Ref flagged for bad call
The Big Sky Conference is suspending one of its football referees, according to a league statement.
League Commissioner Doug Fullerton announced Wednesday that referee Jim Lenau faces a one-game suspension for a “misapplication of a rule” during Saturday’s game between Montana and Northern Arizona.
In the final minute of the first half, with the score tied 7-7, a Montana player fielded a Northern Arizona kick and stepped out of the back of the end zone. The play was ruled a safety and two points were awarded to NAU, but should have resulted in a touchback. Montana went on to win the game, 24-21.
According to the league, Lenau issued an apology for the call.
Cross country heads to conference championship
The Portland State cross country teams are racing to Washington state to compete in the Big Sky Conference Championship tomorrow.
Members of the men’s and women’s squads will compete at the Eastern Washington-hosted event on the Fairways Golf Course in Cheney, Wash. The men will run 8-kilometers and the women will run 5k on a 90-percent grass course that covers 14 of the golf course’s holes.
Seniors John Lawrence and Andrew Salg have each clocked sub-25-minute times this year, and both are looking to become the Vikings’ first selection to the All-Conference team with finishes in the top-10. Lawrence ran a personal-best 24-minute, 52.49-second time at the Oct. 2 Charles Bowles Invitational, and Salg finished about 7 seconds later. Salg was named the conference’s Athlete of the Week earlier in the season for his fifth-place finish at the John Frank Memorial.
Sophomore Julie Pedersen has paced the women in four of the five races this season, and clocked a 17:57.37 time in the 5k at the Charles Bowles. Sophomore Brandy Castillo was the Viks’ top female performer in the Mike Hodges Invitational.
The last time Eastern Washington hosted the championship, the Portland State men finished in eighth place and the women finished in seventh. The best the Vikings have ever placed in the conference championships was in 2004 in Billings, Mont., where both the men and women places sixth.
Following the conference championship, the Vikings will race Nov. 13 at the NCAA West Regional in Eugene.
Cheerleading squad to hold tryouts
Portland State’s cheerleading team is holding open tryouts Wednesday at the Stott Center for its co-ed partner stunt line.
Cheer coach Ryan Long, a four-year member of the Portland Trail Blazers stunt team, said the stunt line will perform at basketball games and that men and women are both encouraged to try out. Long said that partial scholarships are available.
Women are required to have cheerleading experience, including flying and tumbling. Men are not required to have a background in cheerleading, but should have athletic experience and should be prepared to yell.
“We teach guys everything they need to know pretty quickly,” Long wrote in an email. “Most guys that have played sports find it to be a lot of fun because stunting and tumbling are more challenging than they expect.”
The tryouts are scheduled for 7–10 p.m. in the Stott Center’s small gym. More information can be found at www.psucheer.com and preregistration for the tryout is required.
Tennis Club to compete in national qualifiers
The Portland State Tennis Club is competing this weekend for a chance to qualify for the United State Tennis Association’s National Campus Championship, according to club leaders.
The club is participating in the USTA’s Pacific Northwest regional qualifier at Tualatin Hills Tennis Center at the Howard M. Terpenning Recreation Complex in Beaverton on Saturday and Sunday. The event is a part of the USTA’s On Campus program, which aims to create an enjoyable competition for club and intramural tennis groups at universities across the country.
Adam Rahmlow, club president and junior in International Development, said the Tennis Club will field two teams of approximately five players for the regional event.
“There’s some serious talent on the team,” Rahmlow said, adding that there is not as much difference between the caliber of play at the club and varsity levels. “The biggest difference is that we don’t meet as much, and we don’t play as much.” ?