NCC Roundup: Slate Set for Second Round of Playoffs

The North Central College football team will travel to Hollett Little Giant Stadium in Crawfordsville, Ind., on Saturday to play Wabash College in the second round of the NCAA Division III Football Championships.

The Cardinals (10-1) opened the postseason with a 59-13 victory over the University of Dubuque at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium on Nov. 19. established new single-season school records for points (496), rushing yards (3,175) and rushing touchdowns (36), topping the 50-point mark for the fifth time this season and recording more than 400 yards on the ground.

Wabash (11-0), the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) champion, defeated Illinois College 38-20 in its opening-round game. The Little Giants are among the Division III national leaders in rushing defense (61.0 ypg) and scoring defense (10.9 ppg), and lead the NCAC in rushing offense (169.5 ypg) and scoring offense (34.0 ppg).

Kickoff on Saturday is scheduled for noon Eastern time. The game will be broadcast live on North Central's campus radio station, 89.1-FM, WONC, and wonc.org, and a live video feed will be available via Hometown Sports Indiana. Live in-game statistics will be available at sports.wabash.edu and updates will also be available via the official Twitter feed of North Central College Athletics, twitter.com/NCC_Athletics.

Men's cross country: Early calamity did not deter the men's cross country team in its quest for a 14th national title Saturday at the Lake Breeze Golf Course, rallying from an early setback to return to the top of the podium for the second time in three years at the NCAA Division III Championships.

For the second straight season the national title came down to a battle between the Midwest Region Champion Cardinals and the Haverford College (Pa.) Fords, champions of the Mideast Region. Dan Kerley and Matt Brinkmeier fell in the initial melee at the start, before regrouping for the blowout victory.

"It's really hard to put into words how proud I am of this team and how they have run the entire season and the growth that has taken place," head coach Al Carius said in a release.

"It was a battle out there. We wanted to get good position and then maintain that position throughout the race, but we had two of our top runners that went down shortly after the start. Kerley and Brinkmeier went down. They were almost last going around the first turn. So getting good position with some of our top runners really didn't happen as planned and that's what I think really makes today so special. They just kept battling back and back."

The Cardinals tallied 110 points in the standings while the runner-up Fords accumulated a team score of 172.

Matt Perez, the 2011 Midwest Region champion, paced the Cardinals, earning All-America accolades for the second straight season with a fifth-place showing, completing the 8,000-meter course in 24 minutes, 15.17 seconds. Neal Klein was the second Cardinal to cross the tape, earning his third career All-America certificate, finishing in 15th (24:33.10).

Women's cross country: Back at the NCAA Division III Championships after a four-year hiatus, the women's cross country team recorded a 16th-place finish on Saturday at the Lake Breeze Golf Course.

The Cardinals scored 413 points to finish 16th in the team standings, the team's second trip to the national championships. North Central placed 13th at the 2006 Championships. Washington University in Saint Louis captured the team title, besting the 32-team field after accumulating 70 points.

Krista Cota led the Cardinals, placing 45th overall, traversing the 6,000-meter course in 21 minutes, 52.74 seconds. Kala Bingham and Alicia Zimmerman crossed the tape back-to-back in 57th and 58th places, respectively, with less than a second seperating the two.

"We were very excited. This group had dedicated themselves to getting back here (to Nationals). The biggest thing for us is we weren't fading, our fitness and work ethic has been outstanding," coach Mahesh Narayanan said. "It's a very coachable group and at the end of the day they want to compete at the highest level."

Men's basketball: Withstanding a second-half surge for the second straight night, the men's basketball team improved to 2-0 for the season with a 72-70 victory over Trine University in the Courtyard Chicago Naperville Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday at Gregory Arena.

The Cardinals saw an eight-point second-half lead dissipate and faced a tie game with 2:13 to play, but scored five straight points down the stretch to stay unbeaten in the early portion of their season.

North Central had five players score in double figures for the second straight contest. Derek Raridon paced the Cardinals with 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists and was named the most valuable player.

Wrestling: Continuing to dominate in the lower weight classes, the wrestling team won three of its four matches in the Olivet College Comet Duals on Saturday, improving to 4-3 in dual competition this season.

The 11th-ranked Cardinals defeated Trine University (Ind.), 28-16, in the day's opening match before a 33-11 loss to 23rd-ranked Olivet. North Central bounced back to knock off Manchester College (Ind.), 38-16, before closing the day with a 22-20 victory over Heidelberg University (Ohio).

North Central won the first four weight classes to take the early lead against Trine, as Sean Tomac won by pin at 125 pounds, Blake Olson claimed a win by decision at 149, and Nathan Fitzenreider and Andrew Zobac won by forfeit at 133 and 149 pounds, respectively. Jason Bonham also won by decision at 174, and Dylan Mahler picked up a major-decision win at 197.

Women's basketball: The Trine University women's basketball team beat the Cardinals 57-49 to take home the 2011 Courtyard Chicago Naperville Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday night at Gregory Arena.

After slow starts by both teams, the Thunder took a 27-20 lead into halftime with Haley Killingbeck leading the way with 10 points, making 5 of her 8 shots. Emily Murphy led all Cardinal scorers with 12 of her 14 points coming in the opening half.

Swimming: The swimming teams returned to action after a 21-day layoff, competing at the third-annual Phoenix Fall Classic over the weekend at the University of Chicago's Myers-McLoraine Pool.

The Cardinals finished ninth on the men's side at the three-day meet, tallying 83 points. Lindenwood University (Mo.) captured the team title with 770 points while the host Maroons were second with 738 points. On the women's side, North Central placed 10th with 83 points, finishing 10 points shy of Robert Morris University. The University of Chicago claimed the women's title with 876 points while Division II Truman State University (Mo.) was second (711 points).

Bobby Patschke highlighted the men's efforts, placing sixth in the 1,650 freestyle after touching the wall in 18 minutes, 50.13 seconds. Robb Showalter was 15th in the 200-yard backstroke, clocking a time of 2:15.89.

Kelsey Tumpane was the top women's finisher for the Cardinals, placing eighth in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:22.31. Kelsey Truedson was 10th in the 200-yard backstroke (2:17.02) while Kate Zumpf was 15th in the 1,650-yard freestyle (20:33.00).

The Cardinals return to the pool Dec. 2 for Day 1 of the Wheaton College Invitational.