6 (7) victory over Mike Redondo at number four singles.

Sophomore Kyle Godfrey won his tenth match of the season, best among Warriors, defeating Rudy Jimenez on court three by scores of 7-5, 7-5.

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