Friday, January 29, 2010

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

Friday, January 22, 2010

Points & Prattle, Vol. 12 - Happy 51st Blog post.

Good afternoon, sportsfans!

Here's some classic moments in blogging history:

  • Men’s & Women’s Basketball tip off our CSS weekend this week because they’re at home. There’s very little for me to say because Chris Doran has a pair of great previews here (men’s) and here (women’s).
  • The Saints men come into the weekend as winners of three of their last four since the calendar turned to 2010, most recently falling to conference foe Northland College on Saturday. For the fourth straight game, Danny Schmitz led CSS in scoring, netting 17 points in a losing effort. The Saints men will look to turn their fortunes around tonight.
  • The Saints women also come into the weekend off a loss to Northland, with Kirsten Haukom leading the way with 13 points. The Saints have split their last four games, picking up a win and then dropping a game consecutively, so they might be on track for a victory tonight (and, hopefully, a snap of that streak by picking up another Saturday).
  • Last week was a disappointing one for all the Saints’ team-sports with the hockey team taking one on the chin Friday night before having a victory stolen from them and settling for a tie on Saturday. Words can not describe my frustration with the officiating on the entire weekend, but it’s best we leave it at that in fear of losing my job. Brennan Poderzay continued to shine in net both nights, and the Saints had 10 players with points on Saturday, so there are some positives to take out of the weekend.
  • The Saints, now 7th in the USCHO poll, will need to rebound quickly as they travel to Wis.-Eau Claire this weekend for another conference series with a lot on the line. As always, you can catch the game locally on ESPN Radio 560-WEBC, and online here.
  • Track & Field continued success in their indoor season as Peter Drinkwine and Tara Connolly shined at the Super 8 Invite in Bemidji, earning UMAC Player of the Week honors for their efforts. Drinkwine leaped a personal-best 42’-2.25” (12.86m) in the triple jump to finish second and Connolly was the only CSS performer to win her event as she took first place in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 3:18.08 seconds.
  • The Saints Nordic team, led by the Bacso brothers (Mason and Kasey), successfully defended their Minnesota College Championship for the third straight season on the men’s side. The Saints women also earned back-to-back titles, getting off to a strong start by Julia Curry who finished third to lead CSS.
  • Spring sports started up their preseason this week (at least in the form of captain’s practices), just a month away from opening day for baseball and softball and a couple weeks for tennis. We’ll be busy, busy around here soon as well, which isn’t so bad for me. I’ll have more to write about.
  • Another reminder that I’ll be performing PA duties at the basketball games for the first time ever this weekend, so it will be an interesting experience for all of us.
  • It’s a new semester, so if you’re new to the blog, be sure to follow us on Twitter @thejoehansen and @csssaints. Or, if Facebook is more your thing, you can become a fan of the Saints here.

That’s all for today. Hope to see you at the games this weekend, and if not, enjoy the NFL Championship games on Sunday - and when you get home from basketball tonight, tune in to Conan.

Take it easy,
-jh

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Welcome Back, Blogger.



Good afternoon sportsfans!

It’s a fresh semester at CSS. The students have returned, class is in session, and the Voice has returned to the Web.

As you can see, I’ve refreshed the look and feel of the page. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it just yet, so things may change again, but for now… this is what we’ve got.

I’ve got another exciting semester planned for you all, including the return of 5 Questions. We have a few more Winter sports to hit before we hit the final stretch – the Spring sports – and then we will have to find something else to entertain the masses. I have a few things planned that I think will be interesting, so stay tuned for that.

Points & Prattle will return this Friday afternoon, so mark your calendars.

Another thing to mark on your calendars (shameless plug incoming), is that I will be the “Voice” of this weekend’s basketball games, taking over public address duty in the stead of our regular PA man, Dave Cook. I have big shoes to fill, but I’ll try my best. Stop by and say hello if you’re there.

That’s all for today. Tune in on Friday for the return of Points and Prattle.

Take it easy,
-jh