The Sports Information Office at Westmont has picked up several awards from the NAIA Sports Information Directors Association (NAIA-SIDA) for its 2005-06 media guide publications. Entries are submitted and judged in several categories based on the sports which are covered by each publication.

In the women’s basketball brochure category, the Warrior media guide took top honors while finishing in second place for men’s basketball. Westmont also earned second place in the “multi-sport” category for its men’s and women’s soccer media guide. Westmont’s baseball media guide placed fourth while the volleyball guide tied for sixth place with Lubbock Christian.

Recent Westmont graduate Nathan Fleming has been named by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) as a 2005-06 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American. Fleming, a two-time NAIA All-American and school record-holder in the javelin, was named to the first team of the college division for track and field/cross country. He is the third athlete in Warrior history and the first from Track and Field to receive the competitive Academic All-American honor.

The college division is open to track and field athletes from all NCAA Division II and III schools, as well as NAIA schools. To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.

Head coach Jim Smoot has announced the signing of six new players to the Westmont volleyball squad. Sophomore Laura Trudelle of Portola Valley will join freshmen Jenise DeBie of Paramount, Beth Widicus of Coto de Caza, Katelyn Lowry of Menifee, Tara Trimble of Greenwood Village, Colorado and Stephanie Dunn of Makawao, Hawaii for the 2006 campaign.

“It’s a pretty good recruiting class,” said Smoot. “Obviously we have increased our height and everybody has the ability to come in and start right away. It’s going to make for a very competitive situation in practice.”

Westmont women’s basketball coach Kirsten McKnight has announced the signing of 5’ 8” guard Kerri Reyes of Las Vegas, Nevada and Brittany Crawford of Irvine, California

“Ever since I met Kerry,” said McKnight, “the thing I have been most excited about is her desire to push herself hard enough to succeed at whatever level she is competing. She has a great will to win and drive to succeed and reach her dreams. One of her dreams has been to play basketball in college.”

Westmont women’s soccer head coach Rebecca Mouw has released the 2006 schedule and announced five new recruits set to join the team this fall. Among the entering freshmen are two local high school players, Caitlin McDermott of Santa Barbara and Brenna Zimmerman of San Marcos. Both were All-CIF Southern Section Division II first team selections.

“If I had to pick one word to describe Caitlin,” said Mouw, “it would be ‘gamer’. She is competitive and when it comes down to the wire, she will do whatever it takes to get the job done. Whether it’s going up front and scoring goals, getting an assist on an overtime goal, or stepping in the goal during a shoot out, she can do whatever needs to be done to win. That classifies a Westmont women’s soccer player.”

[2006 schedule]

“Connections” seems to be the theme for the Westmont men’s basketball recruiting season. Head Coach John Moore has pulled upon his vast network of friends, family and alums to sign five recruits for the 2006-07 season.

The list of recruits includes Andrew Schmalbach (6-3) of St. Joseph’s High School in Santa Maria - the Santa Barbara County Player of the Year. “Andrew came to several of our games last season beginning with our exhibition against UC Santa Barbara,” said Moore. “[Assistant coach] Rob Goodrow did a great job of staying close to Andrew and Rob’s dad probably went to every one of Andrew’s conference games.”

By Kevin Kihlstrom
Sports Information Intern

Anna Gropp, Westmont Women’s soccer standout, and Anna Stumbo, Westmont Women’s Cross Country sensation were honored at the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Hall of Fame Banquet. They were honored as college division athletes of the year for their respective sports.

Anna Gropp, a junior for the Westmont midfield has been very important for the team and will be serving as a captain next year. Coach Rebecca Mouw said, “She is a very strong leader on and off the field.” While playing she is very vocal which is a great attribute for a person playing center midfield. Mouw added, “She does a good job holding her teammates accountable to work hard in everything they are doing.”