Archive - Sports Article
March 16th, 2012
After leaving seven runners in scoring position in a 2-0 loss to Saint Mary of the Woods, the Valley City State University softball team rallied for a 6-1 win over Spring Arbor University to get a split in the final games of the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Fla.
In game one, Valley City State put runners in scoring position in five of the seven innings against Saint Mary of the Woods (Ind.) College, but the timely hit evaded the Viking bats and they dropped the opener on their final day 2-0.
Each season, the Valley City Sharks swim team spends countless hours in the pool.
This weekend, the team is hoping to see the work pay off at the annual North Dakota Swimming Short Course State Championships, which start today in Grand Forks.
“It’s quite a privilege or an honor to go to state,” said Sharks coach Connie Lettenmaier. “It just goes to show how hard they work. It’s a payoff.”
The Sharks have 10 swimmers qualified in 43 total events at the meet, which finishes up Sunday.
The Valley City State University softball team avenged a tough loss from last year’s spring break and received a quality win to end the day to complete another two game sweep in Florida.
In game one, tied 2-2 in the top of the seventh, a Jane Pettit single scored the game winning run to fend off Trinity Christian College by a score of 3-2. The Vikings lost 2-0 to TCC last year.
It’s a Tuesday night, the sun is getting ready to set, but down in the basement of the City Auditorium, a group of children ranging in age from eight to late-teenagers were starting up a class run by Valley City Parks and Recreation.
But unlike your typical basketball or flag football class, this one requires a little more safety instruction.
“These aren’t toys,” instructor Jill Christensen told the class, “They’re weapons.”
March 13th
In the eight games leading up to the Valley City State University baseball team’s spring break trip to Tucson, Ariz., the Vikings fared well enough offensively but only scored more than five runs in one of those games.
So in that sense, the team lit things up to open the trip, which lasts until Friday.
The Vikings opened the tournament with games Sunday against the Illinois Institute of Technology and Norwich (Vt.) University and had no problems getting things going. The Vikings combined for 36 total hits and 35 runs.
VCSU beat Illinois Tech 17-6 and Norwich 19-6.
March 12th
Working the rodeo circuit, it's rare that Taryl and Tate Smith have a chance to showcase their talents for a hometown crowd.
For that reason, the annual North Dakota Winter Show PRCA rodeo gave the Litchville brothers a reason to be excited.
"It's one of the nicest feelings in the world," said Taryl, 22. "You want to impress them more than you want to impress anyone else."
For the two, the crowd had no issue being impressed as each of them hopped on a large bull, got released from the chute and hung on as well as they could.
In the Region 1 Girls Basketball Championship in Lisbon Thursday night, The Maple Valley Raiders fell to the Northern Cass Jaguars by a score of 52-63.
The matchup was for third place honors in the tournament. Standout Rylee Nudell finished with 20 points for the Raiders, and Cassie Pautz contributed 15.
The Raiders had 12 fouls and 11 turnovers in the contest.
In the Region 1 championship game, the Kindred Vikings defeated the Central Cass Squirrels 51-57.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — It was hard to miss the passion that the Valley City State University womens basketball team had on the court during Thursday’s 57-51 loss to No. 3 College of the Ozarks (Mo.) in the opening round of the NAIA Division II Womens Basketball Championship at the Tyson Events Center.
At times, even the opposing team seemed surprised at the challenge the eighth-seeded and unranked Vikings put forth in a game that wasn’t decided until the final two and a half minutes.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — As Valley City State University womens basketball coach Jill DeVries sat in a seat Wednesday at the Tyson Events Center, it marked one of the more noticeable differences from her team’s first trip to the NAIA Division II Womens Basketball National Championship tournament.
Two rows below, the team watched Cal State San Marcos, who beat the Vikings in the A.I.I. Championship tournament, play in its opening round loss to Davenport.
“We’d be getting nervous right now,” DeVries said.
March 6th
NAIA Division II Womens
Basketball National Championship
March 7-13, 2012
Tyson Events Center, Sioux City, Iowa
No. 8 seeded Valley City State starts play Thursday at 1:45 p.m. against No. 1 seeded College of the Ozarks.
Games can be viewed for a small fee at NAIA.org.
There will be a local viewing party Thursday at the Valley City Town and Country Club, hosted by the VCSU Century Club and also at Pizza Corner.
By Scott Schlaufman
trsports@times-online.com
