Sports Round-Up
C ross country
(Ladies third in North Coast Athletic Conference [NCAC] championship meet, Lords fifth)
Senior Dan Denning made Kenyon history by winning the NCAC individual championship for the second consecutive season. He clocked a final time of 26:26 to pace the field of ninety-seven runners. Denning earned first-team All-NCAC honors for the fourth consecutive year, another first in men's cross-country history. Overall, the Lords placed fifth with 125 points, while the Ladies tallied ninety-five to finish third. Both teams qualified for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Great Lakes Regional race. Sophomore Gelsey Lynn led the Ladies with a fifth-place finish (20:01). In the regional competition, both Kenyon teams placed twelfth in a field of twenty-five teams. Junior Ryan Snyder paced the men with a twenty-sixth place effort (27:50) in a field of 175 runners, while Lynn once again led the Ladies, finishing thirtieth (20:30) in a field of 193 runners.
All-NCAC honorees: First team, senior Dan Denning, sophomore Gelsey Lynn; second team, junior Ryan Snyder; honorable mention, seniors Jason Miles and Christine Breiner and first-year Lady Erica Neitz.
NCAC Men's Runner of the Year: Dan Denning
F ield hockey
(14-6 overall, 9-3 NCAC, second place)
First-year head coach Rebecca Lanseigne made her debut a memorable one by leading the Ladies to a second consecutive fourteen-victory season and runner-up finish in the NCAC. Both efforts tied the best marks in Kenyon history. The Ladies tied or set seven individual or team records for a game, season, or career. Senior Christina Rimelspach became the program's all-time leading single-season scorer with thirty-six points. Senior Phoebe Walker emerged as the all-time career leader in assists with twenty-one. Also during the season, the Ladies set two rare records by playing eight overtime games and emerging victorious in seven.
All-NCAC honorees: First team, seniors Sara Reish and Gretchen Muller, and junior Carrie Moore; second team, senior Christina Rimelspach and junior Michelle de Tarnowsky; honorable mention, sophomore Erika Prahl.
National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Great Lakes Regional All-America: First team, senior Gretchen Muller and junior Carrie Moore.
NFHCA National All-America: Second team, Gretchen Muller.
NFHCA National Academic All-America: Gretchen Muller.
F ootball
(3-7 overall, 3-5 NCAC, sixth place)
A final 3-7 record did not truly reflect the effort--or the competitiveness--of the Lords throughout the 1997 season. Four games that resulted in tough setbacks for Kenyon were hotly contested into the final minutes. Overall, the Lords produced a balanced attack for the third consecutive year, rushing the ball for 1,441 yards and throwing for another 1,579 yards. Junior running back Anthony Togliatti finished as the second-leading rusher in the NCAC, averaging 97.0 yards per game, despite sitting out two games with an injuy. He set Kenyon single-game records for rushing and yardage when he carried the ball forty-one times for 232 yards in a 34-27 victory over Case Western Reserve University. The 232 yards represented the highest single-game total in the NCAC for the 1997 season. Senior Dan Brigg set a new Lords career record for tackles for loss with thirty-one, while senior Todd Kiziminski moved into second place in the same category with thirty.
All-NCAC honorees: First team, junior Anthony Togliatti; second team, seniors Dan Brigg and Todd Kiziminski; honorable mention, senior John Lindsey and junior Tom Swain.
CoSIDA/GTE Academic All-District: First team, Anthony Togliatti.
W omen's soccer
(4-15 overall, 2-6 NCAC, tied for eighth place)
A very young Ladies team struggled through what could be characterized as a learning season. First-year player Shannon Maroney finished tenth among the NCAC's leading scorers, averaging 1.11 points per game. She finished the season with nine goals and three assists.
All-NCAC honorees: First-year Ladies Shannon Maroney and Louise Eddleston.
M en's soccer
(15-3 overall, 8-0 NCAC, first place; ranked first in the Great Lakes Region; ranked fifteenth in the final national poll)
Junior Kelsey Olds led the highest-scoring team in the NCAC by leading the league with 2.35 points per game. He finished the season with eighteen goals and four assists, en route to earning first-team All-NCAC honors and All-America honors, both for the third consecutive year. The Lords finished with three of the NCAC's leading scorers as senior Elliot Shay finished sixth (1.24 ppg.) and first-year Lord Tim Davey finished eighth (1.06 ppg.). Kenyon advanced to the NCAA championship tournament for the eighth consecutive year but this time fell in the first round to arch rival Ohio Wesleyan University in a stunning 1-0 upset. The Lords completed the season as NCAC champions, however, posting an 8-0 record in conference play. It marked Kenyon's second consecutive conference title and its fifth in the past eight seasons. Head Coach Jack Detchon resigned following the season to retire from coaching and return to his native England. He left Kenyon as the most successful coach in the program's history.
All-NCAC honorees: First team, junior Kelsey Olds and sophomores Leon Blanche and Per Willen; second team, senior Jonathan Moodey and junior Biko Moyo; honorable mention, sophomore Greg Stephenson and first-year Lord Tim Davey.
NCAC Offensive Player of the Year: Kelsey Olds.
NCAC Defensive Player of the Year: Per Willen.
National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-America: Second team, Kelsey Olds.
V olleyball
(10-21 overall, 3-5 NCAC, tied for fifth place)
Kenyon played competitively throughout one of the most challenging schedules in the program's history, including a match on the road with the eventual national champion, the University of California at San Diego. Overall, the Ladies faced eleven regionally ranked foes, three nationally ranked teams, and six teams that advanced to the NCAA championship tournament. It was a team that did not have a senior on the roster, so hopes are high for the 1998 season as a veteran squad returns for coach Jennie Bruening. That group will include Stephanie Goes, a first-year Lady who earned the NCAC Newcomer of the Year accolade. She led the team with 934 assists, including a season-high sixty-two against Ohio Wesleyan University. That was the second highest single-match total in Kenyon history. Goes was the second Lady to receive the Newcomer of the Year honor, as sophomore Maggie Beeler took the same honor in 1996. Kenyon set two records during the season, including one by Goes. She recorded a single-match record of nine aces against the College of Wooster. Sophomore Erin Wimmers set the other single-game record, in best hitting percentage, with a .636 mark against Earlham College.
All-NCAC honorees: Second team, sophomore Maggie Beeler.
NCAC Newcomer of the Year: Stephanie Goes.
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