UPDATE FROM THE BEACH:
A busy one for the crew.
Rugby
The match against UCLA was one where, as Lee Corso says, "Speed kills." 48-25 defeat, but in terms of points, no one left empty-handed. They got the full five we got one. The Claremont Colleges pay us a visit next week.
Women's water polo
Opened the homestand against UCSB, and in a show where the men's team were essentially the audience making any noise, the Gauchos were downed, 10-6. UCLA next.
Men's volleyball
Revenge accomplished, although the men had to work in Game 4 to make it happen. The Beach wins, 30-24, 31-33, 30-22, 39-37. Next up: a twofer in Columbus to face The Ohio State University.
Softball
On the next exciting episode of The Sowder Gang, the 49ers and Brooke Turner were on assignment in Honolulu for a tournament. The results are as follows.
Central Florida L 3-5
Kentucky W 10-2
Hawaii L 3-5
Central Florida W 4-2
Hawaii L 1-6
These ladies don't know [yet] what consistency is. But then again, here at the Beach, we have teams that don't even have winning in their vocabulary either. Three examples...
Women's basketball
Oh egregious turpitude! As if losing to Bakersfield's men's squad a few days ago wasn't galling, the Beach chokes on the women's side, 65-62.
Men's basketball
I have to question why the NCAA is having Cal State Bakersfield go through a provisional period. Clearly they have shown me that they deserve to be in this conference. If I was Myles, I'd scrap the provisional period and put the Runners in the conference as a full member. Unfortunately, the turds down there came up with this, and so the Great Hoopspression continues. 77-71 defeat.
Women's tennis
Another singles choke, this time to Arizona State. They wrap up the trip against the Wildcats down in Tucson tommorrow.
And finally...
Track and Field
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Resting some of their top athletes for the week, the 49ers still put together a number of good marks competing on the road non-scoring dual with Riverside Community College. The invite marks the final competition for the 49ers prior to the MPSF Indoor Championships at the end of the month.
The 49ers’ had a number of good efforts from their young sprinters on the day. Freshman Brittany Yarde finished second in the 60-meter dash, and in a mid-distance 600m the Beach had a 1-2 finish from Ejiro Okoro and Denise Nunez. Nunez also grabbed a win in a 1,000m run for Long Beach State.
In the hurdles, two-sport athlete Kristen Kiefer came up with a season-high in the 60, finishing in first with a near sub-9.0 mark of 9.04. Yarde also had a solid finish in her second short-distance race, taking second.
Out on the field, Kristina Price won three different events, taking the shot put, discus and hammer throw by convincing margins, most impressively in the discus, where she won by nearly 12 meters over her nearest competition. The 49ers also picked up wins in the pole vault and long jump by Katie Crowe and Allison Sarell respectively.
For the men, freshman Kelsey Caesar put down a very fast time in the 60m dash, finishing in 7.04 seconds. In the middle distances, Alex Freitas was a dual-winner, taking both the 600m and 1000m runs for Long Beach State as well.
The 49ers had multiple winners for the men out on the field as well. David Sampson led a 49er podium sweep for the Beach in the shot put, one of two in the throwing events. Sampson also took third in the discus, an event that was won by Robert Jennings, with Ed Cornell taking second place.
Actually, I'm feeling a bit better, after getting my degree in paper today. Funny thing is, I got it 57 days after my degree was conferred. Ironically, the CSU system was founded in 1857 (thanks to some people from San Jose). I also got a sweet $50 dollar gift card from Bristol Farms. This will be a nice addition to my family's next Costco run.