The Clause Blogs

By Jocelyn Garrity

Water polo had their NAIA invitational this last weekend. They won against Vanguard and lost against Cal Baptist, Concordia and Fresno Pacific. Head Coach Robert Fleming said from the beginning that winning wasn’t the main goal.

“We aren’t really nervous to play anyone, we are just excited to be playing here,” Fleming said. “Cal Baptist is the number one seed team, then us, Concordia, and Fresno. Definitely Cal Baptist is ranked the better team right now.”

Their first game against Vanguard was a very promising win of 13-7.

“We were able to find what we needed to do and the last 3 quarters we dominated the game pretty well,” Fleming said.

Michelle Lutz, a senior physical education major, can see their teams strengths and weaknesses.

“One of our strengths is working together as team, knowing where each other wants the ball and communicating. One of our weaknesses is getting the ball to that point and making better passes. Helping each other out on defense,” Lutz said.

Overall, the team seems grateful for each other.

“I am excited to be playing my last weekend of water polo, and I’m excited to be playing with the girls,” Lutz said.

By Heather Allen

The smell of sweat lingers in the air of the west campus weight room. The floor is covered with powder from the constant rubbing of hand chalk. The sounds of heavy metal and grunts echo through the walls of this huge warehouse where the competitors of the Power Club’s first event struggle to get their weights up.

Headed by sophomore Commercial Music major Daniel Stockdale, the Power Club is a place where both men and women who are interested in strength sports can come together to work out, learn techniques for exercises, and bond over how big their muscles are. It also gives its members a positive atmosphere for better assessment of their own strength in comparison to their body weight.

“The power club is just something that I kind of thought up when I came here,” Stockdale said. “I come from a lot of athletic background and I was used to the competitive atmosphere in the weight room. When I came here I was surprised that there were no records in the weight room and that there wasn’t really any strength sports stuff really on campus so I decided I would make something that would offer that to people.”

The event that occurred of Friday April 8th consisted of two competitions, bench pressing and dead lift. Bench pressing is when the lifter lies on the workout bench with the bar above them and their feet flat on the floor. The lifter then proceeds to wrap their hands around the bar to lift it off of the rack in order to gradually lower it to their chest. The lifter then tries to rapidly raise the bar back to its starting position by fully extending their arms. Dead lift is when the lifter stands up completely straight with their knees bent in order to grasp the bar with the maximum amount of weight they can lift and bring it up off the floor to a standing position.

“On a scale of one to ten the competition was a ten for me,” freshman Communications Major Spencer Troutman said. “You’re exerting every ounce of energy and strength that you have so you have to drive yourself in order to fulfill the task at hand. The best thing was that I went 40 pounds heavier than I’ve ever lifted.”

Since this was the Power Club’s first event, it was surprising to see a decent sized crowd. Parents, friends and roommates all came to support their strong competitor through this long, tedious competition. With tenants from Trinity first and second south cheering on their hall mate, there was a great sense of brotherhood in the room.

“There were definitely some pretty good competitors like Matt [Kimmel] and Daniel [Stockdale], but I definitely rooted for my first south boys Bryce Chamberlain and Andres Gil,” junior Cinematic Arts major and Trinity RA Joey Banasihan said. “I knew that they probably wouldn’t have won the whole thing, but for both being freshmen and being where they’re at right now was pretty impressive.”

Although the squatting competition was taken out due to the fact that most of the contestants do not know the correct way to do it, the overall event was a success. It was fairly matched between all of the contestants with lightweight and heavyweight classes. Each contestant was required to bring a can of food to donate in order to compete. Some personal records were beat, which included Daniel Stockdale’s lifting 3.9 times his body weight at 995lbs. The Power Club’s goal is to have one hosted event each semester. Having women in the club as well would be another goal.

By Crystal Rose Munoz

With their collegiate careers now finished, several Cougar basketball players are considering the possibility of a professional career overseas.

“Right now I am searching for a job to play overseas, I have an agent who is sending my videos to different teams and I also attend camps where there are teams scouting” All-GSAC center Reggie Owens said.

With college basketball being over the team members have to work extra hard practicing on the court and off the court.

“I practice basketball for about two hours a day on and off the court.  This pushes me to stay in shape, work on my game, and continue to stay focused,” Owens said.

Owens was also named NAIA All American second team.

“Although there was no championship this ended up being a great season,”  Owens said. “It’s great that all my coaches have still offered to help me with no hesitation.”

For the women, the Cougars’ NAIA National Championship team were led by a group of seniors who returned to finish their collegiate careers strong after a loss in the 2010 NAIA National Championship game.

“I am not sure if I am going to continue to play overseas. Right now my options are open,” forward Alex More-Porter said. “ I have a good agent that is going to be working with me by sending my information, stats, awards and videos to different teams so that they can evaluate me.”

In the year of 2010, Moore- Porter was also named NAIA All American first team in which she was the third in the programs history.

“I still continue to practice for about four hours a day,” Moore–Porter said. “This year was overall very rewarding winning the National Championship and seeing the team members all develop and reach for their goals.

“As of right now, I do not plan to play ball overseas, the college experience was good enough and ending the season on a high note was satisfying for me” center Kristie Hala’ Ufia said. “Upon graduation, I plan to return home to San Mateo where I will be coaching volleyball and basketball at a middle school. “

Hala’ ufia has been apart of the basketball team since 2007

“My strength and conditioning coach has advised me to still stay conditioned and keep shooting 300 shots a day in case the opportunity of overseas dose come around a little down the road,” Hala’ ufia said.

“The relationships that I have built with my team mates was the best thing and winning the National Championship was the icing on the cake,” Hala’ ufia said.

By Kimberly Citron

Cougar baseball got a taste of the big leagues Tuesday evening in an exhibition game versus the minor league Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

The team held their own against the Class A Advanced Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate, bringing two runners home in the first inning and adding another two runs to lead 4-3 into the fifth inning. The Quakes pulled ahead in the bottom of the fifth and solidified the lead with an eighth-inning run for a 6-4 victory.

“I was proud of the guys,” Head Coach Paul Svagdis said. “I think it’s always a phenomenal opportunity for our guys to get a chance to match up with these professional players. We’re really appreciative of the Quakes and Dodgers organizations for allowing us that chance. Most athletes want to get a feel for how they match up against the best, and these guys are the best to us.”

Senior outfielder Alex Ring and junior first baseman Jonathan Erb led a four-run flare-up in the first two innings and rounded up six of the eight Cougar hits with Ring 4-for-4 and Erb 2-for-4. Ring returns to the field this season after a wrist injury left him on the bench in 2010.

“These guys are throwing so hard and their stuff is so good, you just have to keep it simple. All I tried to do was get my foot down and get the barrel of the bat on the ball—if you can do that, good stuff happens,” Ring said. “This is one of the highlights of the year. It’s a lot of fun to have the chance to come and here and compete with them. They’re all, you know, professional talent, so they’re as good as it gets.”

Svagdis attributes Ring’s 4-for-4 performance to his dedication and devotion to the game.

“I was really excited for him. You always want the best for the guys that work the hardest, and Alex just wills himself to be great every day,” Svagdis said. “He works hard in the batting cages on his own pre-practice, post-practice, so for him to be a senior and the adversity he went through last year, he’s our emotional leader and kind of our spiritual leader on the team. He, hopefully, as a senior guy can walk off the field and say, ‘I can play with these guys.’ He’s a guy you want to have that type of game.”

A devoted San Francisco Giants fan, Ring is well aware of the Quakes’ new affiliation with the Dodgers.

“Believe me, I knew all about that,” Ring said. “It was the best beating up on the Dodgers affiliate. That was my favorite part of the whole day.”

Sophomore outfielder Trevor Lothrop was hit by a pitch to bring Ring home for the first run and freshman righthander Jacob Cage sent Erb in for the second. Erb batted in Ring and sophomore infielder Ryan Henley in the second inning to cap a four-run surge.

The Cougar offense held on late in the game with singles by Ring, Erb and junior short stop Anthony Rodriguez. Sophomore catcher Daniel Shouldice took the plate in the ninth inning and was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A ground out ended the game.

The Cougars are 1-for-4 in the annual exhibition game versus the Quakes.

“We’re trying to enjoy the process and have fun when we play but we still want to play hard. Having fun means playing hard and competing, and our guys have a good handle on that,” Svagdis said. “We have a good group of guys.”

Shouldice was diagnosed with an eye contusion and is expected to make a full recovery.

By Heather Allen

With a minute remaining in the game, APU and Cal Baptist University were tied at 69 points and it appeared that the game would go into overtime. At literally the last second, senior point guard Mike Caffese made the game winning shot with an ending score of 73 to 71 in the first round game of the GSAC tournament.

“I was wide open and I had confidence that I could make it,” Cafesse said. “I saw right when the guy rotated to Caleb [Burgess] and he swung it to me I just knew that I would shoot it automatically. Right when I was at the basket I was confident that it would go in and thought that the worst that could happen was that we would go into overtime.”

The first half was a back and forth affair as the seventh seeded Lancers attempted to shock the second seeded Cougars at home. Senior center Reggie Owens was the leading scorer in the first half with ten points, and finished the game with 24 points. Since he played throughout the entire game, how did a powerhouse like him not tire out quickly?

“I was tired but I couldn’t show it but I taking short breaks help me manage it pretty good,” Owens said.

The second half was neck-in-neck until 13:57 when Cal Baptist took a 45-46 lead, which in turn grew into an eleven point lead at 10:12. The crowd was wondering what was going on with the cougars.

“Our struggle was that we just couldn’t make shots,” Coach Justin Leslie said. “I thought we got everything we wanted because we had them [Cal Baptist] sped up and dead tired but we just couldn’t make a shot.”

Cal Baptist kept on scoring like it was nobody’s business because of their numerous free throws until the cougars began their comeback at 4:45. Cal Baptist’s lead was brought down from eleven points to four points due to the cougars taking control of the momentum. Caffese shined during crunch time by coming up with five points, one rebound, two assists, and one steal while Owens had back-to-back layups that gave the cougars a 71-69 lead with 0:41 remaining in the game.

“My last field goal was my left handed layup on the fast break,” Owens said. “When I showed strain, the guy lost the ball and I knew that [Mike] Caffese would get it. He’s everywhere so I just leapt at it and he threw back the pass to drive the layup.”

The game itself was a nail-biter. The fans literally jumped out of their seats when Caffese made that last shot. The Lancers put a huge scare in the cougars, but fortunately they just could not withstand the cougars’ strength as a team. But Coach Leslie had a different opinion on how his team played last night.

“To be perfectly honest the only thing we accomplished was winning in the last five minutes,” Coach Leslie said. “To get a win in the month of March means that you’re lucky enough to play another game.”

The Cougars will be playing in a semifinal game against Point Loma Nazarene at 5:30 P.M. on Saturday March 5^th at Concordia University. Hopefully the cougars can step up their game by then.

By Kimberly Citron

In an electrifying performance, the NAIA’s number 5-ranked Cougars commanded their 20th win of the season this past Tuesday, closing the night a comfortable 14 points ahead of Cal Baptist with a score of 72-58.

Senior forward Danny Nugent kicked things off with a three point shot a mere 46 seconds into the game, securing his spot alongside fellow senior forward Reggie Owens as one of the matchup’s lead scorers. The two forwards landed a total of 26 points for the Cougars, scoring 14 and 12 points, respectively. Owens, a Golden State Athletic Conference Player of the Year candidate, called the Cougars’ play “very efficient.”

“We came out focused,” Owens said.

Freshman guard Robert Sandoval continued to prove worth his salt, nabbing his own rebound for a jumper halfway into the first period and putting seven points on the board overall, following closely behind junior guards Marshall Johnson and Dallas Rutherford. He capped the first half with an assist for a nail-biting three pointer by senior forward Caleb Burgess eight seconds before the buzzer.

“They just got after it,” Head Coach Justin Leslie said.

Being matched nearly shot for shot by the Lancers in the early moments of the game didn’t stop the Cougars from showing up in full force for the second half. Owens brought APU to a 10-point lead less than two minutes in, solidified by senior point guard Mike Caffese’s fastbreak to a layup minutes later.

“I have a lot of faith that we’re always going to find ways to score,” Leslie said. “We’re a defensive team, and when we do that, the offense happens and we fare well on the scoreboard.”

Sandoval continued his strong showing with a three point shot halfway through the second period that brought the Cougars to a 21-point lead, a lead Johnson capitalized on minutes later with a breakaway dunk. Rutherford followed suit with a breakaway to a layup with 6 minutes left in the game.

“When we’re playing defense really [well] the offense comes,” Owens said. Referring to the team’s readiness for the upcoming NAIA Tournament in Kansas City: “we’re playing that well; we’re going to get better.”

Cal Baptist returned the favor with five consecutive three point shots, prompting two time outs for the Cougars. The Lancers were no match for the impressive lead Azusa Pacific had built up for itself, however. The Cougars finished strong with a lead of 14 in the last few minutes of play.

“This was a team win,” Leslie said. “We got a lot of players get a lot of playing time, and for us to hold someone to 58 points says a lot. I was very pleased. If you think about it, Cal Baptist scored 20 points the first 10 minutes of the game. We held them to 38 the rest of the way. I’ll take that any day of the week.”