Soccer falls 0-1 against UCM

The Hornets hosted 12-ranked Central Missouri Sunday at the ESU Pitch in a close game. The Hornets fell 1-0 as UCM scored in the 85th minute of the game.

ESU was able to stop 18 of 19 shots on goal by a strong UCM squad that has only been held to one goal or less twice this season.

Junior goalie Nikki Schmitz tied an ESU record held by Megan Martin with 16 stops. ESU got three of their four shots on goal in the second half, the closest from senior defender Jessica Decker who came within inches of scoring in the early stages of the second half. Today the team will travel to Bolivar, Mo. to play Southwest Baptist.

Men take 1st, women 2nd at Haskell XC invitational

The women cross country team once again had a strong showing by senior Katie Mona last Saturday. She won her third straight individual championship at the Haskell Invitational while helping ESU women place second as a team.

She finished almost a full minute ahead of the second place finisher. The Hornets also had a strong finish by Courtney Maddux, who placed 14th, Amy Feldkamp who placed 16th and Kristen Sponsel, who finished in 26th.

The men’s team took home the first place prize and their second overall team championship of the season.

Asher Delmott led the way for the men finishing fourth overall. ESU also had strong finishes from Jacob Bull, ninth, Morgan Riggs, 11th, Ryan Hahn, 19^9th, and Trey Brokaw, 22nd.

Up next for the cross country team is the MIAA championships on Oct. 22 in Joplin, Mo.

Women volleyball sweep Missouri Southern 3-0

The women continued their strong play as they stretch their record to 12-6 on the year with a win against Missouri Southern last Saturday.

The women used 10 blocks and took advantage of more than 20 errors by MSSU to complete the sweep 3-0. The scores were 25-10, 25-16 and 25-22 respectively.

Katie Deutschmann continued her strong play as she hit 750 for the match and stretched her string of double-doubles to three games.

Paige Vanderpool ended the night with seven kills and 15 digs. Meg Schwartz continued her strong defensive play with 15 digs, making it 23 matches in which she has had double digit digs.

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Senior Ryan Hahn runs the men’s 8K race Friday at Jones Park for Emporia State’s Planet Sub Invitational. The men’s cross-country team came in at sixth place. Julie Thephachan/The Bulletin

The Emporia State men’s and women’s cross country teams held their only home meet last Friday at Jones Park. The women were led by Katie Mona, who came in first. The men were paced by Asher Delmott, who finished the race in 19th place. The women were able to finish in 10th place in the 5K while the men were able to place sixth overall in the 10K.

Katie Mona won the women’s 5K race with an impressive time of 17:30.66. This is the second fastest time ever run at the Jones Invitational. She jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.

“It feels good,” Mona said. “I’m really glad that I could run a good race at my last home meet. I will miss it.”

Overall, the ladies were able to place four runners in the top one-hundred. Courtney Maddux placed 51st, Tiffany Orth placed 82nd and Kristen Sponsel finished 85th. Cross country coach Eric Wellman said he was pleased with the overall performance of the women.

“We are doing a great job developing,” Wellman said. “I’m really proud of them and the way they have come together today on this course…our guys fought real hard today.”

For the rest of the men, runner Morgan Riggs finished in 32nd, and Jacob Bull finished in 35th overall. Delmott ran a good race finishing two places higher, 19th, than he did just one year ago. His time was 26:24.83. Overall, the men placed five in the top 60.

“I feel like I did pretty well,” Delmott said. “My coach this year has been saying I need to be more competitive in the second half of the race, so I ran a little more conservative at the start of the race and really tried to push the second half.”

Overall both the men and women had very strong performances in their only home meet of the season.

“They did a good job running on the home course,” said head cross country coach Steve Blocker. “They are continually improving each week. I think Eric Wellman is doing a great job with them and we are just building each week going into MIAA and regional meets.”

Up next for the cross country team is the Haskell Invitational at 9:15 a.m. this Saturday in Lawrence.

Marcus Hix

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All tied up

The Emporia State soccer team added one more tie to their record this season as they traveled to Fort Hays State last Thursday. The Hornets fared well with Fort Hays both on the scoreboard and on the stats sheet as they managed to generate eight shots all on goal to nine shots by Fort Hays.

Unlike previous games this season, it was the Hornets who struck first as Mallory Walden scored her second goal of the season on a header in the 12th minute. Sarah Anderson received the assist off a corner kick. The Tigers answered back in the 56th minute, and the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

Hornet volleyball falls to Truman

It took Truman five games, but they finally defeated the Emporia State volleyball team last Saturday, 3-2, winning the final match 15-12. The Hornets were down two matches to one before winning the fourth by two points. Every game on the day was decided by no more than three points. ESU started the day losing the first match 25-22 before answering back with a 25-23 victory. The third match saw Truman win by an identical 25-22 score. The Hornets then won the fourth 25-23 before falling in the final match.

Katie Deutschmann, Paige Vanderpool and Amanda Gerety all registered double-doubles for the Hornets on the day. ESU will look to improve from the defeat as they take on Missouri Western at 7 p.m. on Sept. 23 at White Auditorium.

Mona finishes 10th overall for XC

The Emporia State cross country teams traveled to Lincoln, Neb. this weekend to compete in the Woody Greeno Nebraska Invitational. The men finished 14th overall out of 28 total teams. Asher Delmott finished 40th overall with a time of 26:20.7, and Jacob Bull finished 87th out of over 300 runners.

Katie Mona had the best finish for ESU on the day finishing 10th overall, as she was the second non-Division I runner to cross the finish line at 21:49.0. The ESU women placed 20th overall out of 25 teams. The Hornet runners will compete this Saturday at the Tabor Invitational in Hillsboro.

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PORTOFEE

The young members on a team are often a good indicator of the team’s future successes. This year, the Emporia State cross country team has four senior leaders but will need some younger members to step up, like sophomore runner Marcus Portofee.

“He is a very good up and coming runner,” said head coach Steve Blocker. “From last season to now, he has matured not only as an athlete but as a leader. His leadership is a vital building block to the future of the Hornets cross country team.”

Portofee, a pre-physical therapy major, began running cross country in junior high. He also competed in track and in baseball. Although he was successful all three sports, he knew he enjoyed cross country the most. Portofee stated that he always had really good mile times when running, which led to his decision to run cross country in college.

“I was always too skinny to play football or sports like that in high school,” Portofee said. “My junior high coach pushed me into cross country. That is when I became interested in running cross country. I have liked to run ever since I was young. I always did really well at long distance runs.”

Portofee said he tries not to think about anything while he runs.

“You can break yourself and it can be tough on you mentally,” Portofee said. “I just do it (run).”

With a senior led squad this season, Portofee will transition into a leadership role. With the influx of young runners, Portofee is taking the lead. He will try to keep the other young runners focused, mentally tough and keep their confidence high.

“Marcus is making the transition into a leadership role very smoothly,” said assistant coach Eric Wellman. “He has gotten a lot stronger and become a better runner. His leadership will be greatly needed moving into next season.”

Last season at the Mid America Athletic Association cross country championship in Hays, Portofee, ran a personal 26:13.00 in the 8K, finishing in 44th place overall as a freshman, while helping the team finish in eighth place.

Portofee has high hopes for himself and the team this season.

“I hope to get my 8K to under 26 minutes this season,” Portofee said. “I want to help lead this team and continue to push us to constantly be better.”

The first cross country meet on Sept. 2 was cancelled due to heat. The next meet is at 10 a.m. on Sept. 17 in Lincoln, Neb.

Marcus Hix

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Harris

Another member of Emporia State’s athletic department moved on during the off-season this summer. Former track and field head coach David Harris left for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Harris spent 19 years at Emporia State before deciding to call it quits.

“I appreciate what this university and community has done for my wife, Kathy, and me over these 19 years,” Harris said in a press release.  ”I personally have invested myself for almost two decades in running a respected program in the MIAA and NCAA Division II, and I feel good about what we have done.”

The legacy left by Harris will prove to be big shoes to fill. During almost two decades at ESU, Harris managed to be an 11-time MIAA coach of the year as well as a 2001 National coach of the year for Women’s Outdoor Track and Field. Harris also led the Women to an MIAA championship that year.

Former All-MIAA distance performer and assistant coach Eric Wellman will take over Harris’ duties as the cross country coach. Wellman will also serve as the assistant track and field coach.

“It caught me off guard,” Wellman said of Harris’ leaving. “I think we were all pretty surprised. I know that he kind of was looking for maybe one more challenge in his career. (We) definitely (weren’t) expecting it at the time that it occurred… but things opened up for him, and it was a great situation for him.”

Wellman ran for Emporia State from 2003-2008 where, among other accolades, he holds the fourth best time in ESU history in the mile run with a time of 4:08.85.

In addition, Steven Blocker will run the track and field teams. Blocker has served as an assistant coach with the Hornets since 2009 and ran for the University of Northern Iowa in college, as he was a member of three Missouri Valley Conference championship teams.

Blocker also served as an assistant coach at Santa Barbara City College in California before coming to ESU.

Senior cross country runner Asher Delmott noted Harris’ impact on the team.

“He was kind of like a father figure to the track team, just making sure that you’re always doing the right thing, whether it’s in sports or school,” Delmott said.

Despite the new faces for the track and field teams, Delmott sees the program heading in the right direction with Wellman and Blocker.

“It’s been a pretty smooth transition just because (Wellman) has been an athlete here,” Delmott said. “As a graduate assistant, and now as a coach he knows how Coach Harris did it, and so it’s just been a smooth transition.”

ESU begins their cross country season with a home event at 5 p.m. on Friday, Sep. 2. They also have a second home meet at 5 p.m. on Friday, Sep. 30.

Brandon Schneeberger

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Will Hohmeier and Katie Mona each earned honorable mention All-MIAA honors last Saturday at the 2010 MIAA Cross Country Championships. The event was held at Fort Hays State in Hays, Kansas. The two runners lead Emporia State to a seventh place finish for the women’s team, as the men placed eighth.

For the women, Pittsburgh State would take home the MIAA championship with Missouri Southern and Northwest Missouri rounding out the top three teams respectfully. Mona would earn her MIAA honors after finishing 13^th with a time of 22:23 that lead the Hornets. Kathryn Davison would finish in 22:57 and place 22^nd for the Hornets. ESU had four more runners finish in the next two minutes to take home their seventh place finish.

On the men’s side, ESU finished eighth out of eight teams competing with nine runners finishing the race. Central Missouri would take home the MIAA crown on the men’s side with Missouri Southern and Northwest Missouri finishing second and third respectively. Will Hohmeier finished 16^th overall to lead the Hornets after posting a time of 25:20. Asher Delmott finished with a time of 25:42 to take the 24^th position overall, as he was one of the five Hornets to place in the top 50 runners.

Regionals for both teams are set for Nov. 20 in Warrensburg, MO.

Chris Hopkins

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Out of 16 teams, the Hornet women’s cross country team was able to post a third place finish in the Yellowjacket Classic in Lamoni, IA this weekend due to placing four runners in the top 30. Katie Mona once again led the women with a 12^th place finish and a time of 19:14. She was followed by Amy Feldkamp who posted a time of 19:36. The Hornet men were not as fortunate, only placing one runner in the top 30. Asher Delmott led the way for the men again with a 26^th place finish and a time of 26:51. He was followed by Will Hohmeier who placed 42^nd with a time of 27:22. The Hornets look to continue their success this season in the MIAA Championships on Nov 6 in Hays, Kan.
Brandon Schneeberger

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The Emporia State men’s and women’s cross country teams held their final home meet this Friday at Jones park. The women were once again led by Katie Mona who finished thirteenth overall. Will Hohmeier led the way for the men placing fifteenth. The men were able to land a second place finish in the 8K as the women finished sixth overall in the 5K.

“Overall I was pretty proud of my race,” Hohmeier said. “I looked at my time when I finished, and it was about the same time I ran for conference last year, so I’m a little ahead of shape than I was last year. Fifteenth out of a 250 man race is pretty good.”

For the Hornets, Asher Delmott once again was one of the top runners finishing 21^st overall. He was followed by Jacob Bull, 26^th, and Marcus Portofee, 31^st. Although he may not have placed as high as he did, Delmott was able to put together his personal record for the Hornets finishing in 26:06.88.

“My time was pretty good. I would have liked to place a little higher. I really would have liked to get under 26 (minutes),” Delmott said. “This is my PR for the 8K, so can’t be disappointed with that, but still gotta just keep pushing.”

Katie Mona continued her impressive performance in her return from injury. Finishing in 13^th place, Mona ran the 5K in 18:59.46. The Hornets were able to place four runners in the top fifty. Amy Feldkamp, Kathryn Davison, and Courtney Maddux finished 25^th, 36th, and 48^th respectively. Sydney Oltjen finished 51^st.

“It wasn’t as good as I would have hoped… but for this year I’m happy with it, just getting back to running,” Mona said.

Out of 202 runners and 22 teams the women able to finish sixth overall as a team. Though disappointed with the outcome for the women, Head Coach David Harris was still pleased with his team’s effort.

“We need to do well in our home meet,” Harris said. “I’m disappointed with sixth, but we’ll take that today. There’s a lot of good teams here, and a lot more teams we’ve ever faced before, so we’re going to take sixth… and we’re just going to have to work hard the next three weeks.”

The cross country teams look to continue to improve on their times. Their next meet is the Graceland Yellowjacket Classic in Lamonia, IA on Oct. 23.

Brandon Schneeberger

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Katie Mona made the most of her season debut this Saturday in the Tabor Invitational placing first overall. Mona helped carry the women’s team to a first place overall finish out of 11 teams, finishing a whole 10 seconds over first place. The ESU women were able to land three more top 10 finishes. Amy Feldkamp finished fourth overall followed by Courtney Maddux, sixth, and Sydney Oltjen, ninth.

The ESU men also looked impressive with a second place finish out of ten total teams. Once again Asher Delmott led the way for the Hornets with a sixth place finish. Will Hohmeier also finished in the top ten with a ninth place finish. The ESU Men were able to place every runner in the top thirty to secure the second place finish. Next week ESU will compete in the ESU Invitational at 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1.

Brandon Schneeberger

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Lacer

Emporia State’s Josh Lacer has been running since his freshman year in high school.

For the average person the above statement may sound quite exhausting. For Lacer, however, success has followed him wherever he goes and has led him to Emporia State.

Lacer graduated from Junction City high where he helped the team reach state all four years and AAU nationals his sophomore year. He also went to the Nike Indoor national.

However, Lacer didn’t immediately choose to become a Hornet but instead chose to run for Johnson County Community College in Overland Park.

“I think every runner wants to go Division I, so they kind of look off all the other division 2 schools,” said Lacer, a junior sales management major.

Despite the decision, Lacer was able to become a three-time all-American and set the school record for the half-marathon at Johnson County which may have eventually prompted him to choose Emporia State over the bigger schools.

“I got there and realized running’s running wherever you go,” Lacer said. “I was a three time all-American there and then decided I’d be more help here (Emporia State) than being just another number at a Division I.”

Lacer also noticed a close bond that Emporia State had over the other schools, especially with the cross-country team.

“It was the first kind of school I’d seen that the team was just always around. It was a good community, and they supported their athletes so I kind of grabbed onto that and ran with it,” Lacer said.

Lacer’s decision to come to Emporia has teammate Asher Delmott, junior Psychology major, excited for this season and what he can bring to the table.

“He’s really good endurance athlete, so when track season rolls around, we’re really looking forward to him in the 5K and 10K and also when we start running the 10K at Regionals,” Delmott said.

David Harris, the head cross country coach at Emporia State, recognizes the difficulties transferring can bring to an athlete. Although adapting to a new system and new teammates, Harris still believes Lacer can be a significant runner on this years’ team and will fill a great need.

“We recruited him to make a difference in our program and especially in cross country but we also need somebody on the track a distance runner, and he is a true distance runner,” Harris said.

Brandon Schneeberger

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Emporia State’s cross country teams got off to a running start last Friday when they hosted Newman in the ESU Intersquad/Open.

The women ran a 3200 meter race with a total of 16 runners competing, and started the season off on the right track as they had the top four finishers. Kathryn Davison, a senior from Topeka, won her first race with a time of 12:16.

“It felt great to just get out there and compete again,” Davison said. “Sydney (Oltjen) got her second wind, and I just tried to stick with her. With the four of us sticking together, I think that it really broke down our opponents.”

ESU had only six of the 16 runners, but five of them would crack the top 10 for the women.

Freshman runner Sydney Oltjen finished second with a time of 12:18 to start her collegiate career.

“I felt good all day, didn’t really know anything about Newman, and just wanted to run a good race,” Oltjen said.

Amy Feldkamp and Courtney Maddux rounded out the top five for the women’s team, finishing five seconds ahead of fifth place Taylor Carlson of Newman.

The ESU men also showed a strong debut in the 5K. Of the 29 runners, junior Asher Delmott led the way with a time of 15:45. The Hornets were able to place nine of the top 15 runners.

“I felt good the whole course, really pushed the pace, and my only thought was when I got to the final stretch was that the wind was going to be at my back the rest of the way,” Delmott said. “We really had some freshmen that stepped up today.”

Freshman Jacob Bull had a finishing time of 16:20 for his first collegiate meet, while William Hohmeier, Marcus Portofee and Skyler Delmott rounded out the top five with times of 16:24, 16:26 and 16:29 respectively.

Head Coach Dave Harris was very pleased out of what he saw out of both teams.

“This was a perfect way to start the season, with a low-key meet here at home to see where our runners are right now,” Harris said. “We have only been together about three weeks, and it is only going to get tougher, so we need to raise the intensity. This race was used as a measuring stick, and we really had people in both races step up.”

Chris Hopkins/The Bulletin

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