Boxer Blog - Pacific University Athletics

Mothers, Daughters & Basketball

2009-12-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

There is something special about the bond between and mother and daughter. For the third consecutive year, the Pacific women's basketball program has taken it to a new level: bonding through basketball.

The Boxers hosted nearly 50 mothers and daughters at the Pacific Athletic Center on Dec. 6 for their annual Mother-Daughter Basketball Clinic. The clinic was offered free to girls in first through sixth grades and their mothers.

The clinic allowed mothers and their daughters to spend time together practicing basketball skills, while giving the moms helpful tips on how to help their girls the basics of the game. While focused on hoops, Head Coach Sharon Rissmiller said that she hopes the clinic also promotes and encourages the participants to continue to lead healthy, active lives.

“My hope is that all who attended had fun together, that some new things were learned and that our Pacific women’s basketball team represented the university as positive role models to the younger girls,” Rissmiller said.

Rissmiller and members of the team led daughters and mothers alike through a series of dribbling and shooting drills and other activities designed to teach the basics of the game. The clinic also included a little fun, including competitions where the younger girls raced to put on full-sized Pacific uniforms.

Pacific Athletics In The News

2009-09-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest edition of our media links highlighting the world of Pacific Athletics...
FROM MOLOKAI TO FOREST GROVE: The Sept. 11 issue of the Molokai (Hawaii) Disaptch did a feature on homegrown product Kelsy Takashima. The sophomore is having another great year in her second season on the Pacific volleyball team.

PACIFIC INDEX: The Pacific student newspaper covered a number of topics in their Sept. 17 issue. Stories included the quest to find a home field for Pacific football, including negotiations for use of Lincoln Park, a brief fall sports preview and an interview with men's basketball with Ross Bartlett on his decision to return for one more hoops season while starting grad school in Pacific's School of Graduate Psychology.

HISTORIC: The "Water Under The Bridge" column of the Daily Astorian (a this day in history piece) makes reference to a football game between the then Badgers and Oregon Normal School (now Western Oregon) to be played in Astoria in 1934. The two teams played after a high school game between Astoria and Ilwaco (Wash.). "Very few colleges play more spectacular football than Larry Wolfe's Oregon Normal team or Anse Cornell's Pacific University eleven," the article said. The game proved to be a defensive struggle with the Badgers and Wolves playing to a 0-0 tie.

FOOTBALL RAMPS UP: Friday's (Sept. 25) Honolulu Advertiser highlights a trip by Head Football Keith Buckley and Director of Athletics Ken Schumann to Hawaii in efforts to recruit and fundraise for Pacific's new football program. The two have spent the week in the Islands looking to spread the word about the team and attract players for the Fall 2010 start. It's a natural recruiting ground as roughly 25 percent of Pacific's undergraduate student body is from Hawaii. Also note the video clip with Buckley on the right side of the page.

TAKING THE "B.S." OUT OF BCS: Not directly related to Pacific athletics, but a cool story about a Pacific University student who has developed a computer program that, she says, better predicts a Division I-BCS champion than the current Bowl Championship Series computer indices. Maggie Wigness has created a computer algorithm that she says is more accurate at predicting winning football teams than the BCS. Wigness will present her program at this weekend's New England Symposium on Statistics in Sports at Harvard University.

FOND FAREWELLS: As the late Paul Harvey used to say, "This is partly personal." Two close colleagues of mine, Barb Richey and Billy Merck, are leaving Pacific University for the next chapters in their live. Richey, Pacific's associate vice president for marketing & communications, leaves after two years on the job. She spearheaded the process of Pacific's recent branding initative, including the development of the University's new logo. Barb leaves to return to the Spokane, Wash., area, where she lived before coming to Pacific.

Merck departs after a a little over a year as the University's director of media relations. Billy built the foundation for Pacific's media efforts as the first full-time PR person the school has had in almost 10 years. He leaves to teach classes at both Portland Community College and Clark College (Billy holds a Ph.D. in literature). Both have been tremendous supports to me in our mission to further the word about Pacific athletics. I will miss them both dearly. Read more about their departures in this Pacific Index article.

Volleyball Stats: An Early Apology

2009-09-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

For those who are following Pacific volleyball as they make their trip to Southern California, I offer a apology in advance. The stats from the four matches will be slow in coming.

This is a part of the the collegiate volleyball world that I do not understand, nor do I neccesarily agree with. At the small college levels (Division II, Division III and NAIA), teams are often left keep their own stats at tournaments. This means two or three reserve players, armed with clipboards, are tracking those all important kills, blocks, sets and errors.

Such will be the case for Pacific as they compete at the Cal-Lu-Fornia Invitational this weekend. With the exception of their match against tournament host Cal Lutheran, team members will have to track their teammate's stats. After each day of action, Head Coach Lena Chan will fax Pacific's stats to me back to the Pacific Sports Information Office in Forest Grove, where I will input those stats into our statistical software.

As far as the other team goes, I will have to wait for our opponents to send their stats to me or to post them to their respective school's site. And I could be waiting a long time. Two of those other three schools that Pacific plays have yet to post any of their stats to their school's web site. One of schools even hosted their own tournament over Labor Day weekend. As another Northwest Conference SID told me, I shouldn't hold my breath when I ask for them either.

Over the past few years, I have taken the opportunity to travel with the volleyball team to their off-site tournaments in order to ensure that complete stats are kept. They have been fun trips that allowed me to get the know the team better and experience other parts of the country, such as Colorado Springs and St. Louis.

This year, however, I couldn't make the trip. There is much going on for me back at home, including a pair of Portland Timbers matches (I am the team's official scorer), a home women's soccer match on Saturday night and the start of rebuilding a fence at home. It's a bummer. I enjoy the chance to get to know the teams and my in-laws live two hours away from the tournament site in Thousand Oaks, Calif. And I am missing out of being able to cheer against the Dodgers with the SID from George Fox, Blair Cash.

So, as I said, accept my early apologies. Know its not my fault. I will be working hard to get them up as soon as I can.

With that said, why hold a tournament and not keep any stats? There are a couple of reasons why this is the status quo.

• The Cal-Lu-Fornia Invitational is a 14-team tournament, with four matches going on during each session. There are not enough sports information directors around that their SID, Scott Chisholm, could draw on to help (and likely without the expectation of payment).

• Not keeping stats is the norm in Division III, not only for tournaments but for regular matches. Except for the Northwest Conference and the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, teams keep their own stats for all regular season matches. The team's SIDs then compile stats after the fact and post to the Web and report to the NCAA.

• I have heard some SIDs from other parts of the country say that keeping in-game stats for volleyball is too hard because you are recording something into the computer for nearly every touch. I don't agree. Yes, it can be hard to grasp at first. But I have managed to train student Work Study employees nearly every year to do it. It can be done.

Stats is one of the selling points that Pacific uses to bring teams out to our annual Boxer Kickoff Volleyball Invitational. We do in-game stats for every match of the tournament, which means that teams can participate purely in playing the game on the court. For the teams that come from east of the Rockies, it is likely the only time this season where they can do that. The Boxer Kickoff is one of the few tournaments in the nation outside of the Division I level to provide stats for all teams.

It's a little thing in the grand scheme of things, but the little things are often the biggest selling points. And as parents and fans of Pacific volleyball, seeing those stats aren't a small thing, are they?

Pacific In The Media: Week 2

2009-09-10T13:48:00.001-07:00

Here is this week's list of media mentions for Pacific Athletics...
• The Forest Grove News-Times ran previews for the Pacific men's soccer, women's soccer and volleyball teams in its Sept. 9 issue, which feature previews for all of the area's high schools and, of course, the hometown Boxers.

• In Pacific's second mention in two week in The Oregonian's recently revived Small College Notebook, writer Norm Maves, Jr., makes note of the Pacific volleyball team's quick 4-0 start. The print piece appeared in the Sept. 8 print edition. Editor's Note: Norm, a retired writer who worked for The O for many years, pushed to bring the regular notebook back after a couple years of hibernation. All of us in the small colleges owe Norm a debt of gratitude for his persistence and dedication to the DII, DIII and NAIA schools.

Week 1 News & Notes: SoCal Fires & Media Links

2009-09-03T17:33:00.001-07:00

Good evening from the press box high atop PGE Park in Portland. In between home events for the Boxers, I am working at my side job as the official statistician for the Portland Timbers soccer club. The team is having a fabulous season: first place in the USL First Division and hasn't lost a match in league play since their season opener in April.

I am not the only Boxer connection to the team. The Pacific men's soccer coaching staff, Head Coach Jim Brazeau and assistant Jim Rilatt, are both assistant coaches for the Timbers under Gavin Wilkinson. They are both in attendance tonight ahead of the Boxers' trip to Southern California. The team flies out Friday morning.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FIRES: The men's soccer squad is literally traveling into a firestorm as wildfires continue to devastate lands in northern Los Angeles Basin. According to KNX 1070 Newsradio, the fire complex was at 35 percent containment as of Thursday night. The city of Redlands and the University of Redlands, where the Boxers will play on Saturday, is 10 miles west of the basin's easternmost blaze, the Yuciapa Fire. Smoke and heat index caused the school to cancel a scheduled women's soccer scrimmage, but their weekend athletics events are expected to take place this weekend as scheduled. Click Here For Interactive Google Map Of The Fire Area.

MEDIA LINKS: Some items of interest on Pacific athletics from the press wires this week...
TENNIS COURTS OPEN: The Wednesday edition of the Forest Grove News-Times featured the new Holce Tennis Courts, located on the northeast corner of campus. The facility has been a long time in coming, as head men's tennis coach Brian Jackson describes.

GHOSTS OF FOOTBALL PAST: The Sunday Oregonian ran a feature of prep football coaches who have chosen to stay at the high school ranks rather than make the jump to (or in some cases the jump back) to the college ranks. Among those profiled is Bill Singler, who was Pacific's last football coach in the 1990 and 1991 seasons. After the program was cut at Pacific, Singler went to Rutgers and Stanford, where he coached under the legendary Bill Walsh, before returning to his alma mater, South Medford High School, to build a state power. The page also features a prep preview with another Pacific gridiron product: Marist Head Coach Frank Geske.

FAREWELL RUSS BLUNCK: Tuesday's Oregonian Small College Notebook makes mention of Russ Blunck, former Western Oregon sports information director and football broadcaster, who was recently named associate athletic director at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. Blunck has been at Western Oregon doing double duty as SID and football radio broadcaster since 1997. Russ played football for Pacific in the late 1970s and 1980s and for a time served as a student SID. Best of luck, Russ on your return to San Diego.

BOXER KICKOFF THIS WEEKEND: The only home event for Pacific this weekend is the fifth annual Boxer Kickoff Volleyball Invitational. Action kicks off Friday at 7 p.m., as the host Boxers take on Schreiner University of Texas. Matches take place all day Saturday, culminating with the Boxers facing Central (Iowa), a perennial NCAA playoff contender, at 8:15 p.m. Four matches on Sunday wrap the tourney, highlighted the Boxers against Wartburg at 1:30 p.m. All Pacific matches can be followed online via our Live Stats service. For more information of the tournament and the participating teams, read this week's volleyball notebook.

FOLLOW YOU, FOLLOW ME: Take your chance now to join the legions that are now following Pacific Athletics on Facebook and Twitter. To become a fan of Pacific University Boxers on Facebook, Follow This Link. To follow us on Twitter, Click Here or find us on Twitter at @goboxers.

And So It Begins...

2009-08-20T15:56:00.000-07:00

It's not the most exciting way to herald the start of the season, but the 2009 Pacific fall sports seasons have officially commenced with a sit-down meeting.

Trialists for the Boxers' men's soccer, women's soccer and volleyball squads met in the University Center on Thursday afternoon for their official welcome to campus. Players received their Student-Athlete Handbooks, filled out required NCAA eligibility paperwork and filled out biographical forms for the sports information office.

The on-the-field and on-the-court action begins on Friday. Women's soccer players rise early for 8 a.m. practice at Lincoln Park Stadium. Volleyball gets underway at 9 a.m. and men's soccer follows at 10 a.m. All three teams will also participate in a second session in the afternoon, with two-a-day practices running well into next week. The teams will have their first day off a week from day, Aug. 27, when New Student Orientation gets underway.

Cross country does not begin their practices until Aug. 31, the first day of classes for the fall. By then Head Coach Tim Boyce will be back and recovered from his trip to the IAAF Track & Field World Championships (yes, he saw Usain Bolt run both of his astounding world records).

It's hard to believe that the game schedule begins in just 12 days. Join us for the trifecta on Sept. 1 as the women's soccer, men's soccer and volleyball squads all play at home.

Ross Bartlett Returns For One More Year

2009-08-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

At the end of the 2008-09 season, Ross Bartlett was unsure whether or not he would return for his final season of eligibility. On track to graduate in May, the psychology grad was unsure of what his future held for him.

The future, it seems, is at Pacific and that is good news for head men's basketball coach Jason Lowery. Bartlett has enrolled in a full load of classes in the University's School of Professional Psychology and will play for the 2009-10 season.

The re-addition of Bartlett, a three-year starter for the Boxers' program, is a great bonus to Lowery and will complement what he feels could be a dynamic lineup. "With four starters back from last year's team, which started off so well before the injuries, and maybe our best recruiting class yet, this could be a fun year."

Bartlett came back last season after missing the 2007-08 season with an ACL tear and provided the Boxers a potent one-two punch with Garold Howe. Bartlett averaged 13.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in 18 games. He ranked among the Boxers' top shooters, averaging 49.7 percent from the field and 72.5 percent from the free throw line. He sat out seven games in the middle of the year after meniscus surgery.

"Ross played in a lot of pain after he came back after the meniscus surgery," Lowery said. "With a summer and fall of rest and rehab, both knees should be stronger and he should be very effective."

Ross will also get one more chance to play college along side his younger brother, Carson. The two played six games together to begin the 2008-09 season before Carson suffered his own season-ending ACL injury. The two brothers have stayed in Forest Grove over the summer, working together as part of the University's conferences and events student staff.

The 2009-10 season kicks off on Tues., Nov. 17, with a matchup against Portland Bible. The complete schedule will be posted soon on goboxers.com. Lowery has indicated that there will not be any Division I preseason exhibition games this season.

Pacific In The Media: Legends and Football

2009-08-05T13:47:00.001-07:00

Wow! It seems like over the past three weeks or so, Pacific University has been all over the place. Be it because of the Pacific Legends Golf Classic or the goings on with the Pacific football program. Here are a collection of links to recent Pacific media hits from all over...

PACIFIC UNIVERSITY LEGENDS GOLF CLASSIC
The third annual event at The Reserve Vineyards & Golf Club produced a lot of notable media attention.

• The big story was the presence of PGA Tour bad boy John Daly at the tournament. Fresh off a sub-par performance at the Buick Open, Daly came to Aloha looking slimmed down and looking to have a good time with the Legends folk. The Oregonian ran an article on Daly's recent comeback and some of his reaction to his latest round. The story also ran front sports page in the Aug. 4 print edition.

• John Canzano brought his Bald Faced Truth show out to The Reserve on Monday, where he broadcast live from 3-6 p.m. John interviewed newly minted Pacific head football coach Keith Buckley (and pressed him after learning of his student journalism background at UC Davis) and talked football with Dallas Cowboys great Ed "Too Tall" Jones. Both interviews were in the second hour and can be heard here.

• For the third straight year, KGW Newschannel 8 was at the tournament and, of course, spent some time talking with John Daly. Sports reporter Adam Bjaranson, who has been a good friend of Pacific Athletics over the years, lucked out and got to play with Daly. Trust me...Adam will remember that for a long time!

• KPTV Fox 12 was also on site for the third straight year and covered the tournament (no video link available).

• Forest Grove News-Times reporter Christian Gaston did a feature on the tournament's Sunday concert and the challenges that the celebrity musicians have in putting a set together with jost one rehearsal (they made it look flawless).

• KPAM 860 will feature the Legends Golf Classic on their Saturday, Aug. 15 Inside Sports show. The Hillsboro Argus will also have an article in their Friday (Aug. 7) edition.

• Prior to the tournament, Legends namesake and host Tommy Thayer appeared on KATU's AM Northwest and KGW's Live at 7 programs, providing the University yet another avenue to promote the tournament and the institution.

• Leading up to the tournament, media sponsor 95.5 The Game ran a number of interviews of appearing celebrities. Interviews included Chuck Finley, Preston Pearson, Jaret Wright, Lisa Guerrero and Mike Bellotti. These intervews can be heard from links at the Pacific Legends Golf Classic Web site (click on MEDIA at the top of the page).

FOOTBALL COACH KEITH BUCKLEY
The buzz on Friday was about Pacific's selection of Keith Buckley as head football coach and the press conference to announce his hiring at the Multnomah Athletic Club. All four Portland area television stations covered the news (with KGW and KPTV live on site), along with three newspapers.

• Amidst the newspaper coverage, the Forest Grove News-Times and the Hillsboro Argus covered the press conference live, while The Oregonian gave the announcement prominent space on both the Friday and Saturday sports pages (for The O's online version, please note the Oregon/Oregon State venom creeping into the comment section).

• As mentioned, KGW, KPTV, KOIN and KATU all covered Buckley's hiring on their Friday sportscasts (sorry...no video links for any of those).

• The Associated Press picked up the story a hour after the press conference and released it to the wire, making it available to media outlets nationwide. Among the outlets making it available in print or online: the Minneapolis Star Tribune, NBC Sports, The New York Times, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times and Yahoo Sports.

•D3Football.com, the definitive site for news and information on Division III football, ran the announcement as their top story over the weekend.

• Also...check out the attractive media backdrop behind Coach Buckley. Not bad for 24 hours notice. Props to Shana at the Pacific University Service Center for her help.

And some stories from the non-traditional " more than the press release angle...
• The Keith Buckley announcement was the top "tweeted" item in the Portland area on Twitter on July 31, that according to a Web site that tracks such things.

• Cal Poly assistant coach Greg Lupfer tells the San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Tribune that he "pulled out of the running" for the Pacific job on Wednesday. Hmmmm....

• A blogger from around the Bellingham, Wash., area uses the announcement to take aim at Western Washington University, which discontinued its Division II program this last spring.

• Advantage Catdome, a Linfield football blogger who has been supportive of Pacific's football efforts over the months, aupines on Buckley's hiring.

• And, of course, from the department of the inveitable confusion with our Stockton counterpart, a USC blogger must assure Trojan faithful that there is no chance that Pete Carroll will end up in Forest Grove.

AND FROM THE PRO RANKS
• From this NFL blog entry on the Dallas Cowboys training camp, former Cowboys vice president Gil Brandt talks about how much has changed in terms of training camp. He specifically references the Cowboys' first training camp, held at none other than Pacific University in Forest Grove. Yes, it is amazing how things have changed.

Horstman Named Golf Coach At Willamette

2009-08-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

After four years playing for the Boxers from 2002-2006, Noah Horstman will now be coaching against his alma mater. Horstman was named Tuesday as the head men's and women's golf coach at rival Willamette University in Salem. Horstman replaces longtime coaches Steve Prothero and Tom Hillyard, who both retired after the 2008-09 season.

Noah was a solid golfer during his time at Pacific, earning All-Northwest Conference honors in 2006 after finishing in the top-five at the NWC Championship tournament. A native of Medford and a graduate of South Medford High School (where he was coached in golf by former Pacific football coach Bill Singler), Horstman also works as the assistant golf professional at Salem's Illahe Hills Golf Course.

It will be fun to see Noah involved in the conference again...even if it is at a rival school. Congrats!

For more on Noah, check out this recent feature on him provided the alumni relations office.

Thank You Phil Creighton

2009-07-27T13:42:00.001-07:00

Outgoing Pacific President Phil Creighton poses with Director of Athletics Ken Schumann with a personalized jersey presented at May's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Awards Banquet. SAAC presented the jersey and a photo collage to Creighton as a thank you for his years of support to the Pacific Athletics program.

This is Phil Creighton's last week as president at Pacific University. Next week, he will hand the reins over the Dr. Lesley Hallick, who arrives at Pacific after two decades as the top provost at Oregon Health Sciences University.

It is an understatement to say that many of the advances that Pacific Athletics has made would not be possible without the unending support of Dr. Creighton. He was behind the planning and construction that eventually led to our top-rate Lincoln Park Athletic Complex. He has given unprecedented support in the growth of athletics, realizing the quality of students that athletics brings to the campus. While president, the University has added two new programs (men's swimming and women's lacrosse) and aggressively support the return of football to the Forest Grove campus.

A couple of personal comments and stories about Phil Creighton. In my 15 years of involvement in intercollegiate athletics, I have only seen one other small college president as visibly supportive of athletics as Phil has been. The late Martha Ann Dow at Oregon Tech was the same way, and it is no coincidence that he considered Dr. Dow a friend and mentor from their Oregon University System days.

Phil's attendance at Boxers' sporting events was a regular occurence, and his voice was a loud as anyone in the PAC or on the fields. He would cheer players on by name, ride officials with the best of fans and was not afraid of letting his passion come through.

In one of his first years at Pacific, Phil was sitting at Tom Reynolds Field in what we called the "President's Box," which was two folding chairs placed near the tent that acted as the press box. In one ealry non-conference men's soccer tilt against Humboldt State, Phil loudly called out an opposing player who referred to Pacific player in derrogatory fashion. "I'll have you thrown right off of campus!" he yelled.

The best part of Phil's passion is that it wasn't exclusively for the athletic fields and the student-athletes. He was just as passionate and present as music events, theatre performances and many other student functions. Phil is passionate about Pacific, no matter what the venue.

I am guessing, however, that Phil had a soft spot for athletics. He played two years of football at the Air Force Academy before a knee injury brought that and his military career to an end. While we never wish injury on anyone, I am thankful that the fateful injury brought him on a path that passed through Pacific.

I had the pleasure to first know Phil Creighton well before he came to Pacific. We first met in 1998 when I was the fresh voiced reporter for KCMB radio in La Grande, and Phil the newly minted president of Eastern Oregon University. I had always remembered in one of our first interviews that he he felt the shelf life of a president was five years.

When he arrived at Pacific in 2003, I publicly challenged Phil on this same point. Even without PR handlers around, he effectively dodged the question. After May 2008 past, I felt a little comfort in the fact that there was no retirement announcement. Once Phil's State of the University address in September, however, I could feel from the start that the announcement was imminent. It was.

I have every confidence that Dr. Hallick will provide great support for Pacific athletics. That support, however, will be built on the foundation that Phil Creighton has helped set in place.

For that, Phil Creighton, all of us in Pacific athletics say thank you. Godspeed, but please do not be a stranger.

What We're Doing On Our Summer Vacation

2009-07-20T15:56:00.000-07:00

The students are gone, the weather is warmer and there are many places that we would rather be other than at our desks and in front of our computers. While it is quiet, there is lots going on around the Pacific Athletic Center. It has been a very busy summer for Pacific athletics. Some of it is the normal preparation for the upcoming seasons, while there are a couple of special projects occupying our time.

Before we know it, August 15 will be here and we will be off and rolling with our fall sports. Until then, here is what some of our athletic department staff is working on...

• The start-up is well underway for the Pacific football program, which will take to the field in Fall 2010. The first step is to hire a head coach. A search committee has met over the last month, sifting through over 125 applications. The list has been narrowed to five finalists. Expect an announcement during the first part of August.

• Our third Pacific University Legends Golf Classic is coming up on Sun., Aug. 2, and Mon., Aug. 3. Hosted by KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer, the tournament has raised an astonishing $250,000 for the Pacific athletic department over the last two years. Many of us have been busy preparing for the tourney, whether it is in media relations, procuring auction items and prizes, setting up the golf and dinner rosters and so much more. There are still playing spots available, and you can sign up now at the tournament Web site. It will be well worth your money.

If you're in the Portland area, expect to see news about the tournament over the next couple of weeks. Our celebrities will be appearing on (among others) Sports Radio 95.5 The Game, KGW Newschannel 8 and KATU's AM Northwest. Stay tuned!

• The long awaited Thomas Holce Tennis Courts opened for play in June. The $1 million facility will be among the best in the conference, featuring six courts (including three covered courts). The facility is open daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Use is free for Pacific students, faculty and staff. Use for other community members is free through the summer. After Aug. 30, community members will have a chance to purchase a membership to the courts, which will include reduced rates on camps, clinics and tournament play opportunities.

• After 10 years, we have made the decision to discontinue production of our award-winning media guides. Simply put, we determined that we did not have the resources to continue expanding the guides to include all sports. More about the decision can be found in a post on my personal blog, Blake Timm's Sidelines. In their place, I have been hard at work designing a new set of recruiting brochures that we will produce for all 20 of our sports. Our coaches will begin using those this fall.

While the Pacific athletics facilities have been quiet in terms of Boxers, a number of outside groups have made use of our top-shelf physical plant. Among the groups that have made use of the PAC and the Lincoln Park facilities include Point Guard College and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In addition, the Pacific women's basketball, men's basketball, men's soccer and volleyball programs will hold annual camps by the time athletes return on Aug. 15.

Until then, those of us in the PAC will find time for a little vacation and time to spend with our families that can be hard to come by as the season begins. But we'll also be working hard to make sure all is ready for the time the fall seasons begin.

Of Note...Rules Changes In Basketball, Wrestling

2009-06-08T14:46:00.001-07:00

The NCAA News reports today on approved rules changes for next season in both men's basketball and wrestling.

In men's hoops, the most significant change comes in rules regarding charges around the rim. A secondary defender must now establish position outside the area from in front of the rim to in front of the backboard to draw a charge call. In other words, players now have the green light to run you over underneath the rim without penalty. Other changes include who can shoot free throws when a fouled player must leave the game due to injury and the use of replay to determine if a foul was flagrant (this will have little effect in DIII).

In wrestling, the referee must now say "set" to the defensive wrestler in the down position before the offensive wrestler comes set. In the past, all that was needed was a pause. Other changes were made to the overtime rules to make them yet even more confusing.

Read More About The Changes On The NCAA News Web Site

Holding Court

2009-05-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

Pacific tennis coaches Brian Jackson (top) and Sandy Garry play the unofficial first match on the University's new tennis courts. The final score of the match was not disclosed.

They may not be officially open, but Pacific's tennis coaches (and some players) have had a chance to test drive the courts at Pacific's new tennis facility.

Save for some electrical work and last minute finishing touches, the new courts are ready for play. While the courts are not yet open for the campus community, head men's tennis coach Brian Jackson and head women's coach Sandy Garry got out their racquets and tried out the new courts on May 27. They were soon joined by a pair of Pacific women's tennis players who happen to live right across the street from the new complex.

The courts were met with rave reviews from the coaches and players alike. The teams will be ready to take the courts for real when the teams start fall practices in September.

The new tennis complex features six courts, three of which are covered and will be available for year-round use. A ribbon-cutting and dedication will be held at a later date. The tennis facility was originally scheduled to be completed in April, but the unusually wet weather over the spring pushed the construction timeline back.

Some other shots of the new home for Pacific tennis...

The News On Football Gets Out...

2009-05-27T13:55:00.001-07:00

In the hours and days since P acific announced the addition of football to it's athletics offerings, the Portland area news media have picked up on the story. Here is a list of stories out on the historic announcement (note that this list will be updated as new articles are posted)...

• The Portland Tribune's Jason Vondersmith wrote a lengthy article on Pacific's football return, which also include insights on the conference from Linfield Coach Joe Smith (6/11/09).

• The Forest Grove News-Times and the Portland Tribune both ran announcements (the News-Times also ran the story in its print edition - both stories 5/27/09).

• The Oregonian ran a small mention on its Web site and in its May 27 print edition.

• The Pacific Index, the campus student newspaper, posted a story on its Web site (their publication year has finished), with details on the announcement and a follow-up to some other stories they did on football in their final issue.

• Oregon Public Broadcasting is airing a story on the Pacific football program, touching on potential playing sites and the potential revenue from the arrival of 100 new student-athletes (5/27/09).

• KPAM (860 AM in Portland) will air a full feature interview with Ken Schumann on their Inside Sports show, Saturday at 11 am.

• KGW Newschannel 8 (click link for video) is airing a story on Pacific's football program during their 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts and on their 10 p.m. news which airs on Portland's CW32. The story will also air on Northwest Cable News, a four-state network affiliated with KGW. Text Story On KGW.com Web Site.

Among the Division III sports community...
• D3Football.com, the top Web site in the country when it comes to discussing the sport at the NCAA Division III level, has featured Pacific as one of its notables (5/27/09). The members who use D3Football's message boards (click on Northwest Conference) have also responded positively to the announcement.

• ADvantage Catdome, a blog dedicated to anything and everything Linfield athletics, posted something on the announcement on its site (5/27/09). Despite the fact that Pacific and Linfield have been hated rivals over the years, especially on the gridiron, the site has always been enthuiastic about its support of football returning to Pacific (see references to past interviews with Ken Schumann and past posts on the lead-up to the announcement).

• The NCAA Web site, through its NCAA News section, has a story on the announcement (5/28/09).

• The National Football Foundation mentioned Pacific's program in its June 1 "Chalk Talk" section, which features news and notes from all around college football (6/1/09).

Boxer Media Bytes

2009-05-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

Pacific athletics has had it share of mentions in the media recently. Here are some links to some notable stories...

TRACK & FIELD: The Oregonian's Tuesday print edition ran a piece in its Track & Field Notebook on the entry of athletes from five GNAC schools to Saturday's Pacific Twilight. Their online Track & Field Blog (a well done blog by Ken Goe & Doug Binder) had a number of links the teams appearing at Lincoln Park after the GNAC Championships were canceled by Western Oregon's Swine Flu scare.

Stories on the Twilight were also featured in the Bellingham (Wash.) Herald and the Idaho Statesman (Boise, Idaho).

SOFTBALL: Pacific's student newspaper, the Pacific Index, did a nice feature titled "Out With The Old, In With The New." The feature profiled senior outfielder Kristen Croxford, who has been named to her fourth straight All-Northwest Conference team (third first team pick), and freshman pitcher/first baseman Chelsey Chamberlain, who also earned First Team All-NWC honors.

Johnson Wins Heptathlon

2009-05-05T09:34:00.000-07:00

Bridget Johnson had a long day on Saturday. Pacific's associate head coach for track and field spent much of the day and night helping to run a Pacific Twilight meet that featured 23 teams and nearly 600 athletes.

Apparently, the long day didn't take too much out of Johnson. The former Western Oregon standout won the heptathlon at the Willamette Multi-Event on Monday. Her total of 4,870 points well outdistanced Willamette's Brooke Smith at 4,398.

Johnson won three of the four events on Sunday, capturing the 100-meter hurdles (14.70 seconds), the high jump (5-4.25) and the shot put (34-3), and then won the long jump (18-9.25) on Monday. She was also second in the 200 meters (26.50) and third in the javelin (119-8).

Johnson, a 2006 graduate of Western Oregon, holds the Wolves' record in the heptathlon at 5,080 points and was a NCAA Division II All-American after finishing fourth at the NCAA Championships. After college she competed for the Team XO post-collegiate club until it disbanded last summer.

And You Thought Our Last Meet Was Big...

2009-05-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

We are still living off the glow of what was a terrific Northwest Conference Track & Field Championships. Pacific put on a great meet and great show and we have received a lot of great compliments about how everything came together.

After the meet, I commented to a couple of people about how once the NWC Championships were done, I could start winding down and taking a few deep breaths.

I shouldn't have spoken so soon because, as Head Track & Field Coach Tim Boyce said, "clearly this has grown way beyond the intended fun final meet for Pacific athletes."

Saturday's Pacific Twilight meet has grown into one very large meet. A total of 23 teams will be represented at the meet, representing every level of collegiate athletics. We will have Division I schools (Portland State & Portland), Division II schools (Alaska-Anchorage, Central Washington, Northwest Nazarene, Seattle Pacific & Western Washington), Division III schools (Pacific, George Fox, Linfield & Puget Sound), the NAIA (Corban, Concordia, Northwest, Cascade, Warner Pacific) and a slew of community colleges and club teams.

The meet grew big time on Friday when we accepted the five Division II teams in the field who were affected by the cancellation of the GNAC Championships due to Western Oregon's Swine Flu scare.

What does that mean? Whoever comes to watch the meet will be in for an exciting afternoon and evening of high caliber action. Here are some of the athletes to watch...

Jernise Saunders (Portland State) - Stadium record holder in the 100 and 200 meters. Has season best times of 11.88 in the 100 and 24.14 in the 200.
Ellie Siler (Western Washington) - Season best of 56.18 seconds in the 400 meters. The top-nine competitors in the 400 have times under a minute, which will make for some fast performances.
Irene Johnson (George Fox) - She won the 100-meter hurdles at last week's NWC Championships and will run the same event on Saturday.
DeShawn Shead & Peter Jason Tait (Portland State) - Times of 14.57 anf 14.63 seconds, respectively, in the 110-meter hurdles.
David Kiplagat (Alaska-Anchorage) - One of the top small college distance runners in the nation, he brings a season best og 9:01.76 to the steeplechase.
Angie Miller (Pacific) - The Pacific record holder in the long jump will look to add to her Division III provisional qualifying mark.
Lauren Sexton (Concordia) - One of the nation's best collegiate javelin throws. She was amongst the field at last summer's Olympic Trials.

The complete performance list can be found here (beware...very lengthy).

We hope to see you here on Saturday!

Congrats Rick Franklin

2009-04-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-16T09:56:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-09T15:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

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.

Only In Baseball (Softball Too)

2009-03-15T22:22:00.000-07:00

For as much as we love it, baseball and softball has a tendency to drive us a little batty. It keeps us on our toes. And no matter how many games you go to, there is always something new.

Sunday held a number of first for me, both on the baseball and softball side. That contributes to a already crazy weekend with games moved to The Dalles and Tri-Cities.

Here's what made Sunday even more unique...
• Sunday's softball head was "winded out." Yes, you read that right. After one batter this afternoon, the Pacific and UPS coaches and umpires decided that the sustained 35 MPH winds in Pasco (gusts of 40-50 MPH) was too much. So...games called on account.

• I have never umpired a game, but today I called a batter out. In the eighth inning on the first game against Whitworth, the plate umpire missed a swinging strike by Nate Rasmussen on a first pitch steal attempt by Andy Tolbert (Tolbert was called out). We post the strike, but after the next pitch the umpires signals one ball, one strike. After the second strike, Whitworth's coach comes out to argue that ball one was actually a strike.

After a minute, the umpire looks up to me and asks what the first pitch was. He couldn't hear me yell strike, so I raise my arm, fist clinched, signaling the strike. Essentially, I called Rasmussen out. Sorry Nate.

• In the fourth inning of our second baseball game, a prevailing west wind of 30 miles per hour pushed three homers out for the Boxers. Rasmussen, Nick McNeely and Corby Makin all hit back-to-back-to-back solo shots over the left center field wall. It is an amazing sight to see three go out in a row.

Not to be outdone, Whitworth's Mitch Ramsay clubbed a home run to the same spot in the fifth. ramsay's, however, bounces off the road behind the left field wall, take a high bounce and rolls over the roof of a nearby house.

• At one point of game two, it was rainy and gray on the first base side of the open-air press box and sunny and dry on the third base side.

Only in baseball...and softball.

A Case Of MIstaken Identity

2009-02-19T07:50:00.000-08:00

Did you know that the Pacific softball team will play Texas on Mar. 14? That's what I thought. Neither did I. And neither did Head Coach Tim Hill.

The University of Texas' Sports Information Office was kind enough to send us three copies of their softball media guide the other day (nice cover, by the way). Sure enough, their schedule has the Longhorns playing Pacific at the Judy Garman Classic Tournament in Fullerton, Calif., on Mar. 14. The funny thing is that our schedule has Pacific playing a home doubleheader against Puget Sound that day.

Oh wait. Texas is playing the University of the Pacific.

My bad? No, this one is on Texas. The sports information contact didn't realize that there are two Pacifics out there: the Division III school that we reference here and the the Division I school in Stockton, Calif. The media guide even lists yours truly and the Pacific University Web site for media contact information (click on the link to see the page).

Unfortunately, this is a common problem for us. I get at least one call or e-mail a month asking for information regarding the Pacific Tigers. Most of the time, I politely tell them that they have reached the wrong school and that they need to contact the Division I school.

This case of mistaken identity reached a fever pitch in 2004 when the Pacific Tigers won the Big West title and advanced to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. The day after the selection show, we received no less than 50 calls with ticket requests and film exchange. Ken Schumann, who was men's basketball coach at the time, even received a congratulatory fax from then-Kentucky coach Tubby Smith.

While I would love to know that other media relations professionals would do their homework, I know that there will always be confusion between us and University of the Pacific...unless one of us changes our name (we don't plan on doing that anytime soon).

Back to softball for a moment...the Boxers will not be playing a Division I opponent anytime soon. The closest Pacific will come is when they take on Simon Fraser in the Northwest Cup Tournament on Saturday in Portland. Simon Fraser played UCLA on Tuesday (yes...that UCLA), losing 6-3 and 13-2. That's a strong performance for a NAIA school and a sign that the No. 20 ranked Boxers will have their hands full. It will be a good test.

Playoff Scenarios

2009-02-16T14:57:00.000-08:00

Here are the tiebreaker and playoff scenarios as it pertains to Pacific and Pacific Lutheran and their quest for the NWC Playoffs...

PACIFIC ADVANCES TO PLAYOFF IF...
• Pacific wins twice
• Pacific wins once and PLU loses once

PLU ADVANCES TO PLAYOFF IF...
• PLU wins both games and Pacific loses both games (makes PLU 9-7 and Pacific 8-8)
• PLU wins one of two games and Pacific loses both games (both teams 8-8, PLU owns tiebreaker with 1-1 record vs. UPS)
• PLU beat George Fox and tie at 8-8 with Pacific and Whitworth (PLU would own tiebreaker with win over GFU)
• PLU loses to George Fox, but beats Linfield, Pacific loses both games and a three-way occurs at 8-8 (Pacific owns tiebreaker over WHTW based on head-to-head, but PLU would own tiebreaker with 1-1 record vs. UPS)

Whitman is in the playoffs regardless of their result this weekend. If Whitman falls to 8-8, they would tiebreaker over both Pacific and PLU based on their 2-0 record against PLU.

Whitworth cannot advance even if they tie at 8-8 with PLU and Pacific and/or Whitman (see above).

PLAYOFF SEEDING (Should Pacific succeed in earning playoff berth)
Whitman will own the No. 3 playoff seed over Pacific if Boxers lose to UPS.
Whitman will own the No. 3 playoff seed over PLU based on head-to-head vs. Lutes.
Pacific will own No. 3 playoff seed over Whitman if Pacific ties with Whitman and beats UPS.

The NWC Basketball Playoffs begin on Thurs., Feb. 26. The No. 4 seed will play at No. 1 and the No. 2 seed will play at No. 3. Game times will be determined by Sun., Feb. 26. The winner of the two semifinal games will play in the tournament championship on Saturday, with the game played at the highest remaining seed.

Let's Play Three

2009-02-14T23:57:00.000-08:00

As much as "Mr. Cub" Ernie Banks liked to say "Let's play two," I am sure he would shudder at the thought of three baseball games in one day.

For Pacific baseball, the tripleheader is seemingly becoming a regular occurrence. On Saturday (Feb. 14), the Boxers played three against Pomona-Pitzer. The Boxers won game one by a 3-0 score before dropping game two 10-3 and game three 3-0. All three games were seven innings.

The tripleheader was the second between the Boxers and Sagehens in as many years. That itself is unique, as is the thought of traveling from the Pacific Northwest to have games rained out in Southern California two consecutive years.

Add to the ledger Pacific's 2005 tripleheader against Puget Sound, and you could have a very unique spot in the annals of baseball for the Boxers.

Like almost everything else in baseball, someone has researched tripleheaders. That man is Phil Lowry, a member of the Society for American Baseball Research in Pennsylvania and the author of the highly acclaimed book Green Cathedrals. Along with researching the past of baseball's stadiums, he continues to research marathon games of 20 innings or more and tripleheaders at all levels of the game.

After last year's tripleheader against Pomona-Pitzer, Pacific became just the second school in collegiate baseball history to have played in two tripleheaders, according to Lowry's research. The other school was Ohio State, who engaged in tripleheaders against Northwestern and Purdue in 2002. To that date, Lowry had only uncovered 23 in the history of collegiate baseball. The majority of those had come over the last 10 years, owing to the ever expanding schedules at all levels and the urgency put upon coaches to get as many games as they can in.

That last fact may mean that there are more schools out there who have played two or every three tripleheaders, especially with as rainy as many parts of the nation can get during the spring. Hopfully Mr. Lowry's research has turned up more examples to lend credence to Pacific's marathon claim.

Either way, three games in a day is sure to tax a player's fitness. Six Pacific players, Joey Pulito, Keith Suits, Jereamy Probert, Kaeo Lau Hee, Nate Rasmussen and Brandon Kon, started in and played in all three games. Thankfully, the Boxers needed to use only five pitchers. We'll need the arms when the conference season gets underway in two weeks.

From The Mouths Of Babes...

2009-02-05T13:39:00.000-08:00

Please allow me a moment to brag about my oldest daughter.

I work a lot of nights and weekends, and my wife is great about bringing my kids to games. They not only enjoy watching and running around the gym, but she also wants to make sure that they don't go a day without seeing their dad.

The family came to the Jan. 31 doubleheader against Whitworth. Towards the end of the women's game, Whitworth's Alida Bower left the game with an apparent knee injury. Bower spent most of the men's game on the PAC's north bleachers, her leg elevated and iced.

My family left to go home with about 10 minutes left in the men's game (bed time, you know). On the way out, Sydney (my three-and-a-half year old) made a point of stopping and asking Alida if she was going to be okay. Sydney was genuinely concerned about if her knee was going to be alright.

As she often does, Sydney's heart put a smile on my face on a night when I needed it. It also reminds all of us of what is really important in these games that we play.

No. 20...And Second In The NWC?

2009-02-05T12:44:00.000-08:00

If polls are about respect, then it's about time that Pacific softball received some.

Last year, the Boxers' 31-9 record should have gained them at least a spot among those receiving votes in the NFCA Division III National Poll. It didn't, and while the poll has no influence on selections for the NCAA Tournament, the combination of no rankings and no poll certainly stung.

As 2009 begins, Pacific is earning some national respect. The Boxers open the year ranked No. 20 in the NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll. They open the year ranked above Willamette, who is No. 23, and defending NWC champion Linfield, who among others receiving votes.

So what about the recent NWC Coaches Poll? The conference's coaches have picked Linfield to repeat, gving the Wildcats six of eight first place votes. Pacific is picked second, earning two first place votes, while Willamette is picked third.

While that may seem like a slap in the face, the conference poll is probably closer to spot on than the national poll. Consider these facts: Linfield has won the last five NWC championships, won the Division III national championship in 2007 and beat the Boxers three out of four times.

If you look at those facts on paper, then Linfield is definitely the team to beat.

What will help Pacific, though, is that Linfield loses five players, including four infielders, all of whom were First Team All-NWC stars. While Pacific also lost some key players, including catcher Caitlin Mastenbroek, pitcher Andrea Bansen and outfielder Amy Walters, the Boxers have the advantage in terms of lineup. Pacific returns all-conference players at all but one position (Brooke Toy shifts to catcher, Carrie Maerz becomes the regular shortstop), an all-region hurler in Miranda McNealy and all-conference outfielders in Kristen Croxford and Stephanie Vanoudenhaegen.

Whether it is the No. 20 national ranking or the second place NWC prediction, Head Coach Tim Hill takes both as a compliment and a sign that others are thinking more of Pacific softball.

"Obviously when you raise your expectations and try to get better, you hope that other people show a little respect to your program. I didn't feel last year that we got any respect at all. Why? I don't know. But I think the fact that people have taken notice is a step forward for the program."

Unlike many coaches, Hill likes polls. They're fun for players and fans and are great for motivation, but he is quick to caution players that when they take the field, the number really means nothing.

"I really enjoy them, but it doesn't mean you're a better team. It doesn't make you a better player. It doesn't do anything for you on the field, so we'll treat it that way. With that said, I told the team that being No. 20 isn't good enough. There's a long ways to go so we will treat it as some motivation."

The Pacific softball season begins in a week and a half as the Boxers host Corban for a doubleheader on Mon., Feb. 16, at 4 p.m.

Six Degrees Of Separation

2009-01-29T15:47:00.000-08:00

The Spring 2009 edition of NCAA Champion magazine takes an in-depth look into trips of the NCAA Division I basketball championships committee to potential sites for upcoming men's and women's Final Fours.

While the women's committee was making their bid trip to Nashville last October, the group was entertained by up-and-coming country star Crystal Shawanda. Boxer fans might recognize that name. Shawanda was the headlining musical artist at the second annual Pacific Legends Golf Classic, Hosted By Tommy Thayer. Shawanda was one of three country entertainers that helped to woo the committee. The others: Vince Gill & Amy Grant.

It is cool to know that Shawanda, who helped last year to raise over $150,000 for the Pacific athletics program, is considered high profile enough to help attract a major athletic event to Nashville, Incidentally, Nashville was awarded the 2014 Women's Final Four.

The third edition of the Pacific Legends Golf Classic is scheduled for Sun., Aug. 2 and Mon., Aug. 3, at The Reserve Vineyards & Golf Club in Aloha. Entry and celebrity information will be upcoming later this spring. For more details, please visit pacificlegendsgolf.com.

Oregonian Ponders Future Of Pacific Football, Wrestling

2009-01-29T15:37:00.000-08:00

These days you have to have a one-legged softball player or a headless basketball player for your small college to be covered in The Oregonian, Portland’s daily newspaper. But over the last week, The O has featured Pacific on its page twice to address a potential future sport and the health of another.

Monday’s issue (Jan. 26) addressed Pacific’s plans to bring back football after a 17-year absence. Pacific’s plans have picked up considerable more press after Division II Western Washington announced plans to eliminate their football 98 years. WWU officials cited budgetary concerns in the program’s demise.

Pacific Director of Athletics Ken Schumann, however, told The O’s Ken Goe that returning football to Forest Grove would help the University’s bottom line, noting the value of bringing 60-80 new student-athletes into a tuition-driven institution. He also cited the fact that since 2000, 47 non-Division I schools have reinstated or started new football programs.
“(Other programs) are using football to grow their enrollment,” Schumann said. “Division II is different than Division I, because we’re non-scholarship, and the athletes tend to be real student-athletes, fully integrated into the fabric on institution.”

Pacific is in the process of raising $1.5 million to find the start-up costs of the program. Schumann said that a decision on the program will be made “in the next several months to a year.”

Meanwhile, The O’s Jeff Smith took up the issue of dwindling collegiate opportunities for wrestlers in Oregon who wish to continue to the collegiate level. In their Jan. 22 Prep Thursday feature, Smith talked with high school coaches and athletes who are frustrated with the continual number of schools dropping wrestling programs in the state.

With the elimination of the Division I program at Oregon last spring, only six colleges in Oregon, offer wrestling. Pacific is one of four four-years in the whole Northwest to offer it, joining Oregon State, Portland State and Southern Oregon.

The article quoted a couple of former Pacific wrestlers who are among a vast network of Boxer alums coaching high school programs across Oregon. Trent Kroll wrestled for Pacific from 1988 to 1992 and coaches the team at Hood River Valley High School. He sees the demise of the sport collegiately as a warning for the health of the sport at the high school level.

”I think that if we don’t have college wrestling, we are going to see a decline in the next 20 years in the high school level because we won’t have enough qualified educators. It’s kind of scary right now.”

Former Pacific All-American Rick Herrin (1981-83), who coaches the program at Salem’s McKay High School, believes it is important for supporters of the sport to continue grassroots efforts into keeping kids involved in wrestling.

I think that the people that are in wrestling now are going to be seen as pioneers that are taking it to a better place. We’re going to win out in the end. It’s like being behind in a match and coming back and winning.”

One can hope that Kroll, Herrin and other Pacific alums will do their part to try and help keep Pacific’s program vibrant, sending their best and brightest to continue a tradition of excellence that they have helped build over the last 55 years.

Five Games In Nine Days...And Some Tired Legs

2009-01-26T16:53:00.000-08:00

The Northwest Conference basketball is indeed a marathon. Teams play 16 games over a span of seven weeks, two games per week, with trips that send teams to three different regions of two states.

The season is a rigorous test. Now, thanks to the flooding in the Northwest earlier this month, Pacific will play over a quarter of their conference schedule in a span of nine days.

The Boxers played in Tacoma, Wash., on Friday, and then bussed home to take on Linfield on Saturday. The flooding forced the postponement of games against Pacific Lutheran, originally scheduled on Jan. 9, to Tuesday night. That’s wedged right between last week’s action and this weekend’s tough home series against Whitman and Whitworth.

Five games in nine days. Combine that with practices and you have to think that the Boxers may not be able to climb out of bed on Sunday.

Pacific’s head hoops coaches are taking everything in stride. Men’s coach Jason Lowery sees it as a challenge that he expects the Boxers to rise to. "If this was November I'd be concerned,” Lowery said, “but it's the end of January and we've been going at it for over three months. We're in shape and prepared. If we're not ready to go now then it's not going to happen. It's time for us to go out and perform."

Sharon Rissmiller, head women’s coach, expressed some concern when the Jan. 9 games were cancelled, but is looking at the positives of the situation. "I knew when we had to reschedule the PLU game that this was going to be a tough stretch,” she said. “On the positive side to having five games in nine games is that besides our five-hour bus ride to Tacoma last Friday, the rest of the games are at home. We are taking it one game at a time."

Another positive is where the string of games fall in terms of the academic calendar. Pacific’s Winter III term, a three-week cram term where students take one three-credit class over the course of 23 days, ended on Monday. There will be plenty of time for the Boxers to rest up. It could very well be a week where Lowery’s and Rissmiller’s charges do nothing but eat, sleep and breathe basketball.

Let's Hear It For Work Study!

2008-12-30T20:37:00.000-08:00

Have you ever seen the cartoon where Bugs Bunny ran around and played every position on the baseball field by himself? That's what I felt like during tonight's women's basketball game against Corban.

In addition to performing my usual in-game duties as public address announcer, I also did the official scorebook and some spotting for Cody Harrod, sports information director at Cascade College, who inputed our computer stats this evening.

Hosting games during Christmas Break and Spring Break are a special challenge for us. Unlike a lot of schools, my entire game day crew consists of Work Study students. That includes everybody from our computer stats people to the scorebook to the scoreboard and clocks. When we have an extended school break, they all go home. Which leaves me scrambling for other sports information directors and others on campus who can help out.

When they are here, though, I don't have a worry in the world about the job getting done. Each one of my workers are first class people and do a very professional job with their duties. They give up the chance to cheer at games to be part of it...and a very important part of it.

Case in point. Of my 12 workers this year, only two worked for me last year, which meant a lot of training in the four days between when school started and our Boxer Kickoff Volleyball Tournament. After the first two matches, I knew that my team would have no problem handling things. They do the job and do it well.

I am thankful to those who have taken time and volunteered their services for the two women's basketball games over the Christmas Break. This includes Bob Larkins & Bobby Larkins (a former work study student of mine), Concordia SID Jason Dormeyer, Cascade SID Cody Harrod, Willamette SID Robert McKinney, Colin Stapp (Pacific director of multimedia & photography) and Lance Kissler (Pacific director of marketing).

But I am even more thankful for my team members who perform a great job day and in and day out. Thank you guys and gals. You make my life easier.

Boxers In California: Part 2

2008-12-18T08:49:00.000-08:00

This is the second post from Mallory Goldammer on the Pacific women's basketball trip to Los Angeles, written after their game against Occidental.

We are all excited for our “play day” tomorrow. The plan was to head to Great America Amusement Park, but because of the rain and weather we have decided to head to UCLA and the town around there to hang out. It should be a fun day, hanging out with the team, more bonding time together. Hopefully with all the snow and ice getting home won’t be too much of a problem!

We are ready for the upcoming break, getting time to rest and relax before the plunge into league. Although we are excited for league to get under way we cannot over look our last non-conference game against Corban College. We learned a lot from this trip to LA and will only build as a team from here. We showed both a lot of strengths and weaknesses between the two games played down here but look forward to the strides we are making in becoming a team.

Like said before, we are continually learning about each other on the court and still working towards playing together as a team. We look forward to the strides we are continuing to make and will look forward to the season and finishing up with non-conference season.

Boxers In California

2008-12-16T08:23:00.000-08:00

During their trip to Southern California, Pacific women's basketball player Mallory Goldammer will be sending in periodic blog entries. Here is her first entry following Monday's loss to Whittier.

After a long day, the team was disappointed with the turnout of the game versus Whittier but is excited to play again tomorrow. We are always hopeful because we know that each game will only bring us closer to putting the pieces together as a team.

Each day of practice and each game we are growing as a team, continually learning, and getting to know each other more and more. Team trips like this one to L.A will really bring our team closer than we already are. We love hanging out in the hotel rooms, just goofing around and bonding. Most of the time 1 or 2 of the rooms is filled with the entire team laughing and playing games, our favorite being Catchphrase.

We are very excited for the direction in which the team is going and are looking forward to the up and coming season.

Bulking Up The Weight Room

2008-12-12T14:12:00.000-08:00

When students return to Pacific in January, they will be able to make use of some terrific new weight equipment in the PAC's weight & fitness center.

A crew from Exercise Equipment Northwest spent the day Friday (Dec. 12) unloading and setting up the first of three shipments of new equipment. Included in the first shipment are two new sets of dumbells, two power racks for power lifting with wood platforms (adorned with the new Pacific Boxer logo), two wood lift platforms for free weight and two multi-function racks, geared for incline and military press exercises.

The new weight equipment will be the most visible benefit from the proceeds of the 2008 Pacific Legends Golf Classic, Hosted by Tommy Thayer. The event raised over $125,000 for the Pacific athletics program, which included a "special appeal" for the weight room that netted over $50,000. In this way, the tournament not only benefits Pacific's over 300 student-athletes, but nearly 4,000 students, faculty and staff.

Future shipments will include additional free weight equipment and weight machines as well as new cardio fitness equipment, replacing the well used equipment currently inhabiting the weight room.

The third Pacific Legends Golf Classic will take place Aug. 2 & 3 at The Reserve Vineyards & Golf Club. Visit pacificlegendsgolf.com for information on last year's tournament and keep watching the site to see how you can become involved in the 2009 event.

More photos of the new weight equipment...

New & Improved Web Site Goodies

2008-12-05T18:12:00.000-08:00

If you are reading the Boxer Blog, you may have noticed some subtle changes and new offerings on GoBoxers.com. As part of our mission to bolster our Web presence, we keep adding new ways to keep you better connected to all of the Pacific Athletics action.

Here's snapshot of the new items you see and are coming soon...
BOXER SCOREBOARD: Scores of the most recent game for our in-season teams can now been seen on our new Boxer Scoreboard. Located at the top of each page, you can simply click on the scoreboard to read the game story for that particular event. The Boxer Scoreboard makes it easier to find those most recent scores.

RSS FEED: You can now add the most recent Boxers' headlines to your home page through the use of our Real Simple Subscription (RSS) feed. Click on the link at the bottom of the home page, then copy and paste the code into the code of your Web page or blog. The RSS feed is currently only available for general athletics. In the future, we will add RSS feeds for specific Pacific sports.

BOXER BEAT: The Boxer Beat e-newsletter will bring the latest Pacific athletics headlines to your e-mail in-box once a week! The e-newsletter will be available beginning in January.

A Quiet Weekend In The PAC

2008-12-05T18:01:00.000-08:00

This is a weekend I have been looking forward to for a while. For the first time since Labor Day weekend, no Pacific teams will be in competition over the weekend. After the men's wrestling team duels Clackamas CC and Highline CC on Friday, Pacific teams will be completely out of action until Sat., Dec. 13, when the men's wrestling, women's wrestling, men's basketball and women's basketball teams will be back in action.

Don't get me wrong. I love working our home Pacific athletics events and making sure you all have the most current information when they are away, but even the most dedicated employees need a break every once and a while.

Pacific's athletes, however, will not be taking a break. This is finals week, so all of our athletes are studying hard as they finish up their fall semester classes. There are finals on Saturday and continue on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Once finals are over, the teams will be back at it at a feverish rate. The women's basketball team will have the most action with four games over the Christmas Break, including home games against Concordia (Ore.) on Sat., Dec. 13 and Corban on Tue., Dec. 30.

The men's basketball team will play two more non-conference tilts before beginning Northwest Conference play on Jan. 2. They won't be easy as the 4-2 Boxers face a pair of tough Cascade Conference foes in Northwest Christian in Eugene on Dec. 13 and Concordia in Portland on Dec. 16.

The wrestling teams will also be loaded with dual meet competition. Both the men and women will compete next weekend in Canada, engaging Simon Fraser and Douglas in a pair of duals. The men will also take a trip to Las Vegas for the Wartburg Desert Duals on Mon, Dec. 21. The competition will give the Boxers their first taste of NCAA Division III competition this season (tough to come by as the only NCAA III program west of Iowa).

But...until then...I am going to enjoy some well deserved time with my two young daughters, who have been more than understanding about the amount of time daddy spends covering his teams.

A Case Of Mistaken Identity

2008-11-29T22:23:00.000-08:00

With a school named Pacific, we are commonly mistaken for many other schools. In a recent study done by the consulting firm that has spearheaded the University's new integrated marketing initative, there are at least 26 other colleges with Pacific in their name. And this Pacific University of Oregon gets mistaken for all of them every so often.

We often times get mistaken for our Division I brethren located down in the Sacramento Delta. Switch one word here and you can get the name of both schools. It happens to the best, as illustrated by this wrap-up on women's college basketball games that appeared in Saturday's online edition of the Boston Globe.

North Carolina 98, Pacific 62 - Italee Lucas scored 25 points to help the No. 2-ranked Tar Heels (7-0) rout the Boxers (1-2) in the Junkanoo Jam in Freeport, Bahamas.

I am sure that Head Coach Sharon Rissmiller would love to take the Boxers down to the Bahamas, but not if they have to play North Carolina. They'll settle for a matchup with Carleton College of Minnesota in Forest Grove on Sunday.

Proof, though, that even some of the top papers in all of journalism get confused as to which Pacific is which. That or they just aren't paying attention. (I will give them bonus points, however, if our nickname "Boxers" got into the print edition.)

A Senior Moment

2008-11-19T14:46:00.001-08:00

Pacific's three men's soccer seniors pose after their final game at Lincoln Park Stadium. From left, Brandon Porter, Danny Williams and Jared Komo.

All three were selected to the All-Northwest Conference Men's Soccer Team. Porter and Williams both received first team selections, while Komo was an honorable mention.

Porter is a junior by eligibility years, but is on track to graduate in May. Head Coach Jim Brazeau has indicated, however, that Porter may return for one more season.

Photo courtesy of Delna Komo. Do you have photos to share of our Pacific seniors in their final contests to share on the Boxer Blog? E-mail them to timmbr@pacificu.edu.

The Thrill Of The Dual Meet

2008-11-18T16:47:00.001-08:00

When I competed in track and field in high school, the bread and butter of the season were dual meets and tri-meets. The dual meet went a long ways to building not only a healthy rivalry with other schools in your conference, but also created a true team cammaderie in a sport that is decidedly individual.

The dual meet is a lost art in collegiate track, but it is alive and well in swimming. And the true thrill and excitement of a dual meet came through on Saturday when Pacific competed against Lewis & Clark.

The excitement was on the men's side. In terms of succeeding as a team in wins & losses, the odds have been stacked against the Boxers since the team was reinstated in 2004. Pacific has only seven swimmers on the roster, and winning a dual meet is near impossible when you don't have the numbers to compete. In their four years, the Boxers had won just one dual meet, last January against Willamette.

Lewis & Clark, however, is a small squad themselves. With only 11 swimmers on their roster, the Boxers felt a chance to pull out another long-awaited win.

True to predictions, the meet was close much of the way. By the meet's second intermission, following the 500-yard freestyle, the Boxers led by just five points. It was at that point where the true excitement of the dual meet began.

The Pioneers took the lead in the 100-yard breaststroke, thanks to a strong swim by Pat Murray in the 100-yard breaststroke here he just edged Brandan Mantei for first. Lewis & Clark went 1,4 and 5 in the race, earning 12 points in the race compared to the Boxers' seven. Just like that, the Boxers were down by a score of 86-82 with the final event, the 200-yard freestyle relay, to go.

Thankfully, the Boxers are blessed with a number of strong freestyle swimmers, but nothing is a given when things are this close. The Lewis & Clark team grouped themselves at the south corner of the pool, ready to cheer their team on as they made the turn. Pacific lined up along the side of the pool in the center, near the one bleacher section where they sit for home meets.

On the first leg, the relay had all of the makings of a close contest. L&C's Shane Harris-Capuano swam a solid leadoff leg, pulling into the wall in 26.37 seconds, just ahead of the 25.66 seconds of Ben Griffin.

It wasd the second leg, however, that made all of the difference. Wyeth Yogi swma that leg for the Boxers. Yogi is not known as a sprint swimmer. He placed second earlier in the meet in the 500-yard freestyle, swimming 5:50.91. You usually don't put your distance people in sprint relay events, but with the numbers, Pacific had no choice.

And did Wyeth come through! "The Yogi" swam an incredible second leg, swimming a 26-second lap to pull in a full seven seconds ahead of the Pioneers' Erik Khazoyan. That swim was all that the Boxers needed as they turned things over to a pair of solid sprint performers, Luke Fuller and Scott Kimura, to seal the win. Thanks to Yogi's leg, the Boxers won the one-on-one race by 15 seconds and took the meet by a 93-90 score.

Pacific is not likely to win many more, if any dual meets, this season. That is purely because of the numbers and not because of the team's heart. Granted, the Boxers ony have seven swimmers on the men's roster, but they have the heart, work ethic and desire of 70 men. That will take them far, especially when it comes time for the conference meet.

A Full Weekend

2008-11-02T18:56:00.000-08:00

As far as weekends go in the world of Boxer athletics, it does not get much more action packed.

In Forest Grove between Friday and Sunday, we had four soccer matches, two volleyball matches and a swim meet. If that weren't enough, the swim team swam on the road on Saturday, the women's wrestling team dueled out of the area and the cross country team ran at the NWC Championships. It's part of what those of us in the sports information business call the "crossover season." It keeps us on our toes...but gives us plenty to write about.

Here are some stories and observations that you didn't see in the weekend's releases...
THE SURPRISE OF THE WINTER?: I may be all wet in calling the Pacific women's swim team the surprise of the winter only week into competition, but it is already obvious that coach Alec Webster has seen his recruiting class pay off in great ways. The Boxers looked incredibly strong in Friday's NWC Sprint Pentathlon. Their third place finish is something that the team has never done (in any invitational-style meet) since the team was brought back in 2002. Even more promising is the fact that all five of the Boxers' top finishers in the meet are new to the team. That includes four freshmen.

Much of the difference can be seen in Eileen Bringman. A sophomore transfer, Eileen comes to Pacific after one year as a Division I swimmer at Cleveland State (yes, as in Ohio). She finished fourth overall. EDIT: While Eileen came close, it was Becky Hattersley who broke the Pacific record for the 50-yard freestyle. The record was one of the oldest on the books, having been set in 1984. Eileen, though, was just two-hundreths of a second behind!

I am looking forward to learning more about Eileen's story. What I do know is this...she is incredibly talented. At Cleveland State, Eileen qualified for the 2007 Horizon League Championships in two events and placed in the "B" finals in both the 200 freestyle and the 200 backstroke. What's even more impressive is, according to Webster, she had only four years of high school & club swimming under her belt before college...and was good enough to go Division I. That will yield losts of dividends for the Boxers over the next three years.

THE LONG ROAD BACK: Sunday was Senior Day for the Pacific soccer teams, and it was a fitting end for Tessa Krebs. The senior from Puyallup, Wash., had to sit out all of the 2007 season with a knee injury and much of the 2008 women's tennis season. She worked hard to get back to the courts a year later, becoming the Boxers' most successful player depsite being limited to doubles matches for much of the year.

The soccer season held a lot of unknown variables. A lot of newcomers had proven to be worthy of playing time and the knee still caused some problems early on. In the end, though Tessa proved to be a critical part of the defense. She has played in 13 matches and started nine. On Senior Day, Tessa played all 90 minutes and had a couple of good looks at the goal.

I got to know Tessa last year, when she workied for me keeping stats for the soccer teams while she rehabed. I found her quiet and unassuming, but one of the nicest and reliable people you could have on your team. I am sure Joy Boswell felt the same.

THE ROAD CUT SHORT: Things were not supposed to end this way for Brandon Porter. Instead of being able to enjoy being part of two lopsided victories for the men's soccer team over Puget Sound and Willamette, Brandon spent it on the bench. His should-have-been senior game was nixed when he tore his meniscus and LCL ligaments in last weekend's victory over Linfield. Brandon, who is junior in elegibility, is on track to graduate in May. He has not ruled out a return for the fall term, but a decision is far from made.

It was a shame to see it end for yet another one of the good guys. Like Tessa, Brandon is also one of nicest young people you could come across. He is also one of the hardest workers on the field and a key cog in a powerful Pacific defense that has allowed just 14 goals all season. I would love to see him back for the 2009 season to be a part of what could be a real special Pacific squad. We'll wait to see if we get the $15,000 decision.

Brandon's parents, Wade & Sanya Porter, made the hour trip from Canby to see the game depsite the fact that Brandon wasn't playing. They enjoyed the view from the Pacific press box as Sanya is recovering from chemotherapy and was advised to stay out of the elements. One of the best views they had ever had for a game, they commented.

SPEAKING OF PRESS BOXES: For many years, the press box for Pacific soccer games was a pop-up on the sidelines of Tom Reynolds Field. This meant many games in the rain where I prayed that the wind wouldn't blow just right and short out the computers we used for the music and stats. Needless to say, I do not take the press box at Lincoln Park Stadium for granted.

I was especially thankful for it today, when the Pacific women played through a downpour that equaled none seen before for a Boxers' soccer match. The Boxers and Bearcats spent much of the first half playing through an absolutely torrential downpour. I would guess at least an inch of rain fell during the half. At times, it pounded hard enough on the bleachers that we were left to watch the referee to see if a foul had been called. We couldn't hear the whistle.

For weather events, the downpour could equal that found in Pacific's women's lacrosse match against Oswego State on Mar. 28. That day saw the wind blow and the rain fall along with snow and hail all in the first half. And, yes, the sun showed through in the second half.

SIDELINE BANTER: Before Sunday's men's soccer team, I had a chance to talk with former Pacific standout Travis Pease, who is now an assistant coach at Willamette. Pease was part of Pacific's powerhouse teams in 1995 and 1996 and was selected as a First Team All-NWC defender in 1996. He was part of an impressive group that included Pacific Hall of Famers Zack Chown and Ean Lensch.

PARENTAL BANTER: One of the fun things this weekend was getting to meet some of the parents of our soccer players. They have been some of the most ardent supporters of our team, and a group I don't get to interact with too much. A note to all parents...if you catch me at a game, when I have a free moment when I am not running for stats or announcing lineups, please come by and introduce yourselves. I love putting faces to names.

Progress At Court

2008-10-23T13:42:00.001-07:00

The picture above shows all that is left of Pacific's former recycling and waste management facility...a great signs for the Pacific tennis programs.

The facility, really a three-sided lean-to with trash compactors and recycling bins inside, is the most visible sign of progress on Pacific's new tenns facility. Site preparation is well under way on the former site of Tom Reynolds Soccer Field, including the removal of the last of the poplars that once ringed the field and the filling in the ball-eating gulch on the east side of the field.

Excavation for the new courts could begin as early as next week, with full fledged construction to get underway in November.

The courts will be a welcomed and long-awaited sight for the Pacific tennis teams, who have been without home courts since the summer of 2007 when the former Holce Courts were demolished to make way for the new A.C. Gilbert Residence Hall, which opened this fall. The Boxers played all of their 2008 home matches at the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center, located a 30 minute drive from campus in Beaverton.

The new courts will be a step up from the former home facility. In addition to a new surface, three of the six courts will be covered, allowing for year-round play. That should eliminate a few trips to Beaverton when it rains.

Of note too is that the construction of the courts continues the use of the site at the corner of University Ave. and Cedar St. as a varsity athletic facility. The field was first used in the late 19th Century for football and track and later, as McCready Field, served as the longtime home of Pacific football. When football was discontinued after the 1991 season, the field became Tom Reynolds Field. It served as the home of the Pacific men's and women's soccer teams until moving to Lincoln Park Stadium in 2007.

"I Don't Believe What I Just Saw!"

2008-10-22T21:05:00.001-07:00

Just like Jack Buck when he announced Kirk Gibson's improbable bomb for the Dodgers in game 1 of the 1988 World Series, there are moments we all have where we truly have not believed what we just saw.

At Pacific, I have had a few of those moments.
• Pacific at Lewis & Clark men's basketball, 1997. During their march to the NAIA Division II National Tournament, Pacific is up one with less than 10 seconds left. With a hand in his face, L&C forward Whitney Brake launches a 15-footer that hits the rim, flies straight up and drops into the net at horn. The Pacific simply sat there...stunned.

• Pacific vs. Lewis & Clark, 2005 baseball season. On a cold, drizzly March evening, Pacific starter proceeds to set a NCAA Division III record for batters hit by pitch. The inside throwing lefty plunked seven batters, yet went on to throw a complete-game four hitter and the Boxers won 4-2.

Then...there was tonight's women's soccer match against George Fox. The Boxers were looking for anything...ANYTHING...that would get them off the schnied after going scoreless for seven matches.

In the 50th minute, it looked like it had happened. Trailing 1-0 at halftime, Jenny Novak scored to tie the match. The scoreless streak had ended at 680 minutes, and not a moment too soon.

But, as I had predicted to Joy Boswell earlier in the month, it would only take one goal to open the floodgates. What I didn't predict, though, is that Novak would try to do it single-handedly. The former Pleasant Hill Billy (from the city of Pleasant Hill, near Eugene...and yes, that's their mascot) buried two more to put Pacific up 3-1 with 15 minutes to go. It was Pacific's first hat trick since 2003...and I think everyone thought this one was wrapped up. (Jenny could have easily had four or five goals in this one. Two shots were well saved by GFU goalkeeper Sally Page and another apparent first half goal was waived off by an offside call.)

Everyone except George Fox's Kristen Cardwell and Jenny McKinsey. Cardwell scored a quick one in the 81st minute to make the score 3-2. No more than two minutes later, McKinsey ties it with a high lofting shot from 20 yards out. Three minutes after that, McKinsey makes it 4-3 with a chip shot from eight yards out. And she wasn't done. McKinsey got a breakaway in the final minute of action and buried it to not only secure the winning 5-3 total, but score a hat trick of her own.

Two hat tricks in one match. Wow. And the George Fox comeback...wow. It was truly one of those times when you sit there, stunned, wondering if you had really seen what just happened.

Much of what happened in the final nine minutes was a result of Pacific defensive breakdowns. Perhaps it was the defense getting a little complacent. After all, when one of your teammates scores three unanswered goals, you would get pretty confident yourself. It is the mistake a young team can make when you are trying to quickly forget the last seven matches.

Head Coach Joy Boswell took the high road after this one. She would have had a right to be upset with the lapse in the final 10 minutes. Instead, she was happy to see her team get their scoring touch back. Is there still work to do? Sure, but sometimes confidence comes in little steps instead of one big swing.

This one will sting for both Boz and the team, but it should only prove helpful for them when they go to Linfield on Saturday. They have broken through, found the back of the net and know they have that scoring touch. Just keep giving it to Jenny Novak...and all should be fine.

Young & Potent

2008-10-20T15:59:00.000-07:00

One can look at the numbers in the win-loss column and notice how well the Pacific men's soccer team is playing. The Boxers enter the week with an 8-3-4 record and are 4-1-4 against Northwest Conference opponents.

Digging a little deeper into the numbers, however, and its not hard to see that this team is quite and good. And they have the potential to be scary good over the next few years.

Let's look at the numbers that prove the point...
• To date, Pacific has lost just one conference match. The last time the Boxers finished with just one loss was 1994. Change just two of their four ties into victories, and the Boxers are on top of the conference instead of fourth.

• Pacific has allowed just 12 goals in 15 matches and the team's 0.75 goals against average is among the best in the nation at the NCAA Division III level. That's second in the conference only to the 11 allowed by Whitman. In conference matches, the Boxers have allowed a league best seven goals, one less than Whitman, Puget Sound or Pacific Lutheran.

• For the first time since adopting a more defensive-minded approach to the game with the arrival of assistant coach and defensive guru Jim Rilatt, the Boxers are posting offensive numbers that are better than that of their opponents. The Boxers have outscored opponents 20-12, outshot opponents 207-185 and posted 101 shots on goal.

• And perhaps the mosat important part...all but four of the players on the Pacific roster are underclassmen. Upperclassmen Danny Williams and Brandon Porter accounts for eight of the Boxers' 20 goals, with a number of players waiting to step into that top scoring role.

Granted, their is plenty of seaosn left with five matches remaining and, yes, a chance at their first NWC title since 1996 will require some help from some other teams. Nonetheless, the Boxers are continuing to build towards what could become a run of strong and successful teams over the years to come.

Marathon Woman

2008-10-09T15:07:00.001-07:00

Pacific assistant athletic trainer Alma Sproul is now among the thousand who can say they have completed one of life's most challenging physical exercises.

Sproul completed her first marathon on Sunday. She finished the Portland Marathon in a time of 4:49:16, putting a cap on six months of training. A runner since her college days, Sproul said she was inspired by seeing a picture of Andrea Stewart, the athletic department's manager of administrative services, completing the Portland Marathon in 2006.

"Andrea had a picture of herself crossing the finish line at the marathon," Sproul said. "From that point, I decided I just needed to do it."

Sproul followed the training program provided by Portland FIT, but sometimes had to balance training and her job by getting up at 4 a.m. to complete training runs. She is greatful to her colleagues, head trainer Linda McIntosh and assistants Phil Lentz and Richard Rutt, for being willing to adjust their schedules to get her runs in.

Marathon day was certainly a challenge, but in end worth it. "During the marathon I was wondering if it was worth the pain," Sproul said. "It was probably the longest five hours of my life, but as soon as I crossed the finish line I had never felt prouder of myself. I never thought I would actually run a marathon, and now that I have I may try it again."

"It gave me an accomplishement to work towards and I think it made me a better person and athletic trainer," Sproul said. "I would definitely advise training for something that is important to you, whether that be a marathon, triathlon or anything else. Just knowing that you van accomplish anything that you put your mind, body and soul into is a great feeling."

Congratulations Alma on a job well done and a great goal attained!

Well Dunn, Melissa!

2008-10-08T07:48:00.000-07:00

Pacific volleyballer Melissa Dunn is the subject of a nice feature story in her hometown newspaper, the Napa Valley Register. The story appears in today's edition of the paper.

Dunn talks about her career and how emotional it will be to play her final home match, against Pacific Lutheran on Nov. 6. She also talks about being the end of the line of a volleyball playing family. Her oldest sister, Heather, completed a four-year career at Gonzaga in 2007 and her other sister, Stephanie, played one season at Sonoma State.

Melissa has been a four-year starter at Pacific and continues to be one of the conference leaders in both service aces and digs.

A Learning Experience At The ITA's

2008-10-06T08:36:00.000-07:00

The Pacific men's tennis team spent the weekend participating in the ITA Small College Regionals at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash. Head Coach Brian Jackson was kind enough to provide this first-hand evaluation of the weekend for a rather young Pacific lineup.

Even though none of our players made it deep into the tournament, it was still a long weekend for the men’s tennis team. The squad, composed of only freshmen and sophomores, sent six players to the tournament and came away with a couple of solid wins and some very good experience.

Rain was the theme of the weekend. With a draw of 64 singles players, and 32 doubles players and only four indoor courts, we knew we would be spending a lot of time at the courts. In fact, the tournament was supposed to start Saturday morning, but due to the threat of rain we began immediately upon arrival Friday evening. So, after the 5-hour bus ride to Walla Walla Friday afternoon, tennis started with a round of doubles. The team of Nhat Nguyen & Eric Furuya kicked the night off. Although they battled hard, but lost to a solid team from Linfield (8-1).

Next up, the first-year team of Spencer Hing & Micah Leo fought in a classic server’s match versus a team from Whitworth. After staying on serve throughout the match (and showing a great deal of potential) the team of freshmen was broken to lose the match 8-6.

Finally, our night ended with the team of returning players Michael Okada & Michael Kinghorn playing in a nail-biter. After trading service holds and breaks, the sophomores found themselves against the wall against a team of big servers from George Fox. Down 4-7, and on the brink of elimination...the Boxer team showed their determination by battling back to a tie-breaker at 8-8. With the back and forth continuing throughout the breaker, the Boxers came away victorious with a 10-8 decision.

Saturday was a long day of tennis. Beginning with warm-ups at 7 a.m., members of the Boxer squad were the first players on...and the last players off the court at 11 p.m. Although good overall efforts, three of the first four Boxer netters lost their opening singles matches in straight sets.

The match of the day was turned-in by the last Boxer player on the court Saturday. After waiting around for over 12 hours to play his first round, Hing played a solid back and forth match versus his opponent from UPS. After trading the first two sets, the freshman was able to pull out the win with a 10-8 victory in the 3rd. For his efforts, he was rewarded with going back on the court 15 minutes later to play the last match of the evening.

Still pumped from his first-round victory, Hing started off strong versus the tournament’s 15th seed from Whitworth, winning the first set 7-5. Following the first set, the Boxer opponent blazed to a 5-0 lead in the second, and despite a late run by Hing, won the set 6-3. So, for the second time that evening, the Boxer freshman was battling for a third set victory. Unfortunately, his efforts came up short, with a 10-7 3rd set tie-breaker defeat. Our 14-hour day was over…as soon as we were able to find a restaurant open for dinner at 11:30 p.m.!

Due to the rain, the consolation brackets were cancelled. That meant the only Boxer players left in the draw for Sunday’s round was the sophomore doubles team of Okada & Kinghorn. And for their efforts on Friday, they earned a date with the No. 6 seeded team from PLU. Going down two early breaks at 4-1, the Boxers looked as though we would be heading home very early on Sunday. However, showing the same fight that they demonstrated in the first round, the sophomore squad battled to get those breaks back to make it 7-7. After a back and forth 15th game of the set, the Boxer team was unable to pull off the break of their own to take the lead, and in turn lost the match 9-7.

All in all, a good weekend for Boxer tennis. We battled hard, and were able to get a close look at this season’s competition. The ITA tournament, which was dominated by the host school Whitman College (all four singles and doubles semi-finalists), serves as the Boxers’ fall season finale. We now know what we need to do to compete with a number of schools in the Northwest Conference this year, and know that we will be successful in doing so with a lot of hard work in the off-season. GO BOXERS!!!!

In addition to his work as men's tennis coach, Brian Jackson is also the chair of Pacific University's department of exercise science.

Headline News

2008-10-02T08:11:00.000-07:00

A couple of articles have appeared this week involving Pacific athletes.

• The Honolulu Advertiser ran a story on Pacific's Big Island golf connection, specifically featuring the "Waiakea Three" of Jasmine Ching, Tami Park and Valerie Kitamori. The three have been impact players for the women's golf program over the last year. The story also features men's golfer Max Bonk, who continues to impress after going to the 2008 NCAA Championships as a freshman.

• The local Forest Grove News-Times featured Pacific's breathtaking 4-3 double overtime victory over Linfield as the top story on the sport page this week. Despite the by-line, know that no goods or services were traded for the publication of the story.

• Expect to see later this week or early next week a story in the Napa Valley Register (Calif.) on Pacific volleyball Melissa Dunn. A native of Sonoma, Dunn is finishing off a fine Boxers' career this fall.

Soccer Webcasts Begin Saturday

2008-09-26T21:40:00.001-07:00

The first of our live soccer Webcasts take place this Saturday. We will provide a Webcast of both the men's and women's soccer matches against Linfield. The women's match begins at noon and the men's match begins at 7 p.m.

You can access the Webcasts by Clicking Here.

If you were wondering...we will still have Live Stats available along with the Webcast. So, although it is not video, you can follow along on the screen while listening to the action. Cool, huh?

Something For The Entire Family

2008-09-26T15:59:00.000-07:00

It's not Ringling Bros., but there will certainly be something for everyone this weekend in Forest Grove for the Boxers' sports fan. A busy weekend for those of us working at the PAC and Lincoln Park, but also for anyone hoping to see a little volleyball, soccer or softball (no, that's not a typo).

Here's the weekend rundown and preview...
VOLLEYBALL: If it wasn't for practice, the Pacific volleyball team might not remember what their home floor looked like. The Boxers have not played at home since they began the season with four matches at their own Boxer Kickoff Volleyball Invitational. Six matches later, the Boxers are home for a weekend set against Whitman on Friday and Whitworth on Saturday.

This has the possibility to be a momentum-building weekend for Lena Chan's team, who enters with a 1-1 NWC record. Whitman has struggled so far in 2008. They have gone 0-11 and are dealing with a depth problem. The Missionaries have only nine players on the roster (six plus the libero start a match) and are without their their top players from 2007: Rosa Brey and Lydia Hayes.

A quality win over Whitman could give the Boxers some confidence as they enter their Saturday match with Whitworth. The Pirates are much improved, entering with an 8-6 record and 1-1 conference mark, but have lost five of their last seven matches. The losses included a four-set loss to an improved Lewis & Clark squad and losses to a pair of like opponents to Pacific, UC Santa Cruz and Cal State East Bay.

Lena Chan said that her team felt good about their performance against the No. 10 ranked Loggers last week, despite falling in three sets, and that she was pleased about how the lineup is picking up on her system of play. We will have a chance to...finally...see that in action this weekend.

WOMEN'S SOCCER: The question for the Boxers is how do they keep the run going? Pacific is enjoying their first three-game winning streak since the 2005 season thanks to last Saturday's 2-0 shutout of Pacific Lutheran and Sunday's 1-0 double overtime victory over Lewis & Clark...their first over the Pioneers since 2004.

The Boxers have done it with a very stingy defense, allowing their last three opponents a total of 28 shots and 16 shots on goal. Goalie Erin Ichimura was named NWC Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week after holding Warner Pacific, PLU and L&C scoreless. On the offensive end, Pacific has shown a much faster pace of play then they showed in the first three matches of the year. And they have played with more urgency and haven't been afraid to pull the trigger. The Boxers have taken 47 shots in the last three matches as compared to 14 in their first three matches.

If Pacific can keep up the offensive intensity against Linfield, who took a total of 19 shots combined in a 2-1 overtime loss to Whitworth and a 3-0 shutout at the hands of Whitman last weekend, the Boxers should come out of Saturday with their first 3-0 conference start since 1994.

MEN'S SOCCER: The good news that the Boxers have posted two consecutive shutouts against NWC teams. The bad news is that they haven't been able to put the ball in the net over the last 220 minutes. The numbers don't quite tell the tale. Pacific has outshot opponents by a 36-20 margin in those two matches, but have been unable to finish things off.

The defense, meanwhile, has done its job and more. Goalkeeper Andrew Stevermer has made 11 saves in the last two matches and the starting back line of Brandon Porter, Taylor Kane, Jared Komo and Anthony Jaeger have held their own well. Kane, a freshman out of Portland's Central Catholic High School, has been especially impressive with his pace in both the defense and midfield.

Saturday's match against Linfield will be the last at home under the lights in 2008 (they will, however, play a night match at Linfield on Oct. 26). The Wildcats will be looking to right the ship after losing their first two NWC matches to Whitman and Whitworth.

SOFTBALL: The team's non-traditional fall practice season will end with a game against a team of Pacific alums Saturday at noon. This will be a great first preview of this spring's team, in particular the newcomers to the program. Head Coach Tim Hill said he will break the team into two teams, one playing half of the game and then the other playing the final innings. Each team will feature six freshmen each. Pacific will hit the field this spring with somethng to prove. Their 31-9 record and second place finish to defending national champion Linfield was not enough to earn the team what should have been a well deserved playoffs berth.

Men's Soccer Photos Online

2008-09-17T13:31:00.000-07:00

It doesn't take long for people to find things on this site. Take, for example, the photos from the Pacific/La Verne men's soccer match that we posted on our Online Photo Store yesterday.

The photos finished uploading at midnight. By 1 p.m., this afternoon, the page had been accessed nearly 200 times.

If you haven't had a look, check out the shots taken by Jaime Valdez, who has shot Pacific Athletics events for me since 1999. He is one of the best sports photographers in Portland and I am lucky to have him working for me. He also does weddings if you are looking for some memories.

We will be adding more photos over the next few weeks from all of our sports, including some from last year. Keep visiting the photo pages and see what's new.

By the way...if you see one you like, you can purchase it or have it put on a t-shirt or coffee mug.

Why Isn't (Your School Here) in My Paper??!!

2008-09-14T15:09:00.000-07:00

There was a letter to the sports editor in Sunday's edition of The Oregonian that I can sympathize with, because it describes the daily plight of myself and many other small college sports information directors. While the letter specifically addressed Western Oregon University's football program, one could plug in the name of many local schools and programs, including Pacific.

"I'm beginning to give up on seeing anything on Western Oregon University in your sports section," the writer laments. "...75 percent of the roster comes from local communities, former prep athletes from communities that read your paper.

"I understand that Monmouth [located roughly an hour and a half south of Portland] may be a little bit out of the way for your reporters to travel. It's interesting that it's a closer drive from Portland than either UO or OSU but maybe not as convenient as PSU. It's a shame that a stadium filled with 3,000 spectators for a home game, a 9-2 record (2007), and playing in the competitive GNAC conference are big enough reasons to warrant a preseason write-up...much less game coverage."

The Oregonian, and just about every other daily, semi-weekly and weekly papers gets a hundred of those letters each year. The fact of the matter is, however, that no amount of letters or threats to drop subscriptions is going to change it.

Ever since the Internet boom began at the turn of the 21st Century, newspapers have seen their market share and their advertising revenue drop dramatically. People are turning to more immediate ways to get their news and information, such as Web sites and cable television. In our "now" society, many are not content to wait until tomorrow to get their scores, stats and analysis in the paper when they can have it sent to their Blackberry or listen to it on their iPod.

As a result, newspapers are cutting back on their coverage and changing their priorities in terms of what is newsworthy.

Here are some examples that have relevance when it comes to Pacific Athletics:
• The Oregonian has seen subscribers and ad revenue drop significantly over the past three years. As a result, the paper has cut back both on pages (which means less content) and offered enticing early retirement packages to longtime employees. Among those who have taken those retirements was Norm Maves, Jr., who was the last bastion of regular small college coverage at The O.

• Pamplin Media Group, which owns both the weekly Portland Tribune and the Forest Grove News-Times (along with 14 other small community newspapers in the Portland area) has lost a great deal on money, primarily related to reduced readership. The Tribune recently had to cut back to one print, on Thursdays, instead of two.

• The News-Times is not immune to the revenue drop. With the expected departure of Sports Editor Zack Palmer over the summer, the paper made a permanent cut to two sports pages per week and attempted to fill the sports position with a part-timer. (Not surprisingly, the paper was unable to fill the part-time position and Palmer continues to write and edit the paper from outside the area.)

• With the cuts in available space, the papers have to decide which teams will draw the most readers, in turn making the business the most money. Division I sports, and specifically Division I BCS football, is king in the college world, which is why you see the overwhelming coverage to Oregon, Oregon State and the Pac-10. The pro sports share that tier (in this market, that means football and basketball). After that, it is prep sports and the steady coverage of high school football, basketball, baseball, softball any anything else with a "HS" after it.

That often leaves recaps from the Pacifics, Linfields, Concordias and Lewis & Clarks of the world on the cutting room floor. Even a really compelling story, such as George Fox's run at the Division III baseball national championship, the end of Lewis & Clark's 27-game football losing streak or the plight of the wrestler at Clackamas CC who overcame addiction to be a national tournament favorite, all takes a great deal of work to make to print.

FOR SOMEONE WHOSE JOB it is to both inform the public about our teams and pitch stories that would be attractive to readers and put the school in a positive light, the current state of newspapers is quite disheartening.

But rather than beat our heads against the walls trying to get every piece of information in the local papers, we have adapted with the changing technology. Kelly Bird, my good friend and the sports information director at Linfield, has talked a lot about how, these days, the school's athletics Web site IS the newspaper and primary media resource for our programs.

I have embraced this approach to our Web site, which is why you see a great deal of detail in our game recaps, previews and reviews. You aren't going to find the information anywhere else, so let's give you all you can on the site.

This is also why you are seeing Pacific put more resources into more Web content and multimedia. As action photos are taken this season, you will see more photos put on our online photo galleries. We have began this blog, which provides another look into the world of Pacific Athletics. With the help of my student intern, we will begin adding more features and profiles on Pacific student-athletes. And we now have our E-Scores service, for those of you who have to have your Pacific score now.

Later this month, we will begin a new foray into Webcasting with live streaming of selected sporting events and Podcasts featuring interviews and highlights. More details on both will be coming in the following week.

As we make all of this information more directly available to you, the loyal Pacific University fan, this doesn't mean we won't keep approaching the newspapers, television and radio stations with stories on the exciting things going on in Boxer Athletics. We continue to work hard to try to put Pacific's story in The Oregonian, on KGW and many other outlets. We just are approaching things differently.

The industry is changing and adapting. It only makes sense that we do too.

Remembering 9/11

2008-09-11T08:10:00.000-07:00

I am sure you remember where you were when you first heard about the 9/11 attacks.

I was in bed. Our alarm went off around 6:45 a.m. and, as usual, tuned to a radio station. As I hit snooze, I remember thinking that it seemed odd that the voice of Peter Jennings would be on this particular soft rock station. When the alarm sounded again nine minutes, I realized it was no fluke. It was Jennings covering the news that terrorists had flown planes into the World Trade Center Twin Towers.

Both my wife and I went to work that day. My wife, as a fourth grade teacher, had the tougher job of trying to explain to those kids what had happened and why someone would want to do harm to so many people.

Here at Pacific University, people were given the option to come into school or stay home. I came to work, but it was a very quiet day. What do you say to people when you see something like we saw in New York? I sat in the office most of the day glued to the television. I am not sure how productive I was that day.

On the way to the office today, the radio played clips of that day and reminders of the horror we all went through that day. I would be lying if I said I didn't get emotional hearing them again.

As we remember the 9/11 attacks seven years later, it seems only appropriate that our women's soccer team will be playing today. I will particularly think of that day when I see goalkeeper Erin Ichimura come out wearing the yellow No. 40 jersey.

Why 40? That was the jersey that former Pacific goalie Shannon Tillman had made after her cousin, Pat Tillman, was killed in combat in Afghanistan. Most everyone knows the story of Pat Tillman, the former Arizona State and Arizona Cardinals standout who gave up his pro football career after 9/11 to join the Army. He was later killed in Afghanistan in a friendly fire incident. Pat Tillman wore No. 40.

I got to know Shannon a little bit when she was here at Pacific. A media and theatre major, she was a very outgoing individual with a great view on life despite of what her family had been through. I always had a great desire to talk to her about Pat and even do a story about her cousin had affected her life, both before and after 9/11. I never had the courage to do it. I never had the courage to even talk to her about him. I wish I had...if anythng just to gain perspective.

I also knew of the Tillman family's desire not to speak to the media about Pat's death. While Shannon seemed to speak openly in public about Pat, I still respected it. Shannon tried to deal with it in her senior project, a play she wrote and directed called "And Pat Had A Brother..." Not surprisingly, this way of Shannon dealing with her cousin's death was publicly decried by the rest of Tillman family, which included letters in the local News-Times.

I am not sure where Shannon is these days, but I hope she is doing well and is successful in whatever she is doing. If you are reading this blog, drop me a line and say hi.

Whatever you are doing today, I hope you take time and pause to remember that horrible event seven years ago that changed our country and all of our lives.

Our women's soccer team will play today. Its a reminder to me that the terrorists didn't bring down America that day. We continue to win the battle against terrorism by continuing to work, play and live. God Bless America.

California Dreamin'

2008-09-05T12:58:00.000-07:00

Hello all from sunny Southern California! I am in Claremont with the Pacific volleyball team as they play at the Pacific Coast Classic, which is co-hosted by Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps colleges (which is actually all one consortium of colleges along with Scripps and Harvey Mudd Colleges, but I digress). The team arrived Thursday night, but I flew in this morning after working our men's soccer match in Forest Grove Thursday night.

I knew it was going to be a good trip when right across from our hotel was a In-N-Out Burger, some of the best burgers and fries in the world. My combined breakfast and lunch was a Double-Double, fresh cut fries and a Coke. Can't beat it!

I don't travel too much with our teams. When you have 20 sports to work with there is no way that you can go every place (or any place) with the teams. Volleyball is a notable exception, however, when it comes to tournaments. Unlike our own Boxer Kickoff Volleyball Invitational, most tournaments at the Division III level do not keep stats for any of the participating teams. They have to be kept on the bench by players.

So...here I am, keeping stats on my third volleyball trip in four years. No complaints, though. It's a great way to get to know these young women a lot better. A better connection to our players never hurts.

Speaking of stats (or lack thereof)...parents and fans of Northwest Conference volleyball should thank the sports information directors of those schools, who all keep stats for both teams during the course of a match. At most Division III schools, particularly east of the Rockies, schools keep stats for just their school and combine the two teams the next day. With the NWC schools, you have complete stats the same day. What a deal!

And the conference must have found a deal to get teams into the Ontario Sheraton. In the hour I was actually on the property I saw the Pacific Lutheran volleyball team and the Whitman women's soccer team. Whose next??? Perhaps we should contract the Sheraton to be a conference host hotel (attention Matt Newman...).

Some news and notes from the World of Pacific Athletics...
VOLLEYBALL: Four matches for the Boxers at the Pacific Coast Classic. Pacific faces Chapman this afternoon and the host Sagehens this evening. Tomorrow it's over to the other side of campus and a rematch with UC Santa Cruz, followed by a meeting with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Very hot here in the Southland. Too warm even for Keleigh Kremers, who is used to that "dry Texas heat, y'all!" Caitlin Gollehon, however, predicts that freshman Kelsy Takashima will have a great match because of the sweat she has built in pre-match warm-ups in the non-air-conditioned Voekele Gymnasium. We shall see soon.

The wireless connection here at Pomona will not allow me to access our Web servers back in Forest Grove, so Web updates (such as stats) will have to wait until this evening. We will, however, be able to post stories on the site not long after the conclusion of our matches.

MEN'S SOCCER: In their season opener on Thursday, Pacific looked incredible for the first 45 minutes against Warner Pacific. The defense was incredibly tight. At one point, the backline managed to knock down a Knights' flurry that gave them three looks at the net, yet not a shot. Danny Williams' first half goal was well played and a credit to the team's passing ability.

But a full match is a 90-minute affair. I don't know if the Boxers got tired or complacent, but the defense was not as tight in the second half as it was in the first. After the free kick goal by the Knights in the 68th minute, Warner Pacific picked up a lot of confidence and quickly parlayed it into the game-winner. If the Pacific defense can learn to play a full 90, this team will be very good.

The Boxers will play a match against an alumni squad on Sunday afternoon and return to action on Monday against LaVerne. This will be the Boxers' first ever meeting in men's soccer with the Panthers, who made it to the SCIAC's postseason tournament in 2007, are 1-0-0 on the year and play NAIA member William Jessup this afternoon.

CROSS COUNTRY: Tim Boyce's first full season at the helm begins on Saturday. The Boxers open the season at the Whitman Invitational in Walla Walla. The races will be short course affairs, with the men running 6,000 meters and the women racing 4,000 meters. Even though this year's NWC Championships will be run in Walla Walla, this race is not on the conference course at Veterans Memorial Golf Course. It is, instead, being run at Ft. Walla Walla Park, where I ran my first ever conference XC race for the Boxers back in 1994 (won't divulge my time...wasn't all that great anyway).

The Boxers will be a building team once again. The Boxers return just three runners who competed last fall: All-American Kelsey Owens, Whitney Nelson and Casey Nishimura. The men do, however, return a couple of runners who took last season off in Adrian Shipley (NWC track qualifier in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters) and Dylan Taylor.

The full Pacific cross country season preview will be posted later today on GoBoxers.com (wrote it on the plane this morning while I was free to move about the country, but the FTP limitations keep me from posting from the Pomona campus).

That's all from the Southland as we come up to a half hour before first serve. Go Boxers!

Weekend Observations

2008-08-31T23:29:00.001-07:00

Some notes from the first weekend of Pacific action...

• Don't take the women's soccer team's 0-2-0 record as a sign of another dismal season. This team appears to be much improved over the squads of the recent past. Against Cal State East Bay, the Boxers showed some great job passing the ball through the midfield and made some strong defensive stops. Their pace, in particular, was noticably faster, and they were markedly more aggressively.

Joy Boswell's squad didn't exactly get an easy start. UC Santa Cruz opened the season ranked No. 25 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll. Cal State East Bay, meanwhile, is no pushover. they finished 11-7-1 in 2007 and returned eight starters from last season. Very experienced.

• The Pacific volleyball team still has some kinks to work out. They got a good first win in the Boxer Kickoff Invitational against Neumann (Pa.), who competed in the 2007 NCAA Division III playoffs, but struggled in their final three matches, falling to Cal State East Bay, UC Santa Cruz and Christopher Newport. It is obvious that the Boxers are still adjusting to head coach Lena Chan's new system...and an adjustment to a new coach and a new style of play always takes time.

In the meantime, the Boxers have to concentrate of tighter passing and keeping down the unforced errors. In four matches, Pacific committed 95 attack errors and 11 ball-handling errors.

• A common opponent for the Boxers over the last few years, this may be some of the last times we see Cal State East Bay in competition for a while. A long-time dual affiliate between NCAA Division III and the NAIA, the Pioneers are in the first year of a three-year transition period to NCAA Division II. They are slated to become full members and join the California Collegiate Athletic Association in 2011. Their teams will transition to playing primarily a Division II schedule beginning in 2009.

• Prayers and thoughts for those in Louisiana as Hurricane Gustav bears down. The storm, currently at a Category 3, is expected to make landfall Monday morning.

I wrote some stories on some sports information directors who survived Katrina back three years ago and their strggles with moving along with their athletic programs across the south, seeing jobs eliminated, seasons cancelled and homes destroyed. One SID, Jack Duggan at New Orleans, had to ride out the storm as his wife gave birth to twins as the storm ripped through the Bayou.

Hearing those kind of stories makes me very thankful and blessed to live here in the Northwest. I can handle the winter rain and snow just fine.

Meta: Live Stats Difficulties

2008-08-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

We are having difficulties with syncing up our statistics computer and the computer that links the live stats to the Web. We apologize for the inconvenience...such is the lot with dealing with new computers and being a Mac guy trying to figure out PC networking.

We hope to have the Live Stats up and running for the 8 p.m. Pacific volleyball match.

UPDATE (7:00 p.m.): Duties with administrating the tournament has not allowed me to look completely into the problem, but I think it lies within our primary stats. We will likely not have the 8 p.m. match on Live Stats tonight. Again, my apologies and we will work further on the problem tonight following the tournament. - Blake Timm, Pacific Sports Information Director

UPDATE (11:23 p.m.): The networking problem has been fixed. It related to a configuration of the computer that dated back to track season. The Live Stats should be live for Sunday's 1:00 p.m. match against UC Santa Cruz. We tested the connection with the file from tonight's Pacific/Cal State East Bay match. It can be viewed here. - Blake Timm, Pacific Sports Information Director

Signed Up For E-Scores Yet?

2008-08-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

You can become the first person on your block, or even town, to have scores of all of our Pacific Athletic events. Our e-scores service sends scores of Pacific athletic events to your cell phone or e-mail immediately following the conclusion of most events. You have the scores before they are posted to our Web site.

You can sign-up for e-scores by Clicking Here. The service is provided free of charge thanks to our friends at RocketPromo, but standard text message rates do apply.

Let The Games Begin!

2008-08-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

There won't be any parade of nations, torch relay or lighting of the cauldron, but it is time to declare the Games of the 2008-09 Pacific Athletic Season open.

And if you are a fan of women's soccer or volleyball, this is your weekend to be in Forest Grove.

The women's soccer season begins today with not one, but two matches. Pacific Lutheran and Cal State East Bay open things in a neutral site match that begins at 4 p.m. The Lutes are looking to move up in the Northwest Conference standings after finishing with just five wins in 2007. They have been picked to finish in a tie for sixth with Pacific in the conference in the preseason coaches poll. Cal State East Bay, meanwhile, recently announced that they have applied for member in NCAA Division II after years as a dual member of NCAA Division III and the NAIA.

The hometown Boxers, meanwhile, open their season against Division III independent UC Santa Cruz under the lights at 7 p.m. Head Coach Joy Boswell hopes to open the season by building on the momentum that they built in their 2007 season-ending double-overtime victory over Puget Sound, the first in the program's history.

The four teams flip-flop opponents on Sunday, with the Lutes taking on the Banana Slugs at noon, followed by the Boxers and Pioneers at 2:30.

If you can't make it to Lincoln Park Stadium, we are able to offer Live Stats for the first time for both men's & women's soccer. This allows you to follow the stats of the game real time. Log in at goboxers.com/live.

The Pacific volleyball team, meanwhile, begins the Lena Chan era by hosting the fourth annual Boxer Kickoff Volleyball Invitational, Saturday and Sunday at the Pacific Athletic Center. Seven teams and 14 matches in two days will make for a lot of volleyball, but it will be some fast-paced action with four participating teams ranked in the preseason Division III national poll.

Pacific opens the tournament against Neumann (Pa.) Saturday morning at 10 a.m., and close action at 8 p.m. against Cal State East Bay, who is 1-2 all-time against the Boxers in the Kickoff Tournament. On Sunday, the Boxers face UC Santa Cruz at 1 p.m. and Christopher Newport at 8 p.m.

Rounding out the tournament field is defending NWC champion Pacific Lutheran, who went a perfect 16-0 in conference play in 2007, and Puget Sound, who finished second in the NWC and then beat the Lutes in the NCAA west semifinals before advancing to the national quarterfinals.

Log on to the Boxer Kickoff Web page for a complete schedule of events. Live Stats will be available for all Pacific matches, with box scores of all matches posted on the Boxer Kickoff page throughout the day.

Here's to a great weekend of Boxers' action and another relatively sleepless weekend for your local neighborhood SID. But before we go, an enduring question for the audience...how tough can a slug really be? And if you go after one with a can of Morton's, is that "a-salt and battery?"

Hope to see you in Forest Grove this weekend!

Men's Soccer: PGE Park Game Is A No Go

2008-08-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

After looking forward to playing their first match ever in Portland's premiere soccer venue, the Pacific men's soccer team will have to wait for another opportunity.

Pacific's scheduled Sept. 4 match at PGE Park against Warner Pacific has been moved back to Forest Grove's Lincoln Park Stadium. Start time has also been moved back one hour to 4:00 p.m.

The match was going to be Pacific's first ever on the same pitch that the Portland Timbers call home. Pacific's head men's soccer coach, Jim Brazeau, is also the Timbers' goalkeepers coach and assistant coach Jim Rilatt is also on the staff.

The bad news is that the match will make for some last-minute drives down the Sunset Highway for Brazeau and Rilatt and for your local neighborhood SID, who is the official scorer for the Timbers. The Timbers have a 7 p.m. match at PGE Park against the Charleston Battery.

Men's Basketball: Raiford To Portland State

2008-08-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

After three seasons as the top assistant for the Pacific men's basketball program, Wendell Raiford is moving back to the Division I ranks.

Raiford has accepted a position as an assistant coach at Portland State, where he work under third year head coach Ken Bone. Before coming to Pacific when Lowery became head coach in 2005, Raiford had spent three seasons as a graduate assistant at Oregon State.

Wendell has always wanted to get back into the Division I ranks, and I am happy to see that he got his opportunity to get back there. He joins Portland State at the right time. The Vikings went 23-10, won the Big Sky Conference tournament and advanced to their first NCAA Division I Tournament where they lost in the first round to eventual national champion Kansas.

In his place, Lowery is bringing back a couple of former players who have remained connected to the program since turning in their uniforms. Branden Kawazoe was a four-year player for the Boxers, earning Honorable Mention All-NWC honors at guard in 2005 and 2006. Jason Townsend played for Lowery in 2004-05 and 2005-06, but saw his effectiveness limited by injuries.

Kawazoe and Townsend will join current assistant coach (and Pacific golf coach) Richard Warren.

Men's Basketball: Boxers To Open At Boise State

2008-08-22T16:52:00.000-07:00

No better test to start the season than to schedule a WAC opponent, right?

Head Coach Jason Lowery has scheduled a season-opening exhibition game against Boise State. The game takes place on Fri., Nov. 14, 8:15 p.m., at BSU's Taco Bell Arena. It will be one last warm up for the Broncos before they open the regular season on Mon., Nov. 17, at Siena.

Boise State advanced to the 2008 NCAA Division I Tournament after beating New Mexico State, 107-102 in triple overtime, in the WAC Tournament. The Broncos went on to lose to Louisville in the first round by a score of 79-61.

This is the second straight season that Pacific has opened the year with a Division I exhibition game. The Boxers opened at Eastern Washington last season, falling by a final of 91-49.

Ticket and broadcast information will be available soon.

Cross Country: No Place For Home

2008-08-22T16:45:00.000-07:00

For the second consecutive year, the Pacific cross country team will not have a meet to call their own. The Pacific University Invitational, scheduled for Sept. 13, was cancelled because Head Cross Country Coach Tim Boyce could not secure a location for the meet.

Boyce hoped to hold the event at Fernhill Wetlands, a natural area about a mile southeast of the Pacific campus, but could not come to a use agreement with the organization that manages the site.

Pacific has not had a home meet since 2006, when the team hosted the Boxer Rebellion as a season-opening event in Lincoln Park. That event was discontinued with the construction of the new Lincoln Park Athletic Complex. Boyce hopes to locate a suitable site for a home meet in 2009.

In it's place, the Boxers will compete in the Warner Pacific-Cascade Invitational, which will be held on Oct. 11 at Portland's Westmoreland Park.

Click Here To View The Full 2008 Cross Country Schedule.

Updates From The Five-Ring Circus

2008-08-22T14:59:00.000-07:00

By BLAKE TIMM, Pacific University Sports Information Director
If you are like me, you have been staying up way too late checking out the action from the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. Thankfully, my wife and I do not have cable at home, so I am limited to the horribly tape-delayed coverage provided by NBC. Never mind that I can find out most of the results well in advance of air time, but, especially when it comes to track and field, I still enjoy watching.

Pacific has a number of connections to this year's Olympic Games...
IAN DOBSON: A former runner at Oregon cross country powerhouse Klamath Union High School, Dobson (far right in the photo) qualified for the U.S. Team at 5,000 meters, finishing third behind Matt Tegenkamp and the amazing Bernard Lagat. Dobson placed ninth in his heat o n Aug. 20 (14:05.47), failing to advance to the finals. Lagat was the only American to advance to the final, running eighth fastest time in the prelims to win the third heat in 13:39.70.

Pacific Connection: Dobson is the son of Pacific University Library director Marita Kunkel, who is in Beijing to see her son's once in a lifetime experience (but we hope to see him in London).

CLAY STANLEY: The dominant outside hitter for the U.S. men's volleyball team has led the Americans to the gold medal match. A two-time Olympian, Stanley is the leading scorer in this year's Olympic tournament and has started every match for the United States. After outlasting Russia in the semifinals, Stanley and the U.S. will face Brazil in the gold medal match on Sun., Aug. 24.

Pacific Connection: Stanley is the nephew of former Pacific volleyball coach Chris Stanley, and is from a long line of volleyball players. Chris Stanley, incidentally, remains on the Pacific staff as the director of intramurals and event management. If you see him, ask him about jumping center in junior college basketball against a f uture dominant UCLA center.

FROM THE STANDS: Prior to the beginning of preseason practices on Monday, new Pacific volleyball coach Lena Chan spent the last week in Beijing taking in as much volleyball action as she could, be it men's, women's or beach. Chan's husband, Alex, has relatives in the Chinese capitol and took advantage of free lodging to watch the Americans dominate one of their own games.

The downside to the new job, however, was having to leave early. Rest assured, however, that Alex and the Chan children have taken advantage of their tickets to the gold medal matches.

AND BEFORE THE GAMES: I had the opportunity to work on the media staff for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials in Eugene, which was truly one of the pinnacle experiences of my professional life. You can read more about my time at Historic Hayward Field on my personal blog, blaketimm.blogspot.com.

Additionally, Pacific University photo professor Jim Flory was at the trials shooting photos. He will display his awesome work in a show that is expected to take place later this fall on the Pacific campus.

Hope you enjoy the rest of the Games. Now to get the office cleaned up so I can stay up late again tonight!

Welcome To The Boxer Blog!

2008-08-22T09:39:00.001-07:00

By BLAKE TIMM, Pacific University Sports Information Director
Ladies and gentlemen...Pacific University Athletics is working on moving into the 21st Century!

Welcome to the Boxer Blog, a component of our new multimedia initative that we are developing for the Pacific University Athletics program. We will regularly add here interesting news and notes, as well as fun facts and oddities, from our 20 varsity athletic programs and, sometimes, some timely opinion by your local neighborhood blogger.

In other words, think of this as the site for "The News That Didn't Make The News."

Boxer Blog will be edited and maintained by the Pacific Sports Information Office. This is part of a comprehensive multimedia initative we are putting together for Pacific Athletics. As the season progresses, our multimedia offerings will include online photo galleries and photo store, a weekly online newsletter, a score texting service (to your cell phone), podcasts and live Webcasts of selected Pacific athletics events.

As always, we are open to suggestions you have for our online content. If you have a comment, feel free to drop me an e-mail.