Men’s golf
The St. Thomas men’s golf team competed in the two-day, 32-hole St. John’s Fall Invitational Saturday, Sept. 15 and Sunday, Sept. 16, where it tied for fifth place out of 21 teams. Sophomore Alex Kapraun shot 70 in his final round on Sunday, the third lowest round of the tournament.
Kapraun said he hopes his play this past weekend keeps the team moving forward.
“Conference is coming up … so hopefully we can build some more momentum in Eau Claire next weekend,” Kapraun said.
Next for the Tommies is the Wisconsin-Eau Claire Invite on Saturday, Sept. 23 and Sunday, Sept. 24.
Women’s golf
The Tommie women’s golf team took first place for the second consecutive week after clinching a win at the Division III Midwest Classic in Lake City, Minn. St. Thomas finished one stroke (655) ahead of Carleton (656) to capture the tournament hardware.
Freshman Erin Dingmann said she believes the team’s success is based on good teamwork.
“We have such a good core group that everyone is going out and putting in two good rounds on the weekend,” Dingmann said. “Everyone on the team is excited about it.”
St. Thomas tees off at the College City Classic Saturday, Sept. 22 and Sunday, Sept. 23, in Northfield, Minn.
Women’s cross country
The St. Thomas women’s cross country team comes off a solid performance at the St. Olaf Invitational in Northfield, where it placed fifth out of 24 teams. Senior captain Taylor Berg and junior captain Erin Statz placed second and fourth respectively overall. Of runners representing MIAC teams, Berg finished first out of 200.
Even after the win, Berg believes there is still much to improve on.
“Our results weren’t as good as they could have been because we did lose to St. Olaf and Carleton by a decent amount,” Berg said. “We had a really good 1-2, but we had a big drop off to our third runner, so if we can close that gap with our 3-4-5, then we will be in much better shape for conference.”
The Tommies compete at the Gale Woods Invite on Friday, Sept. 28 in Minnetrista, Minn., and at the University of Minnesota Griak Invite Saturday, Sept. 29 in Falcon Heights, Minn.
Volleyball
The eighth-ranked Tommie volleyball team (12-1) went undefeated in the Wisconsin-River Falls tournament with four dominant performances. St. Thomas blew past Waldorf College (Iowa) and Wisconsin-Stevens Point Saturday, Sept. 15. The Tommies defeated River Falls, followed by a 3-1 toppling of No. 10 Wisconsin-Whitewater on Sunday, Sept. 16.
Junior middle blocker Paige Brimeyer was one of two Tommies to make the eight-player all-tournament team. Brimeyer attributed her team’s successful weekend to its “chemistry.”
“That really gives us confidence knowing that if we play our best, we can do really well,” Brimeyer said.
St. Thomas’ next game is Wednesday, Sept. 19 at Carleton. The Tommies’ home opener is Saturday, Sept. 22, against St. Benedict.
Men’s soccer
The St. Thomas men’s soccer team has dropped two consecutive games, losing to Luther College (Iowa) and Wisconsin-Superior. The Tommies now sit at 4-2-1 overall and 1-0 in MIAC play. The team’s recent losses don’t take away from junior forward Nick Rapisarda’s form. He leads the team in points (6) with five goals and one assist.
Junior defender Brandon Gatzke said the team needs to put the two losses behind it and “refocus” for upcoming game.
“I think the two losses we just kind of lost our focus, so we just need to regroup and get ready for Augsburg on Saturday,” Gatzke said. “This is a different team and I think that we’re definitely going to prove a lot of people wrong since we were only projected (to finish) fifth in the conference.”
The Tommies visit Viterbo University (Wis.) in non-conference play Wednesday, Sept. 19, then return home to battle Augsburg on Saturday, Sept. 22.
Women’s soccer
The St. Thomas women’s soccer team (2-3 overall, 1-0 MIAC) suffered a 1-0 road loss Saturday at Luther College (Iowa). The Tommies have had close games this season with all three defeats coming by a lone goal.
Junior forward Katy Scherer has netted three goals this season and looks for the team to feed off each other for momentum during games.
“We need the whole team to contribute and hopefully we can get the ball into the back of the net,” Scherer said.
St. Thomas faces St. Kate’s Tuesday, Sept. 18.
Andrew Eisele can be reached at eise6299@stthomas.edu.