Football drops 3 spots in ranking

The St. Thomas football team dropped three places in this week’s D3football.com poll, taking the Tommies from the No. 6 ranking to No. 9.

St. Thomas (2-1 MIAC, 4-1 overall) is the only team in the top 10 that has lost a game so far this season.

The University of Mount Union, Linfield College, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, North Central University and Bethel University, all held their places in the top five.

Concordia College-Moorhead is No. 24, and St. John’s University sits at No. 25. There are four MIAC teams total in the top 25.

Gehartz leads men’s cross country in St. Kate’s Invitational 

Sophomore Jacob Gehartz ran 2.5 miles in 12:27 to lead the men’s cross country team to a victory Saturday, placing third out of 50 runners in the St. Kate’s Invitational.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Gehartz said. “It was half the normal distance of our races, but it was a good variation for the middle of the season.”

Several other Tommies placed in the top 10, including Ethan Armbruster (12:32, fifth place), Brian Anderson (12:37, seventh place), Robbie Williams (12:40, eighth place) and Dylan Baumann (12:43, 10th place).

Fifteen St. Thomas runners placed in the top 27. The men scored 33 points total, beating St. John’s (37 points) and Hamline (58 points).

Mares places 20th at St. Kate’s Invitational

Kate Mares placed 20th in a field of 119 runners, giving the women’s cross country team a boost at the St. Kate’s invitational.

Mares ran the 2.5-mile race in 15:36.

Other St. Thomas runners finishing in the top 50 were Taylor Jackson (15:44, 26th place), Rachel Roth (15:50, 35th place) and Annie Joslyn (16:00, 41st place).

Both the men and women race again next weekend at the Wisconsin-La Crosse Invite in West Salem, Wis.

Women’s soccer ends 2-game losing streak 

Four different players scored in St. Thomas women’s soccer team’s 4-0 win over Gustavus Adolphus College Saturday, ending a two-game losing streak.

Forward Morgan McConachie scored in the ninth minute, followed by forward Nicole Sheehan in the 15th minute. Defender Sydney Pressley put the team up 3-0 in the 41st minute, and midfielder Nicole Lenz sealed the Tommie victory in the 49th minute.

McConachie said it felt good to break the team’s recent losing streak.

“It felt amazing,” she said. “It felt really good to score goals, and once the first ball came, it gave us confidence to play the game.”

The St. Thomas women (3-3 MIAC, 6-6 overall) face the College of St. Benedict at home Tuesday.

Men’s soccer falls to rival Gustavus

Defenseman Miles Stockman-Willis and forward Nick Rapisarda were the only Tommies able to put shots on goal in the St. Thomas men’s soccer team’s 1-0 loss to conference rival Gustavus Saturday.

Gustavus forward Konnor Tranoris scored the game’s only goal in the 89th minute. The Tommies (8-2-3 overall, 3-1-2 MIAC) missed a first-half breakaway attempt to the lower left of the Gusties’ (9-2-1 overall, 6-0 MIAC) goal.

The team has lost 14 of the last 16 matchups against Gustavus- 10 by one goal.

The Tommies face the Johnnies Wednesday on the road.

Women’s volleyball tallies 2 victories

The No. 3-ranked St. Thomas volleyball team saw its 19th and 20th victories of the season against Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Wisconsin-River Falls Friday.

St. Thomas (20-2) topped River Falls 25-16, 25-20, 25-21, and also beat Eau Claire by a 3-set margin.

Opposite hitter Sara Atkinson was named MIAC volleyball’s hitter of the week after her strong play in the women’s 5-0 run last week.

The women take on Augsburg College Wednesday on the road.

Golfers receive MIAC Elite 22 award 

Golfers Erin Dingman and Alex Kapraun received the MIAC Elite 22 award this weekend.

The award is modeled after the NCAA’s Elite 89 award and is given to an All-Championship, or top-10 finish, team member with the highest GPA.

Dingman currently has a 4.0 GPA and placed second out of 54 players in the Oct. 5-7 MIAC tournament.

Kapraun’s 3.95 GPA and sixth-place finish at the Oct. 5-7 MIAC tournament qualified him for the award. Kapraun said this award shows how St. Thomas golf is excelling in the classroom and on the course.

“It is a great honor to be represented as one of the top student athletes, so I’m very thankful that I was able to win it,” Kapraun said. “St. Thomas golf is excelling in the classroom and on the field.”