Football

Head coach Ben McEnroe said there was one goal for Kingsmen football heading into this season: win the SCIAC championship for the fifth consecutive year. However, that goal was not accomplished due to poorly executed plays, missed tackles and unfinished games. California Lutheran University ended their season 4-5 overall and 4-3 in SCIAC.

“We had not lost a SCIAC game since 2008, so to lose three conference games and to finish where we did is not sitting well with me,” McEnroe said in an email interview. “What we did well was find an identity late in the season as an offense and we played with a lot of inexperienced players that saw their first college football action.”

This season’s MVP and most inspirational player awards went to sophomore quarterback David Rico. Offensive MVP went to senior running backs Wayne Chapman and Ryan Zirbel. Senior linebacker Christopher Cabrera was named defensive MVP and sophomore punter Jack McFarland was named Special Teams MVP. Other awards included the hitter of the year, presented to sophomore linebacker Deontae Ragas, and scout team player of the year, given to freshman offensive lineman Matthew Kubly.

Men’s Cross Country

The Kingsmen cross-country runners finished the SCIAC championship in eighth place. The top CLU runner, junior Matthew Garvin, placed 32nd overall. Garvin finished the 8k at 27:33:70, 13 seconds ahead of his time in 2012. Seniors Dominick Allen and Shawn Jackson both earned points for CLU while shaving off more than 40 seconds each compared to last year’s race.

The season finished at the NCAA Division III West Regionals when Allen crossed the finish line first, placing 84th out of 126 runners. Second across for the Kingsmen was Garvin at 27:48:14 with sophomore David Avila right behind him.

Men’s Soccer 

This season, the Kingsmen were able to achieve their goal of getting back to the national stage, according to head coach Dan Kuntz.

“This was a tremendous achievement because we lost two key defenders along the way and were still able to come together to make it happen,” Kuntz said in an email interview. “I recall several games where the result came down to the final seconds or overtime and our players stood up to the challenges in front of them.

The team finished the season when they fell in the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Tournament against Trinity.

First team All-SCIAC sophomore goalkeeper Jack Duncan is one of the top five keepers in the nation and received a conference award. Along with Duncan, Senior defender Ivan Sanchez was also named to the first team. Juniors Salvador Orozco and Kyle Fleming also represented CLU on the All-SCIAC team as they were named to the second team.

Men’s Water Polo

The Kingsmen finished with a 6-5 SCIAC record, placing fourth in the conference. They started off slow in both their non-conference and conference schedules but finished out the season with two wins at the SCIAC tournament against La Verne and Chapman. In his final season with CLU, senior utility Max Zappas earned his first postseason honor as he was selected to first team All-SCIAC. In his first season with the Kingsmen, junior goalkeeper Jesse Owen was also honored when he was named to the second team.

Volleyball

Regals volleyball worked hard this season and it showed. The team was undefeated in the SCIAC and SCIAC post-season tournament. Regals made their way to greater prominence as they took part in the NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball National Championships. The team played their hearts out, leaving everything on the court. Regals fell to the Calvin Knights, leaving CLU as the NCAA Division III runner-up.

The season ended with a historical 35-2 overall record. Their two losses came from NAIA school, Westmont and the D-III national champions, Calvin College.

Junior outside hitter Kylie McLogan was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) first team All-America while sophomore outside hitter Allie Eason earned third team All-America. Seniors Jackie Russell, Lauren Rohach and Hayley Tamagni also earned All-American honorable mentions. McLogan was also named the NCAA Trinity Regional MVP and was a four-time SCIAC Athlete of the Week.

Women’s Cross Country

The Regals cross-country runners placed 3rd at the SCIAC championship with senior Melissa Skiba becoming the second individual SCIAC women’s cross country champion for CLU. Skiba was also named the SCIAC Runner of the Year.

The CLU runners went on to race at the 2013 NCAA Division III West Regionals, placing 8th. Skiba and senior Ashley Frese were the two qualifiers from CLU to compete in the 2013 NCAA Division III Women’s Cross Country National Championships. Skiba placed seventh with a time of 21:29.3 and Frese crossed the finish line in the 253rd place with a time of 24:01.9.

Women’s Soccer

The season for women’s soccer went very well, according to head coach Frank Marino. The Regals were victorious in every SCIAC game, except for two, and hosted the post-season SCIAC tournament.  The team went on to compete in the 2013 NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Tournament, where they were fortunate enough to also host the regional. They won their first round matchup against the University of Puget Sound 1-0 in double overtime, but were on the other side of a double overtime loss when they fell to Hardin-Simmons 1-0. CLU ended the season with a record of 17-6.

“It’s a good season when you win the conference and make the NCAA playoffs, but of course we’d always like to go further in the playoffs,” Marino said.

Four players were named to the NSCAA/Continental tire All-West Regions teams.

Senior forward Kristina Hulse earned first team All-West Region honors while junior defender Chelsea Braudo, junior forward Taylor Will and senior midfielder Bailey Marquez were all selected to the third team.

Alesandria Posada
Staff Writer
Published December 11, 2013