Alex Johnson ’13 (left) competing at the NCAA West Regionals, where he helped the Sagehens qualify for the nationals with a second place finish.
Claremont, CA (November 12, 2012) – This week in Sagehen Athletics saw the Football team take back the Peace Pipe in dominating fashion with a 37-0 shutout of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, while the Men’s Cross Country team came in second place at regionals to qualify for the NCAA Division III Cross Country championships this weekend in Terre Haute, Indiana.
The Football program honored its seniors prior to the annual rivalry game with CMS, including Pitzer seniors Travis Muraoka ’13 and Michael Schwartz ’13, and the senior class ended their careers with a dominant 37-0 win to take back the Peace Pipe for the first time since 2006. The shutout was the first for the program since the 2000 team defeated Oberlin 51-0. Luc Dark-Fleury ’16 had five tackles and Matthew Tesimale ’16 added four to contribute to the defensive effort, while Sean Mulcahy ’16 was a key part of an offensive line that paved the way for 499 yards of total offense.
The good news wasn’t confined to Merritt Field on Saturday. Men’s Cross Country had three runners in the top 10 to finish second at the NCAA West Regionals in Salem, Ore. Alex Johnson ’13 led the way with a fourth-place finish with a time of 24:41, just three seconds off the first-place time as the top seven Sagehens all shattered their personal bests. The NCAA Division III Championships will be this weekend in Terre Haute, Indiana. On the women’s side, Camille Matonis ’15 and Roxanne Cook ’13 both placed in the top five for the Sagehens, helping them to a sixth-place finish.
Men’s Water Polo’s bid to repeat as SCIAC Championship came up short as the Sagehens suffered their first conference loss in the finals of the postseason tournament to CMS. The Sagehens advanced to the finals with a 15-5 win over Occidental in the quarterfinals and a 15-11 win over Whittier in the semis, but never led in the championship match. Pitzer athletes carried the Sagehens through the tournament, as Jarrod Gaut ’14 led the Sagehens with four goals apiece in both the semis and finals, Stephen Vint ’15 had four goals in the quarterfinals and five assists in the finals and Jason Cox ’13 had three goals apiece in the quarters and semis. The Sagehens will be in action this weekend at the WWPA Championships at Whittier, opening up against second-seeded Loyola Marymount on Friday.
Sagehens Basketball gets started this week, with the Women’s Basketball team opening on Thursday at Hope International, while the Men’s Basketball hosts back-to-back home games on Friday against Westmont and on Saturday against La Sierra, both at 7:30 p.m. The Women’s Basketball team has its home opener on Tuesday, Nov. 20 against Linfield (6 p.m.). The Men’s Basketball team features Pitzer seniors Po Grant ’13 and Xavyr Moss ’13, who is returning to the team after spending last year studying abroad in China, and freshman forward Joseph Knight ’16. The Women’s Basketball team has seven Pitzer students, led by guards Erin Edmonds ’15 and Ruth Shapiro ’15.
