Bryan BeilkeThe approaching adjournment of the fall sports season entails the culmination of golf, soccer, tennis, volleyball, cross country and football. The dawning of the winter sports season involves the beginning of basketball, wrestling, indoor track, swimming and diving.
Of these sports, six had representatives at Monday’s weekly athletics press conference, including coaches for football, men’s basketball, women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, women’s basketball and a member of the Cal Poly cross country team.
Cross country
Cal Poly won the first five places at Saturday’s Big West Conference Cross Country Championships held at the Fairbanks Memorial Course.
Head coach Mark Conover was unavailable for the meeting but was replaced by senior runner Phillip Reid.
Reid won the individual title for the second straight year with an 8-kilometer course record of 25 minutes, 12 seconds. The previous record for Cal Poly was held by Sean Rickets, who ran it in 25:38 in 2003.
“The race went very well, obviously, with all the records broken,” Reid said. “When I heard my time I was pretty surprised because it was 33 seconds faster than I ran last year. But the course record, held by good friend of mine (Rickets), I think I was probably capable of it but it never crossed my mind.”
Junior Troy Swier came in second, followed by sophomore Evan Anderson, junior Jeff Lease and sophomore Joe Gatel.
The victory was the first time in Big West Conference history that a team won the top five places, scoring 15 points.
“Had it been equivalent to a soccer game or equivalent to a football game, it’s one of those games where you rush the field and you tear down the goal post. It’s hard to express that kind of feeling at a cross country meet,” Reid said.
Junior Leif Anderson finished in 10th place and senior Matt Johnsrud finished 11th, respectively.
The cross country team will participate at the NCAA West Regional in Eugene, Oreg. on Nov. 10.
Football
Only three games remain for Mustang football, (5-3, 1-1 Great West). Poly has won five of its past six games and will play at Southern Utah on Nov. 3 at 12:00 p.m.
Head coach Rich Ellerson expects a better performance than his team displayed Oct. 27 game against Idaho State, although they won 48-28.
“Our guys have to be honest with what they’re seeing when they watch Southern Utah play and they have to be honest with what they’re seeing when they watch themselves play last week,” Ellerson said. “While we have some stellar performances and individuals, as a team we have a long way to go.”
He countinued to say, “We’re not physical enough, we don’t execute well enough to beat the teams we’re going to need to beat, to win this week. (SU’s) not going to give us some of those opportunities we got last week.”
The football team plays North Dakota State at Spanos Stadium Nov. 10 for the homecoming game. The Mustangs will play Iona College at home Nov. 17.
“To have a chance this week we need to play better, we need to be more physical, we need to be more consistent, we need to be able to play for four quarter, be consistent, we need to kick the ball where we say we’re going to kick the ball, we need to cover in the lanes we’re supposed to be in,” Ellerson said. “We need to do all those things and we need to be exactly right. And if we do all that we have the right to expect a win. Otherwise we’re just hoping the other team screws it up.”
Women’s soccer
The Cal Poly women’s soccer team, meanwhile, has allowed only one goal in its past six outings, although it still has a sub -.500 overall record.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this in my coaching career,” head coach Alex Crozier said of the team’s (7-8-1, 5-1-0 Big West) record.
An athlete that was distinction, according to Crozier, was Sharon Day.
“(Day’s) a great leader. This is her fifth year with the program and fourth year playing. It wasn’t until this year that she became vocal on the field. She’s such a quiet, nice, unassuming person. We’ve been trying to kick her around a little bit to get her to take charge on the field above and beyond her playing abilities and it’s making a difference,” Crozier said.
The women’s soccer team will play at Long Beach State on Nov. 2. The season’s final game will be at California State Northridge on Nov. 4.
“We’ve got two more games and we need to go out there and just battle, and get it done.”
Men’s basketball
Though Cal Poly men’s basketball head coach Kevin Bromley faces a lengthy and full schedule this upcoming season, he took time out to compliment not only Phillip Reid and men’s soccer, but the women’s volleyball team, football team and both soccer teams.
Bromley’s team is scheduled to play Cal State Stanislaus this Saturday in an exhibition.
“(Junior Titus Shelton) has been banged up a little bit, he had a broken nose and he’s been in and out of practice inconsistently,” Bromley said. “That’s hurt us a little bit but he’ll be back. He’s good, he’s a warrior.”
When asked if any new players stood out to him, Bromley immediately responded: “(Sophomore) Lorenzo Keeler, he’s a great decision-maker, very savvy, has a sixth sense for the game, can really shoot it, teammates love playing with him. He’ll be on the court quite a bit.”
Women’s basketball
The women’s basketball team (14-14, 9-5 Big West) will participate in the Melbourne Roos exhibition Wednesday and the California State University at Monterey Bay exhibition Saturday.
“I think (high expectatioins are) warranted,” head coach Faith Mimnaugh said. “We have a lot of talented players back and we’re way ahead of schedule as far as the team knowing where its offense is.”
“(We have an incredible schedule). I definitely had a championship in mind this year in our scheduling process.”
The Mustangs were picked to finish third by the media and fourth by the coaches.
They will play at Oregon State on Nov. 10.
“There’s not an easy game on our schedule and certainly I think it prepares us well for what we’re going to face in the conference play,” Mimnaugh said.
Volleyball
The Cal Poly women’s volleyball team (16-7, 10-1 Big West) will play at Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.
The Mustangs played UC Davis last Saturday, which resulted in a 3-1 win and an injured player.
“Saturday was interesting because we had an injury to Kylie Atherstone in the middle of game three and it was a great job by our team in terms of adjusting on the fly,” head coach Jon Stevenson said.
This week Atherstone tied a Big West Conference single-season record by earning her fifth Player of the Week award, and is the only athlete in conference history to win the award back-to-back twice in a year.
“What we’re facing is a situation where this schedule could not have played out any better than it does for us right now. What I’m referring to is that the matches are spread out in such a way that we get to prepare for Fullerton. So (Atherstone) gets the luxury of rehabbing her ankle and we get to practice two days without her in a different configuration in the event that she’s not able to play,” Stevenson said.
“I do think she will be ready to play,” he said.
“And then we come and play UC Santa Barbara at home and we expect a great crowd for this grudge match against our foes down the coast.”