Spring sports seasons concluding, conference tournaments soon underway

From E-Sports to Basketball to Indoor Track and Dance, the Lumen covered a variety of competitions this semester. However, many of these teams had more events, and other teams that have not been covered deserve a spotlight as well.  

In the Lumen’s first issue of the semester, E-Sports Coach Sam Clark had high expectations for the inaugural season. The best-finishing team for any game was Fortnite, placing 14 out of 49 and ranking the highest out of any Wisconsin team.  

The Lumen also covered Men’s Basketball after their playoff loss against Waldorf, but since then team members have earned several awards. The College Sport Communicators (CSC) announced the awards in the middle of March, and Viterbo had three recipients. Senior Jack Monis received a First-Team Academic All-American. Seniors Robert Cunitz and Junior Cole Crubel received all-district awards. 

Both Men’s and Women’s Track and Field have continued their dominant runs. When the Lumen previously covered Track and Field, their indoor season had been wrapping up and the teams looked poised to have a strong year outdoors.  

The team kicked off their Outdoor Season at the UW-Platteville Pioneer Open. Both teams had strong showings. For the Women, Lana Yeakel earned the gold medal in Long Jump, 5.46 meters, and contributed to the winning 4×100 team (50.21 seconds). Payton Dryden also captured a first-place finish, winning the Discus Throw at 38.31 meters, a new school record. She also placed sixth in hammer throw at the event. With these high-placing results, Dryden was the recipient of her first NSAA Field Athlete of the Week award. 

Following a stellar performance at the UW-Platteville Pioneer Open, Greg Jenkins was also named NSAA Field Athlete of the Week. Jenkins celebrated a pair of podium finishes at the event; he won the Long Jump, leaping 6.73 meters and took third in the High Jump, clearing 1.90 meters.  

Baseball and Softball have had their struggles this season, but there have been bright spots where each team won stretches of games. The baseball team has a .229-win percentage, going 8-27 in their season, as of April 19. The team has been 6-14 in conference play, winning more games in conference than outside. They will begin competition in the NSAA Conference Tournament on May 5.  

The softball team started the season 0-10 but have been 9-11 in their last 20. The team is 5-11 in Conference play and is heating up as they find their footing. On April 8, the women beat Valley City State which sparked a four-game winning streak, taking two in a row against Waldorf and one against Dakota State. As of April 19, the team is 10-23. The NSAA Conference Tournament begins on May 4.  

The Golf teams have also begun competition, attempting to manage tumultuous weather and inclement conditions. The Women’s team has had their first two events cancelled. They will only have two events before conference play, on April 22 and 23. From May 1-2, the women will compete in the NSAA Championships at the Platteview Golf Club.  

The men will also only have two events before their conference event, but they have already competed in one. Their first event was a match-play formatted event, which opposes traditional scoring, stroke play, for individual player versus player competition. The event took place at Cedar Creek and pitted Viterbo against Clarke University. Viterbo had four of six varsity athletes win their matches, and the team won 56.5-51.5. The men will also be travelling to Platteview to compete in conference play with the women.  

There have been a variety of athletic competitions spanning throughout the Spring 2023 semester, and many sports seasons are close to finishing. Viterbo’s spring athletics has battled through poor weather conditions to make the most of their shortened seasons. As seasons finish, many athletes look to win conference events and qualify for their national tournaments.