South Coloradan

 

Grizzly Harriers Dominate Home Meet

Samantha Hall

The Adams State College Cross Country teams hosted the 16th annual Joe I. Vigil Open this past weekend at Cattails Golf Course here in Alamosa. The Joe I. Vigil was the first meet of the 2009 season, and Adams State came out strong, making it look easy as both the men’s and women’s team won first place, however the men stole the spotlight as they ran a perfect score.
The ASC women’s team, ranked first in the nation, won the overall team race with 26 points.  Mesa State came in a distant second with 56. Completing the top five are Western State with 75 points, Fort Lewis with 79 points, and Regis University with 124 points.
In the women’s race, Baylor transfer Kristen McGlynn took the top spot for the Grizzlies and overall by tackling the 5000-meter course with a time of 17:53. Mesa State’s Alexis Skarda followed close behind with a time of 17:59. Rounding out the top five were Grizzlies true-freshman Alicia Nelson, senior Vanessa Roy, and Fort Lewis’ Kenzie Grant, who posted times of 18:09, 18:28, and 18:35, respectively. Addison Le Master, a transfer from Texas Tech, helped ASC with their win by finishing sixth with a time of 18:43. Junior Ashley Quintana also helped the Grizzlies with a time of 19:12, and a solid 13th place finish. 
Sofia Monroe, a junior, placed 16th with a time of 19:20, while freshman Cassie Mitchell showed a 21st place finish with a time of 19:34. Running as unattached runners for ASC, Kelsey King , Laura Borley, and Tanisha Thomas placed 29th (20:24), 34th (20:41), and 53rd (23:21), respectively.
On the men’s side, the Grizzlies walked away with a perfect score of 15 points. 
Defending meet champion, Rueben Mwei led the Grizzlies to their victory by finishing with a time of 24:27 over the 8000-meter course. The Grizzlies filled up the top five with senior Brian Medigovich, Ryan McNiff, and Aaron Braun, all of whom were under 25 minutes. Medigovich had time of 24:30, while McNiff finished in 24:40, and Braun was 24:44.
Returning sophmore, Edwin Cruz put up a solid seventh place finish with a time of 25:07, while Keegan Calmes finished eleventh at 25:30. Anthony Gauthier finished 13th at 25:42, Brandon Birdsong finished 14th at 25:43. Sophomore Luke Cragg finished 16th at 25:53.
Running as an unattached runner for the Grizzlies, Dean Huffer finished in 18th at 25:58. In the 20th spot, Andrew Graham ran a time of 26:15, Antonio Lopez finished in 22nd at 26:17, Drew Soucy came in 23rd at 26:18, while Florian Theophile came in 24th with a time of 26:19. Jovanny Godinez, Robert Jerome, Jordan Patterson, and Robert Frederick all ran as unattached runners for Adams State finishing in 31st (26:42), 43rd (28:42), 45th (28:46), and 47th (29:12), respectively.  Rounding out the runners for the Grizzlies was Alex Adkinson who finished 50th with a time of 29:42.
The male Grizzlies, ranked first in the nation, showed why they are ranked number one with a team finish of 15 points, followed by Western State with 48 points, and Fort Lewis in third with 80 points.
With the cross country season officially under way, the season looks promising for the number one ranked Grizzlies who will look to have another spectacular season with their next meet at the Mountaineer Open hosted by Western State September 26th.

 

 

Grizzlies Drop Home Opener, Lumberjacks win 36-24 

James Williams

The Adams State College Grizzlies lost their home opener for the third consecutive year on Saturday, this time at the hands of the Humboldt State University Lumberjacks (Calif.)  with a final score of 36-24.
    The Grizzlies had difficulties establishing any kind of momentum in their favor, as every successful drive or big play was seemingly one-upped by the Lumberjacks, a trend that continued for most of the game. In all, the Grizzlies amassed only 286 yards of total offense, and achieved only 11 first downs throughout the contest. The Lumberjacks helped the Grizzlies in a big way, giving them seven additional first downs by way of their 20 penalties for 182 yards, and also helping the shortage of yards from the offense.
    Senior quarterback Stephen Baca threw for 178 yards on 18 completions out of 33 attempts with two touchdowns. But he also threw two costly interceptions in the second half, one of which came with 3:01 remaining in the fourth quarter and led to a final Lumberjack touchdown to seal the game. Baca also led the Grizzlies in rushing with a career-high 91 yards coming on 16 carries. Sophomore wide receiver and Alamosa native Dustin Bolt, who also serves as the Grizzlies’ kicker and punter, hauled in six passes for 95 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown catch midway through the second quarter.
    The Lumberjacks, in spite of their inability to avoid penalties, had no problems moving the football against the Grizzly defense.  They accumulated 507 yards of total offense, 77 of those coming on their first play from scrimmage, and jumped out to a 16-0 lead at the end of the first quarter on their way to a 23-14 lead at the half. Lumberjack sophomore quarterback Mike Proulx played a solid game, completing 20 of his 29 attempted passes for a total of 336 yards and four touchdowns. Lumberjack senior running back Bobby Thomas added a touchdown of his own to go along with his 143 yards on 28 carries.
    The Grizzlies’ first drive was derailed by a costly pass interference call, and after amassing only 23 yards from scrimmage, resulted in a punt.  The Lumberjacks then took over possession less than four minutes into the first quarter. The Lumberjacks would open the scoring on their first play from scrimmage, as Proulx dumped the ball to running back Corey Stollmeyer, who did the rest of the work, taking the pass down the left sideline 77 yards for the touchdown.
    The Grizzlies made a strong effort to answer back on their next possession, executing a 10-play, 73-yard drive down to the Lumberjack 6-yard line before being forced to settle for a 24-yard field goal attempt by Bolt that ended up sailing wide left.
    The Lumberjacks took over following the missed field goal and wasted no time marching 80 yards down the field over eight plays for another touchdown, with the scoring play being a 1-yard run by Thomas.
    After the ensuing kickoff return was called back by a penalty,  Baca took a sack on the next play from scrimmage for a safety, expanding the Lumberjack lead to 16 points.
    The Grizzlies stormed back, trading possessions with the Lumberjacks punt for punt and score for score, but the lead, along with the poor Grizzly defense, would prove too large of a deficit to overcome in the long run.
    The Grizzlies, now 0-2 on the season, open up conference play on Saturday at nationally ranked RMAC powerhouse Chadron State. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.

 

 

Athlete of the Week

Darcy Jennings-Calkins

(*Photo unavailable at this time)

Adams State College senior volleyball player Darcy Jennings-Calkins has been named as the ASCGrizzlies.com  and South Coloradan Athlete of the Week for her efforts in last weekend’s Skyhawk Volleyball Classic hosted by Fort Lewis College.
The award, which will be handed out weekly, was selected by a vote of media members and ASC administrators as well as by visitors to the Grizzly website, who could cast their vote in an online poll.
Jennings-Calkins received 27.2 percent of the 441 votes cast edging Kristen McGlynn from the women’s cross country team and Stephen Baca from the football team.  Kaylee Smith from the women’s soccer team, Reuben Mwei of the men’s cross country squad and Jarod Thomas from the men’s soccer team were also nominated.
Jennings-Calkins, a 6-foot-1 middle hitter, was also named as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference/Baden Offensive Player of the Week, recorded 47 kills while hitting .346 over the weekend that saw the Grizzlies post a perfect 3-0 record.  She also recorded 15 blocks maintaining her lead in the RMAC statistics in that category.
A new poll will be posted each Sunday night after all of the Grizzly teams have concluded their competition for the weekend.  The votes will be tabulated each Wednesday morning.

 

 

ASC Volleyball Undefeated in Weekend Tournament

Emma Mueller

The ASC volleyball team traveled to Durango this weekend to play in the Skyhawk Volleyball Classic at Fort Lewis.  They played two games on Friday and one on Saturday.
To add to this exciting news senior Darcy Jennings-Calkins earned her sixth career Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference/Baden offensive player of the week.
The Grizzlies first game was against Dixie State, where ASC won three of the four sets, scoring 25-23, 25-22, 25-23 and hitting a .226 as a team.  Junior Kelsey Miller had a career-high with eleven kills and hit a .917. Jennings-Calkins had ten kills and five blocks, while junior Mary McNeil had her second straight double-double with 33 assists and ten digs.
Later on Friday afternoon the Grizzlies matched up again against the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs taking their second win of the season.  ASC won three of the five sets, posting 25-15, 21-25, 19-25, 25-20 and 15-6. Jennings-Calkins recorded a match-high of twenty four kills and joined the elite 1,000 club for her career, now having a total of 1,021 kills. She also hit a .432 throughout the match.  McNeil had 47 assists and Tamera Fowler had ten kills. Grizzlies Kelsey miller had twenty-seven digs from libero sophomore AJ Palmer.
The Grizzlies played against Cal Poly Pomona for their final game in the tournament, completing a perfect 3-0 for the weekend. The team outscored 25-6, 25-19 and 25-21 and had the longest winning streak for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.  The team hit .273, their best for the season.  Jennings-Calkins had thirteen kills during the match, finishing her weekend with forty-seven kills and hitting .346.  Fowler also had a good match, hitting nine kills and hitting a .368. Freshman Dominique Davis followed close behind with eight kills and had a hitting effort of .286.
Adams State had a very successful weekend in Durango and hopes to continue on with it for the rest of the season.   Be sure to catch the Grizzlies at home this weekend playing Fort Lewis on Friday and playing Western State on Saturday. Both games with be in Plachy Hall at 7 p.m.

 

 

Women’s Soccer Split Over Weekend

Eric R. Flores

Two goals by freshman midfielder Kaylee Smith helped her celebrate her 19th birthday and lead the Adams State Grizzlies to a 4-2 victory over Wayne State (Neb.) on Sunday afternoon. The win moved the Grizzlies’ season record to 2-2 this year and helped secure a split in the Fort Lewis College Women’s Soccer Classic. The Grizzlies fell to Eastern New Mexico University on Friday by a score of 2-0.
Sunday’s game was a hard fought game that had action in it from the beginning.
Wayne State took the lead early because Megan Dias scored in the third minute, putting the Wildcats up 1-0. Valarie Robinson asssited with the goal. Less than a minute later Wayne State’s Tiffani Kellerman had a shot on goal that was stopped by sophomore goalkeeper Kirsten Dorsey.
Then Adams State went on an offensive push. Sophomore Jessica Hellweg got Adams State’s first shot of the game, however, it sailed just high of the goal. In the ninth minute senior Ashley Sales scored the game-tying goal when Wayne State keeper Emily Walker misjudged the play and left the net wide open.  The unassisted goal, was Sale’s second goal of the young season.
In the 13th minute Wayne State bounded back as Dias scored her second goal of the game and the season off a corner kick by Robinson, who was credited with the assist.
Less than half a minute later Adams State was on the attack again as sophomore midfielder Amber Drumm took a shot that was blocked.
In the 15th minute Hellweg scored a goal after getting a feed from Smith and beating the goalie in a one-on-one battle.
Adams State maintained pressure to set up another goal.  This time it was Smith’s first goal, and she beat the keeper in a one-on-one battle. This goal came after three consecutive shots by Adams State, two by Hellweg and one by Sales. Sales got the assist, recording her fourth career multiple-point game and tying Larissa Galpin and Stephanie Bartsch for second place on ASC’s all time charts.
Smith struck again sixteen seconds into the second half, this time with a nice shot off a corner kick. Smith took the corner kick and the ball bent its way past the keeper and into the net. This brought the game to its final score of 4-2. 
The Grizzlies’ four goals were tied for third  most in ASC history. The three first half goals are tied for the third most goals in a single half in ASC history.
On Friday, rain delayed the game, but did not help the Grizzlies win.  Adams State came out strong but were denied early, as Hellweg had a strong shot on goal.  ENMU keeper Sierra Cardenas had a save to keep the game tied.
Halfway through the first half the rain started pouring hard enough to put the game on hold for well over two hours. When the game resumed the Grizzlies did not have their original pressure. In the 36th minute ENMU’s Samantha Lawrence scored an unassisted goal off of a rebound to give her team a 1-0 lead going into the half.
The second half was a hard fought battle between both teams, but in the 84th minute ENMU’s Danielle Thurman scored her first goal of the season off an assist by Desiree Dominguez, making the score 2-0. This goal came minutes after Dorsey suffered a kick to the face by an ENMU attacker while she was trying to clear the ball. She did, however, finish the game.
Over the weekend Dorsey made six saves while allowing four goals.
Smith and Sales are the first Grizzlies to record five or more points in a single match. Sales tallied nine points (4 goals, 1 assist) in an August 24, 2007 neutral-site win over Southwestern Oklahoma State.
“This past game, we started coming together as a team,” said Smith, “I feel like we are getting where we need heading into conference play.”
Adams State begins RMAC play on Friday night at Mesa State, a team they have played more than any other in their history.  They then return home to face Fort Lewis on Sunday afternoon. The Grizzlies have lost nine straight to the Skyhawks.  Both of the Grizzly’s wins and one of two ties have come at Murphy Field, where the Grizzlies are 2-4-1 against the Skyhawks.

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