Pioneers take two of three

by Jenni Niemiec

Staff Writer

After three exciting games in eight days, Grinnell prepares for their game at Mount Mercy tomorrow.

The trio of games began last Saturday with the team traveling to Lake Forest for their first conference game. The Pioneers captured another win, with a final score of 127-114. Taking only a day to rest, the men were out on their home court Monday night, battling William Penn College. Grinnell once again proved strong, and came out on top with a final score of 152-117. Most recently, the Pioneers traveled to Division I Drake University on Wednesday night. The men put up a good fight, but the Bulldogs took the win, 162-110. The loss puts Grinnell’s record at 4-2.

After 46 years, the Pioneers rekindled an old rivalry with Drake University on Wednesday night. The Pioneers battled the Bulldogs with their “system,” in which the team continuously uses a full-court press and heavy substitutions. This game was an opportunity to test this strategy against a Division I school.

“They are superior athletically,” Head Coach David Arseneault said of the Drake team.

But the Pioneers’ shots weren’t falling either. For one reason or another, the team just couldn’t get into a rhythm. A bright spot for the Pioneers was the play of Ken Heiser ’04, who scored 22 points and had 7 assists. But Drake hit 60 of 88 field goals and eight Bulldogs scored in double figures.

“We just got beat by a better team,” said Steve Wood ’04.

Grinnell grabbed a win on Monday night, however, defeating William Penn by 35 points. The Pioneers dismantled the Statesmen’s game, going on a 20-0 run in the second half which helped them build a 50 point lead, and forcing 40 turnovers and a technical foul. Heiser scored a season-high 31 points, while seven other players scored 10 or more.

Two days before that, the Pioneers began their conference play with a strong win at Lake Forest. After taking an early lead, the team kept the intensity going throughout the game, ending with a 13-point win. Wood had a stellar performance against the Foresters, shooting 13-19 for 35 points. Grinnell shot over 50 percent and had six players score in double figures.

“It was a very important win for us, starting off 1-0 in conference,” stated Wood. “That was our biggest game of the semester.”

The team moves on to play Mount Mercy tomorrow at 1 p.m. Ranked No. 22 nationally in the NAIA, Mount Mercy is also an important game for the Pioneers. Grinnell defeated Mount Mercy last season 126-116 in Darby Gym, and are hoping to have another win under their belt by tomorrow night. Winning their final game before break is important for the Pioneers because, as Wood put it, “It’ll leave the taste in our mouth for next semester.”

Academic All-Conference

Further disproving the “dumb jock” stereotype, Grinnell put a conference-high 69 athletes on the fall sports Academic All-Conference lists (meaning that the athletes maintained a 3.2 cumulative GPA). Once again this was by far the highest for any Midwest Conference School. The breakdown:

SCHOOL # Acad. All-Conf.

Grinnell 69

St. Norbert 58

Carroll 39

Beloit 38

Knox 37

Ripon 35

Lawrence 31

Illinois C. 28

Lake Forest 25

Monmouth 23

To further recognize these student athletes, here’s the breakdown by sport at Grinnell College itself:

TEAM # Acad. All-Conf.

W. Cross Country 15

M. Soccer 15

Football 12

Volleyball 10

M. Cross Country 9

W. Soccer 9

W. Tennis 5

W. Golf 3

The full list of the qualifiers from every school in the MWC is available at:

www.midwestconference.org/academicallconference