The Concordia hockey team closed out its season on Feb. 21-22 against a playoff-bound Gustavus team.

Gustavus did not let up on the Cobbers last weekend at the Moorhead Sports Center and took both Friday's and Saturday's games, 11-1 and 8-2, respectively. Despite the finish, the team feels it had a much improved season.

The only Cobber to score on Friday was sophomore winger Brock Blikre , who scored in the first on an assist from senior defenseman Ryan Johnson  and sophomore wing Ryan Kortan .

Saturday's game had more scoring from Concordia's side. Junior winger Todd Hashbarger scored in the first from freshman Rob Gramer and junior winger Josh Arnold.

Freshman Ken Putt scored unassisted in the first period, the Cobbers' final goal of the season.

The close of the season marked improvement for the Cobbers.

"It wasn't so much the record but the things we improved off the ice," said senior Jeff Corkish .

Corkish cited improved team committment, respect between players, and pride in the team. He believes these changes made a difference in the win/loss column for the Cobbers.

The Cobbers finished 7-14-4 overall and 4-10-2 mark in the MIAC, placing them seventh in the conference. St. John's, St. Thomas, Gustavus and St. Mary's made this year's playoffs.

"We really wanted to make that top four," senior winger Chris Thomes said.

Last year the Cobbers finished eighth in the MIAC with a 2-14-0 mark in the MIAC and 3-21-1 over overall.

St. John's won its second straight MIAC title this season with a 14-2 conference mark.

"We really played well for such a young team," Thomes said. "We earned respect from some of the good teams in the league by showing that we can compete at that level."

Not attending playoffs was a disappointment to the team.

"That was definitely our biggest goal from the beginning of the year," Corkish said.

Corkish led the Cobbers with 35 points. Arnold added 26 points on 13 goals and 13 assists while only playing the second half of the season.

Putt tallied 21 points this season on 13 goals and 8 assists. Junior goalie Peter Hamilton finished with a .843 save percentage mark in 18.24 games.

"We improved every game and started to gel as a team," said Blikre.

He expects this trend to continue into next season.

"We will be more experienced next season and we will have higher expectations, " he said.

Despite the addition of new players throughout the season, some teammates feel more players would help.

"I think we are about two or three guys short of being a playoff team," Corkish said.

Return to Mar. 7 index of The Concordian Sports

Wrestling : Wrestlers Take 4th at Championships
Darrell Ehrlick, 3/7/97 , Managing Editor

Wrestling standout Nathan Reiff (177 lbs) decided to take an extended vacation of sorts.

The sophomore team leader boasted a 23-7 record in the season and qualified for nationals for the second year in a row.

"He's worked hard and he's done what he had to do," said haed coach Doug Perry.

Reiff qualified for nationals at the MIAC championship at St. Olaf last weekend.

Nationals will be held today and Saturday at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio.

Reiff beat Augsburg's John Moore and St. Olaf's Jeremy Swanson at the championships. Reiff later pinned Moore in the championship round after just 0:21.

Reiff in ranked seventh in the NCAA Division III.

"He prepared himself and deserved what he got," Perry said.

Overall Concordia took fourth at the MIAC championships with 46.5 points. Augsburg won its 11th straight MIAC championships.

Six of nine Concordia grapplers made all-conference. A wrestler must be in the top four at the conference meet to qualify.

Senior Kevin Jackson took fourth place (142 lbs); sophomore Jeremy Hernandez took third place (126 lbs); junior Shawn Nicholas took third place (134 lbs); and sophomore Charlie Nelson took third place (HWT).

"It's a small program now, but in the future it will be a monster," Jackson said, "I kind of wish I had another year."

Perry said next year's team should continure developing wrestlers and recruiting talent.

Practice should also change next year by adding more conditioning and weight training.

"Bigger. Faster. Stronger. If they aren't committed to doing that, then they won't get better," Perry said.

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Cobber Women's and Men's Track: Williams, Severson Win Pent
Jennifer Gayvert, Sports Editor, 3/7/97

Senior Ryan Williams and junior Sarah Severson brought home pentathalon trophies at the (Men's and Women's ) MIAC Indoor Track championships held Feb. 27-March 1 at Concordia.

"I was very pleased with all the events and how I placed in them," Severson said.

The five events in the men's pentathalon are the 55m high hurdles, long jump, shot put, high jump and 1,000m run. The focus is not necessarily winning events, but earning points. For example, in the high each height is worth a certain number of points.

Williams won the long jump, shot put and high jump. He placed second in the hurdles and seventh in the 1,000m. These placings totalled 3,306 points.

Sophomore Dan Buchholz placed second in the overall pentathalon competition with 3,139 points.

"[Williams] came in seated so high that no one expected less. Then Buchholz came in second, and that was kind of a surprise," said head coach Garrick Larson .

The women's pentathalon is identical to the men's except the run is 800m, rather than 1,000m.

Severson won the hurdles, high jump and long jump. She placed third in the shot put and fourth in the 800m. Severson is competing in Oshkosh, Wis., in the long jump at the National Indoor championships. Severson is ranked eighth going into the meet.

"I want to jump at where I did to qualify," Severson said.

According to head coach Marv Roeske, this is Severson's second trip to the national competition.

"We're pretty proud of her." he said.

The men's team place seventh in overall competition with 53 points. St. Thomas won the tournament with 187.5.

"At the end, it came down to relays. [Other teams] just edged us out," said Larson.

Relay places included sixth in the 800m, eighth in the 4x400m and ninth in the 4x800m.

Freshman Matt Raml placed 11th in the 400m, eighth in the 400m dash; sophomore Jeremy Blake took fifth in the 600 yard dash, and senior Bill Keating placed third in the 800m and the 1,500m run.

Field event placing included seventh place in the shot put by freshman James Springer and third place in high jump by senior David Jacobson.

"We expected to do better, but it's a good place to start for the outdoor season," Bucholz said.

The women's team placed sixth overall. St. Thomas won the women's championships as well.

"Those points are points we feel we can make up when we go outdoors," said Roeske. "We were hoping as a team to finish a little bit higher."

Senior Michele Haugen placed 11th in the 200m and third in the 400m. Junior Mollee Ludtke placed third in the 600m and 800m.

Relay teams placed eighth in the 800m, sixth in the 4x800 and fourth in the 4x400.

Senior Becky Kearns finished fifth inthe shot put and fourth in the 20 lb. weight throw. In the weight throw, the Cobbers secured fourth through eighth places.

Return to Mar. 7 index of The Concordian Sports

From the Archives

From the March 11, 1977 issue of the Concordian Sports section: "The Concordia College women's basketball team rounded out their 1976077 season by capturing a second place finish in the small college MAIAW tournament Feb. 17, 18 and 19 at Southwest St. University by a narrow margin to earn a berth in the tournament. . . The Cobbers ended the season 20-13 overall.

Return to Mar. 7 index of The Concordian Sports

Men's and Women's Tennis: Tennis gets warmed up in Arizona
Elizabeth Weixel, Staff Writer, 3/7/97

The men's and women's tennis teams got a head start on season play during spring break.

Both teams competed in four matches Feb. 24-27 in Pheonix. The women went 6-0 against Paradise Valley Community College, 0-9 against Mesa Community College and 4-1 against Scottsdale Community College.

The men lost to Paradise Valley 0-3, defeated Glendal 7-2 and fell to Mesa 3-6. Their match against Scottsdale was rained out.

These were the teams' first matches since September. Eight members of the men's team and seven of the women's participated.

Assistant coach Dave Lester called the competition a "tuner-upper" for conference play.

"It gives us a running start," he said.

Freshman Erin Pearce saw the experience as an advantage.

"It was really encouraging, and it gives us something to look forward to," she said.

The matches were also a chance for the men's team to see what other teams have to offer, according to Lester.

"The quality of the competition was excellent for the men's team," Lester said.

Sophomore Nathan Svingen credited the opponents' strength to their location. These schools are able to play year round and are accustomed to outdoor courts", he said.

Changes in scenery made it difficult for Concordia. The teams played outdoors, and teh sun, wind and slower outdoor courts were challenges.

Concordia's teams play for about six months of the year, and use indoor courts which are faster, according to head coach Bob Nick.

"It was our first time outside," explained Nick.

According to Pearce, however, the teams unified and trancended these difficulties.

"It all kind of pulled together," she said. "Every win was really a victory for us."

Lester was also enthusiastic about the team's performances. The teams have improved since last year's matches in Arizona, he said.

"It was a giant leap up. Volleys were better, and the service returns were better," Lester stated. "Now [the teams] are sticking to the disciplines and techniques. That's what wins in tennis."

Junior Eric Nielson's comeback against Mesa was an example of successful discipline according to Lester.

"He got crushed, but kept up mentally," he said.

Nick singled out freshman Matt Blom as a highlight of the competition. Blom, who is 3-0 in singles, won a singles match against Mesa, and especially tough team, said Nick.

Both teams have improved their communication and fundamental skills, according to Lester. Now the teams need to apply these skills to their games, he said.

"We need to be able to transfer over the increases in our fundamental skills to competition," he said.

Svingen is optimistic.

"If we play to our potential, I think we can be pretty tough in the conference," he said.

Both teams get the chance to prove it this weekend as conference play begins. The men's team plays Macalester 5 p.m. today and St. Thomas 3 p.m. tomorrow.

The women take on St. Thomas 6 p.m. today, St. Mary's 1 p.m. tomorrow and Macalester 1 p.m. Sunday. All matches are away.

Return to Mar. 7 index of The Concordian Sports

Swimming: Ends First Season
Jennifer Gayvert, Sports Editor, 3/7/97

Concordia competed in its first ever MIAC championship swimming tournament on Feb. 20-22. The team finished 10th of 10 teams with 112 points. St. Olaf won the meet with 708.5 points.

"We all did well. Pretty much everybody got their best time," said junior captain Lindsey Bailey .

Freshman Janey Hill was one of a few Cobbers to place at the tournament. Hill took ninth in the 500 free and eighth in the 1650 free.

"It was just hard to get a lot of people in the finals for the first year. We had small numbers, so its hard to get a lot of points with a small amount of people," Bailey said.

In relay events, Concordia placed 10th in the 400 medley, eighth in the 200 medley, ninth in the 800 free and ninth in the 400 free.

"I think our team did well. I was really happy with them," said Hill. "It was the first year, adn everything was done well."

The team hopes to improve standing next year. According to Bailey, it is working to get more competitors and place higher at conference meets.

"I expect the team to do as well or maybe even better [next year], because we're going to have new players," Hill said.

Return to Mar. 7 index of The Concordian Sports