Pio Sports

The Pioneer women’s tennis team enjoyed a dramatic turnaround this year, entering the postseason as the No. 3 seed in the Northwest Conference.

Lisa Harunaga CAS ‘10, who plays #2 singles and doubles, earned her second straight First Team All-Northwest Conference honor. She lost only one match in conference play (14-1) and added two more victories in the conference tournament. She was also 12-4 in #2 singles conference play. Harunaga ended the season third in All-Conference voting.

Amalia Nilsson CAS ‘11, recipient of the Pioneer Athletics Rookie of the Year Award, had an amazing debut season. She didn’t drop a set in conference matches this season, going 16-0 on the #1 singles court in the regular season and adding two more victories at the conference tournament. She was 14-2 at #1 doubles in the regular season. She is the first Pioneer to be named Player of the Year in women’s tennis since Sara Schipani CAS ‘03, who won the title three times.

In addition, Nilsson was voted Conference Women’s Tennis Sportsman of the Year, was named the ITA West Region Rookie Player of the Year for Division III Tennis, and was selected as an alternate to the NCAA III National Women’s Tennis Singles Tournament.

Baseball

Rookie pitcher Tucker Laurence CAS ‘11 finished his first collegiate season with a 7-1 record and a 2.87 earned run average, one of the top five ERAs in the Northwest Conference. He earned the Lewis & Clark Joe Huston Male Athlete of the Year award, a first for a first-year Pioneer. He was also named to the All-Northwest Conference first team.

Joining him on the first team was another first-year Pioneer, outfielder Jordan Wlodarczyk CAS ‘09. A transfer from Chapman College, Wlodarczyk battled for the conference batting title through the final game of the season and posted a .389 batting average–the fourth best in the Northwest Conference. Third baseman Sami Morgan CAS ‘10 was named to the second team.

Jordan Shibata BA ‘08 and Jordon Smiley BA ‘08 brought their Lewis & Clark careers to a close, but left permanent marks in the Pioneer record books. Shortstop Shibata ended his career as the all-time Pioneer career leader in hits (205), second in runs scored (144), first in at-bats (572), and sixth in career batting average with a .358. Pitcher Smiley is second on the Pioneer career strikeout list with 204 strikeouts in his four seasons at Lewis & Clark.

Track

Roxanne Gilbride CAS ‘09 became the third Pioneer in the last three years to earn an invitation to the NCAA III National Championships. Gilbride, Lewis & Clark’s only event champion of the season, was the 2008 Northwest Conference champion in the javelin. Gilbride finished 12th among the 16 javelin competitors at the National Championships.