Lets make a toast to the wolf pack

BY ANTHONY RUIZ
Staff Writer

The Pioneer Log, February 25, 2011

Womens basketballs long and successful season earns a co-champion spot with George Fox University
and George Fox. If the Pios went wild over the first 19 games, the last four set them off on a frenLike a fine red wine, the Lewis & Clark zied attack. Since losing at George Fox, the womens basketball team has gotten better team has won four games by an average with time. Over the course of this season, margin of 28 points. The wolf pack smelled the Pioneers have matured and are now blood and was not going to let the number fully prepared to taste NWC tournament one seed slip away. victory. This years Pios will be the first team to Expectations for the Pios were high earn the right to host the first round of the at the beginning of the season. The team conference playoffs. Being brought back several starters on top the first LC womens basketof reeling in some of their best firstball team to host the tournayear recruits in years. Even more imment is a way for me to know pressive than the hype surrounding that the blood, sweat and the Pios are the high expectations tears that we have all given to they placed on themselves. My exthis program was all worth it. pectations for the team were to win We have suffered heartbreakthe conference title and play in the ing losses and celebrated nail NCAA tournament, said Christina biting wins and this confirms Herring (11). These high expectawhat an awesome team this is tions finally had a chance to be realand how blessed I am to be ized with a pair of wins last weekable to play with a great group end. of young women, Herring After a dominating 75-44 win on said. senior night against the Loggers, the While the regular season Pioneers had one more regular seaPHOTO BY MAGGIE OLIVER for the LC womens basketson game left on their schedule. If ball team has been one for the the Pios won at Willamette, theyd Sara Villanueva (13) is greeted with comaraderie from her fellow Pios books, one goal still remains. be conference champs, putting them after coming off the court. Were taking it all the way in a position to snag the number one seed in the conference tournament. The Pi- son. However, this is not to say that there to March 19th, said Beucherie, the date of the DIII Womens National Championeers rose to the challenge in command- werent bumps along the way. Arguably, the low point of the season for onship. If the Pioneers win their next two ing fashion, blowing out the Bearcats by the Pioneers was their loss to Whitworth playoff games at home, they will earn a spot thirty on the road. The win guaranteed a home playoff Dec. 3rd. The three-point defeat was their in the national tournament. The Pios journey through the season game and put the Pios in a tie for first place third in a row, leaving the team at 3-3. I with George Fox University. Since George think the most difficult part of the season has left them with memories they will nevFox and LC split their games this season, was the loss to Whitworth in the first con- er forget. This is the best season out of the four the playoff tiebreaker went to LC due to ference game, said Herring. We went their better record against Puget Sound. Af- into the game with high expectations for years that I have played at Lewis & Clark ter the win, the Pioneers came back home ourselves as well as the aspirations to win and I wouldnt change any of it for the to celebrate by cutting down the net here at a conference title. The loss was a little set- world, said Herring. back in our journey to achieve our goal, The LC womens basketball team has Pamplin Sports Center. Were best friends, said Cassie Beuche- said Herring. Since then the Pios have gone certainly made the most of their season so wild, going 17-2, losing only to Chapman far. Cheers, ladies! rie (14). Our team is a unit. Were a wolf pack; we win as one and we lose as one, said Jodi Snider (12). We pick each other up and push each other to keep going. Theres no way wed be where we are right now if we were selfish. I have never been on a team full of best friends and thats what I think we all are, said Jodi Snider. The cohesion of this wolf pack lead to a 14-2 record in conference and 20 wins overall this sea-

Hardball with a Pio athlete Q&A

BY FIONA CORNER
Sports Editor

Sports 11

Featuring Joe Niederriter (12) of crew

Why do you row and what makes crew at LC special? I row because the novice coach saw me when I was a first-year here at LC and I was tall. He invited me to row, and Im not able to quit things. I like getting out there every morning. Just being out on the water is the best part of crew. I enjoy the nice Portland weather and PHOTO COURTESY OF CREW working with the group to get that speed out on the water.The thing about crew is that we have a small team and we work very well as a unit. For the most part, we all like each other and we have our own little community here on campus. What frustrates you about crew? Its a little frustrating how crew is not even a little bit a spectator sport. What are you studying? What do you plan to do after college? Im majoring in Physics with a Chinese minor. I like figuring out how things work. I like knowing how to fix things and working with electronics like computers. Right now Im preparing for the GRE so I can go to grad school. Im keeping my options open. If I can find a job Ill go straight to that. What other extracurriculars do you participate in? I go to mass every Sunday with the Newman club. Newman club is a Catholic club of students at many colleges. I like the fact that the Newman club allows us to go to a lot of different churches in Portland, which is great because Portland has the most churches per capita of any city. So there are lots of interesting places to go and see. Also, I definitely like hanging out with the Newman people. They are a good group. Where are you from? How is your hometown different from PDX? Im from St. Peter, Minn. Its a town of 10,000 people an hour from Minneapolis and St. Paul. Its main employer is the Alumacraft factory for canoes. St. Peter is very different from Portland. Portland is much more liberal and also is a city rather than a town. To tell you the truth, I never really adjusted to PDX. I dont do much in Portland. I spent almost all my time on campus or at the boathouse. What is a fun fact that most people wouldnt know about you? I practice Wushu, Chinese kung fu, as often as I can. Its a lot of kicking and its a little like dancing. Its a routine you go through. It serves very little practical application, but I enjoy it.

NCAA institutes new bat regulations

BY FIONA CORNER
Sports Editor

On Jan. 1, 2011, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) effectively instituted new certifications and standards for college baseball bats. All bats must now meet the BBCOR (Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution) standard. BBCOR measures the bounciness of the ball off the bat, known as its trampoline effect. When a ball comes off a bat, it loses a certain amount of inertia, and BBCOR measures this loss of energy. All bats are now tested to make sure that they comply with the permitted amount of bounce or energy lost; if a ball does not compress enough against the bat when hit, the bat is out of compliance.

The graphs and charts from the NCAA documents may not make the standardization and compliance process look complicated, but in reality it is. If you would like to be subjected to the information, you are invited to visit the NCAA website. For college baseball, these new standards mean that balls will be hit slower, there will be a ten to 15 percent decrease in bat performance and the game will be more balanced among all players. Most importantly, the current safety concerns regarding pitchers will be addressed. People were getting hurt because of the reaction times you got with the other bat, said Coach Tom Flynn. It was just not enough time for some people to react. They are moving closer and closer to a true

wood bat. They are creating stricter standards on what you can put in there. NCAA officials noted that there may be a decrease in hitting performance as well, but Coach Flynn is not worried about the potential effects on his players. You can see the way the ball is coming off the bat is different, especially if you dont hit in what we would consider the sweet spot. However, we hit five home runs in our first game, which is a good number for any bat. With bats moving closer towards MLB batsmade from ash or maple wood college players are playing and practicing more like professional athletes. NCAA regulations tend to change every few years, inching colleges closer towards adopting bats similar to those used by their idols.

Crew sets sail for competitive spring season

HANNAH PALMER
Staff Writer

As the spring crew season gets underway, Lewis & Clark rowers are feeling excited and competitive. Were going to have a good season this year, said Andrew Wood (11). Our goal is to retain the Northwest Conference Championship that we won last year. We have more guys on the team this year than we did last year, and were all committed to achieving this goal. For both the mens and womens teams, the increase in the number of LC rowers is a major asset. Ruthie Ditzler (11) noted that this is the biggest the team has been in the four years Ive rowed with LC, and a bigger team will give us more flexibility in terms of putting together really fast boats. Ditzler explains that having a larger team is advantageous because it allows athletes to compete against each other before [they] start racing other teams. The increase in team size is primarily due to the large number of first-year rowers. As Head Coach Sam Taylor noted, while much of fall crew is about getting new rowers into the swing of things, spring crew allows for

more focus, more competition. The hard work that the novice rowers put in last fall is about to pay off: as Junior Luke Epain of the mens team noted, Their learning curve is definitely high, plus they also have a good endurance base from previous sports, which is essential to rowing. Despite an increase in overall numbers and many strong new athletes, this season also brings several new challenges. Epain noted that on the mens side, two of our juniors, Louis Moore (12) and Daniel Saxton (12) are abroad this spring. [In previous years they brought] a lot [of ] experienceand strength to our program. Another potential difficulty the team must overcome this season, said Epain, is the retiring of Lincoln LaRoe, previously the head coach of the mens team. He was one of the best coaches I ever had, with experience coaching the US National Team, said Epain. He is now coaching Division I rowing full time at Clemson University. LaRoe was replaced by former Assistant Coach Jim Hilsenteger. Referring to Hilsenteger, Wood said, While he has a different coaching style than our old coach, Lincoln,

PHOTO BY SARAH LOMAS

Despite the retiring of former Head Coach Lincoln LaRoe, crew remains hopeful.

[Hilsenteger] knows his stuff, and brings many years of experience to the squad. I think that were in capable hands, and ultimately our success depends on the personal commitment of each of us. Regarding his own personal goals this season, Wood hopes to make our top boat and help [the team] bring home the championship again this year. It would be nice to repeat last years accomplishment to cap my rowing career at Lewis & Clark. As for Epain, his focus is on [bringing] as much of the experience [he] gained last summer row-

ing at Elite Nationals in France as possible to share with LC teammates. On the womens side, Ditzler stated that her goal for the womens team this season is to place at WIRA. Coach Taylor concurred, saying the team will compete as best we can, and make a run for the NCAA qualification. Crew has one home meet this season, the NCRC Invitational Regatta, which will be held in Vancouver, Wash. Apr. 2. Our racing outfits (uni-suits) are bright orange this season, said Ditzler, so you cant miss us!