Contact:
Doug Aiken
(714) 997-6900
Release Date: February 26, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Upcoming Events Calendar
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Date
|
Day
|
Team
|
Opponent/Event
|
Site
|
Time
(Pacific)
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| 2/27 | Fri. | Women's Tennis | Cal Lutheran | Thousand Oaks | 2:00 pm |
| 2/28 | Sat. | Women's Track | Whittier | Whittier | 10:00 am |
| Women's Softball | Whittier | Home | 12:00 pm | ||
| 3/1 | Mon. | Men's Golf | Cal Lutheran | Home | 12:15 pm |
| 3/2 | Tue. | Women's Tennis | Whittier | Whittier | 2:00 pm |
| 3/3 | Wed. | Men's Golf | Whittier | Whittier | 2:00 pm |
| Baseball | Ohio Northern | Home | 2:30 pm | ||
| Women's Softball | Menlo* | Home | 3:30 pm | ||
| Women's Water Polo | Caltech | Pasadena | 7:00 pm |
Three Chapman Basketball Players Earn Verizon Academic Awards
ORANGE – Senior guard Melody Bongiorno (Stowe, VT/Rice Memorial) earned Verizon Academic All-District VIII honors for the third consecutive year as Chapman University had three men’s and women’s basketball players selected to the All-District teams last week. Junior guard Landon Lewis (Brea/Brea Olinda High) and sophomore guard Zach Wheatley (Fountain Valley/Fountain Valley High) earned the award for the first time in their careers for the men’s team.
Bongiorno’s second straight first team selection will put her on the national ballot in voting that will take place next month. Her 3.82 grade-point average as a double-major in psychology and broadcast journalism, coupled with her top-10 national ranking in scoring average (21.9 points per game) and Chapman record 1,706 career points made her a near lock to become the first three-time All-District selection the Chapman women have had in their 10-year Division III history.
Lewis and Wheatley earned second team All-District honors for the men.
Lewis will likely lead all of Division III in three-point shooting this
season, finishing with a 52.8 three-point field goal percentage and averaged
13.1 points per game for the Panthers. He has a 3.67 grade-point average
in international business and finance. Wheatley started all 24 games for
Chapman, which finished the year 16-8. He averaged 10.1 points and 4.8
rebounds per game and finished second on the team with 59 assists. In three
semesters at Chapman he has posted a 3.93 GPA while majoring in mathematics.
Lewis and Wheatley become the first men’s basketball tandem to be selected
to the All-District team the school’s move to Division III in 1994.
Season Previews:
Women’s Water Polo
Is this the year the women’s water polo team turns the corner and becomes legitimate threat to challenge for an NCAA playoff berth? In just three short seasons, Chapman has gone from a program that hadn’t won a game to a Division III top-10 preseason pick. And why not? The Panthers return three of their top four goals scorers from 2003, as well as their top defender and two goalies.
Chapman is ranked ninth in the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s preseason poll thanks largely to the return of sophomore 2-meter Kristina Eich (Huntington Beach/Edison High), who led the team in scoring with 40 goals as a freshman, adding 14 assists and 35 steals – both numbers ranked second on the team. Eich, who scored on more than a third of the shots she took, will anchor an offense that averaged nearly six and a half goals per game last season. Sophomore driver Teri Bartel (Kingsburg/Kingsburg High) and senior driver Allison Sloane (Stockton/Lincoln High) scored 21 goals apiece in 2003 and should complement Eich well in Chapman’s balanced attack.
Defensively, Chapman will rely heavily on the goalie tandem of junior
Jenn
Bicknell (Fullerton/Troy High) and sophomore Katie Arntzen (Riverside/Poly
High. Bicknell allowed made 44 blocks and allowed just 40 goals in 13 games
last year, but the position will be a new one for Arntzen, who scored three
goals as a driver last year. Senior 2-meter Nicole Sloane (Stockton/Lincoln
High) led all Panther defenders with 52 steals in 2003 and combined with
an experienced core of players, Chapman expects to improve on its 8.2 goals-against
average from a year ago.
Last Week’s Results:
Men’s Basketball
NCAA Statistical Leaders
The Panthers find themselves amidst the top-40 in NCAA Division III
in seven different statistical categories (through games of 2/22/04):
| Field Goal Pct. | Chapman; 51.2% | 4th |
| Scoring Margin | Chapman; 12.3 ppg | 23rd |
| Three-Point FG Per Game | Chapman; 8.3 | 36th |
| Three-Point FG Pct. | Chapman; 42.3% | 6th |
| Free Throw Pct. | Chapman; 74.8% | 24th |
| Three-Point FG Per Game | Landon Lewis; 3.5 | 16th |
| Three-Point FG Pct. | Landon Lewis; 52.8% | 1st |
Women’s Basketball
NCAA Statistical Leaders
Chapman’s women’s basketball team ranks among the best in Division
III in seven different statistical categories (through games of 2/22/04):
| Scoring Offense | Chapman; 76.9 ppg | 14th |
| Scoring Margin | Chapman; 19.4 ppg | 14th |
| Rebound Margin | Chapman; 9.4 rpg | 10th |
| Field Goal Pct. | Chapman; 46.0% | 11th |
| Win-Loss Pct. | Chapman; 83.3% (20-4) | 37th |
| Points Per Game | Mel Bongiorno; 21.8 ppg | 4th |
| Field Goal Pct. | Caroline Jensen; 54.1% | 32nd |
Baseball
| Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
| 2/24 | @ Claremont | L, 6-11 | 7-2 |
Claremont 11, Chapman 6 – Six Chapman errors led to six unearned
runs for Claremont, which capitalized versus the reigning national champions
to chase junior right-hander Jeff
Green (Santa Clarita/Valencia High) from the game in the after
just one-plus inning and win, 11-6. The loss for Green is his first regular
season loss in two years for Chapman, snapping a streak of ten consecutive
regular season victories. Junior infielder
Justin
Hallenbeck (Laguna Hills/Laguna Hills High) was 4-for-5 with a
pair of runs scored from the leadoff spot and junior infielder Jason
Mooneyham (Rancho Santa Margarita/Trabuco Hills High) drove in
three runs, including a two-run single in the first inning to give Chapman
an early lead. The Panthers out-hit the Stags 11-10 in a losing effort.
Softball
| Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
| 2/20 | Claremont | L, 2-4 | 5-2 |
| Claremont | W, 12-4 | 6-2 | |
| 2/25 | @ Vanguard | L, 1-6 | 6-3 |
| @ Vanguard | W, 2-0 | 7-3 |
Claremont 4, Chapman 2 – An overly anxious Chapman team, eager to please in its home debut, promptly committed three errors that led to four unearned runs in the first two innings, then rallied but couldn’t overcome the deficit, falling 4-2 to the Athenas. The Panthers had committed just four errors in their first six games, before derailing in the first game of a doubleheader with Claremont. Chapman rallied for a run in the fourth on an RBI double from sophomore first baseman Meredith Cipolla (Pleasanton/Amador High) and a run in the sixth on an RBI single by senior shortstop Brittany Ziegler (Irvine/Woodbridge High). The Panthers then loaded the bases in the seventh, but couldn’t scratch across a run. Cipolla finished with two hits in the game. Sophomore right-hander Marissa Becerra (Orange/Mater Dei High) was the tough-luck loser, suffering her first loss of the season despite not allowing an earned run. Freshman right-hander Maggie Wilder (Bakersfield/Stockdale High) struck out six batters and shutout the Athenas over the final five and two-thirds innings in relief.
Chapman 12, Claremont 4 – Chapman’s bats were revived to the caliber it had seen in Texas one week earlier, pounding 17 hits – including three doubles and a pair of home runs – and 12 runs in just five innings to earn a doubleheader split with visiting Claremont. All nine Panthers starters collected at least one hit, led by senior third baseman Melissa Simerlink (Tustin/Tustin High), who was 3-for-4 with a double, her first career home run and three RBI. Freshman second baseman Sandra Burns (Anaheim/Canyon High) hit a two-out, two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the fifth to give the Panthers the ‘mercy rule’ win. It was her first career dinger. Sophomore outfielder Jill Jeranko (San Clemente/Capistrano Valley Christian High) also finished with three hits, including a double. The beneficiary of the run support was sophomore right-hander Erin Bryant (Puyallup, WA/Emerald Ridge High) who improved to 2-0.
Vanguard 6, Chapman 1 – The host Lions jumped on the Panthers early and with regularity, scoring a run in the first, two in the third and three more in the sixth off the Chapman pitchers. The Panthers bats were silenced by Vanguard’s starting pitcher, limiting them to just four hits and a single unearned run scored in the sixth. Freshman pinch-hitter Allison Lewis (Irvine/Northwood High) drew a walk and scored on an RBI single by sophomore outfielder Kailee Roeser (River Forest, IL/River Forest High) for Chapman’s only run.
Chapman 2, Vanguard 0 – Right-hander Maggie Wilder stymied the
Lions in the second game of the doubleheader, striking out a career-high
eight batters in six innings to earn her first career shutout, 2-0. Sophomore
infielder Katherine
Searing (Arcadia/Arcadia High) drove in the first run of the game
with a bases-loaded single in the second inning, then led off the fifth
with a double and scored Chapman’s second run on a two-out single by Melissa
Simerlink to lead Chapman offensively. Wilder improved to 2-1 this season
with a team-high 24 strikeouts in 21.2 innings pitched.
Men’s Tennis
| Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
| 2/24 | @ Alliant International | L, 4-5 | 2-5 |
Alliant International 5, Chapman 4 – Senior Justin Jonas
(Carlsbad/Carlsbad High) improved to 5-2 in singles play with a win as
the sixth seed against Alliant International, but the Panthers fell to
the Mountain Lions, 5-4 in San Diego. Jonas and doubles partner Ryan
McCormack did their part to help the Panthers cause with a 8-6 win
as the #3 doubles team and ran their season record to 5-1. Junior Bryan
Bruno (Riverside/Alta Loma High) won a thrilling fifth-seed singles
match with a tiebreaker win, 6-7, 6-2, (15-13) and also improved to 5-2
in singles play.
Women’s Tennis
| Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
| 2/19 | La Verne | L, 4-5 | 2-3 |
La Verne 5, Chapman 4 – Sophomore Liz
Nesbit (Garden Grove/Pacifica High) and freshman Sam
Galasso (Anaheim/Magnolia High) improved to 3-2 with a win in the
third-seeded doubles match, but the Panthers couldn’t convert the decisive
doubles point, losing two of the three matches and the overall match, 5-4.
Chapman split the singles play led by number one seed, senior Tiffany
Lewis (Seattle, WA/Bush High), who evened her singles record at
2-2 for the season. Nesbit and freshman Melissa
Sorensen (Tigard, OR/Tigard High) were also winners in singles
play. Sorensen won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, running her overall record
to 3-2.
Men’s Golf
| Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
| 2/23 | @ Cal Lutheran | L, 332-308 | 0-1 |
Cal Lutheran 308, Chapman 332 – Senior Derek Holland (Brea/Brea Olinda High) shot an 81, ten-over par, in the Panthers season-opening loss at Sterling Hills in Thousand Oaks. Holland, who averaged 13.4 over par per 18 holes in 2003, combined with junior Matt Gahan’s (San Clemente/San Clemente High) team-best 78, seven-over par, to lead Chapman. Despite the loss, the opening match team score was a 26-stroke improvement over the Panthers season-opening loss a year ago. Chapman was 4-3 in 2003, but returns just two of its top six players. Senior Chad Donnelly (Wheat Ridge, CO/Wheat Ridge High), who rounded out Chapman’s top-four with an 87, is one of those returners.