Harper makes a run at nationals
The Harper College men's and women's cross county teams finished first at the Region IV meet held at Carl Sandburg on Saturday, allowing the Hawks to advance to the NJCAA national meet on Nov. 13 hosted by Suffolk Community College in Selden, NY. The race will be run at Sunken Meadow State Park on Long Island at 10 a.m.
Harper runners Janet Franco (Schaumburg, 21:42) and Chris Hoffman (28:28) were the first Division III runners to cross the finish line at the Region IV meet.
“I think we just had pretty good races,” Harper coach Paul Paynter said.
Franco, Melanie Mayer, Karoline Banasik and Chelsea McPherson were named all-region.
“I told myself I wanted to win,” Franco said of her regional performance.
Paynter believes the Harper women's will be ranked no worse than fifth in the next NJCAA Division III poll. Right now, the Hawks women are unranked.
“Coach (Paynter) is an amazing coach,” Franco said.
The women's team has been struggling to put five healthy bodies on the finish line on race day. The lack of a fifth runner has plagued the Hawks all season and has frequently prevented them from posting a team score.
Joliet was the only other Division III team in the field, since College of DuPage had moved up to Division I, so having a fifth runner allowed the Hawks to score enough points to advance pass the Wolves.
“This was a team effort,” Franco said. “We really want a title.”
Hoffman led the way for the sixth-ranked men's team, and Paynter was named Region IV coach of the year for both genders.
Paynter believes that if the Hawks “just hold our own we will be fine (at Nationals).” He expects SUNY-Delhi and Gloucester County College, the top two schools in the NJCAA Divsion III men's poll, to finish first and second in the men's race.
“If we just do what we are capable of, we are going to match or exceed our placing (ranking),” Paynter said. “All in all, I'm pretty happy. The majority of the team wants a little more than they got.”
Side out: The Harper women's volleyball season came to an end when the Hawks lost to No. 5-ranked Madison College in five games in the Region IV semifinals Saturday. The Hawks finished the season with a 28-18 record, the fifth-best victory total in program history. Thirteen of the 18 losses came against ranked teams, in either the NJCAA Division II or III polls this season. Rock Valley went on to defeat Madison in three sets in the final.
Freshman setter Alyssa Cazzato (Bartlett) was named to the Region IV All-Tournament team. Harper coach Bob Vilsoet said his team “didn't play especially great (against Madison).”
He was not disappointed, however, in his team's effort. The main problem on Saturday was the team's serve receive. Vilsoet believes that if the Hawks had executed that better, they might have knocked off Madison.
“I think we should be a top-six team (in the country),” said Vilsoet, who expects next year's squad to be one of the best returning teams in the region, and perhaps the country.
The North Central Community College all-conference team was named this week. The Hawks had three players selected to the team: Cazzato, freshman outside hitter Lauren LaMasse (Hoffman Estates) and freshman libero Lynette Mueller (Conant).
Men's soccer looks forward: A week ago Wednesday, the Harper (11-6-1) men's soccer season came to an end thanks to a 4-1 loss to Triton College.
“We outplayed the other team (Triton) for 75 minutes” said Harper coach Jason Diebold.
Diebold priased Trojans third-year head coach Tommy Cholewa, saying “the coach has done a good job there.”
The win gave Triton its third straight Region IV champioinship. The loss also marks the second straight season the Hawks have lost to the Trojans in the regional finals.
Harper landed three players on the all-N4C team. Sophomore goalie Andrew Larson (Schaumburg) and midfielder Ameer Noureldin were named to the first team, and a pair of midfielders, Saleh Goltic and Lucas Portuese, were named to the second team.
Women's team delayed: The Harper women's soccer game in the NJCAA national touranment that was scheduled for Thursday has been postponed do to inclement weather in Maryland. The Hawks will play North Lake College (Texas) today at 10:35 a.m. Expect Harper to pay close attention to North Lake's leading scorer, freshman midfielder Chelsea Bass (14 goals and 11 assists).