Sports Roundup / Fall 2008

Men’s Soccer
(10-7-3, 8-5-3 SCIAC) third place
The men’s soccer team secured themselves a place in the inaugural SCIAC tournament with a 3-0 win over Caltech. The No. 3 seeded Sagehens defeated No. 2 seeded La Verne Leopards 1-0 in the second round, then fell to conference champion Redlands 2-1 in double overtime. Senior David Martin, junior Andrew Stamm and sophomore Eben Perkins were selected to the all-conference first team, and junior goalkeeper Charlie Balter and senior Andrew Jacobsen were selected to the second team.

Women’s Soccer
(9-8-1, 6-5-1 SCIAC) fifth place
The Sagehens closed out the season on a three-game winning streak, beating regional rival UC Santa Cruz 3-2 and securing a winning season for the fifth consecutive year. Juniors Claire McGroder and Elli Seo were selected to the All- SCIAC first team, freshman Katy Metcalf was selected to the second team, and senior Lily Hitchner received the Brine Award of Distinction.

Men’s Water Polo
(8-2 SCIAC) conference champions
Entering into conference tournament as the No. 2 seed, the Sagehens defeated La Verne, Whittier, and Cal Lutheran en route to their second consecutive SCIAC championship. The title earned Pomona-Pitzer the No. 8 seed at the Western Water Polo Association Championships, consisting of teams from Divisions I, II and III. The Sagehens placed eighth at the WWPA Championships. Sophomores Ben Hadley and Ryan Balikian were named to the All-SCIAC first team, while senior Grant Cooper was named to the second team.

Football
(2-7, 1-5 SCIAC) sixth place
The team finished ranked first in the conference in passing offense and second in passing efficiency. Sophomore quarterback Jake Caron was ranked first in the SCIAC in average passes per game, total offense, and second in passing efficiency. Senior wide receiver Kevin Kelley was ranked first in receptions per game, receiving yards per game, and second in all-purpose yards. Sophomore R.J. Maki finished the season ranked second in receptions per game and receiving yards per game behind Kelley, and was ranked first in the conference in all-purpose yards. Senior Tyler Barbour was second in the conference in interceptions. Jake Caron and Kevin Kelley were named to the All-SCIAC first team, and R.J. Maki, Tyler Barbour, Augie Lagemann and Steve Collisson were named to the second team.

Men’s Cross Country
(6-1 SCIAC) third place
The Men’s Cross Country team finished in third place at the SCIAC Championships, with senior Torrey Olson (fourth) and Brendan Randall-Myers (seventh) both earning all-SCIAC first team honors, while Tristan Roberts (16th), Brian Gillis (17th) and Charlie Enscoe (19th) earned all-SCIAC second team honors. At the West Regional meet, Olson took fifth place, qualifying for nationals. Olson, Randall-Myers, Roberts, and Ian Monsma were all selected to the West Region team.

Women’s Cross Country
(6-1 SCIAC) second place
Senior Anna Scharfen won the SCIAC championship meet, helping her team finish in second place, despite the absence of 2007 SCIAC Runner of the Year Alicia Freese due to injury. The team then went on to finish in second in the regional meet, just one point behind the winners, and qualified as a team for the NCAA Championships. At the NCAA Championships, pacing all SCIAC runners, Alicia Freese, recently recovered from injury, earned All-American honors finishing 22nd in the women’s race in the season-ending championship. In the team standings, Pomona-Pitzer finished 22nd with 462 points after entering the meet ranked 26th in the nation. This was the team’s first appearance at nationals since 1982.

Volleyball
(20-9, 9-5 SCIAC) third place
The Sagehen’s 20 wins matched their highest total in 18 years, and their nine losses are the fewest since 1998. Senior Ruchi Patel was named to the All-SCIAC first team. Senior Megan Prior finished her career as the all-time career leader in block assists, tallying 70 this season. Patel finished this season fourth on the single season list for digs with 496.