CHADRON, Neb. -- March 8, 2023 -- The Chadron State College softball team will travel to Denver again this weekend, this time for a series against Metro State University.
 
The Eagles have played 12 conference games this season, eight of them being in the Denver metro area.
 
After a 3-1 series win last weekend against Fort Lewis in Chadron, CSC now has a 6-13 record and is 4-8 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
 
Their opponent, the Roadrunners, are 15-6 overall and 12-0 in conference play.
 
After dropping six of their first nine games, the hosts started conference play by sweeping Adams State, UCCS and CSU-Pueblo.
 
The Roadrunners are led offensively by Miah Hartvigsen, a junior from Salem, Utah. Hartvigsen has a batting average of .412 while starting 20 of the teams 21 games.
 
Hannah DiFabio leads the team with 23 hits and 17 RBI's. Two different Roadrunners have four homeruns on the season.
 
Jenna Medhus has a 7-2 record for the hosts, with an ERA of 2.63. In 56 innings, she's allowed 59 total hits and 29 runs, 21 being earned. MSU-Denver's other starting pitcher, Audrey Burt, has an ERA of 3.87 and a team high 50 strikeouts.
 
Chadron State was led defensively last week by the Week 5 RMAC Pitcher of the Week, Delaney Farnsworth.
 
Farnsworth, a freshman from Centennial, Colorado, pitched two complete game victories, struck out 18 batters and had an ERA of 1.5
 
Jessie Henchenski, a junior from Fort Collins, Colorado, led the Eagles at the plate with a .500 batting average. She had six RBI's and two homeruns in 10 at bats, while drawing three walks.
 
First pitch on Saturday, March 11, is schedule for 12 p.m.

Farnsworth named RMAC Pitcher of the Week

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- March 7, 2023 -- Chadron State softball pitcher Delaney Farnsworth has been named the Week Five Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Softball Pitcher of the Week.
 
Farnsworth, a freshman from Centennial, Colorado, went 2-0 for CSC on the weekend and pitched two complete games. Chadron State finished the weekend 3-1 in a series against Fort Lewis.
 
In game two on Saturday, Chadron State defeated the Skyhawks 9-1 in five innings. Farnsworth allowed only four hits in her first appearance, striking out 10 batters and walking two in the win.
 
The one run scored by the Skyhawks was unearned, helping Farnsworth finish with an ERA of 0, her season best.
 
Farnsworth's second appearance of the weekend was a 3-2 win for Chadron State on Sunday.
 
The Skyhawk's scored both their runs in the third inning. Farnsworth responded by only seeing three batters in each of the following four innings. She struck out the side in the top of the 6^th.
 
The freshman allowed five hits and two runs in seven innings. She struck out eight batters and had zero walks.
 
For the Weekend, Farnsworth finished with an ERA of 1.5 in 12 innings while going 2-0.
 
Chadron State is on the road this weekend as they visit MSU-Denver. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. on Saturday.

National Qualifiers named First Team All-Conference

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- March 8, 2023 -- Keegan Gehlhausen was named the RMAC Freshman of the Year while Quen Campbell, Mason Watt and Gehlhausen were all named RMAC Wrestling First Team All-Conference, the league office announced Wednesday.
 
Gehlhausen, a redshirt freshman, has a 15-10 record going to nationals. The Pinedale, Wyoming native was a three-time state champion in Wyoming.
 
Gehlhausen will be pitted against Brock Briddle, from Pittsburgh-Johnstown, who is ranked sixth at 184 pounds, claimed his regional championship with a technical fall in his opening match, won by injury default in the semifinals and pinned his final opponent. Gehlhausen was the regional runner-up to number one seed, Billy Higgins of Nebraska-Kearney.
 
Watt, a senior from Broomfield, Colorado, holds an 18-4 record this season and is 66-29 during his career at CSC.
 
He will face Francesco Borsellino of West Liberty University in round one at nationals. Borsellino is ranked fifth among the 285-pounders this season, after finishing second at Regional 2.
 
Watt fell to Lee Herrington of Nebraska-Kearney in the regional final. Herrington is ranked second in the weight class with a 24-4 record.
 
Campbell, the number one ranked wrestler in the nation at the 133 pound weight class, has a 17-1 record on the season.
 
The junior from Tifton, Georgia, was the regional champ in Chadron two weeks ago.
 
His first-round opponent will be Byron Daubert, also of Pittsburgh-Johnstown. Daubert finished third in his regional tournament.
 
Chadron State is the third school that Campbell has been a national-qualifier for. He placed sixth at the NAIA National Tournament in 2017 and was fifth at the National Junior College Tournament last year while he was enrolled at North Iowa Community College at Mason City.
 
Wrestling begins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on March 10.

Chadron State throwers at nationals this weekend

CHADRON, Neb. -- March 7, 2023 -- Chadron State College's two exceptional throwers are expected to be strong contenders to earn medals this weekend at the NCAA Division II National Indoor Track and Field Championships at Virginia Beach, Va. 

Kyla Sawvell, a senior from Wall, S.D., will compete in both the shot put and the weight throw and Daniel Reynolds, a junior from Granby, Colo., will throw the weight.  The pair, along with Head Coach Seth Mitschke and Throws Coach Lizzie Virgl, left Tuesday for the meet. 

The weight throw for both men and women will be Friday afternoon.  The women's shot put is Saturday afternoon.  There are 18 qualifiers in the women's weight throw and 16 in the other two events.  

Both Sawvell and Reynolds have consistently thrown well all season, avoided injuries and have marks that put them among the national contenders. Reynolds has won his pet event at all nine meets this season, while Sawvell has won the weight each of the seven times she's competed and also has won the shot at all but two of those meets.     

Sawvell's season-best weight throw of 20.10 meters, or 65-feet, 11 ½ inches, ranks fourth nationally, and her best shot put of 15.49 meters, or 50-10, is fifth. 

Reynolds is tied for sixth on the men's weight throw list at 20.51 meters, or 67-feet, 3 ½ inches, which is the Chadron State record.   

Sawvell's career-best weight throw, which was at the recent Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships, is third best all-time at CSC behind only Mel Herl's 71-10 heave in 2017 and Ashley Hallsted's 66-5 in 2019. Both of them were RMAC champions and national placewinners those seasons.   

 Sawvell's shot put best at the recent RMAC Meet has been exceeded on the CSC list only by Herl's 51-9 mark that won the gold medal at the 2017 National Meet. 

A transfer from Black Hills State last fall, Sawvell has competed in both of her events at the National Indoor Meets each of the past two years.  She also was qualified in 2020, but that meet was cancelled by COVID.  She won the bronze medal by finishing third in the shot with a throw of 49-4 ¼ at the 2021 nationals. 

The women's weight throw leader entering this year's showdown is Kyria Moore of Adelphia University in New York at 68-3 ½, a graduate transfer from Stony Brook, a Division I school also in New York.   

Second on the list is another Nebraska entry, Brooklyn Chipps of Wayne State, at 66-11 ½.  She's followed by Judith Essmiah of Grand Valley in Michigan at 66-5 ¾ and Sawvell's 65-11 ½.  

 Essmiah won the weight throw at nationals last year with a mark of 67-1 ¼.  Zoe Pentecost of Indianapolis University, who was seventh, is the only other 2022 placewinner among the top qualifiers this year.    

The women's shot put leader going to Virginia Beach is Lexi Hurst of Minnesota State at Mankato at 16.91 meters, or 55-5 ¾. She's followed by Trista Fintel of Findlay University in Ohio at 51-10, Emma Richards of Grand Valley at 51-9 ¾ and Katherine Higgins of Colorado State-Pueblo, who edged Sawvell for the gold medal and the record at the recent RMAC Championships with a mark of 51- ¾.  Sawvell was the RMAC silver medalist with her career best of 50-11 that puts her fifth on the national chart.   

The top three finishers in the women's shot at last year's nationals were seniors, while Richards was fourth at 50 feet even. Higgins, then a freshman, was 11th at 46-7 ¼. 

None of the top four placers in the men's weight throw at nationals a year ago is returning, but the No. 5 finisher, Peyton Barton of Missouri Southern, is the leader on this year's list with a mark of 72-4 ½.  

The others among the top six are Gabriel Miller of Walsh University in Ohio at 68-8 ½, Ben Haas of Hillsdale in Michigan at 68-6, Jacob McPherson of Tiffin in Ohio at 68- ½, Jacob Luebbert of Missouri S&T at 67-9 and Reynolds and Nathan Powers of Northwood in Michigan, who are tied at 67-3 ½.  

Reynolds said Monday that while he's hoping to win the national title, he'll be happy if he places.  Sawvell seemed to agree.  Virgl, their coach who was an outstanding weight thrower in college, said both have worked extra hard all season and she's impressed by their consistency.  

"I'm expecting big things from both of them," she noted.  

Unfortunately, the Eagles' outstanding high jumper, Jourdaine Cerenil of Pine Bluffs, Wyo., missed qualifying for national meet by a half inch.  Nineteen women who had cleared 5-7 were accepted, but she was among the five left behind after they'd gone 5-6 ½.   

CSC golf finishes third at SMSU Spring Invitation

LITCHFIELD PARK, Ariz. -- March 8, 2023 -- After shooting 305 as a team in round one, Chadron State finished with a 319 in round two of the SMSU Spring Invitation in Litchfield Park, Arizona, Wednesday.
 
The Eagles finished round one in second place and held a one-shot lead over Missouri Western State but finished in third as a team on Wednesday after the Griffins shot 310.
 
Jordan Grasis led CSC in the individual standings after shooting a 78(+6) on Wednesday, placing her eighth.
 
The junior from Yuma, Arizona, finished three over on the front nine after bogeying holes one, three, six and nine. She added a birdie to her scorecard on hole five.
 
On the back nine, Grasis shot par on every hole except holes 13, 16, and 17, where she finished with a bogey.
 
Of the 62 golfers in the tournament, Grasis finished second overall on par 3's, with a total score of one under. Chadron State as a team finished +9 on the shorter holes, also good enough for second overall.
 
After shooting a 74 (+2) yesterday, Brooke Kramer finished with a 82 (+10) on Wednesday. Kramer was second for CSC individually, placing tied 12^th.
 
Kramer, a junior from Aurora, Colorado, had bogeys on her scorecard on holes one and seven on the front nine. She added a double-bogey on hole nine.
 
She added another double-bogey on hole 14 and bogeyed four other holes on the back nine, ending her tournament with a 156.
 
Alpine Hickstein, a senior from Chadron, improved her score on day 2 by one stroke, finishing +6 (78).
 
Hickstein, who finished 15^th individually, bogeyed hole two to finished +1 on the front nine. Her back nine scorecard had bogeys on holes 10, 12, and 15 and a double-bogey on hole 11, ending her tourney with a 157 (+13).
 
Kinsey Smith shot another 81 (+9) on Wednesday. Like her teammates, the back nine were a struggle for Smith.
 
The junior from Windsor, Colorado, finished +2 on the front nine after bogeying holes one, three and nine. She added a birdie on hole five.
 
On the back nine, Smith finished with five bogeys and one double bogey, placing her tied 26^th.
 
CSC's other golfer who counted towards the team score was Kenzey Kanno, a junior from Mitchell. Kanno, after shooting 76 (+4) on Tuesday, shot an 85 (+13) on Wednesday.
 
Kanno was the only Eagle with a worse score on the front nine than the back nine, Wednesday. On the front nine, Kanno had one bogey, three double bogeys and a triple bogey on her scorecard.
The back nine included four bogeys and a birdie for Kanno. She finished tied 24^th overall.
 
The three Chadron State golfers competing unattached were Payton Wise, Allison Acosta and Aubree Heinsma
 
Wise, a freshman from Kimball, shot an 83 (+11) today compared to an 81 (+9) yesterday. She finished tied 33^rd.
 
Acosta, a junior from Oro Valley, Arizona, finished with an 83 (+11) both days, tying her for 38^th.
 
Finishing tied 41^st, Heinsma, a freshman from Windsor, Colorado, improved her score by three strokes in round two, shooting an 82 (+10).

Western New Mexico won the team title by 17 strokes after shooting 293-306-599.
 
Chadron State will be back in action tomorrow at the Wigwam Resort Blue Course in Litchfield Park, Arizona. The previous two rounds were played on the Red Course.