Men’s hoops knocks off No. 1 Rochester

The men’s basketball team had a huge weekend and are now right in the thick of the University Athletic Association race.

On Feb. 8, the men defeated the University of Rochester, 69-64, at the Field House. The Yellowjackets came into the game ranked No. 1 in the country, but strong bench play helped the Bears win. Junior Rob Keller scored a team-high 13 points, as did sophomore Mike Grunst, who added five blocks. The Bears’ bench held a 36-19 scoring advantage over Rochester.

Two days earlier, the Bears defeated Carnegie Mellon University, 98-88, at the Field House behind 23 points apiece from backcourt mates Barry Bryant and Scott Stone. All five starters scored in double-figures. The Bears are 15-5 overall and 7-2 in the UAA, just one game back of Rochester.

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The No. 10 women’s basketball team won two games and, more importantly, clawed its way back into first place in the UAA.

The Bears earned part of a four-way tie for first in the conference with a 72-66 win over No. 4 Rochester Feb. 8 at the Field House. Senior Lesley Hawley sparked the Bears to the win with a career-high 27 points. Junior Hallie Hutchens finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Washington U. positioned itself for that Feb. 8 showdown with an 80-40 win against Carnegie Mellon two days earlier. A balanced attack that featured four players in double figures proved to be too much for the Tartans. Freshman Sarah Schell netted 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field and four steals in just 12 minutes of play. Sophomore Kelly Manning finished with a game-high 17 points and Hawley added 13.

The track and field teams competed at the Illinois Wesleyan University Titan Open last weekend in Bloomington, Ill. The women placed fourth out of 12 teams, while the men took fifth out of 14 teams.

On the men’s side, seniors Ryker Jones and Conrad Warmbold tied for first in the pole vault, recording a UAA-best vault of 4.73 meters (15′-6 1/4″). The mark provisionally qualified both competitors for the NCAA Championships.

Senior Kammie Holt led the women with a conference-best 5.26 meters (17′-3 1/4″) mark in the long jump. Classmate Sarah Springer continued her dominance in the pole vault, notching a vault of 3.05 meters to take first place.

The men’s tennis team opened the season with a 6-1 loss to Division II Southwest Baptist University Feb. 7 at the Sport Vetta Hampshire Tennis Club. SBU captured the doubles points by winning the No. 1 and 2 doubles slots. Tim Fisher and Chris Kuppler teamed up to win No. 3 doubles, 8-4. In singles, Southwest Baptist won five of six matches. Eric Borden produced the lone win for the Bears at No. 6 singles as he posted a 6-2, 6-0 win over John Paden.

Assistant football coach Pedro Arruza was recently selected as the 2003 American Football Coaches Association Division III Assistant coach of the Year, as announced by the AFCA. A native of West Palm Beach, Fla., Arruza is in his fifth year at the University while serving as the defensive coordinator for the past three seasons.

Arruza also serves as the defensive backs coach and the strength and conditioning coordinator. During his five years, the Bears have posted a 34-17 overall record, won four UAA championships and made their first appearance in school history in the NCAA playoffs in 1999.

The Assistant Coach of the Year award was first presented in 1997 and was created to honor assistant coaches who excel in community service, commitment to the student-athlete, on-field coaching success and professional organization involvement.

Winners of the Assistant Coach of the Year award received a plaque to commemorate the award and an educational stipend to the 2004 AFCA Convention or any other professional development clinic/convention of their choice.

They were honored at the AFCA Kickoff Luncheon Jan. 5 at the 2004 AFCA Convention in Orlando, Fla.


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