Congrats Rick Franklin

Pacific University's first wrestling national champion will be inducted into the Oregon Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame this Saturday.

Rick Franklin won the 142-pound title at the 1978 NAIA National Championships. He also won the NAIA District II and Northwest Conference championships while amassing a 29-5 record finishing the season with a 14-match win streak that culminated in the national title.

Since leaving the mat as a competitor, Franklin has been very active as an official. He has served as an official for the last 34 years and has officiated at the Pac-10 Championships, the Big-10 Tournament, the National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star meet and numerous OSAA Oregon high school state championship events. He was an official at a number of Pacific events this season.

Franklin was inducted into the Pacific University Athletic Hall of Fame as part of its inaugaral class in 1992. He joins two former Pacific coaches who have been inducted into the hall of fame, Mike Clock in 2003 and Craig Olsen in 2006.

A short article on Franklin, from the Gresham Outlook newspaper, can be read here.

The Portland Timbers At Lincoln Park

The final preseason scrimmage for the 2009 edition of the Portland Timbers came here in Forest Grove.

The Timbers fought to a 1-1 tie with the Tacoma Tide FC, a United Soccer Leagues' Premier Development League team, on April 18 at Lincoln Park Stadium. The match was one of a handful of "closed door" matches (unadvertised) that the Timbers play each preseason.

The match was the third that the USL First Division team has played at Lincoln Park Stadium. In 2008, the Timbers played an advertised preseason exhibition match against Gonzaga as well as another "closed door" scrimmage against the University of Washington.

The Timbers' presence in Forest Grove is not a coincidence. Jim Brazeau, Pacific's head men's soccer coach, has served as an assistant coach for the Timbers in seven of their first eight seasons. Of course, the season comes with a higher level of attention with the announcement that the Timbers will morph into a Major League Soccer franchise in 2011.

In addition to the Tacoma match, the Timbers will host a resident youth soccer camp in June. Visit the Portland Timbers Web site for more details.

More photos from the Timbers/Tacoma match...

Lacrosse Hawaii Style

The 2009 women's lacrosse season will conclude this weekend with games at Linfield on Thursday and Puget Sound on Saturday. The Boxers have experienced a great deal of improvement this season and stand to finish with their first above .500 record in the program's three-year history.

I have always been impressed with the fact that the top scorers for the Boxers have always been from Hawaii. This is amazing because lacrosse is not a recognized high school sport on the Islands and, to my knowledge, is about as popular in Hawaii as curling.

Last Friday's edition of the Garden Island newspaper (on Kauai) featured one of those Hawaii players. Shanlyn Souza has been part of the Pacific lacrosse program from the start, joining the first year club program and following through as the program went varsity. Souza, who did not plan on participating in any varsity sport at Pacific, said she fell in love with the pace of the game, which mimics the soccer she played in high school.

She found lacrosse a lot like soccer, “fast-paced,” with other elements she found very much to her liking, she said in a telephone interview.

“I just grew to really love the game. I really bonded with a lot of the players,” said Souza, who was elected the squad’s captain for three years in a row.

You can read the full feature on Shanlyn by Clicking Here.

The Tale Of The Tape

When the Pacific and Linfield softball teams take to Sherman/Larkins Stadium on Saturday, fans will be treated to a match-up between two of the top softball programs in the nation.

Linfield enters the week ranked No. 1 in the NFCA Division III Top-25 Poll and have amassed a very impressive 29-2 record. They enter the week undefeated in conference play at 20-0. Last year, the Wildcats took only three conference losses en route to their fifth straight NWC crown (one of those losses was to the Boxers).

Pacific, meanwhile, has rebounded well after a tough start to the year and enters the weekend series with a 23-9 record. Pacific has won their last five contests after losing three of four to Pacific Lutheran, all three losses coming in heartbreakers.

Perhaps most impressive in this weekend's match-up, though, is the caliber of talent on the two teams that ranks among the best in the nation at the Division III level. Compare these numbers from the Apr. 12 NCAA Division III statistics report...

BATTING AVERAGE: Linfield ranks eighth (.383). Pacific ranks 18th (.365).
FIELDING PERCENTAGE: Linfield ranks 15th (.970). Pacific ranks 58th (.962).
SCORING: Pacific ranks 14th (7.9 runs per game). Linfield ranks 25th (7.24 runs per game).
HOME RUNS PER GAME: Pacific ranks fifth (1.13). Linfield ranks ninth (0.94).
SLUGGING PERCENTAGE: Linfield ranks sixth (.587). Pacific ranks 11th (.565).

The individual match-ups at the plate should provide an offensively charged series. Check out these numbers...

PACIFIC

• Chelsey Chamberlain ranks 18th nationally in runs batted in per game (1.27), 21st in home runs per game (0.30), 28th in slugging percentage (.835), 65th in runs per game (1.10) anf 83rd in batting average (.451).
• Kristen Croxford ranks 49th in batting average (.469).
• Ashley Billingsley ranks 46th in home runs per game (0.25) while Carrier Maerz ranks 68th (0.20).
• Billinsgley also ranks 66th in slugging percentage (.757) while Stephanie Vanoudenhaegen ranks 74th in runs per game (1.06).

LINFIELD

• Emilee Lepp ranks 23rd in slugging percentage (.838), 29th in batting average (.485), 34th in runs batted in per game (1.13), 35th in doubles per game (0.42) and 35th in runs per game (1.19).
• Emily Kegabine ranks 21st in slugging percentage (.845), 30th in batting average (.485) and 32nd in home runs per game (0.28).
• Staci Doucette ranks 25th in home runs per game (0.29), 29th in slugging percentage (.832), 42nd in toughest to strikeout and 54th in batting average (.463).

Then there is the pitching, which could be the key that swings the series. Linfield ranks 27th in earned run average at 1.48. Brittney Miller has put together a very impressive season, compiling a 0.53 ERA in 53 innings. During that time, she has allowed just four earned runs. Despite the impressive pitching numbers, no Linfield hurlers are ranked nationally.

Pacific has struggled a big in the cicrle, compiling a 3.62 ERA. The Boxers, however, have received strong performances once again from Miranda McNealy. The junior ranks 25th nationally in strikeouts per seven innings (8.3), 41st in victories (11) and 73rd in hits allowed per seven innings (6.48).

If you can't make it to the series, we will Webcast all four contests on the Boxer Sports Network. First pitch for the doubleheaders is noon on Saturday and Sunday.

Senior Salute: Tessa & Sami

They were the queens of their home court...at least for the day. Seniors Sami Richards and Tessa Krebs were honored prior to the start of Saturday's match against Pacific Lutheran, their last home match of the 2009 season.


Seems like quite the sendoff Special thanks to Randy Krebs, Tessa's father, for the pics.

Thankfully, the match was not the last for the Boxers. Pacific is assured of no worse of a sixth place finish in the conference, earning them an invitation to the Northwest Conference Championship Tournament, Apr. 17-18 in Yakima, Wash. It will make the first time the Boxers have gone to the tournament since it shifted to a six-team format in 2004.

In Memorium: Lou Saban

Lou Saban, longtime AFL & NFL football coach with the Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots and Denver Broncos, and a former president of the New York Yankees, died Monday at the age of 87.

The Pacific connection to Mr. Saban is former women's soccer player Anna Saban-Roach, who played for the Boxers from 2003-2006. The former coach's granddaughter, Saban-Roach inherited the tough, no nonsense veneer of her grandfather on the field. As a defender, she was tough and one not to be messed with.

How tough? Anna broke her arm three times, once a season in her sophomore, junior and senior years. She sat out for maybe a week each time. She returned to the pitch just as fired up and aggressive as before the injury. It is evident that the tenacity runs in the family.

Our condolences to Anna and the entire Saban family.