By Emily Dunn

Classes started a little over a week ago at Macalester, but the college’s athletes have been running miles, hitting balls, and scoring goals since mid-August. Fall has traditionally been Macalester’s most successful season and it looks to be that way again this year.
“It should be an exciting season. Both soccer teams lost some good players to graduation but they always seem to challenge for the conference championship, and I think this year the women’s team, in particular, could be in for another great season. The team I feel that can really move up is volleyball. They’re off to a good start and have a chance to have a strong season,” said Sports Information Director Andy Johnson.

Football
Perhaps the biggest excitement on campus was football’s fist win since 2004. It was also Glenn Caruso’s first head coaching win. The Scot’s won over Principia College (Ill.) 50-6 last Saturday. Jacob McDonnell ’10 caught six pass receptions, going for 193 yards and three touchdowns in the first half. On the day, the Scot’s Quarterbacks completed 15 of 18 attempts for 287 yards. Running back Nate Vernon ’07 added 63 yards and a touchdown rushing on 10 carries. As they stand only two weeks into the season the Scots boast McDonnell who ranks ninth in receiving yards through two games and 22nd in receptions per game. Quarterback Nick Slobe ’10 has completed 65 percent of his passes with just one interception and is ranked 15th in the nation in passing efficiency rating (180.8).
As a team the Scots rank 32nd in passing yards per game (251.5). The Scot’s hope to carry the momentum into their next game at Carleton. With a victory there the Scots will have a winning record for the first time since 2002 (the last time they beat Carleton).

Women’s Soccer
Women’s soccer has also been successful as they are 3-0-1 on the season. Forward Annie Borton ’07 was recently named to the D3Kicks.com Division III women’s soccer Team of the Week after leading the Scots to two wins in Wisconsin over Labor Day weekend. On September 8th the Scots took on one of the top WIAC teams, UW-Oshkosh, and battled to a 1-1 double overtime tie. The Scots are now unbeaten in their last 21 home games since September 17, 2004. Tuesday night in their MIAC opener the women won against St. Catherine 5-0, extending their unbeaten streak in conference openers to 16 games. Borton ’07 scored her second hat trick, of the season moving her into a three-way tie for second place on the school’s all-time goal scoring list with 49 goals in her Mac career. The Women’s next home game is today against St. Thomas at 7:30.

Men’s Soccer
Men’s soccer has had a tough early season and has gone 2-2-0 but did pull out a win in their MIAC season opener against Bethel on September 6. The first goal was not scored until 14 minutes into the second half as Jake Rocke ’10 scored his first collegiate goal. After Bethel responded with another goal four minutes later Nate Van Wylen ’09 scored the game winning goal in the 78th minute, breaking the 1-1 tie.
Women’s Cross Country
Women’s Cross Country has been getting off their feet the past few weeks, recovering from the loss of a strong senior class. The Scots placed first at St. Kate’s 4k time trial and 3rd last Saturday at Carleton. Callie PaStarr ’07 led the Scots placing sixth overall, completing the 6k course in 23:58. PaStarr was followed by Erin Lowery ’10 in a time of 24:08 and Anna Shamey ’07 in 24:10. The Scots travel to Northfield this Saturday for a large invitational at St. Olaf.

Men’s Cross Country
Men’s Cross Country started off their season placing last against Carleton and their alumni team in an eight-kilometer race last Saturday in Northfield. The strong finish has the men excited for their upcoming season with high hopes of success. Dylan Keith ’07 led the Scots placing 3rd overall with a time of 26:32. Matt Wegmann ’08 followed Keith, placing ninth overall, with a time of 27:10. The men will be in Northfield on Saturday for an invitational against St. Olaf.

Women’s Golf
On September 9th and 10th Karla Leon ’10 led the Scots to an 11th place finish at the Concordia Wildflower Invitational in Detroit Lakes. Leon posted a 166 on rounds of 84 and 82. Leon was followed by Jordan Matheson ’09 who shot a solid 85 Saturday followed by an 86 on Sunday. The Scots next match is the Division III Classic in Hudson, Wisconsin on Sept 23.

Men’s Golf
Men’s Golf started out their season with a MIAC match against rival St. Mary’s on Sept 2. St. Mary’s won in a score of 307-319. Three players led the Scots in the high seventies. Eric Kelsey ’07 and Ben Finkenbinder ’07 posted rounds of 78 to lead the way while Chris Olson ’08 was right behind with 79. In their most recent match, the Scots placed 11th out of 13 teams at the Augsburg Invitational. The Men’s next match is St. John’s Invitational September 16-17th.

Volleyball
Volleyball returns many of its top players from a year ago, and they look ready to move up in the MIAC with they help of their top spikers Lauren Eberhart ’07 and Sonia Muzikarova ’09. After splitting four matches at the Augsburg Invitational and placing 2nd in the eight team tournament the Scots are 5-3 on the season. Andrea Hansen ’07 was named to the all-tournament team after leading Macalester with 43 kills in 14 games (3.1 per game). Hansen led the Scots with 1.4 blocks per game. The women lost their first MIAC game against St. Olaf Wednesday night 17-30, 30-24, 26-30, 30-23, 15-17 but are ready to take on St. Mary’s September 19th.