Westmont men’s and women’s cross country had a good day at the Willamette Invitational in Salem, Oregon today. The men’s squad finished second out of 31 teams while the women took ninth place out of a field of 32.

Junior All-American Aaron Megazzi placed tenth, finishing the 8000 meter course in a time of 24:49.00. Senior Robby Cherry was just eleven seconds back (24:58.50) to claim fourteenth place. Senior Caleb Ambrose scored in the thirty-second position with a time of 25:24.65.

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Westmont men’s tennis competed in their only fall outing of the year, traveling to San Diego to take part in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Region Championships.

In the men’s singles tournament, senior Burke Marold reached the quarterfinals before losing to Anthony Zafries of Fresno Pacific (6-4, 6-1). Marold was three and one in the tournament, defeating Rusty Leach of Vanguard (6-0, 6-2), Cassidy Crall of Point Loma Nazarene (6-2, 6-4) and Ignacio Guerrero of Hope International (6-3, 6-4).

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Second ranked Fresno Pacific, proved to have a little too much fire power as the Sunbirds (15-0, 8-0) swept the Warrior volleyball squad in three games (30-22, 30-14, 30-27). Westmont falls to 5-7 overall and 3-5 in conference play with the loss.

Westmont made it interesting in the first and third game, but couldn’t quite pull of the victory. Senior Kelsey Voetmann and freshmen Katie Lowry and Stephanie Dunn, produced back-to-back-to-back kills to start the match and the Warriors held an early 10-5 lead. But Fresno Pacific battled back, eventually tying the match at 15 each and then scoring 15 of the next 22 points.

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Honoring athletes from different eras, Westmont Athletics inducted three individuals into the Hall of Fame on Friday night – Bill Bakley, Dan Heinrichs and Justin Wall.

Bakley, a Westmont decathlete from the early 1970s was presented by legendary track and field coach Jim Klein who guided the track and field program from 1960-1977 establishing an impressive tradition of excellence.

“Bill came to Santa Barbara and visited both UC Santa Barbara and Westmont,” reported Klein. “Without the scholarships we were able to offer, Bill would have gone to UCSB.”

Twentieth ranked Westmont men’s soccer opened the Golden State Athletic Conference season with a 2-1 loss at #16 Concordia (6-2, 1-0) on Wednesday. The Warriors lone goal came in the sixth minute of play.

“Jon Schoff sent a shot across the face of the goal,” reported Warrior head coach Dave Wolf. “The keeper got a hand on it but couldn’t quite get it under control. Johnny (Alcaraz) was there to put it away.”

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Sophomore Laura Trudelle posted 15 kills and 19 service receptions to lead Westmont Volleyball to a three game sweep over the visiting Mustangs of The Master’s College (5-11, 2-5) at Murchison Gymnasium. The victory was important for the Warriors in their quest to return to post season play.

“We play in a conference where Biola is nineteenth ranked in the country and will battle for fifth or sixth place,” said head coach Jim Smoot. “We’re battling with The Master’s, Vanguard and Hope International for seventh place and the final spot in the Regional playoffs. So, tonight’s match definitely had playoff implications. Hopefully we are going to build on this win and challenge some of those teams above us for a higher spot.”

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It wasn’t the way they wanted to start the Golden State Athletic Conference schedule, but #7 Westmont women’s soccer (5-3, 0-1) suffered a 3-2 loss to the Eagles of Concordia (5-3-1, 1-0-0) this afternoon in Irvine.

“We didn’t play well in the first half and found ourselves down 3-0 just after the start of the second half,” said head coach Rebecca Mouw. “I’m proud of the way we played in the second half – it was a hundred times better. But we have to play that way the whole game. We need to have a sense of urgency in the first half.”

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Westmont volleyball (4-6, 2-4) struggled against the nineteenth ranked Eagles of Biola (9-5, 3-3) in La Mirada this evening and suffered a three game loss (30-20, 30-19, 31-29). Game one began with a see-saw battle which saw the Warriors take an 11-9 lead. But an eight-to-one run by Biola put the Eagles in charge and the Warriors were unable to recover.

The second game was also close early. Down 5-6, Biola scored seven of the next nine points to go up 12-8. With that, the Eagles took control and a two-game-to-none advantage.

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