—Kevin Byrne
Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams face tough competition when they travel to Lake Forest this weekend, but they can at least take solace that they are both playoff-bound after giving Darby Gymnasium a proper sendoff on Wednesday.
“The Knox game will be really emotional and hopefully we’ll play well so that our last memory of Darby will be a positive one,” said three-point specialist Steve Nordlund ’04 before Grinnell faced the visiting Prairie Fire in the final Grinnell game ever to be played at Darby Gym. And indeed Grinnell’s basketball teams did precisely that. First, the women’s team clinched a playoff berth in dispatching Knox 71-53. Then, the men’s team scored a dramatic 105-102 victory, but only after blowing a 17-point second-half lead. Steve Wood ’04 had 38 points and hit the game-winning 3-pointer and the Pioneer faithful stormed the floor twice (once after the shot, and again after officials put 0.6 seconds up on the clock with which Knox failed to attempt a shot).
“I’ve talked with some of the seniors about the importance of finishing out our career on a high note,” said Nordlund. “So there is certainly a sense of urgency and I think that will show in our intensity and effort.”
“Nordy,” who along with the other seniors was honored before the final home game of the year against Knox on Wednesday, is currently second in the nation in 3-point field goals per game, with 5.1, but the only statistics that matter the rest of the season are victories. The Pioneers are in third place in the conference, after losing two tough games on the road last week against St. Norbert and Ripon. The losses make Grinnell’s last two road games all the more important, for though they have clinched a playoff berth, they’re just one game ahead of the Green Knights, and half a game behind the Carroll Pioneers for second place.
The women’s team clinched a playoff berth by beating the Prairie Fire Wednesday night, but faces an equal challenge in their quest to catch Lake Forest for third place. The women also lost two seven-point games to St. Norbert and Ripon, the conference’s top two teams, but are confident nonetheless heading into their final two games.
Right now we’re in fourth,” said center Tai Duncan ‘04, “and after the effort we put forward this past weekend in Wisconsin, we are gaining confidence going into our last three regular season games. It would be nice, though, to steal that third spot away from Lake Forest.”
This weekend, men’s and women’s track and field travel to Monmouth, Ill., for the Monmouth Invite. Both teams are coming off a successful trip to Cornell College and the Hilltop Open. The Pioneer men placed well in many events, including good races from Adam Beals ’06 (8th, 9:27.62) and Kyle Gonnerman ’07 (10th, 9:32.96) in the 3000 meter. Yaw-Nti Addae ’04 qualified for the meet finals in the 55 meter and ran a 6.69 to place 6th. Grinnell athletes also led the way in the 1500m with Adam Booth ’04 (1st, 4:00.11), Justin Riley ’06 (3rd, 4:04.48) and Patrick Waldo ’06 (10, 4:25.55) all performing well. Mitch Herz ’05 (2nd, 2:00.46), Booth (4th, 2:02.33) and Riley (2:03.90) performed very well in a tactical 800. The 4x400 team of Herz, Winton, Nti-Addae and Takawira finished off a great day of racing with a time of 3:34.83 to finish second.
The team now shifts their focus to the Monmouth meet.
“Our main goal is to continue to progress on an individual level,” said Herz. “The only way to make a track team better is to improve individual performances and that is what we hope to do this weekend.”
The women’s team also put up some great times at the Hilltop Open, but like the men, are looking forward to the Monmouth Invite and improving their times and eating habits.
“This weekend we’ll be focused on scoping out the conference competition and dropping our times from last weekend,” said Liz Jarvis ’04. “We’re also concerned about consuming mass quantities of protein in the form of string cheese, hard-boiled eggs and unsalted peanuts. This is key.”
The women’s team will focus on preparing themselves for meets down the road and improving with each meet.
“At this point in the season,” Jarvis said, “we’re concentrating more on individual performances rather than the overall team score. We want to run fast enough times to get into the fast heats at conference. That’s when we’ll be concerned with the team placing.”
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