Mount Hood

Cross Country competes in National Championship

Lake Larsen | Sports Editor

After being named to All GNAC honors, two seniors, Justin Nading and Tyler Jones took their running talents to Pittsburgh, PA for the NCAA DII National Championships on Dec. 1.

Nading and Jones were the only Wolves to earn the bid into competing and hoped for a solid finish.

The trail was overtaken by a plague of bad weather leading up to the tournament. But nevertheless, the Wolves pushed forward.

After a brutal run in cold and rainy conditions, Jones had found himself finishing the 10,000 meter course in 60th place with a time of 33:56.8. Nading came in at a respectable 109th with a final time of 34:42.0.

Out of the GNAC runners in the race, Jones finished 5th and Nading in 11th.

 

Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu

Wolves take on Vikings in Monmouth

Lake Larsen | Sports Editor

In their first major test of the season, the Wolves faced off at home with the 15th ranked Western Washington Vikings on Dec. 1. Coming into the match, Western had picked up an easy win against conference opponent Simon Fraser in the previous night. After the double digit home win, Western hoped to keep up their momentum with their next conference match.

Western Washington wasted no time jumping to a quick six point lead over the Wolves with back to back three pointers. But despite this early showing, the Wolves retook the lead and held a tight lead for the majority of the half.

As the seconds dwindled down in the first, the Wolves and Vikings continued to trade blows. With the game staying within a single score, the Wolves clung to the lead before a quick flurry of offense paved the way for Western to take a nine-point lead.

A strong push by the Wolves out of the gates in the second half helped Western reach a double digit lead early in the second, but this lead was soon swept away. Western Washington fought back to tie and eventually overtook the Wolves for the lead. With only a few minutes left in the half, the lead was traded back and forth before the buzzer sounded to a 70-70 tie.

This tight game play continued into overtime. Western jumped to a quick lead but the Vikings were never too far behind. This narrow lead stuck until only seven seconds were left on the clock. After a foul by the Wolves, Western Washington sank back to back free throws to tie the game back up at 80-80.

Neither team seemed to give an inch to each other in the second overtime period. The Vikings took the lead over the Wolves with less than two minutes left in the game, but this was the last lead they would see. One last offense push from the Wolves helped seal a win for Western at home.

The final score was 96-88 and the double overtime shootout came to a close with another Wolves win.

 

Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu

Western men’s basketball falls to Dixie State

Lake Larsen | Sports Editor

The Wolves were a force to be reckoned with coming into their match-up with Dixie State University on Nov. 24. Western had had nothing but wins with three consecutive regular season victories prior to their game with the 1-1 Dixie State University Bison. Hoping to extend their undefeated season, the Wolves took the court ready for a battle.

The Bison overwhelmed the Wolves by their deadly offensive accuracy. Dixie State powered their way to a lead, managing over .400 in overall shooting percentage.

Western found themselves in a seven point hole coming into halftime. The Wolves were in desperate need of an offensive spark in order to close the gap.

As the clocked ticked closer to zero the Wolves chipped away at the Bison’s lead. Eventually, the Wolves brought their deficit down to a tight four points. But due to the efficient offense of the Bison, Western was unable to halt the momentum. Dixie State found the basket several times with under a minute to bring the final score to 80-70.

This loss is the first of the Wolves’s season bringing them to 3-1. The Wolves take on the Simon Fraser University Clan next for their first GNAC match of the season on Nov. 29.

 

Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

What’s what: Western’s women’s soccer club

Mikaela Wong | Freelancer

Freshly formed in 2017, the Western women’s soccer club has attracted some campus attention. The team has recently won the championship title for the Division 2/Division 3 league for Oregon’s Women’s Club Soccer Tournament.

Haylie Shinsato, a senior chemistry major, started the club in Winter term of 2017. After realizing that many girls who played in the spring intramurals soccer league were interested in playing year-round soccer at a higher competitive level, Shinsato looked into starting the club.

It seemed like the team was formed just in time as Shinsato explained.

“Actually, Oregon didn’t have a women’s (club) soccer league because there weren’t enough schools participating. But because we were one of the last clubs to be formed, we made that breaking point and were able to establish that league,” Shinsato said.

On Nov. 18, Western and the University of Oregon faced off for the overall championship title for all participating schools of Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3 levels. Although they had come up short of a win with a final score of 4-1, Shinsato said that she was not disappointed in the playing of her team.

“I think we did fairly well considering how new we are to the scene… we’re a newer team and probably needed to get used to playing with each other a little more to gain some more playing chemistry,” said Shinsato.

The women’s soccer club has seen immense support, especially for a team that has been around for less than a year. Although Shinsato is set to graduate this year, her hopes for the future of the club remains strong.

“Hopefully they will continue the competitive trend that was started and the league will grow into something even bigger. Hopefully we can get more funding from the school which could help us travel (further) to play more teams.”

Most of the girls on the team have had some sort of experience playing on competitive teams in the past, but it is not a requirement to join the club. Even though there is a higher level of commitment involved than intramurals, Shinsato was reassuring when it came to prioritizing responsibilities.

“We’re looking to go to the next level (of competition) but we understand that we’re students first and there’s work and class and other priorities. It’s also a good way to make friends and hang out,” Shinsato noted.

If you are interested in joining the women’s soccer club, go onto IMleagues to sign up or email Haylie Shinsato at hshinsato14@wou.edu.

 

Contact the author at mwong16@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Lake Larsen

Wolves trounce Cougars in the second home match

Lake Larsen | Sports Editor

Coming off of a season and home-opening win against the Warner Pacific University, the Wolves looked the continue their defense of the home court. Prior to this game the Colorado Christian University Cougars had only found themselves in the winning column once while Western was far more dominant, being undefeated coming into the game.

The first minutes of action saw the Cougars jump to an early lead over the Wolves. Fouls by Western led to back to back successful free throws to put Colorado Christian on top. But the Wolves were just warming up.

After the early minutes deficit, Western came alive. The Wolves forced turnover after turnover to retake the lead over the Cougars. This lead stayed slim with the offense of Colorado Christian continuing to challenge Western, matching many of the shots the Wolves made. But as the end of the half approached, the Wolves went on a quick nine-point flury that the Cougars could not respond to.

After the half, the Wolves asserted their dominance over Colorado Christian. Western forced countless turnovers in which they capitalized on to widen the lead over the Cougars.

This lack of defensive showing by Colorado Christian allowed the offense the thrive. Junior business major Buster Souza led the offensive assault of the Wolves. Souza’s performance was increasingly notable due to his scoring a perfect seven of seven shots from the field. This made Souza the third player in the school’s history since joining the NCAA that had been perfect from the field totaling at least seven shots.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Wolves had beat Colorado Christian not just on the board but in nearly every statistical category. The second half saw the Wolves lead the Cougars by over 30 points several times and never saw Western fall behind. With the 29 point win in their past, the Wolves look forward to heading to Utah to play Westminster University Nov. 23.

 

Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Wolves women’s basketball outlast Mavericks in a road win

Lake Larsen | Sports Editor

Unable to find a win in their first match against Dixie State University on the previous day, the Wolves hoped for a different outcome against Colorado Mesa University on Nov. 17. Colorado Mesa had won their match the previous day setting up a challenging scenario for the Wolves coming into the game.

Coming out of the gates, the Wolves were ready for a fight. After a short stint in the lead the Wolves quickly jumped right back in front of the Maverick. An unstoppable Western offense pushed the Wolves to tripling the score of Colorado Mesa 24-8 by the end of the first quarter.

The lopsided score came to a quick end as Colorado Mesa took their turn controlling the game. Points were traded back and forth but the frequency of scores fell more in favor of the Mavericks. As the time left in the first half dwindled, Western barely clung onto their lead, going into halftime on top only by eight.

The score gap continued to narrow as both teams traded blows back and forth. An impressive offensive effort by Colorado Mesa was matched by an equally vicious defensive attack from Western. The game continued to close as Colorado Mesa claimed the third quarter but still trailed by six to the Wolves.

Entering the fourth quarter, the Wolves knew that if they wanted to win, they had to outlast the Mavericks final push. Colorado Mesa’s assault on the Wolves pushed the leading gap smaller and smaller. But the Wolves’s defense held off a late run, preventing a comeback.

The end of the game showed that Westerns first quarter lead was enough to eke out a win. The second, third, and fourth quarter all saw Colorado Mesa outscore the Wolves by varying amounts but never enough to overtake the Wolves’s lead. The Wolves picked up a crucial victory bringing them to .500 on the season.

 

Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu

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