ATHLETICS | Riley Elmes put on quite a performance this weekend at the West Coast Conference Men’s Golf Championship. After opening the tournament with a 71 on Thursday, Elmes rose seven spots on Friday to enter the finals in a top-five position. The senior then dropped another stroke to a 69 and forced a tie-breaker with an overall 210 for individual medalist honors. Despite not winning the playoff, Elmes earned another All-WCC First Team selection heading into Wednesday’s NCAA selection show.
LMU’s softball team, after winning another WCC Pitcher of the Week honor, closed out the 2019 home schedule in memorable fashion. On Saturday, the Lions earned a pair of wins including the longest game in program history, a 15-inning marathon. Following a senior celebration on Sunday, LMU shutout St. Mary’s, 8-0, to close out the weekend. The regular season will come to a close over the weekend with a three-game set at Pacific.
Four water polo Lions were recognized Wednesday morning as the Golden Coast Conference announced the league’s All-GCC performers and specialty award winners prior to the conference tournament. Marialena Seletopoulou was named the conference’s Newcomer of the Year. In addition, LMU landed two players on the All-GCC First Team, one on the All-GCC Second Team, and one on the All-GCC Honorable Mention team. LMU’s stars shined on Friday with a 13-8 win and on Saturday with a 10-5 victory to return to the GCC Title Game. Despite coming up short in the championship game, two Lions were named to the GCC All-Tournament team.
More all-conference awards came to LMU as the tennis teams were also recognized prior to the start of the WCC Championships. Lukas Moenter was one of six named to the All-WCC First Team Singles and the No. 68 doubles tandem of Nick Borchenko and Diego Nava were named to the All-WCC Second Team Doubles. After topping rival Pepperdine, 4-2, to open the tournament, the Lions put up a fight in the semifinal round of the West Coast Conference Championship, as the team battled San Diego until the end, but fell 4-2.
On the women’s side, the No. 89 doubles tandem of Veronika Miroshnichenko and Eva Marie Voracek were named to the All-WCC Second Team Doubles team, with Miroshnichenko also making the All-WCC Second Team for her singles play. The team swept St. Mary’s, 4-0, in the first round of the WCC championships, before dropping the semifinal matchup against Pepperdine on Friday afternoon.
The baseball team closed out a weekend in Malibu with a 5-1 win over Pepperdine to take a game in the series. The Lions now focus on a Tuesday night matchup against Long Beach State. The Lions dropped their earlier meeting with the Dirtbags and now head to Bohl Diamond at Blair Field on April 30 with first pitch slated for 6 p.m. before resuming conference play back at home with a Thursday through Saturday three-game set this weekend.
The Loyola Marymount men’s and women’s rowing teams competed in the 2019 Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships last week, and took home the trophy in the Novice Four. The next event is the focus of the season, the WCC championships, May 18 in Sacramento, California.
The Loyola Marymount men’s and women’s track and field teams took to the track at both the Mt. SAC relays and Bryan Clay Invitational April 18-19. Six Lions posted career bests plus an additional three finished with season bests, marking a two-day total of nine either career or season bests out of 12 runners who touched the track for LMU. This Friday, the Lions will compete in the Portland Twilight.
