Westmont Magazine Five is the Magic Number

For the first time ever, all five fall sports squads advanced to the NAIA national championships. Westmont was the only school to send so many teams to the nationals. This broad representation helped the College finish in the top five in the NAIA Sears Director’s Cup standings, which are based on regional and national finishes in each sport.

With a total of only 10 seniors on the five teams, the Warriors should be strong contenders in 1999.

Men’s Soccer

Once again, the men’s soccer team won the GSAC and NAIA Far West Regional titles. They began the season with an 11-game winning streak and reached the No. 2 ranking in the NAIA polls. Finishing fifth in the nation with a record of 18-3-1, the Warriors lost to No. 2-seed William Carey (MS) in the first round of the NAIA national tournament, but beat National American (S.D.) 5-1 in their second match.

Goalkeeper Adam Throop ’00 was selected as a first-team NAIA All-American and defender Chris Hook ’00 as a second-team All-American.

Women’s Soccer

The Warriors advanced to the NAIA National Tourna-ment with an at-large berth after losing their bid for a sixth straight GSAC title when Azusa Pacific beat them 2-1 (Azusa won the national title). Ranked in the NAIA top 10 all year, Westmont routed St. Thomas (FL) 6-1 in its opening match at the nationals, but a 0-0 tie with Simon Fraser kept them out of the final four. They finished fifth nationally with a record of 15-4-2.

Katie Gardinier ’00 earned her third straight first-team NAIA All-American award. Goalkeeper Kristen St. Clair ’01 was also a first-team All-American. Angela Morgan ’99, Michele Romero ’00, and Stephanie Herivel ’00 made the third-team NAIA All-American squad.

Women’s Cross Country

The Warriors claimed their fourth straight conference crown and placed fifth in the NAIA. Westmont has now finished among the top five in the NAIA in five of the last six years, and captured nine of the last 10 GSAC titles.

Autumn Glynn ’01 won the individual GSAC title, and Annaka Gustafson ’99 finished second in the GSAC and earned her third All-American honor by placing 21st at the NAIA nationals.

Men’s Cross Country

The Warriors ran to a third place finish at the GSAC championships and won an at-large bid to the NAIA national championships, where they finished 24th out of 34 teams. Noey Meador ’00, the Warriors’ top runner in every meet except one, captured three individual titles and finished 60th individually out of nearly 300 competitors.

Women’s Volleyball

One of 20 teams to reach the nationals, West-mont once again established itself as an elite program in the NAIA.

Ranked as high as No. 8 in the NAIA national polls, the Warriors ended the regular season with a 20-10 mark and a third place GSAC finish. The Warriors won their opening match in the NAIA Far West Regional Tournament before losing in the semifinals to top-seeded Fresno Pacific. They earned an at-large bid to the NAIA national tournament where they were 1-3 in their pool.