Track earns two UAA Athlete of the Week awards

Both the men’s and women’s track teams were honored for two outstanding individual performances at last weekend’s Chicagoland Championships.

Third-year Erin Steiner brought in the UAA Athlete of the Week award for women’s track and field with her NCAA Division III provisional qualifying mark in the 10,000-meter run. Fourth-year Adeoye Mabogunje received the award for men’s track and field for his Division III leading triple jump.

Steiner finished second in the 14-runner field on Saturday and was the top Division III finisher. Her time of 36:52.97 easily met the provisional mark with 57 seconds to spare. She stands fifth in Division III in the event.

Mabogunje’s performance in the triple jump also surpassed the NCAA Division III provisional qualifying standard. His mark of 14.76 meters, which broke his own outdoor school record, barely missed the NCAA automatic qualifying distance of 14.90. He appears to have recovered from a hamstring injury that hurt him throughout the indoor season. Mabogunje leads Division III in the triple jump.

The awards were the first of the 2004 outdoor season for both athletes. Steiner earned it for the fifth time in her career, and Mabogunje pulled in his ninth.

Baseball splits with Rockford in Tuesday

Having shuffled their pitching rotation and starting lineup again because of injuries, the Maroons (14-9) struggled on Tuesday as they were upset in the first game of a doubleheader before dominating in the second.

Shortstop Brent Consiglio and pitcher Andrew Hacker, both fourth-years, did not play in the games at Rockford (8-17) due to injuries. Outfielder Frank Brown and designated hitter Justin Garrett, third years, started the first game but did not appear in the second because of injuries either sustained or aggravated during the doubleheader.

Third-year pitcher Matt Altomare (4-1, 9.75) struggled in his start because of difficulties keeping his curveball low. Lacking that pitch, he was forced to rely on his fastball, off which Rockford’s hitters were able to get 9 hits, including 2 home runs, for 12 runs in Altomare’s 2.2 innings pitch.

First-year Dan Cozzi (1-1, 3.75) entered in the bottom of the third and was able to keep Rockford close until the Maroon bats woke up. After being down 15-5 after four innings, Chicago exploded for eight runs in the fifth and two in the sixth to tie the score.

They were unable to score in the top of the seventh, and the Regents followed with a walk and two singles to win the game 16-15 with one out in the bottom of the inning. Of the other 15 runs that Rockford scored, all came with two outs.

In the bottom half of the doubleheader, the Maroons came out playing better defense and were able to win 15-3 in a six inning game shortened by darkness.

Third-year pitcher Dan Harrington (4-1, 3.99) struck out seven batters over six innings. The Maroons never trailed in the game. Fourth-year third baseman Nick Kocinski went 2-3 in the game with a double, triple, and 3 RBI. He is now two RBI away from moving into third in the Maroons career list.

Third-year catcher T.J. Rajcevich also added a homer, the second of his career, on his way to driving in five runs in the game. Second-year Ryan Denton, filling in for the injured Brown, went 3-3 with 4 runs scored.

Baseball hosts their next game today at 3 p.m. on J. Kyle Anderson Field against North Park University (3-19).

UAA recognizes 43 winter athletes on All-Academic list

The UAA named 43 Maroons as honorees of its All-Academic Recognition Award for winter sports. Thirteen of the winners were All-UAA award recipients, including fourth-year men’s basketball player Scott Fisher, and 6 All-Americans.

The award is given to student-athletes who have completed at least one year of study and carry a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.20.

Women’s Lacrosse wins home finale

Third-year center Allison Dahl scored three goals and fourth-year Kate Casale played tough in goal to secure a 7-5 victory over Wheaton on the Midway Thursday afternoon. Dahl helped the team jump out to an early 2-0 lead with two goals within a minute of each other early in the first half.

Women’s lacrosse (4-2) closes out their season this Saturday in a three-game tournament at the University of Illinois.