SID Blog

Two weeks and four games left to go in the GPAC regular season and well, let's just say there is a lot that can happen between now and late Saturday night, Feb. 20, when the GPAC office releases the brackets for the tournament championships.

The women's team faces two big challenges this week in 12th-ranked Morningside, one of just three teams to defeat the Raiders, and top-ranked Hastings, the team the Raiders are not only chasing in the national standings but in the GPAC one as well. We get the Mustangs at home Wednesday night so come out and cheer the Raiders on in this crucial match-up.

The men's team plays the same two teams as the women and the games are just as important for Coach Korver's squad. Currentyl in sixth place in the GPAC, the Raiders need these two games to remain in the hunt for a first-round bye. They have Briar Cliff in their sites but also have a Dordt team, currently two back in the loss column, looking to pass the Raiders up with a late season surge. Again, come out and support the Raiders!

As you can see, the final two weeks of the regular season are huge for all the teams involved...there is a lot to be decided within our conference!

Baseball team got off to a good start this past weekend, taking 3-of-4 up at the Dome. Both the track and field and wrestling teams were also in action this past weekend...check out the website for the recaps of those events.

Put the tennis and softball pictures up on the website along with updating the player bios...make sure you check out the new info!

What a weekend....basketball teams came away with a split at Dordt while the conference races continue to get closer after the weekend's action. Three Raiders were crowned conference champion, including Levi Price who is now the three-time GPAC champion at 149! Track and field teams competed at the Minnesota State Open in Mankato against USF and a host of NCAA D-III and D-II teams. Charity Miles and Kyle Sauter each came away with the gold in the 5000m and 60m hurdle events, respectively. Kara DenHerder turned in an outstanding performance in the weight throw, setting a new school record in the process. As of today, Feb. 1, Charity and Kyle are the two national qualifiers in indoor track and field. Two more regular season meets to go, followed by the GPAC meet on Feb. 20.

The women's basketball team got off to a great start, jumping out to a 20-point lead in the first half and really put the game out of reach. Dordt made a charge in the second half but expended a lot of energy in the process which allowed Northwestern to push the lead back to +15 down the stretch. Becca Hurley led the way in scoring but also did a tremendous job defensively. Randa Hulstein recorded another double-double, her fourth in just 13 games. The Raiders return home to face a Mount Marty team that may have righted the ship so to speak with a one point win over Morningside last week. The win snapped a five game losing streak for the Lancers, which prior to the losing skid was a team ranked in the top 10.In conference news, Hastings lost its first game in conference play to Morningside meaning that NWC and Briar Cliff trail the Broncos by just one game in the conference race. We play the Broncos on Feb. 13 while BCU goes to Hastings on Feb. 6. The stakes continue to rise with each game, that's for sure. Despite the loss, Hastings took over the top spot in this week's poll and became the third GPAC team to hold the #1 ranking (Morningside and Northwestern).

The men's game on Saturday was a tale of two halves with the first half a fairly high scoring game...both teams were clicking, at least for awhile, offensively...but the second half was just a grind-it-out, defensive struggle. In the end, Dordt came out on top by eight. Daniel Van Kalsbeek led the way offensively with 17 points while Waker Seim added 14 points, all in the second half, and Ryan Stock scored 12, all in the first half. Like the women's team, Northwestern plays host to Mount Marty on Wednesday followed by a road trip to Blair, Neb. to play Dana on Saturday. In terms of the men's conference race, Dakota Wesleyan seems like the team to beat, along with Concordia, followed by USF and Hastings. Briar Cliff has fallen off a bit and Dordt, with five straight wins, is the team on the rise. But, we've seen it before, teams can get hot, teams can get cold, and with three weeks left in the regular season, well...let's just say there is a lot of basketball to be played.

Levi Price, Brian Heiberger and Nic Leither were all crowned GPAC Champions this past weekend in the conference meet held in Sioux City, Iowa. As a team, the Raiders place third and had three other wrestlers place second. The final home event for Coach Dahl's squad is tomorrow night (Feb. 2) as the Raiders host Briar Cliff in dual. Beyond that, two more meets to try to add to our national qualifier total.

Baseball team heads out Thursday, weather permitting (sorry Wede, had to say it) to play four games in two days in the Dome.The games Thursday night will be webcast by Concordia (Minn.)...there will be a link on our website so we can watch the 2010 debut of Red Raider baseball.

That's all for now...go Red Raiders!

It's getting to be that time of year, the time in which the conference races in women's and men's basketball start to get real interesting. On the men's side, it's not out of the question that the regular season champion could have as many as four losses. Right now, Concordia and Dakota Wesleyan have two losses each, but, they have to play each other down the road and both have some very tough games left on their schedule. Hastings is the front-runner for the women's regular season crown but has tough games remaining against Concordia, Northwestern and Briar Cliff. Should make for some great basketball down the stretch.

As for this weekend, both Red Raiders teams face a pair of Dordt squads that are playing some very good basketball. Dordt has won four straight games on the men's side, including wins over ranked teams (Hastings and DWU) while the women's team has three straight wins. Games are always ultra-competitive when these two rivals meet and this week should be no different.

The Red Raider wrestling team will compete in the GPAC Championships this weekend, hosted by Morningside College in Sioux City. Three-time defending champion Dana is the favorite coming in but the Raiders have competed well over the last few weeks and pushed the Vikings to the limit last week. Northwestern College has two reigning GPAC champions in Levi Price at 149 lbs. and Nicholas Leither at 197 lbs. Price is ranked eighth in the nation and is the top winner in the Red Raiders' lineup with a 21-7 record. He was an All-American in 2008 after a sixth place finish at the NAIA National Championships. Speaking of Price, he became the career leader in wins at NWC with a victory against Morningside. The senior has 111 wins during his four-year tenure. Check out Wede's championship preview for more info!

The track and field teams compete in Mankato, Minn. this weekend. Many of these athletes had two weeks to prepare and practice since their last competition two weeks ago at the Dordt Invite. Last week, only a few athletes went to Vermillion but Coach Wolf did get his second national qualifier as Kyle Sauter met the standard in the 60m hurdles. Sauter joins Charity Miles (3000m) as the national qualifiers.

Both the baseball and softball preseason coaches' polls were released this past week and both teams were picked to finish 10th. Coach Wede's squad makes their season debut in Minneapolis next week. The softball team has a few more weeks to prepare before heading to Missouri to open their season.

That's all for now!

Back to the Grind as they say, not only for our athletic teams but for students, professors and staff, as the second semester is underway.

Our basketball teams are in the middle of what arguably could be the toughest stretch of the season as they head to Mitchell, S.D. tomorrow to play Dakota Wesleyan. After that, they head to Sioux City to play Briar Cliff for the second time in about 2 1/2 weeks. Prior to Friday night's contest against DWU, both teams travelled to Sioux Falls to take on the Cougars. On the men's side, all three of these opponents are/have been and most likely will stay ranked throughout the season. For the women, USF received votes in the last poll and defeated a ranked Jamestown squad earlier this year. Dakota Wesleyan, especially in Mitchell, S.D., is never easy and they knocked us off there last year. And if that's not enought, Coach Woudstra has to bring his squad to the Newman Flanagan Center to play a Briar Cliff team that is on a roll right now. The Chargers, led by the nation's leading scorer Liz Grider, knocked off Morningside and Mount Marty this past week and pushed us to overtime on Jan. 2. Wow, what a stretch of games!

In case you missed it, our basketball teams split last night at USF with the women's team victorious and the men's team losing a close one in the final second. You can read the stories on our athletic website.

This is the big wrestling weekend for the Red Raiders as they host the Paul Bartlett Invite on Saturday, Jan. 16. Action begins around 9:00 am in the Bultman Center. Come out and watch some great wrestling action! Earlier this week, Coach Dahl and the Raiders picked up two impressive wins in dual action as they knocked off Waldorf and USF Wednesday night. Brian Heiberger, David Carter and Brad Hughes all went 2-0 in Wednesday's matches. The Raiders have qualified seven wrestlers to the national touranment at this point with the opportunity for more this weekend.

The track and field teams make their season debut this weekend at the Dordt Invite. Action gets underway around 9:45am at the Dordt Recreation Center. You can find the order of events on our track and field web-site.

Baseball practice is underway already and softball begins next week...meaning spring is right around the corner, right???

That's all for now!

Exam week here at Northwestern which means a slower week for Red Raider athletics. The wrestling team is off until after the new year while both basketball teams have game(s) this weekend and then get a week off before heading on the road for some games during the final week of 2009. The men's team takes on Buena Vista here in the Bultman Center on Saturday. Former Raider letter winner and long-time Beavers head coach, Brian Van Haaften, brings his 5-3 squad and three-game win streak to OC to face a surging Red Raider team with a 9-4 overall record. Check out the full preview on the men's basketball page on the website. As for other GPAC news, USF, the top team on the men's side, lost to unranked Bellevue last night and earlier this week, Briar Cliff, also ranked in the top 10, lost to Grand View. Hopefully the GPAC can keep a team or two in the top 10 all season long in the men's basketball poll. That will help the overall conference rating down the road and could mean the GPAC getting four or more berths in the national tournament.

As for the women's team, they head to the Pella area to play a pair of non-conference games against William Penn and Central. Friday nights opponent, the Lady Statesmen, has a win over #5 Jamestown earlier this year so the Raiders need to play well to pick up an important non-conference win. The GPAC continues to be well-represented in the national ratings with six teams either ranked or in the received votes category. Coach Woudstra's squad has next week off before heading to Chicago to play in the Trinity Christian College Classic on Dec. 29-30.

Looking ahead at the calender...hard to believe that on Feb. 4, our baseball team makes its season debut up in the Metrodome....could that really be??? Wow, time flies! Our indoor track and field team will make their season debut on Jan. 16 at the Dordt Invite...the athletes have been working out in the RSC for quite some time now and are looking forward to competing once again.

Nice honor for Cory Brandt, son of our athletic director and former letter winner for the Red Raiders. He earned Sioux City Journal Coach of the Year as announced in Thursday's paper. He guided his Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley football team to a runner-up finish in class 2A. Congrats!

Until next time!