MORRIS, Minn. – There are no home events this weekend for Minnesota Morris but the athletic slate is still full. On Friday the swimming and diving team begins their 2015-16 season. A handful of cross country runners will be at the SJU Fall Finale on Friday afternoon. On Saturday football wraps up their season with a game at Westminster. It all leads up to volleyball's UMAC Championship match on Saturday night in St. Paul.
CROSS COUNTRY: Robert McBane,
Schuyler Moore,
Ben Mladenich,
Spencer Walton,
Kelsey Menze, and
Veronica Haverkamp will represent the Cougars this afternoon at the SJU Fall Finale at 4:30. The rest of the Cougars will rest up in anticipation of the Central Region Championship next Saturday.
Morris is six days removed from the UMAC Championships last Saturday in Buffalo. There will be seven other teams in action on Friday afternoon.
At the UMAC Championships this week's runners finished in the following order McBane (48
th), Moore (53
rd), Walton (60
th), and Mladenich (74
th) on the men's side. Haverkamp and Menze finished 61
st and 74
th in the women's race.
SWIMMING AND DIVING: Minnesota Morris will be at St. Catherine's Friday night at 6 p.m. to compete in a dual meet with the Wildcats. It will be the first official meet of the new season for the Cougars. Last Saturday night they hosted their annual Alumni Meet.
The Cougars have three meets in the month of November, including one home meet. Next Saturday Morris will host Northern State. The Saturday before Thanksgiving Morris will travel to Concordia-Moorhead.
Head Coach
Dave Molesworth said, "We are very excited to get the season started. The women have been working very hard in the pool. I push them hard and they always meet the challenge. If that continues we will see some great results this season."
FOOTBALL: Saturday is the ninth meeting between the Cougars and Blue Jays, dating back to 2004. Currently, Westminster leads the series 5-3. Moris has won two of the last three games, including a road victory in 2013.
Minnesota Morris special teams have been a positive influence all year. The team has blocked two punts and six kicks which rank 16th and 10th in the NCAA.
Last Week
Shain Powers blocked a field goal that was scooped up by
Chandler Erickson. Erickson returned the ball 71 yards for the team's only score of the game. He was named the UMAC Special Teams Player of the Week.
Place Kicker
John Hoff who is 28th in made field goals per game. He is 8-12 in field goals and 13-15 in extra points.
Donnie Mavencamp ranks 68th in the country and second in the UMAC with a 37.7 average.
Morris needs just 23 yards to reach 1,000 rushing yards this season. The last 1,000 yard rushing year by a Cougar team was in 2012, when the team rushed for 1,074 yards.
JC Cummings leads the team with 324 yards.
Westminster is one game ahead of the Cougars in the UMAC Standings with a 5-3 conference record. A win over the Cougars would secure a third place finish for a team that was selected to finish fourth in the preseason.
Morris will need to keep an eye on running back Latif Adams who leads the UMAC with 1,276 yards on the year. He is averaging 6.6 yards per carry. Last season Adams rushed for 108 yards on 20 carries. Westminster can also throw the ball averaging over 150 yards per game.
Teams have been able to move the ball against Westminster. Opponents are averaging 186 yards on the ground and 196 yard through the air per game. However, the Blue Jays have been opportunistic, forcing 20 turnovers, including 11 interceptions.
