In the final baseball games played at Russ Carr Field before major renovation begins this fall, Westmont (9-33, 8-30) split a doubleheader with Vanguard (17-30, 8-27), taking the second game 4-1 after falling in the first 7-5. Senior pitcher Brandon Downs earned the win for Westmont in game two, pitching six innings in the seven inning game and giving up just one run on seven hits. Downs struck out three and walked two. Senior John Evans earned a save by pitching the seventh inning. He allowed just one hit and struck out one.

“It wanted to come out on senior day and do the best I could. It’s the last time I get to play and I wanted to give everything I had,” said Downs. “I was trying to make sure I didn’t get behind hitters and end up walking people. I was trying to get ahead and get them to ground out for me.”

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Sophomore Kasey Kearin won the Golden State Athletic Conference women’s long jump championship, and several members of the Westmont Track and Field team qualified for the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the GSAC Track and Field Championships in Azusa.

“Kasey is the first women’s long jump GSAC Champion in Westmont history,” said head coach Russell Smelley. “She also set the school record by jumping more than a foot farther than she had before.”

After fouling on her first two attempts, Kearin jumped 5.23 meters (17 feet 2 inches) to qualify for the finals. On her second jump in the finals, Kearin nailed 5.80 meters (19 feet one-half inch) to claim the win. The mark is good enough for automatic qualification in the national championships. Kearin also posted an automatic qualifying mark of 11.49 meters (37 feet 8.5 inches) in the triple jump where she placed third.

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Westmont Baseball put together 12 hits against San Diego Christian in the first game of a doubleheader while starter Eric Gaustad held the Hawks scoreless for seven innings. But it was not quite enough as San Diego Christian came back with one in the eight and four in the ninth to claim a 5-4 win. The Hawks took the second game as well, winning by a score of 2-0 in seven innings.

Westmont took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning of game one when freshman first baseman Colten Christianson connected on an RBI-double to left field which scored freshman center fielder Taylor Maddox from third. Maddox had reached base when he singled to first with one away. After advancing to second on a balk, Maddox took third base on a groundout by freshman third baseman Jordan Bottenfield.

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Twelve student-athletes were honored on Thursday night at the Fourteenth Golden Eagle Award Dinner held at Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort. Referred to as the ‘best night of the year for Westmont Athletics,’ the event is sponsored by the Pacific Beverage Company and Pete and Gerd Jordano.

“It’s even better than our 28-point win over Azusa Pacific,” said associate athletic director and head women’s basketball coach Kirsten McKnight in welcoming the 125 attendees.

Westmont athletic director Dave Wolf served as master of ceremonies for the event and noted that the Westmont staff of head coaches tallied a combined 114 years of experience and that for seven of the coaches, their entire head coaching experience has been at Westmont.

Seniors Kyle Godfrey and Ryan Shultz led Westmont men’s tennis to a 7-2 victory over Chapman (6-11) in the Warriors’ final dual match of the year. Godfrey won at number one singles, defeating Cliff Yook 6-2, 6-3.

“I got a big lead in the first set and got a couple of other breaks and rode with the early momentum,” said Godfrey. “I was feeding off the energy of the matches next to me. Aaron (Cooke) was rolling very quickly and Ryan was playing really well. I was serving well today. When I am serving well it picks the rest of my game up and gives me a lot of confidence.”

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John Moore, head coach for Westmont men’s basketball has announced the signing of Chris Jackson of Campbell, California to play for the Warriors beginning this fall. Jackson, who played for Foothill Community College in Los Altos Hills the last two seasons, is an alumnus of Archbishop Mitty in San Jose. In his senior year of high school, Jackson helped lead his team to the CIF Central Coast Section championship game.

“C.J. is a very special player,” said Moore. “I’m careful using that term and don’t use it frequently. He is the kind of guy who will make this team a whole lot better because he makes the easy plays look easier and he makes the hard plays look regular.”

A skilled ball handler, Jackson posted an assist-to-turnover ration of 2.49. He led the state at the junior college level in steals (3.1 per game) and was second in assists (7.1 per game.).

With the overall match tied at four, Westmont juniors Kristen Lee and Christina Klein pulled off a come-from-behind win at number three doubles to secure a 5-4 victory over #13 Point Loma Nazarene (8-12, 4-5 GSAC) on Saturday afternoon at Russ Carr Field. The win over the Sea Lions was the second of the year for the #16 Warriors who improved to 10-10 overall and 4-5 in Golden State Athletic Conference play. The victory could help secure a place for the Warriors in the upcoming NAIA National Women’s Tennis Tournament next month in Mobile, Alabama.

“Even though we played with a lot of nerves, this team showed maturity by resisting succumbing to their nervousness,” said Kathy LeSage, the very delighted head coach.

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Senior Kyle Godfrey and freshman Aaron Cooke earned wins at number one and two singles respectively, but it was not enough as Westmont Men’s Tennis (5-12, 1-7) fell to #11 Point Loma Nazarene (9-9, 3-5) on Saturday at Westmont’s Abbott Tennis Courts.

Godfrey claimed the first set 7-5 over Point Loma’s Joel Myers and then was awarded the victory when Myers retired. Cooke battled to a 7-6 victory in his first set against Curt Wheeler, winning the tiebreaker 7-5. In the second set, Wheeler came back for a 6-4 win. That sent the number two singles match into a super-breaker which Cooke won 10-5.

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