Dust off the record books
Jocelyn Taylor
Staff Writer
Newswire photo by Danielle Meiners
Sophomore Caitlin Thomas’ time of 10:44.72 in the steeplechase made her the first athlete to qualify for NCAA Regionals in school history.
Over the weekend, the Xavier track team competed in the Ohio Championships held in Oxford, Ohio, setting 10 new school records in different events.
Sophomore Caitlin Thomas shined the brightest Sunday, qualifying for the NCAA Regionals with a time of 10:44.72 in the 3,000 meter steeple chase.
“As far as my accomplishment, I’m very proud to be the first to qualify to Regionals from the Xavier track team,” Thomas said. “It was my goal coming into this season and I worked hard on my form and focused on being more consistent in workouts so I would be able to run my goal time.”
Thomas was excited for herself as well as her teammates, as she was not the only one to break records Sunday.
Senior Clint Womack beat his own record in the 800 meter with a time of 1:51.98.
Junior Derek LeBlanc in the long jump and sophomore Jory DelCecato in the discus improved their previous records as well.
Not to be outdone, the Musketeer women set new records of their own.
Senior Becky Clark broke the school records that she previously set in both the 1,500 and 800 meter run, and freshman Emily Tyler produced a 15:13 time in the 100 meter hurdles.
Also, a new member to the Xavier track team, but a familiar face from the women’s
basketball team, April Phillips, made an outstanding debut.
The six-foot junior made her presence known by placing sixth in the shot put
event. She smashed the previous Xavier school record of 37 1/2 set by Courtney
Whalen in 2006, with a 46-7 3/4” throw.
The track team is working hard to progress to the levels of the NCAA. “One
of our other runners nearly qualified for Regionals and several others are getting
close. Since the track program here is still fairly young, it just shows that
the program is growing and getting better every year,” said Thomas.
The Xavier track team will compete in the Stan Lyons Invitational in Indianapolis
this Saturday. This will be their last event before the Atlantic 10 Championships
on May 2.
Women’s tennis fourth at A-10s
Ken Burton
Staff Writer
A 4-3 loss in the final match of the consolation game of the Atlantic 10 tournament against Charlotte ended the Xavier women’s tennis season this past weekend.
The Musketeers managed to earn the doubles point, but only earned two singles victories, effectively drawing the season to a close.
“We didn’t finish as champions of the Atlantic 10 as we set out to do, but a fourth-place finish in a pretty deep conference is a pretty good effort from our girls,” said head coach Eric Toth.
The Musketeers finished the season in fourth place with a 17-9 overall record and were 5-1 in A-10 play. The Musketeers were led by its top singles players: senior Kara Courtney and juniors Jill Ducro and Kaitlyn Zinn, who all registered 20 singles wins or more.
In doubles, the combination of Courtney and senior Jeanette Feider proved to be the Musketeers most effective duo. The two were 14-9 overall, perfect in conference play and finished the season on an impressive 8-2 run.
The two seniors also both ended their careers in the program’s top 10 for all-time overall victories.
As a team, the Musketeers rattled off four and five-game winning streaks on the way to their best team record since 2004-05.
Strong finish for Xavier women
Underclassmen shine as seniors wave goodbye to XU
Cameron Laney
Staff Writer
Newswire photo by Danielle Meiners
Sophomore Rachel Levi improved her season scoring average to 80 with rounds of 80, 75 and 83.
The Xavier women’s golf team closed their season on a promising note April 17-20 at the Colonial Athletic Association Championship.
Sophomore Rachel Levi led the Musketeers to a seventh place finish at the par-70 Calloway Gardens Golf Course in Lake View, GA.
Levi shot rounds of 80, 75 and 83, earning her a tie for 24th place in the event.
Levi was not alone, however, as fellow Musketeers sophomore Audrey Fellmeth and junior Mary Beth McKenna finished within two strokes of Levi.
In the nine tournaments this season Levi had an average score of 80, with her most impressive score being a two over par 73 in the Duramed Collegiate Tournament at Rio Verde. For the CAA Championships, Levi averaged a round of 79.
The sophomore’s consistency gives head coach Tom Elfers many reasons to look forward to her improvement over the next two seasons.
Fellmeth recorded scores of 81, 79 and 79 for an overall score of 239—one stroke behind Levi.
Fellmeth tied for the seventh lowest score on par-3 holes in the event at three over par, and led Xavier in par-4 scoring at +18 and total pars with 31.
McKenna tied Levi for the best individual round for Xavier with a final round 75, giving her a 28th place finish at 240 when coupled with previous scores of 83 and 82.
Freshman Michelle Winkler was also impressive, tying Levi for the most birdies on the Xavier squad with four on her way to rounds of 86, 82 and 85 for a 41st place finish at 253.
While the future appears bright with underclassmen like Levi, Fellmeth and Winkler, the weekend also took on a somber tone, as the Musketeers bid farewell to senior Lindsay Cornell. Cornell recorded scores of 84, 85 and 82 resulting in a tie for 39th place in her final tournament as a Musketeer.
Baseball gets back on track
Scott Mueller
Asst. Sports Editor
A four game winning streak was just what the Xavier baseball team needed.
The Musketeers had lost the last three Atlantic 10 series, and saw their A-10 record slip to .500 on the season. However, a victory at the Joe Nuxhall Classic and a series win over Fordham set Xavier back on the right track.
On April 14, the Musketeers (20-14, 8-7 A-10) defeated cross-town rival Cincinnati 12-8 in the first game of the inaugural Joe Nuxhall Classic hosted by UC. On April 15, the Musketeers knocked off Wright State 10-9 in the championship game of the event.
Junior Zac Richard won the tournament MVP after hitting 3-7 with three runs scored and four RBIs, including the game winning RBI in the eighth inning of the championship game.
Two days later, Xavier welcomed A-10 opponent Fordham to Hayden Field for a three-game series.
The Musketeers connected for three 3-run home runs in taking the first game 10-7.
Senior Neil Lindgren started the scoring with a three run homer in the third inning. Fordham came back to take a 7-4 lead, but sophomore Ben Thomas tied the game with a home run in the seventh and senior Adam Pasono gave the Musketeers the lead with a blast in the eighth.
With the threat of rain on Sunday, the two teams decided to play a double header on Saturday.
In the first game, Xavier took an early 2-0 lead, before being forced to battle back with a run in both the fifth and seventh innings to provide the final margin of 4-2. The victory assured Xavier of its first A-10 series victory since a sweep of SLU in the A-10 season opening series.
In the nightcap, Xavier again jumped out to an early lead with two runs in the fourth, but saw the scored tied in the sixth. The XU bullpen continued to struggle, surrendering a pair of runs in both the seventh and eighth innings, leading to a 6-5 win for the Rams.
Xavier finished out the week with an 11-6 loss to Eastern Kentucky on April 21 after they touched up Xavier freshman Josh Deeg for six runs over two innings of work.
Xavier will play at Miami (OH) Wed., April 22 at 6 p.m., and will return to Philadelphia this weekend to take on Temple in a three-game series.
