Bruin Notes

Sports Roundup

Softball

New coach sparks improvement
Under first-year head coach Mark Vergets (left), the Bruins tripled their number of wins from the year before in posting a 12-25 record.

George Fox, with only one senior, finished seventh in the Northwest Conference (NWC).

Center fielder Cassie Halvorson (Jr., Hillsboro, Ore.) led the Bruins with a .289 batting average and posted the third-longest streak of consecutive at-bats without striking out (186) in NCAA Division III history. She was a First Team All-Conference selection and made the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA College Division Academic All-District VIII First Team.

Tennis

Transfer leads young team
Transfer Tyson Hunter (So., Jacksonville, Ore., right) made an immediate impact upon the Bruins, posting a 10-4 record at No. 1 singles. He earned NWC First Team honors. The team, composed entirely of freshmen and sophomores, finished 4-12.

Track and Field

An All-American quartet
Four George Fox athletes earned All- America honors as the Bruin men finished 17th and the women 32nd at the NCAA Division III National Championships in Waverly, Iowa.

Michelle Forbes (Sr., Jackson, Wyo.) took second place in the national women’s high jump by clearing 5 feet, 8 inches — the second-best mark in school history. Forbes was the NWC high jump champion and took second in the heptathlon. She was named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA College Division Academic All-District VIII and Academic All-America first teams.

In the men’s nationals, Ben Dillow (So., San Diego, Calif.) placed second in the decathlon, Matt Gassaway (Sr., Washougal, Wash.) was third in the javelin, and Seth Harris (So., Boise, Idaho) came in sixth in the 400-meter hurdles. Dillow was All- NWC in the high jump (second), pole vault (third), and 4x400 meter relay (second). Gassaway won the conference javelin title, and Harris ran on the runner-up 4x100 relay.

Lindsey Blankenship (So., Washtucna, Wash.) won the NWC women’s hammer, setting a George Fox record (164-5), and Whitney Kolb (Fr., Jefferson, Ore.) claimed the conference triple jump title.

Baseball

Bruins claim conference title

One year after winning the 2004 NCAA Division III national championship, George Fox followed up with another record-breaking season.

The Bruins won a share of their fourth consecutive NWC title — the team’s seventh in 10 years under Coach Pat Bailey. Despite a recordtying 32-12 overall record, George Fox did not receive a berth in the regional playoffs.

The Bruins did leave their mark on the national record book, setting a Div. III record for fielding average (.976). Designated hitter/pitcher Derrick Jones (Jr., Forest Grove, Ore., above) ranked fourth nationally in RBI per game (1.47) and 11th in wins (9), earning First Team All-West Region and First Team All-America honors as a utility player. Second baseman C.R. Braniff (Jr., Hillsboro, Ore.) and shortstop David Peterson (Sr., Aloha, Ore.) were Second Team All-Region, while center fielder Drew Johnson (So., New Plymouth, Idaho) and left fielder Daniel Downs (So., Kirkland, Wash.) were Third Team All-Region. Jones, Braniff, Peterson, and Johnson made First Team All-Conference, with Jones earning NWC Co-Pitcher of the Year honors.

Bailey was named Coach of the Year by the Portland area chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.