CROSS COUNTRY

Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams participated in the UW-Parkside Invitational on Saturday in Kenosha, Wis. The men finished a respectable eighth place out of 15 teams. Sophomore Steve Vargas paced the team, covering the 8K course in 26:27.

The effort was good enough for 24th place in the meet and was the latest accomplishment in Vargas’ first year on the team. Earlier in the year he ran a 25:25 in the National Catholic Championships at South Bend, Ind., giving him the fifth fastest time in school history.

Freshman Matt McKenney finished second for the Billikens with a time of 27:09. Overall, the Billikens tallied 227 points in the meet.

The women’s team came in 10th place out of 18 teams. The team was led by sophomore Laura Coyer, who ran the 5K course in a time of 19:33.

She finished 37th overall. In each of the five meets this season, Coyer has finished with the fastest time on the team.

Coming in second for the Bills was junior Anissa Reynolds, who clocked in at 19:50.

The team has two meets left this season. In two weeks they will travel to Philadelphia, Pa., for the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships.

Two weeks later, the team will compete in the NCAA Regionals in Iowa City, Iowa.

SWIMMING AND DIVING

The Saint Louis University swimming and diving teams spent last Friday in Macomb, Ill., where they took on Western Illinois University in a dual meet.

The men’s team fell by a score of 131-111; however, there were many notable performances in the pool.

Sophomore sprinter Brad Byars picked up first place in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle.

In addition, freshman Kevin Parker and junior Josh Stephens won their respective events, the 200 butterfly and the 200 backstroke.

The 400 freestyle relay team and 400- yard medley team also came in first.

The women’s team fared better, winning by the convincing margin of 155-87.

The team has won every dual meet in which, it has participated in the past two seasons. Freshman Elena Rodriguez won three events, the 200-yard breastroke, the 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard backstroke. Senior Kelly Tessar won the 200-yard IM. Divers Erin Lasinski and Emily Walter won the one-meter and three-meter dives, respectively. The 400-yard medley relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay also took home first place for SLU.

This Saturday, both teams travel to Lindenwood for a dual meet at 1 p.m.

FIELD HOCKEY

The Saint Louis University field hockey team continued conference play last weekend, hosting Temple and St. Joseph’s.

On Friday, the team lost a heartbreaker to Temple when the Owls managed to score the game’s only goal with a little over four minutes left to play.

Sophomore goalkeeper Amy Wasserman was stellar in goal, saving 10 shots, but the effort proved insufficient, as the Bills were unable to penetrate Temple’s stout defense.

The Bills only managed one shot in the second half and were outshot 13-5 on the day.

SLU did not fare much better in their subsequent match against St. Joe’s.

St. Joe’s came out of the gates firing, scoring a goal in the third minute of the game.

The Hawks eventually scored what proved to be the game-winner in the 19th minute of the contest.

Sophomore Catherine Donovan scored her third goal of the year off junior Michelle Sinclair’s assist, but the goal turned out to be SLU’s offensive output of the match.

The Billikens were unable to take advantage of their offensive opportunities in the second half and fell by a score of 2-1. SLU was outshot in the match, 12-7.

Next week, the Billikens travel to Philadelphia, continuing A-10 play against La Salle and West Chester.

MEN’S TENNIS

The men’s tennis team spent their weekend in Kentucky competing in the Louisville Invitational.

Three Billikens managed to make it to the quarterfinals of their respective brackets.

Sophomore Michael Limoges lost his first match but bounced back to win his next two before bowing out to eventual bracket champ Brian Schubert.

Freshman Matt Gordon won his first two matches before losing in the quarterfinals of his bracket.

Freshman Chris Welnetz breezed through his first two matches in straight sets before losing in the quarterfinals.

The doubles teams did not have the same luck as the individual competitors, as all three teams SLU entered lost their first and only matches.

The tournament was SLU’s second competition of the fall season.

The team recently won their flight at the Bradley Invitational in Peoria, Ill., winning 13 singles matches in the two day event.