(Posted February 16, 2004)

MEN?S BASKETBALL(12-11, 5-7 Commonwealth): Feb. 17 vs. Susquehanna*; Feb. 21 vs. Lebanon Valley*.
*Commonwealth Conference game.

Juniata fell in a pair of tough conference outings this past week. Juniata dropped a 96-88 contest to Elizabethtown and a fell to Albright 77-75 on a last-second shot. Against Albright Travis Boyd (Juniata Valley/Barree) recorded his second career ?double-double? as he scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. He also led the squad with four assists and three steals. Jeff Lau (York Catholic/Glen Rock) was in double figures with 15 points, and Josh Tyler (Bellwood-Antis/Altoona) scored 11 in the loss. Nick Hager (Franklin/Franklin) added eight points and seven rebounds. Hager was sensational in Juniata?s loss to Elizabethtown as he tied a Juniata record with 10 three pointers in the game. Hager finished 10 of 12 from long range and 11 of 13 from the field, good for a career high 32 points against the Blue Jays. Tyler added a season-high 16 points in the game and Lau again scored 15. Craig Biller (Penn Cambria/Loretto) had 10 points and Greg Ebert (Forbes Road/Waterfall) led the team with five rebounds and four assists.

WOMEN?S BASKETBALL (5-17, 2-10 Commonwealth): Feb. 17 vs. Susquehanna*; Feb. 21 vs. Lebanon Valley*.
*Commonwealth Conference game.

Juniata picked up its second conference win of the season with a 72-64 win over Elizabethtown, and dropped a tight 54-45 game against Albright. Against Elizabethtown Juniata had four players score in double figures against the Blue Jays with Kristen Kirk (Newport/Newport) leading the way with 21 points. Kirk also added a team-high six assists and eight rebounds. Gretchen Hall (Cocalico/Denver) scored 17 points while adding six assists and two steals. Colleen McShane (Gloucester Catholic/Gloucester City, N.J.) added 14 for Juniata and Katie O?Brien (Southwestern/Hanover) tossed in 10 points and seven rebounds. Dana Reist (Manheim Central/Manheim) led the team with 10 rebounds. Against Albright Lesley Snoby (Johnstown/Johnstown) paced Juniata with 13 points and added five rebounds. Hall and Kirk had eight points apiece for the Eagles and Kirk led the team with four assists. Reist again recorded 10 rebounds in the game.

MEN?S VOLLEYBALL (4-3, 2-2 EIVA Tait): Feb. 16 at Springfield*; Feb. 20 vs. Lees-McRae; Feb. 21 vs. NJIT.
*EIVA Tait match.

The Eagles earned a pair of victories over Division I EIVA opponents as they topped Saint Francis 3-1 and swept past Princeton 3-0. After dropping game one 27-30 against Saint Francis Juniata responded winning the next three games 30-26, 30-24, 30-22. Juniata took the match against Princeton by game scores of 30-17, 30-26, 30-23. Against Saint Francis, Ryan Genova (Antietam/Reading) led the attack with 22 kills. Kenny Eiser (Central Bucks West/Doylestown) notched 10 kills and 10 blocks, while Rick Ziegler (Northeastern/Manchester) fell just shy of a ?triple-double? with 51 assists, nine digs and nine blocks. Cordt Withum (Penn Manor/Holtwood) added 12 kills and seven blocks in the match as the Eagle notched 19 blocks in the win. The Eagles also got a career-high 12 digs from libero Tim Cole (Pennsbury/Yardley). Genova again led the way against Princeton with 17 kills and a .382 attack percentage. Freshman Jeremy Barndt (Souderton/Souderton) registered a career-high 12 kills in the match while hitting at a .556 clip. Barndt and Eiser each had a team-best five blocks on the night. Ziegler directed the Eagle offense with 48 assists and led the team to a .373 hitting percentage. Cole added 11 digs for Juniata?s defensive effort.

INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD

Competing on the same track where they will compete at the MAC indoor championships in two weeks, Juniata posted several strong performances in the Orange and Maroon classic. For the women Stefanie Rynkewitz (Lewistown/Lewistown) turned in a pair of solid performances as she finished second in the 400-meter dash, and fourth in the 200-meter. Elena Amato (Notre Dam Prep/Baltimore, Md.) placed seventh in the 400. The Eagles got a pair of fifth-place finishes as Nancy Hayes (Westminster/Westminster, Md.) finished fifth in the 5,000 meters and Andrea Denkovich (Greencastle-Antrim/Greencastle) was fifth in the weight throw. The Eagles added top-10 finishes from Kira Troutman (Line Mountain/Valley View) who placed seventh in the shot put, Debbie Delaney (Franklin/Reisertown/Md.) was ninth in the shot put and Betsy Kusniez (Boyertown/Gilbertsville) was ninth in the weight throw. Juniata also topped the field in the distance medley relay. For the men, the Eagles got strong performances in the jumps, led by Adam Loser (Central York/York) who finished third in the high jump. Jeremy Weber (Garden Spot/Mohnton) and Randy Anderson (DuBois/DuBois) placed fourth and 10th respectively in the triple jump for Juniata. Weber also finished ninth in the long jump, joining Gary Ondecko (Bishop Carroll/Northern Cambria) who placed sixth in the event. Shawn Miller (Altoona/Altoona) earned a ninth-place finish in the pole vault and Dusty Sier (Smithsburg (MD)/Smithsburg) rounded out the top-10 finishes by placing ninth in the 55- and 200-meter dashes. Juniata also had sophomore Mike Vella (Hollidaysburg/Hollidaysburg) compete at the Bucknell Bison Classic over the weekend. Competing against many Division I runners, Vella placed 17th in the 5,000, covering the distance in a time of 16:33.70

WOMEN?S SWIMMING (9-3, 5-3 MAC) Feb. 26-28 at ECAC Championships

On the strength of four first-place finishes and five school record-breaking performances the Juniata swim team finished third at the MAC Swimming Championships, the best-ever finish for a Juniata team at the conference championships. Juniata finished the three-day meet with 451.1 points, barely edging out the fourth-place team. Juniata had 12 athletes earn points during the meet, with five competitors producing 50 or more points. The team was led by Kim Allen (Susquehanna Twp./Harrisburg) who earned a pair of first-place finishes and one runner-up finish along with two strong relays to produce a team-high 80.5 points during the meet. Allen also improved on her NCAA provisional qualifying times in both the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke events and broke the school record in the 200-yard breaststroke. She will find out later this month if she earned a spot at the NCAA Championships. Juniata also had a pair of victories from Kathy Trainor (Upper Merion/King of Prussia) who accounted for 75.5 points during the weekend. Trainor broke the conference record in both the 50 and 100 freestyle, and was a part of two school record-breaking relay teams. Trainor joined Dana Gais (Kiski Area/Saltsburg), Amy Hanson (Lancaster Catholic/Elizabethtown) and Andrea Nulton (Tyrone Area/Tyrone) to break the school records in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. Hanson contributed points in seven different events on her way to scoring 59.5 points for Juniata. Nulton finished the weekend with 58 points for the Eagles, and Gais added 47 points. Also making big contributions was freshman Amy Sutherland (Norwich/Norwich, N.Y.) who piled up 52.5 points in her first conference championship. Kim Dierolf (Boyertown Area/Barto) was also a factor for Juniata as she scored 23 points in the meet. Allison Engle (Shippensburg Area/Shippensburg), Collin Thompson (Altoona/Altoona) and Lauren Chiappetta (St. Charles/St. Charles, Ill.) were all nearly equal in their contributions as Thompson produced 17.5 points for Juniata, while Chiappetta and Engle each added 17 points to the team?s total. Rachel Almy (Foxcroft Academy/Charleston, Me.) finished with three points in her first conference championship, and Holly Gabries (Tunkhannock Area/Meshoppen) rounded out Juniata?s scoring with one point. Juniata?s best finish at the conference meet prior to this weekend was fourth, which the Eagles had accomplished twice including last season.

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