Sports

NCC Roundup: Cardinals End Football Season Atop Conference

NCAA Division III Football Championship pairings announced tonight.

The football team accomplished both of its objectives in Saturday's regular-season finale against North Park University, getting a large number of players into the lineup and coming away with a 35-0 victory over the Vikings at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.

The Cardinals (9-1, 7-0 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) clinched their second straight outright CCIW Championship and extended their winning streak in regular-season home games to 24 consecutive games. It was also North Central's 19th straight win over the Vikings.

"Today we wanted to have our number twos get a lot of reps just to make sure they're up to speed for the playoffs, and some guys were just a little too banged up to play today," Cardinals coach John Thorne. "This was a good way to rest them and keep them out of practice for a week.

"The boys have done a wonderful job and they really stuck together and worked very hard. I'm very proud of the team today."

The team entered the game ranked third in the final edition of the NCAA's Division III North Region rankings.

Pairings and host sites for the first round of the 2011 NCAA Division III Football Championship were announced at ncaa.com Sunday. North Central will face off against Dubuque. The first round will take place Nov. 19 at noon.

Magic number:

Men's cross country: Matt Perez raced to the individual title and two more placed among the top ten as the men's cross country squad blew away the 39-team field Saturday at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional at the Saukie Golf Course, claiming the team title for the fourth consecutive season.

The top ranked Cardinals tallied 42 points in the team standings to win their 24th Midwest Region crown, besting runner-up and third-ranked Washington University in Saint Louis by a 72-point margin. Eighth-ranked University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh was third with 136 points followed by 12th-ranked University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (141). College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin rival and fifth-ranked Wheaton College was fifth with a score of 151.

Perez claimed top individual honors, completing the 8,000-meter course in 24 minutes, 41.7 seconds, marking the 11th time in regional history a Cardinal runner has taken home the regional title and third time in as many years.

Seven-tenths of a second separated Kevin Sparks and Matt Brinkmeier as the Cardinals pair finished back-to-back in sixth and seventh places, respectively. Sparks clocked a 25:10.1 while Brinkmeier toured the course in 25:10.8.

Dan Kerley finished just outside the top 10, clocking a time of 25:17.0, good for 11th place while Neal Klein rounded out the scoring five, finishing 17th in 25:25.0. John Crain was 24th in 25:35.3 with Tim Hird placing 79th in 26:36.5.

North Central turns its focus to Winneconne, Wis., and the Lake Breeze Golf Course, hosts of next Saturday's NCAA Division III National Championships. The men's race is slated to get underway at 12 p.m.

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Updates:

Women's cross country: Anchored by top-10 finishes from Krista Cota and Alicia Zimmerman, the women's cross country team placed fourth at the 38-team NCAA Division III Midwest Regional on Saturday at the Saukie Golf Course.

The 25th-ranked Cardinals tallied 150 points to capture fourth place. The top two finishing squads automatically qualify for next weekend's NCAA Division III National Championships while the a top five finishing team's are all eligible for selection to the meet.

Second-ranked Washington University in Saint Louis won the regional crown with a team score of 24 followed by the seventh-ranked University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (115 points). The University of Chicago was third with 146 points while the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point rounded out the top five with a team tally of 188.

Cota paced the Cardinals, traversing the 6,000-meter course in 21 seconds, 57.2 seconds to finish fifth. Zimmerman was close behind in seventh, crossing the tape in 22:03.1. Kala Bingham was the Cardinals' third finisher, placing 30th in 22:55.0. Maggie Lapinski and Amanda Marek finished 53rd and 55th, respectively, to round out the scoring five. Lapinski finished in 23:31.4 while Marek clocked a 23:34.6. Jordan Wagner was 86th in 24:14 while Amy Schwent placed 103rd in 24:29.6.

The NCAA will release its complete 32-team cross country championship field Sunday. Cota and Zimmerman have already punched their tickets to the national championships as individuals by virtue of their top-seven finishes. The 2011 NCAA Division III Championships will be held Saturday at the Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne, Wis. The women's race is slated to begin at 11 a.m.

Wrestling: The North Central wrestling team claimed three individual championships Saturday afternoon at the first annual Muskie Invite hosted by Lakeland College.

The Cardinals secured individual championships by Nathan Fitzenreider at 133 pounds, Andrew Zobac at 141 pounds, and Dylan Mahler at 197 pounds. 

Fitzenreider pinned his way to victory defeating UW-Oshkosh's David Rosenau and teammate Jonathan Williamson to advance to the title match. In the finals, Fitzenreider pinned UW-Stevens Point's Joe Mileski to claim the individual title at 133 pounds.

The Cardinals claimed the top three spots in the 141-pound weight class with Zobac taking the individual championship. After a bye in the opening round, Zobac defeated Thomas Dahlke from UW-Oshkosh by major decision 20-7 to advance to the finals where he would win by default.

Mahler scored a 14-6 major decision over UW-Oshkosh's Keith McLeod and a 6-3 decision over UW-Steven's Point's Dylan Clucas to secure the Cardinals third individual championship on the afternoon.

Find out what's happening in Napervillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The team continues to be ranked 11th among NCAA Division III institutions, according to the most recent rankings released by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.The Cardinals travel to CCIW foe Wheaton College on Tuesday.


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