NCC Roundup: Cardinals Making Names for Themselves

This is the first installment of a weekly series, chronicling news from North Central College's athletics program.

Get to know him: sophomore men's basketball player Landon Gamble has been named an Honorable Mention NCAA Division III Preseason all-American by D3hoops.com, which released its annual Preseason all-America selections late Wednesday.

Gamble, who averaged 14.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game en route to earning All-College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) accolades last season, was one of just two Division III players to show up in the listing, which includes four five-man all-America teams and a five-man honorable mention squad. Wheaton College forward Tim McCrary was named to the first team.

The Cardinals went 15-11 last season, sharing the CCIW team title with Augustana College after both teams finished with records of 11-3 in conference play. North Central opens the 2011-2012 season Nov. 18-19, hosting the Courtyard Chicago Naperville Tip-Off Tournament.

Others to watch: North Central College volleyball players Jenae Harner and Ryan Lally have been named the CCIW Players of the Week for the week of Oct. 10-16.

The awards come on the heels of a week during which the Cardinals went 4-1, including a 3-1 victory over CCIW rival Augustana College last Tuesday and a 3-1 record in the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament at Gregory Arena on Friday and Saturday.

Harner, an outside hitter, was named the CCIW's Offensive Player of the Week after owning or sharing the team lead in kills in all five matches last week. She hit .513 with a career-high 22 kills in a 3-1 win over Judson University and hit .372 with 20 kills in a 3-2 victory over St. Mary's University (Minn.). Harner finished with a hitting percentage of .261 and 18 kills in a 3-1 victory over the 23rd-ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and was named to the  All-Tournament Team at the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament. Harner averaged 4.05 kills per set and a .305 hitting percentage during the week.

Lally, the Cardinals' setter, was selected as the CCIW's Defensive Player/Setter of the Week, averaging 12.30 assists and 2.25 digs per set and helping North Central post a .232 hitting percentage. Lally also had a career-high 62 assists in the win over St. Mary's.

The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin released its weekly award winners for women's cross country on Tuesday with North Central College's Krista Cota earning Runner of the Week honors.

Cota earns the honor after finishing seventh among the 395-runner field on Saturday at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Brooks Invitational at the Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne, Wis. The junior led the pack for North Central, crossing the tape in 22 minutes, 17 seconds, helping the 34th-ranked Cardinals to a ninth-place finish at the 43-team invitational.

Cota becomes the fourth Cardinal to claim CCIW Runner of the Week honors in the past five weeks. Alicia Zimmerman claimed the honor on Sept. 20 and again on Oct. 4 while Kala Bingham was named CCIW Runner of the Week on Sept. 27.

The Cardinals return to action on Friday, hosting the Cardinal Classic at the Saint
James Forest Preserve in Warrenville, Ill.

North Central College football players Mike Boettcher and Caleb Bednarz have been named the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Players of the Week on offense and special teams, respectively, for the week of Oct. 15.

The pair were recognized for their efforts in the Cardinals' 61-14 victory at Millikin University on Saturday, which raised North Central's season record to 5-1 overall and 3-0 within the CCIW. Boettcher, a running back, gained a career-high 186 rushing yards on just 15 carries and tied a single-game school record with four rushing touchdowns.

Bednarz, a defensive back and kick returner, returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown, completing the second-longest punt return in school history and recording his second punt return TD of the season.

Book it: The North Central College men's golf team completed its competitve schedule for the fall 2011 season Monday, taking third place out of eight teams in the 27-hole Cress Creek Collegiate Invitational at Cress Creek Country Club in Naperville.

The Cardinals finished with a total of 488 strokes to end five strokes behind
runner-up Benedictine University. Wheaton College turned in a score of 463 to win the team title, and the Thunder's Dan Downey also won the individual title with a six-over-par total of 114.

North Central's effort was paced by Shane Kunz, who finished 10th overall with a total of 119. The Cardinals' Robert Jocson placed 19th with a score of 123, with Brian Kirhofer placing 20th with 124 and Karl Schlichting finishing 24th with 126.

Magic number: The North Central College football program continues to hold steady at No. 6 in this week's NCAA Division III Top 25 Poll released by D3football.com.

The Cardinals (5-1, 3-0 CCIW) posted their fifth consecutive win Saturday, prevailing 61-14 at Millikin University. North Central gained a school-record 669 yards of total offense and put up 461 rushing yards, the highest single-game total at North Central since 1991.

The Cardinals received 465 points in this week's voting. North Central remains one of three CCIW teams in the top 25, as Illinois Wesleyan University is 15th and Wheaton College is 16th.

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater received 21 first-place votes and maintained its hold on the No. 1 spot in the poll, followed by the University of Mount Union (Ohio), the University of St. Thomas (Minn.), the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Tex.) and Linfield College (Ore.) The top eight spots in the poll were unchanged from the previous week.

The D3football.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, sports information directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly throughout the season.

North Central travels to Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday in a 1 p.m. battle for first place in the CCIW standings.

Updates: On a blistery, rainy night Wednesday at Benedetti-Werhli Stadium, the North Central women's soccer team fought off the elements to take down visiting Beloit College, 2-0.

Colleen Gebauer got the Cardinals (7-7) on the board with her fourth goal of the season with less than 5 minutes remaining in the first period. The Cardinals took the 1-0 advantage into halftime while ripping off 15 shots in the opening half.

North Central increased their lead to 2-0 as sophomore Allison Anderson chipped home her first goal of the season off a perfect feed from teammate Victoria Dunn in the 69th minute to seal the victory for the Cardinals.

Goalkeeper Amy Frazzini saved the only shot she saw while Buccaneers goalie Alex Spirov saved 14 shots in the losing effort. Halley Robertson and Jacqueline Clore logged the final 33 minutes in goal for North Central preserving the teams sixth shutout of the season.

The Cardinals travel to Kenosha, Wis. on Oct. 22 to take on CCIW foe Carthage College.

The North Central College volleyball team saw its three-match winning streak come to an end Tuesday, losing a 3-0 decision to the 10th-ranked Carthage College Lady Reds in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin action at Tarble Arena.

The Cardinals (14-12, 3-3 CCIW) lost by scores of 25-12, 25-15 and 25-16 to the Lady Reds (23-5, 6-0), who have won the past five CCIW Tournaments. North Central was led Tuesday by Crystal Wright's nine kills, while Amber Ladwig finished with seven.

Ryan Lally totaled 20 assists and Sarah Eggert contributed 14 digs.

The Cardinals will participate in the Elmhurst College Invitational on Friday and
Saturday at R.A. Faganel Hall. Action is set to begin at 4 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. on Saturday.