Coe Wins Title, Church Hurt, College Hoops, Polo

COE WINS INDOOR TITLE


SEATTLE – MICHAEL COE won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation indoor track title in the 3000 meters Sunday, posting a lifetime-best mark of 7:59.75 and provisionally qualified for the indoor national championships.

The race pitted 34 runners from Cal, Oregon, Stanford, Washington, Arizona State, UCLA, and Washington State. Second was Yoseph Gehbray of Californa at 8:02.68.

The Cal men's distance medley relay, consisting of senior Andres Perezchica, juniors Mark Matusak and Jake Hanson and Coe, also provisionally qualified for nationals with a time of 9:38.39. The relay placed fourth in the race.

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Major League Baseball Spring Training
CHURCH INJURED


RYAN CHURCH took Sunday off after a collision Saturday with first baseman Marlon Anderson during the Mets' 1-0 victory over the Dodgers at Vero Beach, Florida. MLB.com reported it like this--


The collision in shallow right field near the foul line in the fourth inning was quite nasty and left Church with a Class 2 concussion.

Anderson and Church, the right fielder, have thick bodies, and their impact was considerable. But given the potential for more serious injury, Mets manager Willie Randolph concluded, "We were pretty fortunate even though it looked a little ugly."

Anderson and Church were examined via CAT scans at a local hospital. Church was dazed and needed assistance from Randolph and trainer Mike Herbst as he walked off the field. Anderson walked off without assistance.

Church remained in the trainer's room, eyes closed, but emerged 10 minutes later. He preferred not to discuss the collision, a club spokesman said, because he still was groggy.

"He said he doesn't remember anything about anything," media relations vice president Jay Horwitz said.

Church suffered a cut inside his mouth and a sore jaw. He stayed home Sunday and didn’t even make the drive to the ballpark.

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College basketball
HUSKIES UPSET CAL

In Berkeley Saturday Washington staged an 87-84 victory over Cal to pass up the Golden Bears in the Pac-10 race. UW is now 7-10, California 6-10. JOEL SMITH scored two points in four minutes of playing time. The Huskies wrap up regular season play at Washington State on Saturday.

U-MARY ALL DONE


In Winona, Minnesota the University of Mary men’s basketball team saw its first appearance in Northern Sun post-season play end quickly as top-seeded and third-ranked Winona State tore apart the Marauders 77-50 Saturday night. Point guard GEOFF WEST scored eight points.
The Marauders end the 2008 season with a record of 8-20 overall while the Warriors improve to 30-1 this season.

West, a junior, scored 10 points per game to rank No. 2 on the squad. He led the team in steals. His brother JASON WEST, a freshman, played sparingly but ranked No. 2 in free throw percentage at .813 (13 of 16).

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College Women’s Water Polo
Aztecs Split


STANFORD, Calif. - Six different San Diego State Aztecs were able to find the back of the net against No. 2 Stanford, but it wasn't enough as the seventh-ranked San Diego State women's water polo team dropped its Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener, 12-9, Saturday afternoon. The Scarlet and Black fell to 13-2 overall and 0-1 in the MPSF, while the Cardinal improved to 10-2 overall, 2-0 MPSF.

Becca Ur scored once while Heather Fenske had seven saves in goal for San Diego.

On Sunday at San Jose State however the Aztecs’ three-goal outburst in the fourth quarter lifted them to a 9-8 comeback victory over eighth-ranked San Jose State (8-8 overall, 1-3 MPSF). The Scarlet and Black improved to 14-2 overall and 1-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Fenske recorded double-digit saves for the fifth time this season, as she turned away 10 shots.

Church Excited About Santana; UW, UM Hoops Fall

CHURCH EXCITED TO HAVE SANTANA

RYAN CHURCH, the last newcomer to the New York Mets before yesterday’s announcement of the club’s trade for star lefthander Johan Santana, expressed delight at the acquisition.

“I'm just glad that he's on our team,” Church wrote in a Wednesday e-mail. “He really is the cream of the crop when talking about starting pitchers. He now joins an already solid pitching staff, and I can't wait to play behind all of these guys!“

Earlier, in an interview televised on Lompoc Locker Room, the TV Show, Church made clear just how very optimistic he is about his new Mets team.

“They want to get an ace like Johan Santana,” Church said on January 11. “If they do, the sky’s the limit.”

“The limit” in baseball is winning the World Series. That is a goal Church's former team, the Washington Nationals, could only dream of for the far distant future.

“I know now that I have a chance year in and year out to win a championship,” Church said. “That’s why I said I was ecstatic and I still am.”

He also commented on a variety of other topics--

Playing right field instead of left field as he did in Washington--“I think I’m capable of playing all three (positions). It’ll be a different angle from where the ball comes off the bat but other than that it won’t be a problem. It won’t take long—a day or two of fly balls.”

The outfield at Shea Stadium—“It’s smaller than DC stadium, pretty much any stadium is. I won’t have to worry about playing so deep.”

Hitting at Shea—“It’s considered a neutral or a little bit a pitchers park but in years past, especially last year, I’ve hit well there.”

How many of his 43 doubles last season might have been home runs at Shea? – “At least 10.” Church hit 15 home runs in 2007.

Besides his doubles and home runs will his RBI total go up as well? –“The potential for hitting in a lineup like that with guys on base, I haven’t had that since I’ve been in the big leagues. In the minor leagues I had guys around me but not in the big leagues. You get better pitches to hit and more opportunities. I’m shooting for 85-90.” He had 70 RBI in 2007.

Is his batting average likely to rise also? “With more guys on base there’ll be more opportunities for sac flies and stuff like that. Definitely the average can go up.” Church batted .272 last season.

Omar Minaya, the Met General Manager, knew Ryan from when they both were with Montreal. Was knowing Omar a factor in the trade?—“They had two positions they had to shore up for next year and Omar, knowing me and Brian Schneider, he went and got us. So I think it played a role.”

Does it make a difference playing for a guy who wants you like Minaya? -- “It’s a confidence booster going in there knowing the guy that runs the team has a lot of confidence in me. He’s already shown that. Trading for me showed that here the NY Mets, a team that contends for the World Series year in and year out, wants me. That alone really brightened my day.”

Washington GM Jim Bowden did not seem to be a Church fan. Did that bother you? --“You can’t worry about it. You can’t let it bother you when they’re sticking it to you. It’s your job, your career. I kept my mouth shut and when I had an opportunity to do something to show them I tried to seize the moment and do it. There’s a lot of business stuff that goes along with baseball. You just have to keep your mouth shut and go out there and play hard.”

The New York sports writers have a reputation for being hyper critical. What do you think? – “I’ll respect them as long as they respect me. (Criticism) comes with the territory. There’s gonna be people writing stuff about you that you might not like. The best thing is not to read it, just go out and play. Don’t pay any attention.”

Regarding criticism from bloggers immediately after the trade — “I have a lot of things to prove to people. I’ll be happy to get in there and strap it up and get them behind me."

Does he like New York? — “I’m looking forward to it but you know me. I’m not a guy for hanging out with a lot of people. I don’t think you’ll see me living it up. I’ll go home, go to bed, get up and go to the yard.”

Is baseball still a thrill after four years? – “It’s a thrill every day. I love the game and I’m still a kid at heart.”

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JOEL

College Hoops

SEATTLE-- The California Golden Bears nipped Washington Saturday 79-75 to dump the Huskies to 3-6 in the PAC-10. JOEL SMITH (pictured above) scored five points in 15 minutes in his sixth man role.

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GEOFF & JASON

College Hoops

BISMARCK, N.D.-- Visiting Wayne State nipped University of Mary 73-65 Saturday. The most startling statistic however was that point guard GEOFF WEST was held scoreless in 25 minutes of action. It was the first time in a regular season game West has not scored. His average is 9.8 points per game. The Marauders fall to 3-10 in Northern Sun conference play, 6-16 overall.

Chris White Named; Geoff & Jason Lose to NoDak

CHRIS WHITE, who led Sacramento City College in virtually every one of baseball’s offensive statistics, and was named the MVP of his conference before being signed by the Detroit Tigers, has been nominated for Lompoc Athlete of 2007.

The centerfielder was 2007 Big 7 Conference MVP and an All-American. He batted .369 with 30 stolen bases in the regular season and helped his team to the state JC Final Four. He was picked in the 12th round by the Tigers.

White spent much of the summer with the Gulf Coast League Tigers where he caught fire at the end of the season. He was promoted to Oneonta of the New York-Penn League for the playoffs.

White joins Duane Solomon, Ryan Church, Danny Duffy, Wes Hain, Boo Jackson, Miguel Ortiz and Matt Sims on the ballot.

YOU can nominate right now! Just e-mail your nominee to pressboxprod@verizon.net in any of four categories: Male Athlete of 2007, Female Athlete of 2007, Coach of the Year and Team of the Year. Take a look at the nominations list to date in the right-hand column below our sponsors.

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GEOFF (& JASON)

GEOFF WEST and the University of Mary Marauders (now wait a minute, do the virgin Mary and "the Marauders" REALLY go together?") fell Tuesday night to the University of North Dakota 74-55. West contributed six points, two rebounds and two assists in just 15 minutes of play. NoDak was up by 19 at halftime and it just got worse. JASON WEST also logged 15 minutes but did not score. The Marauders (2-4) visit Wayne State Friday night.