St. Thomas basketball fans had to travel to Concordia-St. Paul for "home" games this year, but the schools' neighborhood bond grew as a result. (Josh Kleven/TommieMedia)

Construction of the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex left many St. Thomas sports teams homeless and the school’s pockets a bit lighter, but while the school’s bank account took at hit, its relationship with neighboring Concordia University-St.Paul blossomed.

Despite having a good relationship with schools around the area, finding a temporary home wasn’t a cheap endeavor for St. Thomas.

Tom Rubbelke, Concordia-St. Paul’s athletic director, couldn’t give exact numbers, but he estimated that renting out the Concordia-St. Paul’s Gangelhoff Center could cost a team upwards of $2,500 per event. Rubbelke said St. Thomas paid a flat rate from the onset of the sports season instead of paying each time they used Concordia’s facilities or at an hourly rate.

“I’m sure the [money] was good for CU, and I’m sure it helped with their budgets, but that wasn’t why we did it.” Rubbelke said. “[St. Thomas was] a school in the area who needed some help, and we were just trying to help them.”

If Rubbelke’s numbers are accurate, and St. Thomas paid for each home event at the beginning of the year, then it’s possible the school paid around $52,500 for use of the facilities for its temporary home. That number does not include the cost of St. Thomas using Concordia-St. Paul’s dome facility, which does have an hourly rate, or the handful of “home” games that were played at Macalester College.

“It’s been a long year for everybody, but when you see the new facility going up … the excitement of that has certainly overshadowed the difficulties of the year,” said Steve Fritz, athletic director and men’s basketball coach.

This year St. Thomas teams, including volleyball and men’s and women’s basketball, played a combined 21 “home” games at Concordia-St. Paul’s Gangelhoff Center, and played a total of 49 games at various road venues.

Junior basketball player Alex Healy said the staggering statistics didn’t bother him and his teammates.

“It was tough having to play off campus compared to playing at Shoenecker [Arena] last year, but overall it was not that bad,” he said. “I think we handled it pretty well. We only lost one home game this year against Carleton.”

The hardest part for all the schools involved was working around each other’s schedules.

“I think the practice side of things is the biggest challenge,” Fritz said. “It’s never like being in your own facility. You have to add on time of travel.”

Rubbelke said his teams had to be creative in scheduling their home games so St. Thomas had ample opportunity to have a normal routine not because St. Thomas demanded it, but rather because he felt it was the right thing to do.

“Steve Fritz is a great guy; I’ve known Steve for a long time,” Rubbelke said. “We were just trying to make it as much as a home court as possible for them.”

Fritz stressed that the money issue is secondary compared to the helping hand local schools offered in St. Thomas’ search for a temporary home.

“We were looking for somewhere that wanted us, and would treat us well,” he said. “I think Concordia was very good to us.”

Rubbelke said that kind of camaraderie between all the local schools makes it easier to open up their facilities to one another. No one is afraid to offer help because they know each school would do it for them, he said.

“I think we’ve always had a great relationship with all the MIAC schools in the area I hope this strengthens [the relationship],” Rubbelke said. “If they came into this situation again we’d do anything for them in a heartbeat.”

Ben Katzner can be reached at bekatzner@stthomas.edu.

Fresh off winning an overtime thriller at the MIAC championship last week, the Tommie men’s hockey team (13-10-4) will make a another trip to St. Peter and face Gustavus (19-6-2) in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Wednesday.

The MIAC foes will face off for the fourth time this season. Gustavus holds the season edge 2-1 and has outscored the Tommies 12-3.

“We’re the underdog again, and we know that, but we are dangerous right now and feel that we can beat any team that we play including a team we just beat last week,” junior Andrew Kappers said.

Gustavus is led by senior captain David Martinson, who led the MIAC with 29 goals. Gustavus’ goaltender, junior Josh Swartout, has anchored the team all year with a save percentage over 90 percent and a conference-leading goals against average of 2.13.

St. Thomas does not have the standout individual numbers that Gustavus does, as the Tommies look for goals from a variety of players. Kappers leads the team with 28 regular season points (9 goals and 19 assists) and is coming off the conference playoffs, where he posted two goals and an assist in two games.

“We know [Gustavus] can score, so we just have to play solid in every position starting at the goaltender spot all the way out to our forwards,” Kappers said.

Senior goaltender Joe Schraeder has single-handedly kept the team’s hopes alive in the 2010 post-season, holding strong in two overtime games and saving 97 percent of the shots he has faced. His performance in the MIAC playoffs was a drastic improvement from the regular season, where he ranked 10th in the MIAC with an 88 percent save percentage.

“Any team we face in the NCAA’s is going to be a good team that deserves to be there,” Schraeder said. “It should be a real exciting, fun game to be a part of, and we look forward to the challenge of playing [Gustavus] down there again.”

Gustavus looks to repeat and build off its 2009 NCAA playoff run, when it took second place, losing 4-1 in the championship to Neumann University (Pa.).

The Tommies automatic bid into the NCAA tournament is a result of getting hot at the right time. Even though the Tommies have more losses (10) than any other team in the tournament, St. Thomas has won four games in a row and seven of its last eight.

“We have been playing our best hockey of the year recently and would like to continue that,” Schraeder said.

Wednesday’s game marks St. Thomas’ 14th NCAA playoff appearance and its 11th under coach Terry Skrypek.

Brian Matthews can be reached at bsmatthews@stthomas.edu.

In the first game, the Tommies overcame a 3-0 deficit to rally to a 6-5 victory. Sophomore Bryce Gapinski pitched four innings, giving up five runs and six hits, but junior Kris Edwards, who pitched two scoreless innings, got the win. Senior Brandon Stone picked up his first save of the year.

Senior first baseman Tom Wippler knocked home four runs in game one with a bases-loaded double in the fifth inning and a game-tying double in the seventh. Junior Taylor Rahm drove in the game-winning run in both games.

In the second game, senior pitcher Matthew Schuld struck out 10 batters in seven innings, as he picked up his 20th career victory. The Tommies fought to a 3-1 victory, going 2-0 on the day.

Ben Katzner can be reached at bekatzner@stthomas.edu

The men’s and women’s track and field teams continued their dominance at the MIAC Indoor Championships Saturday at Carleton College.

The men’s team won its 26th consecutive indoor title with a score of 163 points, while the women’s team won its 11th straight indoor championship by a margin of 28 points.

“It feels so good,” senior sprinter Nikki Arola said. “It feels so awesome to be able to put on a St. Thomas uniform because there’s so much tradition behind it.”

Men’s team

The Tommie men’s team won in dramatic fashion, edging Hamline in the final event by only 7 points. Senior Pat Jager credits senior leadership as they key to the Tommies’ success.

“We’ve got some great seniors on the team,” Jager said. “In all the event groups we’ve got people leading our younger guys and showing them how it’s done. It paid off in the end here; we’re conference champs.”

After a weekend’s worth of events and races, the St. Thomas and Hamline men’s teams were tied at 145 points with two events to go, setting up a thrilling finish for the men’s 4-by-400-meter relay teams.

The turning point in the relay race came when sophomore Mike Hutton passed a Hamline sprinter in the third lap, giving anchor Pat Jager a large enough cushion to seal the victory.

St. Thomas junior Matthew Griswold and senior Joe Rohlfing gave the Tommie men’s team an early lead Thursday when they placed first and second, respectively, in the men’s pentathlon competition. Griswold scored 3,331 points in the five-event competition, while Rohlfing trailed just behind with 3,212 points.

“I knew coming in I could place high and do pretty well, and I just wanted to do the best I could and help the team,” Griswold said. “Really good start to the weekend.”

Men’s coach Steve Mathre said earlier in the week the pentathlon would have the most impact of any single event, and was confident that if St. Thomas did well, “we could outpace and outmatch the others into Friday and Saturday.”

Hutton also had a big weekend for the Tommie men, winning the 1000-meter dash with a time of 2:33:14 and placing second in the 400-meter dash with an NCAA provisional time of 1:53.14.

“It was exciting to win my first [individual] MIAC championship,” Hutton said. “I ran a decent time, got the win, and it was a good time.”

Sophomore Ben Sathre placed second in the 3000-meter relay with a time of 8:38.43. Jager also placed second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.70. He said the win was special because the team was able to overcome adversity throughout the year.

“We had smaller numbers this year, we lost some guys last year, but [we] came out on top anyways,” Jager said.

Freshman Eyo Ekpo was one of the highlights of the weekend in the triple jump, winning the event with an NCAA provisional and Recreation Center record of 47-10 ¾.

“It was fun, all season we’ve been working on triple jump,” Ekpo said. “It was really good to just put it all together.”

Ekpo also took third place in the high jump with a jump of 6-5. Seniors Joe Rohlfing and Cameron Roemhildt tied for fifth in the high jump.

The men’s team scored points in 19 of 20 possible events and received points from 17 different athletes.

Women’s team

For the Tommie women it was all about the seniors.

Senior Erin Sprangers took first in the 800-meter dash for the second consecutive year, finishing with a time of 2:14.47. It was a meet record, track record and NCAA provisional time for Sprangers.

“It felt awesome. It couldn’t have felt any better,” Sprangers said. “It hit me that it was my last one at 400 [meters] to go, and so I was like, ‘Don’t hold back anything.’”

Sprangers said this has been the most challenging year for St. Thomas track and field since she has been part of the program. The teams were forced to practice early in the morning off-campus due to construction and were subjected to harsh winter weather that made it difficult to train during the week.

“Our coach told us, ‘In 2010, the two zeros stand for ‘overcoming obstacles,’’” Sprangers said.

St. Thomas senior Kelly Russ had also had a big weekend for the Tommie women, contributing second place finishes in the 800-meter dash and mile run, with NCAA provisional times in both.

Many other seniors ended up near the top of the leader board in their events. Senior Laura Janas took first in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.66 seconds, while Arola finished second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 58.51 seconds. Sprangers also took second in the 600-meter dash.

The highlight of the day for the women was the 4-by-400-meter relay, made up of seniors Molly Demmer, Sprangers, Russ and Arola. The team broke the Carleton Recreation Center record with a time of 3:57.02. The previous record was held by St. Thomas in 2006.

“It’s a blessing to be able to run with those girls, [I’ve] been running with them for 4 years now,” Arola said.

Miles Trump can be reached at mttaylorjohn@stthomas.edu.

All-MIAC junior Rachel Booth’s 19 points and 8 rebounds weren’t enough to lift the Tommies over a high-scoring Warhawks team.

The Tommies trailed by just 2 points at half, but turnovers and a lack of rebounding in the second half led to several key runs for the Warhawks that the Tommies couldn’t counter.

Coach Ruth Sinn said the Tommies didn’t make the necessary adjustments to stop an experienced Warhawk team.

“You gotta give them credit,” she said. “They beat us to a lot of loose balls. They got a lot of [offensive] boards, and that’s not a situation that we’re used to being in. They have a senior-based team; we don’t … We lost our poise tonight, and that has not happened in a while.”

After a competitive first half with countless lead changes, the Warhawks started the second half with a 7-0 run. But the Tommies battled back to their first lead of the second half with 11:30 remaining before the Warhawks began a 13-2 run with about six minutes left, essentially putting the game out of reach.

It was a tale of two halves for the Tommies, who gave up 13 turnovers and allowed the Warhawks to grab 12 offensive rebounds in the second half.

For the Warhawks, it was a high scoring affair all-around. All five starters for the Warhawks scored in the double digits, contributing significantly to the highest scoring performance by a Tommie opponent this season.

“We haven’t given up 90 points to anybody,” Sinn said. “We’re a very strong defensive team. That wasn’t apparent tonight. We have to take ownership of that and learn from it.”

The Tommies had a particularly hard time stopping senior forward Nicole Bundy, who scored 25 points for the Warhawks and shot 4-7 from the 3-point line.

“She’s an excellent shooter, and she can put the ball on the floor, and we didn’t do a good job,” Sinn said.

Sophomore Chantel Burg was also key for the Warhawks, earning a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Sophomore Sarah Smith gave the Tommies a lift of the bench, scoring 11 points on 4-5 shooting and grabbing 7 rebounds.

Other notable performances for the Tommies include sophomore Ali Johnson with 16 points and sophomore Jordyn Sears with 10.

While the season is over for the Tommies, Sinn said the loss will give them plenty of incentive to improve in the offseason.

“The positive thing is [the players] have another opportunity, but they have to wait about eight months,” she said.

Brent Fischer can be reached at mailto: bafischer@stthomas.edu.

KENOSHA WIS. – The No. 3-ranked men’s basketball team was upset Friday night 73-71 by No. 24-ranked Anderson University in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis.

Junior Alex Healy led all scorers with 26 points, but it came in a losing effort as the Ravens posted 41 second-half points to pull away. Junior Ty Riddle led Anderson with 21 points, including five 3-pointers.

The Tommies trailed by as many as 7 points during the second half but were able to rally throughout to exchange the lead with the Ravens in the final 10 minutes. A 5-0 run with just under two minutes left cut Anderson’s lead down to two late, but clutch free throws down the stretch turned out to be the difference.

Junior Tyler Nicolai had a clean look at a 3 with one second left for the win, but his 25-foot attempt clanked off the back iron.

“We thought we would go further,” senior Teddy Archer said. “It’s a real big disappointment.”

The Ravens shot 85 percent from the free-throw line on the game, cashing in on 28 points at the charity stripe compared to St. Thomas’ 6. The Tommies maintained heavy defensive pressure as usual, bit it equated to 26 fouls and 33 free-throw attempts for Anderson.

“You got to give Anderson credit,” Healy said. “They hit their free throws. They definitely played well enough to win.”

St. Thomas led at halftime, but struggled to maintain any momentum throughout the second half. Multiple shots rattled in and out for the Tommies, who put together runs to take brief leads but were never able to extend it to a comfortable number.

“We missed a lot of layups, shots that we would normally make,” coach John Tauer said.

Nicolai, St. Thomas’ season-leading scorer, in particular struggled shooting, going just 4-13 from the field. Five of his 9 points though came in the final two minutes though, giving the Tommies an opportunity for a last-second win.

Sophomore Brock Morrison had a double-double for Anderson with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore Tommy Hannon had 11 points for St. Thomas, the only other Tommie in double digits scoring outside of Healy. Healy said he would gladly have turned in all his points for a win.

“In the NCAA tournament it doesn’t really matter how each individual does,” he said. “All that matters is winning and going on.”

It was the Ravens who were able to do that Friday night, though, ending St. Thomas’ season and the careers of seniors Joe Scott, Sam Eicher and Josh Peltier. Archer has one season of eligibility remaining and may return for another year.

“I hope that UST has better days,” Archer said. “It shows you can’t take anything for granted, the polls and everything. In March Madness it comes down to teams playing together and getting hot.”

With the year over, Tauer was quick to point to the success St. Thomas had this season.

“They can always hold their heads up,” he said. “They played unbelievably all year long. Obviously this isn’t the way we wanted it to end.”

Jordan Osterman can be reached at jrosterman@stthomas.edu.

No. 3 seed St. Thomas lost 4-3 and for the first time in eight seasons the Tommies will not be in the MIAC title game.

The Wildcats poured in goals early and often amassing four goals before the start of the third period. St. Thomas senior Jenny Schnaible broke the Tommies scoring drought with an unassisted goal in the second period.

The Tommies rallied in the third period on goals from senior Kristine Breese and junior Kelley Fallen but couldn’t close the gap.

St. Thomas did out shoot the Wildcats, compiling 33 shots on goal to St. Catherine’s 22. But the Tommies couldn’t capitalize on power play opportunities going 0-4.

St. Thomas ends its season with a 14-10-3 record.

Ben Katzner can be reached at bekatzner@stthomas.edu

Tyler Nicolai led the Tommies in points and steals. (John Kruger/TommieMedia)

St. Thomas junior guard Tyler Nicolai was named 2009-10 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year Thursday afternoon.

“It’s an honor to be named player of the year,” Nicolai said via text message from the team bus to the first round of the NCAA tournament in Kenosha, Wis. “It’s a good feeling, but I have to credit my teammates and coaches.”

Nicolai led the Tommies this season with 13.8 points and 1.9 steals per game. He also held a team-best assist/turnover ratio (2.65) and shot a team-high 48.7 percent in conference play.

In the MIAC conference, Nicolai ranked second in steals, seventh in scoring, 10th in field goal percentage and 13th in free throw percentage. He also shot 43.7 percent from the 3-point line and was second in the MIAC in 3-point field goals per game.

Senior guard Joe Scott and junior guard Alex Healy shared some of the spotlight with Nicolai, as all three were named to the MIAC All-Conference team. Nicolai was also named to the All-Defensive team alongside senior guard Teddy Archer. Sophomore guard Peter Leslie was named to the All-MIAC Sportsmanship team.

“There are a lot of good players in this conference,” Nicolai said.

The men’s team travels today to Kenosha, Wis., to take on No. 23 Anderson University Friday in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

The MIAC women’s All-Conference team included St. Thomas junior center Rachel Booth and sophomore forward Ali Johnson. Rachel Booth was also named to the All-Defensive team. Sophomore guard Jordyn Sears was an All-Conference honorable mention.

The women’s team will travel to Whitewater, Wis., to take on the Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks Friday in NCAA action.

The men’s hockey team continued its hot streak Wednesday night, beating Gustavus Adolphus College in overtime 2-1 to win the MIAC Championship.

Sophomore forward Chris Hickey lit the lamp with his fifth goal of the season just four minutes into the overtime period in a scramble in front of the net. Senior Parker Burgess and junior Rob Johnson set up Hickey, who took a quick snap shot from the outer edge of the crease, beating Gustie goaltender Josh Swartout to the upper right-hand corner of the net.

“It was just a scrum off the boards,” Hickey said. “All game long we wanted to beat the guys to the net, and I was so happy for it to fall on my stick. It was a little puck-luck. I mean, you gotta to be in the right place at the right time, and I just put it in, and I couldn’t believe it went in.”

Gustavus continued the shooting clinic they started last Saturday night in the MIAC semifinals against Augsburg where they posted a record 104 shots. The high-powered offense, led by leading scorer David Martinson, challenged St. Thomas senior goalie Joe Schraeder with 39 shots in the game.

Schraeder was up to the challenge, though, playing one of his best career games and keeping the Tommies in it throughout.

“[Schraeder] was amazing,” Hickey said. “It was one of the best goaltending performances I’ve ever seen. I mean, just to save the puck diving left, diving right; he kept us in the game. Joe goalie has played on top of his head, and he deserves so much credit for this game.”

The only goal that Schraeder gave up came five minutes into the first period when the Tommie defense coughed up the puck deep in their end, giving Gustavus senior forward Eric Bigham and teammate T.J Ridley a two-man breakaway. Ridley got the pass low in the slot and beat Schraeder top shelf.

Ridley’s goal gave Gustavus a lead, which it would hold until nearly six minutes into the third period when Tommie junior forward Andrew Kappers found the back of the net on a power play.

“We won the faceoff and had control [but] had a little turnover,” Kappers said. “Their guy tried to ice it, and it hit their own guy, and [Riley] Horgan got the pass and made a great pass to me, and I was just sitting on the backdoor waiting to bank it in.”

Both goalies had made game-saving stops lat in the third period, including one diving save by Schraeder that got the entire Tommie crowd cheering and left the Gusties speechless.

“Their guy was backdoor, wide open, and I just dove across and got it with my arm,” Schraeder said. “Then we thought we had them there at the end of the game with about 30 seconds left, but [Swartout] made the save. Both were great saves.”

St. Thomas had the momentum going into the overtime period, despite being out shot 36-20, but in the end, it was Hickey and the Tommies hoisting the Saugestad Cup trophy.

The win gives St. Thomas their seventh consecutive win and their first MIAC championship since the 07-08 season. With the win, St. Thomas improved to 13-10-4 and earned the MIAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The team credited its recent success to Schraeder and his outstanding play between the pipes and hopes to carry the momentum into the NCAA tournament.

“We just got to keep the train moving,” Hickey said. “Our team is playing great right now. Everyone is playing top-notch, and I think we can even get better. We will take the momentum from this game and the momentum from last game. I think we have a lot of confidence, and we will see how far we can take it.”

Brian Matthews can be reached at bsmatthews@stthomas.edu.

The Tommie women’s basketball team (21-7) will open the 2010 NCAA Division III tournament at 8 p.m. Friday in Whitewater, Wisc., against the hosting Warhawks (20-7).

St. Thomas will be making its 18th tournament appearance, after becoming the first five seed to win the MIAC tournament with its overtime victory Saturday against four-time defending MIAC champion St. Benedict .

St. Thomas had a strong finish to the season, winning its last four games and 11 of its last 13. The Tommies finished with an overall record of 21-7 and went 15-7 in conference play.

UW-Whitewater, the regular season Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletics Conference champion, got an at-large bid into the tournament after finishing runner-up in the WIAC tournament.

The Warhawks come into the game having won five of their last six and are led by three senior starters, Kelsey Hendrickson, Nicole Bundy and Heidi Sontagg, who all averaged double-digit points this season.

St. Thomas junior forward Jazmin Townsend said limiting the success of all three will be a top priority for the Tommies on defense.

“I think it is going to be all about stopping all three players and making them look elsewhere,” Townsend said. “We are very defensively oriented… We need to clog the lanes and work from there.”

The Warhawks have an edge in recent postseason experience, with this year marking their third-consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. But the Tommies have been formidable away from home, having already won 13 games on the road this season.

Townsend said she’s confident her team will continue its strong play away from home.

“I think that will be a big beneficial aspect of the tournament for us,” Townsend said. “I just think that no matter where we play, it’s not going to affect how we play as a team, and it has shown throughout the season. We’re capable of playing the style of basketball that we know how to play anywhere.”

St. Thomas will look for another strong game from Rachel Booth, who is averaging 17 points and 9.3 rebounds per game this season. Booth and the rest of the Tommies will try to take advantage of an inexperienced interior core for the Warhawks.

The Tommies, who are allowing just 59 points per game, will have to stop a Warhawk offense that is averaging more than 70 points per game. The game could hinge on St. Thomas’ ability to contain the perimeter scoring of UW-Whitewater.

If the Tommies win Friday night, they will face the winner of Carthage College and Northland College at 7 p.m. Saturday.

While the Tommies are optimistic about their chances of advancing, Townsend said the tem isn’t looking beyond Friday’s game.

“Now that we’re in it, it’s time to take the whole tournament,” Townsend said. “But with that said, it needs to be game by game. You can’t look ahead of an opponent.”

The games will be played at the Williams Center on the UW-Whitewater campus, and tickets for both games are available for $8 for adults and $3 for students.

Brent Fischer contributed to this report.

Michael Ewen can be reached at mtewen@stthomas.edu.