Points & Prattle #13

Good afternoon, sportsfans!

The days go slow, but the week goes quick. It’s Friday, and that means that it’s time for another exciting edition of Points & Prattle. There’s plenty to cover, so let’s get straight into it.

• The Saints split their weekend UMAC series last week in men’s and women’s basketball as I made my debut behind the mic for PA duty, so the women and men still sit at fourth and fifth, respectively, in the conference.
• The stars of the weekend for basketball were junior Chris Hamers, on the men’s side, and freshman Bri Allen for the women. Hamers went 7-for-19 from three-point land, netting 43 points on the weekend. Allen was a perfect 9-for-9 on free throws and earned 29 points in two games.
• The two teams are back in action tomorrow afternoon against conference rival Northland. The LumberJills are a perfect 7-0 atop the UMAC, while the ’Jacks, at 2-5, sit 7th on the men’s side.
• More intriguing, the two coaches for the men’s game will be sporting sneakers on the sideline as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Suits & Sneakers Weekend. For more information, check out the Coaches vs. Cancer web site and then pull on your favorite Nikes and get out to the game tomorrow.
• The Saints men’s hockey team bounced back to the No. 5 spot in the USCHO poll after a sweep of conference rival Wis.-Eau Claire last weekend, though it did not come without tribulations. Early in the second period, sophomore goaltender Brennan Poderzay was knocked out of the game, forcing senior Zach Kleiman to come in. Kleiman performed admirably, not allowing a goal on the night as his Saints rallied from two down to earn a 5-2 victory.
• Saturday, Kleiman again stepped up and earned the victory, allowing just one goal as the Saints completed the sweep. For his impressive weekend, Kleiman was named NCHA Player of the Week. Congrats, Zach!
• The Saints Nordic ski teams again had an impressive weekend at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis, with Waylon Manske and Mason Bacso leading the men while Julia Curry and Eleanor Magnuson led the Saints women. Click these links for more.
• Nordic returns to the snow tomorrow afternoon for a two-day event in Telemark, Wis.
• Accolades continue to roll in for the Saints’ indoor track and field team as again they swept the UMAC Player of the Week awards. Justin Hanson won on the men’s side after breaking school records in both the 60- and 200-meter hurdles at the Blizzard Open. Freshman Rachel Miller broke her own team triple jump record for the third consecutive meet at 35-feet, 4.5 inches at the same event. I could not dream of triple-jumping that far (or running hurdles, for that matter). Congrats to both Justin and Rachel!
• I told you last week that we were on the cusp of spring sports appearing in P&P, and I did not lie: the Saints baseball team got some good news over the week when they learned that they were starting the year ranked No. 22 on the d3baseball.com preseason poll. On the schedule, the Saints are slated to face two ranked teams: No. 25 St. Olaf and No. 1 St. Thomas. The Saints stole one last year against the eventual-National Champion Tommies. They’ll meet up again on Mar. 7 on Mall of America Field for a doubleheader.
• Last, but certainly not least, it was announced that the Saints led the way in Fall Academic All-UMAC honors. Click here for the entire list and here for just the Saints. Congrats to all 70 of our student athletes who earned the honor.

That’s all for now, folks. “5 Questions” returns next Monday with Nordic Ski coach Chad Salmela, just days before he heads off to Vancouver for the Olympics! So, keep an eye out for that! And we’ll see you and your Nikes at the basketball doubleheader tomorrow.

Take it easy,
-jh