Kraft leads team as bowlers pin 37th spot at Invitational
Special to The Observer
The Notre Dame bowling club finished 34th among 57 teams at the Las Vegas Invitational. Darren Kraft paced the Irish with a 184 average, while Brian Gerken next at 175.
Two pins back were Dave Rigto and Jason Pawlak with 173 averages, while Kevin Gerken rounded out the team scoring with a 167 score.
The Irish will host the Blue and Gold Classic this Saturday and Sunday at Beacon Bowl. Now in its fourth year, the tournament boasts a full intercollegiate field of 52 teams, and is one of only 10 tier-one events in the country. This year's field included eight of the top 10 ranked men's teams, and seven of the top 10 women's teams in the country. Nationally recognized as one of the country's premier events, the competition will run Saturday from 1:30 to 7:30 p.m., and 9 a.m. to the closing ceremony at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Skiing
Defending Division champions, the women of the ski club are determined to qualify for the Nationals this year. After finishing fourth among the top varsity and club teams in the region a year ago, missing the nationals by .04 seconds, the Irish unleashed a summer of festering by sweeping Michigan, Michigan State, Grand Valley State and Western Michigan off the slopes this weekend at Schuss Mountain.
In the slalom, sophomore Molly Munsterer paced the squad in capturing first place, while freshman sensation Leigh Hellrun took third. Junior Ellen Block finished ninth to score for the Irish. Munsterer repeated her performance with gold in the giant slalom, while Hellrung managed to take eighth, despite a fall on her first run.
Sophomore Mike Ryan is once again the pacesetter for a young men's squad that finished fifth among the six competing teams. Ryan skied two solid runs to earn fifth overall. Wes Jacobs, Kevin Kennedy, Ryan Boger and Jon Pribaz were all able to finish both runs on the hard packed snow. The club will be back in action next week at Crystal Mountain.
Men's Volleyball
The men's volleyball club continued its most successful season in recent memory, recording four victories in six matches in Midwest 10 Conference play at Marquette this weekend. Peter Strottman, Greg Silber and Rob Smith had dominating performances as the team posted solid opening wins over host Marquette, 25-18, 25-23; Wisconsin - Milwaukee, 25-20, 26-24; and a nice comeback spurred by Scott Hapeman against Iowa State, 11-25, 25-21, 15-11.
After falling to Northern Illinois, 25-21, 25-21, Chris Nickele spearheaded a rebound win over Missouri, 25-23, 25-16.
Despite the heroics of Dan Madden, the club dropped the final contest with Western Michigan, 18-25, 25-18, 15-9. Wisonsin - Whitewater, Wisconsin - Oshkosh, and Ball State remain in conference play.
The club will return to the courts next weekend at Michigan.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, January 23, 2001
