Saturday At Manchester U
It was a full day for Manchester University athletic programs Saturday.
Wappes Leads Strong Day for Manchester Cross County
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Senior Hannah Wappes (Columbia City, Ind./Columbia City) highlighted Manchester’s efforts at the Knight Invitational, hosted by Calvin College on Saturday September 7.
Wappes earned a top 10 finish, placing seventh overall in a field of 200 runners. Wappes crossed the finish line with a time of 22.12.2 – 34 seconds faster than her previous career-best set last year. Wappes’ time on Saturday was the fourth-best time in Manchester University history in a 6k race. Hannah’s time on Saturday morning was also the fourth fastest time among NCAA Division III runners.
Fellow senior Ana Acevedo (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton) placed 67th overall with a time of 23:54.3. Acevedo’s time also set a new personal record, topping her previous benchmark of 23:59.5 set last fall at Oberlin. Ana’s time on Saturday morning also clocked in as the 18th best time in Manchester history.
Both Sydney Young (Patoka, Ind./Princeton) and Emily Lynn (North Manchester, Ind./Manchester) also posted times that put them in the top-50 all-time in MU history.
On the men’s side, the Spartans earned a 16th-place finish and were led by the performance of Lucas Fontanez (Lowell, Ind./Lowell). Fontanez placed 61st overall in a field of nearly 220 runners. Lucas clocked in at 26.40.4 on Saturday.
Senior Daniel Baker (Okemos, Mich./Okemos) wasn’t far behind, placing 67th with a time of 26:43. Sam Barnard (Indianapolis, Ind./Scecina Memorial) was the third Spartan across the finish line on Saturday afternoon. He placed 70th with an overall time of 26:47.3
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Volleyball Splits Matches at North Park
CHICAGO, Ill. – Manchester University went 1-1 at the North Park University Tri-Match on Saturday September 7.
The Spartans battled host North Park University in Saturday’s first match. The Vikings defeated the Spartans 3-1 after set scores of 27-25, 22-25, 25-22, and 25-18.
Halle Planck (Gas City, Ind./Mississinewa) led the Spartans with 14 kills. Lauren Gandhi (Westfield, Ind./Guerin Catholic) and Alexandria Collins (Lowell, Ind./Lowell) chipped in 23 and 15 assists respectively against the Vikings. Anna Marie Lawrie (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli) and Rachel Ressler (Tipton, Ind./Tipton) collected 14 and 10 digs respectively.
Manchester rebounded in its second match of the day, defeating the Blackburn College Beavers in four sets, 22-25, 25-20, 25-23, and 25-20.
Halle Planck once again led the MU offense with a career-best 21 kills. Sophomore Kara Heckmuller (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) provided an extra boost for the Spartan offense, finishing with 15 kills against the Beavers.
Lauren Gandhi (26) and Alexandria Collins (16) combined for 42 assists. Anna Marie Lawrie led Manchester with 22 digs. Sophomore Chelsea Waltermire (Muncie, Ind./Cowan) tallied a season-high five aces.
The Spartans (2-4) will be in action on Wednesday September 11 when the team travels to St. Mary’s (Ind.). Match time against the Belles is slated for 7 p.m.
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Men’s Tennis Splits with Olivet and Alma
MARSHALL, Mich. – The Manchester University men’s tennis team picked up its first win of the fall season, defeating Olivet College by a final score of 8-1.
The Spartans swept through doubles action against the Olivet Comets on Saturday. The No. 1 doubles duo of Isaac Miller (Millersburg, Ind./Fairfield) and Samuel Hollingsworth (New Castle, Ind./Blue River Valley) teamed up for an 8-1 win. At No. 2 doubles, Austin Arnold (Coatesville, Ind./South Putnam) and Gavin Eads (Bourbon, Ind./Triton) paired of an 8-4 victory. Trevor Johnson (Austin, Ind./Austin) and Reece Romer (LaGrange, Ind./Lakeland) paired for an 8-4 triumph at No. 3 doubles.
In singles action, Isaac Miller earned his third win of the season at the No. 1 flight, winning 6-1, 6-2. Gavin Eads tallied a 6-3, 6-0 win at the No. 3 position. Reece Romer earned a 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 win at the No. 4 slot. Blake Rentschler (Griffith, Ind./Bishop Noll) earned his first win of the season, winning 6-2, 6-1 at No. 5 singles. Austin Arnold rounded out singles play with a 6-2, 6-0 win at the No. 6 flight.
The men also battled Alma College on Saturday afternoon and narrowly dropped a hard-fought 5-4 decision.
Austin Arnold and Gavin Eads picked up an 8-1 win at No. 2 doubles to start the match with the Scots.
Eads earned a 6-1, 6-3 victory at No. 3 singles and Blake Rentschler added a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 win at the No. 4 position. Austin Arnold won 6-1, 6-0 at the No. 4 singles slot.
Head Coach Alyson Worrell earned her first career coaching victory at the helm of the Spartans.
The Spartans (1-3) will return to action on Tuesday September 23. Manchester will travel to Indiana-South Bend for a 5:30 pm matchup with the Titans.
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Women’s Tennis Drops Road Matches to Alma, Olivet
MARSHALL, Mich. – The Manchester women’s tennis team dropped a pair of non-conference road matches to Alma and Olivet on Saturday afternoon in Michigan.
Against Alma, junior Karly Eichenauer (North Manchester, Ind./Manchester) earned a hard-fought 7-6 (9-7), 6-1 victory at No. 1 singles. She added a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles against Olivet as well.
Against the Olivet Comets, Maddy Russow (Logansport, Ind./Logansport) and Kaitlyn Burger (Syracuse, Ind./Fairfield) teamed up for an 8-4 win at the No. 2 doubles position. Barger also dropped a three-set battle at No. 3 singles by a narrow 4-6, 7-6 (8-4), 10-8 decision.
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Men’s Soccer Slowed by Spalding on Saturday
NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – The Manchester University men’s soccer team fell in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon to visiting Spalding University. The Golden Eagles won by a 3-0 final score at Good Field.
Manchester nearly struck for goal in the opening minute as Nick Surber’s (Hebron, Ind./Hebron) shot attempt in the box sailed just over the cross bar.
The visiting Golden Eagles found the back of the net in the 14th minute. Joseph Zamora struck for goal after a clean cross from the left side by Mani Bakari slipped by the Manchester defense.
The Spartans outshot Spalding 4-3 in the opening period and narrowly trailed 1-0 at halftime.
Spalding tallied two more goals in the second period, scoring in the 63rd and 77th minutes.
Manchester outshot the Golden Eagles 10-9 on the afternoon and held a 7-5 advantage on corner kicks.
Spalding improved to 3-0-1 this season. Manchester (1-2-1) will host Olivet College tomorrow afternoon at 2 pm at Good Field to conclude the Raven/Spartan Classic. Olivet (1-1) fell in overtime this afternoon at Anderson by 3-2 score.
