Colleges: Anteaters are driven

Amara Aguilar

The UC Irvine men’s golf team decided to take the road less

traveled recently to get to the PING Arizona Intercollegiate Tournament.

Instead of flying to Tucson as the team has done in the past, the

Anteaters decided to hit the highways. It took seven hours for the team

to make its way to Arizona by van.

“We have not driven to this tournament in the past,” UCI Coach Paul

Smolinski said. “Just with the increased security and having to arrive

early at the airport, we decided to. Last year we had to fly to Phoenix

because there was no direct flight to Tucson from Orange County, and by

the time we got there, we had spent the whole day traveling anyway.”

This time around, UCI’s golf team went in a vehicle complete with a

television and VCR.

“It’s good valuable time for the (players) to bond and it definitely

brings them closer,” Smolinski said.

It isn’t the first time the Anteaters have utilized ground

transportation for out-of-state competitions. Smolinski’s squad drove

home from the team’s first tournament of the fall season in Oregon.

“We got stuck during the weekend of Sept. 11 and had to drive home

from Oregon,” Smolinski said. “As bad as (those circumstances were), I

asked the guys what they would like to do this time around for Arizona

and they wanted to drive.”

Smolinski, along with five golfers, made the trip to Tucson, where the

team finished 11th. Junior Mike Lavery, who recently was named the Big

West Athlete of the Week for golf, had the best showing in Arizona. He

took 13th with a score of 212 (67-71-74).

“Mike currently leads the team with the lowest stroke average,”

Smolinski said. “After six tournaments -- including the fall and the

first event of spring -- in 18 tournament rounds he’s averaging 72.3

strokes.”

Junior Jeff Coburn placed 42nd in Arizona, junior Ryan Armstrong was

57th, senior Kevin Stevens was 64th and sophomore Brandon Murray was

73rd.

The Anteaters return to action in the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate

tournament at La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc March 7-8.

The UCI men’s basketball team (18-8, 11-4 in the Big West) dropped to

second place in conference for the first time all season after losing on

the road to University of the Pacific Saturday, 73-61.

Utah State (20-4, 12-3) sits alone at the top of the conference

standings. Only three Big West conference games remain for UCI.

This week, the Anteaters host fourth-place Cal Poly (14-8, 8-6)

Thursday and third-place UC Santa Barbara (15-8, 9-5) Saturday. Tipoff

for both contests is 7:05 p.m.

UCI senior guard Jerry Green continues to make his mark in the record

books. With the 10 points against Pacific Saturday, Green became the No.

9 career scorer in Big West history with 1,864 points, 12 behind No. 8

Leon Wood from Cal State Fullerton (1982-84).

During Saturday’s game, Green also tied former Anteater Tod Murphy for

the top spot in UCI career free throws made with 488.

Last week, Green was named first-team All-District 15 by the National

Association of Basketball Coaches. He joins UCLA’s Jason Kapono, USC’s

Sam Clancy, and Arizona’s Jason Gardner and Luke Walton.

After a 13-game homestand, the UCI baseball team (8-5) hits the road

this week for a three-game series against Arizona. Game times (Pacific)

are 2 p.m. Friday, and noon Saturday and Sunday.

Taking a look at some stat leaders, Matt Anderson continues to

dominate offensively with a .386 batting average and Chris Miller leads

the squad in RBIs with 11, followed by Anderson and Effren Trejo with

eight each.

Sean Tracey (2-1) leads the team in innings pitched with 26. He has a

2.08 ERA. In 23 innings of work, Paul French (1-1) has a 3.91 ERA. Glenn

Swanson (2-0) has a 2.75 ERA in 19.2 innings.

The UCI women’s water polo earned its first national ranking. In their

second year of competition, the Anteaters (2-4) were ranked 13th in the

nation in a Collegiate Water Polo Association poll from Feb. 13. Stanford

is ranked No. 1.

The Vanguard University women’s basketball team (15-9, 12-6 in the

Golden State Athletic Conference) has won five of its last six games and

is in third place in conference. Fresno Pacific (22-6, 13-4) and Azusa

Pacific (19-7, 13-4) are tied for first place.

This week, the Lions finish off the regular season with two games at

home against Christian Heritage College Tuesday and Azusa Pacific

Saturday. Both contest begin at 5:30 p.m.

In Vanguard men’s basketball action this week, the Lions (14-14, 10-9)

take on Christian Heritage College Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. and Azusa Pacific

Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Gina Liebengood, a senior pitcher for Vanguard’s softball team, was

recently named Lion of the Week. This season, the four-year starting

pitcher and two-time NAIA All-American has already set school records for

most career shutouts and most career strikeouts.