Lawrence Today magazine, Fall 2005
Baseball
The Vikings enjoyed a record-setting season at the plate by breaking 16 season,
career, or team records during the 2005 season.
Six Vikings were named to the all-conference team, led by first-team selections
Doug Coe, ’07, Tim O’Toole, ’07, Josh Richie, ’07, and
Andrew Wong, ’06. Coe, a catcher, led the Midwest
Conference in batting
average (.510), slugging percentage (.902), on-base percentage (.603), and home
runs (five), and he was selected for the All-Midwest Region team. Wong, who batted
.400 on the season and carries a 3.90 grade point average, was named to the ESPN
The Magazine Academic All-America team. The Vikings finished with a 13-21 record
and a 6-10 mark in conference play.
Pictured: Lawrence shortstop Andrew
Wong, ’06, tags out Ripon
College's Eric Cluppert on a stolen-base attempt during the first game of a
Midwest Conference doubleheader at Ripon's Francis Field on April 28. The Vikings
went on to win the game 5-1.
Golf
The Vikings did something they hadn’t done — win the Midwest
Conference title — since Harry Truman was president. With solid play
throughout the squad both days, Lawrence turned in a team score of 635 in the
36-hole event at Aldeen Golf Club in Rockford, Ill., to finish two shots better
than Knox College.
It was the first team championship for the Vikings since
1949, a span of 56 years. By virtue of their finishes at the championships,
Joe Loehnis (fifth place), ’06, Markus Specks (sixth place), ’06,
and Andy Link (ninth place), ’06, each earned a place on the all-conference
team. Loehnis was the last man out on the course and needed a score of 78 to
deliver the title to Lawrence, and he came in at 77.
Men’s tennis
Brian Hilgeman, ’05, delivered a Midwest Conference championship by taking
the title at No. 3 singles. Hilgeman defeated Grinnell’s Rick Fenbert 6-1,
6-3, and the Vikings finished sixth in the team standings. Lawrence put together
an overall record of 5-9 in dual matches.
Softball
The Vikings won the North Division of the Midwest Conference and hosted
the conference tournament. Lawrence, making its fourth consecutive appearance
in the four-team tournament, lost a pair of heartbreakers and was eliminated
the first day. The Vikings finished the season with a 17-18 record and a
9-4 mark in the league.
Lauren Kost, ’05, was named the North Division Pitcher
of the Year and chosen for the All-Great Lakes Region team. Shortstop Becca
Reason, ’06, also an all-region selection, and catcher Loni Philbrick-Linzmeyer, ’06,
both were first-team all-conference selections, and outfielder Toren Johnson, ’07,
made the second team.
Track and field
The Lawrence men posted their highest finish at the Midwest
Conference Championships since 1986 by taking fourth place. The Lawrence
women were ninth.
Kolade Agbaje-Williams, ’06, paced the Vikings by placing
in four events, and James Hahn, ’06, placed in three. Agbaje-Williams
was second in the long jump (22 feet, 1 inch), fourth in the triple jump (44-4),
fifth in the high jump (5-8.5), and eighth in the 400 meters (52.22 seconds).
Hahn took third in the 110-meter hurdles (16.27), second in the 400 hurdles
(56.09), and sixth in the triple jump (42-7.5).
Colleen Detjens, ’07,
led the women by taking third in the 1,500 (4:52.41) and fourth in the 800
(2:22.50).