WNCC signs three local players to play soccer

                The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s soccer teams added three more local players to its roster for next season.

                Scottsbluff’s Tyler and Megan Patrick, who are brother and sister, will be joining the program. Tyler, who spent last season at Hastings College playing football, decided to transfer back to play soccer. Tyler will join his sister, Megan, who graduated from high school on Sunday, to play for WNCC coach Todd Rasnic.

                Chanice Blanco, who graduated from Gering in 2011, will be returning to WNCC to play soccer. Blanco spent one season attending the University of Nebraska Kearney and said she missed playing soccer.

“I really missed it. I thought about it every day and having sisters in high school [Shelton and Laettner) still, it made just want to play even more,” Blanco said. “That is the only thing I did in high school for sports. That was my thing and not doing it any more made me want to continue on with it.”

That year away from the sport definitely gave Blanco the itch to play against, especially after watching a UNK match as well as watching her sisters play for Gering. That is why she couldn’t resist in coming back to WNCC and playing a sport that she loves.

                “I took a year off of playing the sport and I realized I really missed it,” Blanco said. I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to play another two years and hopefully it will open some doors for me in the future.

                WNCC coach Todd Rasnic gave Blanco the opportunity to come back and she jumped at that opportunity.

                “I thought about playing soccer all year at Kearney because I really missed it,” she said. “In the spring I talked to coach and I then decided to take the opportunity that he offered me and go with it.”

                Rasnic said that Blanco brings many intangibles to the game.

                “She has a good work rate and she has the right mental attitude to play the game at this level,” he said. “She is very well skilled and I like her technique as a player.”

                Blanco was a four-year varsity player for the Bulldogs and was a captain and starter her last three years of high school. Blanco was mainly a mid-fielder that chipped in a couple goals in her career. She is hoping her two years here will help her continue playing at the next level.

                “I am very excited to be playing again,” she said. “I like being here and I think playing for this team will be a great chance for me.”

                Just like Blanco, Tyler Patrick is excited to be playing soccer once again. For Patrick, however, he spent last year with the Hastings College football team before realizing that he was too small to play college football. And, after talking to Rasnic, Patrick got that same itch that Blanco had to play soccer once again.

                “Last year I played football and I found out I was a little too small to be a college football player,” he said. “Todd gave me the opportunity to come and play soccer here so I decided I would take that.”

                Patrick hopes to bring some leadership skills to the team having been at the college level.

                “I am looking forward to being back home and being around my friends and playing in front of people that I know,” he said. “I just want to contribute to the team anyway I can on the field or in a leadership role.”

                Patrick was a 4-sport athlete in high school as a fierce defensive player for the football, team, a state-qualifying wrestler, and a defensive player for the soccer team. He also played for the WESTCO Zephyrs American Legion baseball team during the summer. After high school, however, he thought he would try his hand at football, but when that didn’t pan out, he fell back on his second love, soccer.

                Patrick said he started playing soccer in high school during his sophomore year and then was a starter his junior and senior year. During his junior year, the Bearcats won the district title and qualified for the state tournament. Scottsbluff finished second his senior year.

                Patrick said that he knows a lot about Rasnic’s coaching style, having played on a club team when he was younger.

                “I played on a team for a little while when I was younger so I know him pretty well,” he said. “That was part of the reason I wanted to come back because I know Todd, I know the family, and I know a lot of guys on the team.”

                Patrick said the biggest thing he can bring to the team is leadership having been at the college level, despite it being football instead of soccer.

                “With playing football last year, I have an idea of what college sports entail with conditioning, the work outs, and what all the practice schedules are like compared to high school,” he said. “I will be able to talk to the new guys coming up out of high school and help them out a little bit with what they can expect.”

                Rasnic is excited be getting someone of Patrick’s size and athleticism.

                “I think his work rate is the first thing that comes to mind from his high school days,” Rasnic said. “Even when he was playing club soccer with us, he always had an extremely high work rate and a never say die attitude.  I was impressed with the way he progressed in his mentality on the field in last few years of high school and the way he acted in defensive situations. He brings with him a great deal of quick speed from side to side, and obviously physical size is not going to hurt because our league is very physical. He is a good young man.”

                Patrick will also get to play alongside his sister Megan, who will be playing soccer at WNCC next year as well. Megan said she is looking forward to be playing a sport with her brother in college, making traveling a lot more fun.

                “I kind of follow him around with everything he does, but I think it will be a lot of fun,” she said. “I missed him a lot when he was away. It will be fun to work out together this summer and play soccer. I am excited.”

                Megan played softball and soccer in high school and this past soccer season, she was a captain and started every game her senior year. She really didn’t know if she had it in her to play collegiately, but Rasnic is giving her the opportunity to excel on the field for another two years.

                “I played both soccer and softball, but soccer has always been my favorite,” she said. “I wanted to play sports in college, but I didn’t know if I was good enough. So, when Todd said I could, it was exciting.”

                Megan, who played defense and midfield, said this year was her break out year.

                “This year for soccer was different from other years because I was a captain and I started every game and it felt so good,” she said. “I hope college is as exciting like that and I excel like I did this year.”

                She added that her brother has helped her improve her defensive skills just because his soccer talents.

                “We play around sometimes,” she said, “and I just get better at defense because is good shooting the ball away from me.”

               

WNCC goes 0-2 at nationals.

                 ST. GEORGE, UTAH – The Western Nebraska Community College softball team saw their outstanding season come to an end at the NJCAA national softball tournament falling to Salt Lake Community College and Lake Land Community College Thursday in St. George, Utah.

                No. 2 Salt Lake pounded out 17 hits and won its 33 game in the last 34 games in controlling the Cougars with a 20-1 win. WNCC then fell victim to No. 10 Lake Land 10-1 as the Lady Lakers pounded out 14 hits.

                The Cougars finish the season at 46-26. This was the Cougars third straight trip to the national tournament.

                Sophomore Jocelyn Stubbs said the team had a great season and they just weren’t on the top of their game today.

                “Up until this point we had a pretty good season,” Stubbs said. “We had a 16-game winnings streak [coming into the tournament} and there is now better way to end the season like that. But, here at nationals, we might have come in not expecting what we saw. I think we might have got a little bit too comfortable with our winning streak and not coming out with the aggression that we needed.”

                Stubbs said a big part of the Cougars offensive woes and defensive miscues might have been the Cougars entered the contest with the wrong mentality.

                “The other teams were just coming out swinging and we had a couple of errors that were crucial,” she said. “We also were not swinging the bats to rebound.”

                Despite the lop-sided scores, the Cougars avoided being shut out. They also had opportunities to get out of innings but couldn’t cash in on the breaks. With all the negatives on the day, Stubbs said this team came together at the right times to have a good season.

                “I think overall, we overcome a lot,” Stubbs said. “I think we worked hard and we came together when we needed to. Unfortunately, it didn’t come out in our favor at nationals.”

                Nationals was not to be for the Cougars in their two games. In the opener, Salt Lake controlled the contest as sophomore Ariel Zimmerman allowed just one hit in her four innings of work. Offensively, the Bruins plated five runs on four hits in the opening inning for a quick 5-0 lead.

                WNCC shut down the Bruins in the second inning, but in the third Salt Lake plated five more runs on five hits for a 10-0 lead.

                WNCC avoided the shutout by scoring a run in the fourth. Bianca Duran reached base on a 2-out error and came around to score on a Stubbs single to centerfield.

                Any hope of a comeback was short-lived as Salt Lake 10 runs on eight hits in the fourth, including a 3-run home run by Tanisha Anderson for the 20-1 win.

                Duran took the loss going just 2 1/3 innings in allowing 10 runs and nine hits. Amanda Jones finished the contest by going 1 2/3 innings in allowing 10 runs on eight hits.

                The second contest against Lake Land started out better for the Cougars as the defense sparkled early, turning a second inning double play. WNCC, however, couldn’t capitalize on the early defensive success as the Cougars got runners on in the first five innings, but could only manage just one run.

                Lake Land went up 5-0 with three runs on four hits and an error in the third, followed by single runs in the fourth and fifth.

                Sarah Hawryluk started the rally by earning a 2-out walk. She then stole second and scored on a Danielle Hearn single that landed just inside the right field outfield line.

                The Lady Lakers stopped any attempted momentum with five runs in the sixth innings on six hits for the 10-1 lead. The big hit in the contest was a 2-run home run by Madison Murphy over the left field fence.

                WNCC finished the contest with just four hits, all singles by Hawryluk, Hearn, Stubs and Kasey Cash.

                Stubbs said despite the losses, they still had a great season. And, for Stubbs and the other five sophomores, they were the only group to play both their seasons at nationals.

                “Coming here two years in a row is really special for us,” she said. “It kind of is a bittersweet moment because we know this is our last games together for all six of us, but we are glad we made it and worked hard to get here.”

First Game

WNCC                   000 10 – 1 1 5

Salt Lake              505 (10)x – 20 17 2

LP – Bianca Duran

Second game

Lake Land            003 115 – 10 14 3

WNCC                   000 010 – 1 4 2

LP – Duran.

WNCC softball team set for national tournament opener

                [May 16, 2012] ST. GEORGE, Utah -- The Western Nebraska Community College softball team has one objective when they open the NJCAA national softball tournament on Thursday and that is to win some games.

                Mariah Faifer, sophomore from Albuquerque, N.M., said, at their last practice back home on Monday before departing for the national tournament in St. George, Utah, the team came up with a goal of making a tradition at nationals. The tradition involves starting to win games.

                “At our last practice on Monday, coach [Maria Winn] had us metaphorically bury our fears and bear our individual goals,” she said. “We came up with a team goal of ‘Make a Tradition at Nationals,’ which means we want to go out there and win a game. We want to do something different than any other team has done before.”

                The Cougars will begin the trek to make a difference at the national tournament when they open play Thursday at 1 p.m. against No. 2 seed Salt Lake Community College, a team they faced in last year’s national tournament first round.  Tournament games can be heard on the Internet at www.njcaa.org.

                Salt Lake enters the tournament with a potent 55-7 record, while the Cougars enter with a 45-24 record. The Cougars, however, have been playing some of their best ball as of late. They enter with a 16-game winning streak.

                WNCC also wants to put behind them last year’s tournament opener against Salt Lake that saw the Bruins drop the Cougars 5-1 in a game that was postponed after a couple innings until the next day because of rain.

                Faifer said the sophomores remember last year’s contest with Salt Lake and they just want to compete. And, they can as each team is similar in style.

                “The sophomores have an ideal of what it is like to play against them,” she said. “But, we only know what coach has told us and she told us that this team is probably our best matchup. They play like we do. I think it will be a really good game, and I think if we come out on top and come out ready we will get the win.”

                One positive the Cougars have going for them is they have played in 21 one-run ball games, winning 12. Most of the team’s 1-run success has been during their 16-game winning streak where they have won five one games. WNCC’s biggest win during that stretch was a 2-1 against No. 20 ranked Iowa Western Community College and also a 10-inning affair against Trinidad State Junior College 1-0.

                Faifer sees playing in those close games a plus entering the tournament. She said she thrives in intense contests.

                “I personally like 1-0 games. I like the close game because there is so much more intensity and so much more on the line, then just beating a team and run-ruling them,” she said. “I think those close games are important because it makes you stay focused the entire time; you can’t let up or relax and just be content where you are because you have to keep fighting. Any hit, any mistake, or anything can be a game changer.”

                While WNCC has played in 21 one contests, the Bruins have encountered just seven of those contests with a record of 3-4. The Bruins enter the tournament with a 5-game win streak and have won 32 of their last 33 games. In those 32 wins, the team has scored double digits in 11 of the games.

                Faifer said defense will be the key in stopping the Bruins potent offense.

                “Defense is really important because we have to back up our pitchers who throw really well,” she said. “Consistently and we have to keep them from scoring. Offense is just as important because you can’t win without scoring.”

                The Cougars do have some offensive threats. WNCC enters the tournament with a .307 batting average, where they have smashed 56 home runs and 99 doubles. Freshmen Bianca Duran and Kasey Cash lead the offensive production hitting 15 and 12 home runs respectively. Duran, however, hasn’t had a jack since April 17 against Northeastern Junior College. Duran has had just two home runs since April 1.

                Cash, on the other hand, has had six home runs during the team’s 16-game winning streak, including a 3-game streak of hitting a home run.

                Salt Lake is very similar to the Cougars. The Bruins have hit 55 home runs and 108 doubles. Maddie Woodard leads the team with 14 dingers. No other Bruin has more than seven.

                Faifer said that the key for the Cougars offense is stringing hits together and not necessarily getting a solo home run.

                “To come out on top to win games, it doesn’t matter how many individual home runs you hit, you have to string hits together to bring runners in,” she said. “Coach said that if you hit a home run that brings in one run, but if you have people on base and string together four hits, that is four runs. So we just need to string it together, offensively we will be unstoppable.”

                WNCC hasn’t had a problem getting runners on as of late, it is getting them in. In the regional tournament, especially against Trinidad State, the Cougars had many opportunities to score in regulation but miss-fired with either a ground out or a fly out.

                Faifer said that if they want to make a difference this season, they need to put everything together and play at the top of their game.

                “Ii am going there with a revenge mentality,” Faifer said. “They got us last year and although they didn’t make us look silly, we didn’t give them a very good game. This year I think it will be a whole different story.”

First Round Pairings
10 a.m.

Game 1 - Chattonooga State CC (Tenn) vs. Aiken Technical College (SC)
Game 2 - Wallace State CC-Hanceville (Ala) vs. Seminole State College of Florida
Game 3 - State College of Florida - Manatee-Sarasota vs. Temple College (Tex)
Game 4 - Butler County CC (Kan) vs. Pima CC (Ariz)
1 p.m.

Game 5 - Blinn College (Tex) vs. Gordon College (Ga)
Game 6 - Crowder College (Mo) vs. Northeastern Oklahoma A&M
Game 7 - Howard College (Tex) vs. Lake Land College (Ill)
Game 8 - Western Nebraska CC vs. Salt Lake CC (Utah) 

WNCC to face No. 2 Salt Lake in national tournament

[May 14, 2012] -- The Western Nebraska Community College softball team will enter the NJCAA national tournament with a goal of making school history. The road, however, won’t be an easy one as the Cougars earned the No. 15 seed with a 45-24 record.
                The Cougars open the tournament on Thursday at 1 p.m. against No. 2 seed Salt Lake Community College (55-7). WNCC and Salt Lake meet in the tournament’s first game last year.
                Mariah Shepherd, a freshman from Grantsville, Utah, said it is exciting to be going to nationals and keeping up the tradition. This is the Cougars third straight trip to the national tournament and the fourth in five years.              

“Our goal is to make a tradition down there and come back with a couple wins and just do our best,” Shepherd said.

Shepherd and a lot of the girls have played against  the Salt Lake players while in high school, so it could be a reunion of sorts on the field. The Cougar players, however, want to get a win against the Utah junior college team.

 “I think we just need to be confident and trust ourselves that we can compete with them,” she said. “They are a beatable team. We just have to be confident. I am pretty excited to be going back to Utah.”

                WNCC enters the tournament on quite a roll, capturing their last 16 games. It is that winning attitude that has the team going in with confidence. The one thing that the Cougars have managed was winning several 1-0 games this year. Shepherd said that should help them heading into the tournament.
                “Oh for sure the tough schedule and close games will help us,” she said. “We know how to handle those close games and perform under pressure.”
                Shepherd and the rest of the Utah girls on the roster, Aria Agle, Bree Bitton, Shalese Connary, Brandi Percival, and Jocelyn Stubbs, they are excited to be going home and playing on a field they have played on a number of times before.
                “I am very excited to be going back home,” she said. “I think we have worked hard we earned the trip to nationals, so it is exciting. “
                Other first round matchups in the tournament has No. 1 Chattonooga State College (56-4) facing No. 16 Aiken Technical College 32-29); No. 9 Wallace State-Hanceville (54-10) vs. No. 8 Seminole State (44-19-1); No. 5 State College of Florida (48-11) vs. No. 12 Temple College (44-15); No. 13 Butler Community College(40-15) vs. No. 4 Pima Community College (53-13); No. 3 Blinn College (49-8) vs. No. 14 Gordon College (37-17); No. 11 Crowder College (44-16) vs. No. 6 Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (38-13); and No. 7 Howard College (47-15) vs. No. 10 Lake Land College (51-5).
                If WNCC wins its first-round game, they will ply Thursday at 7 p.m. against the winner of the Howard and Lake Land contest. A loss sends the Cougars into a elimination game at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. The tournament is double elimination with the championship game slated for Saturday. Tournament action can be heard live on the NJCAA website at njcaa.org.

NJCAA Softball Tournament First Round Pairings Game 1 - Chattonooga State CC (Tenn) vs. Aiken Technical College (SC) Game 2 - Wallace State CC-Hanceville (Ala) vs. Seminole State College of Florida Game 3 - State College of Florida - Manatee-Sarasota vs. Temple College (Tex) Game 4 - Butler County CC (Kan) vs. Pima CC (Ariz) Game 5 - Blinn College (Tex) vs. Gordon College (Ga) Game 6 - Crowder College (Mo) vs. Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Game 7 - Howard College (Tex) vs. Lake Land College (Ill) Game 8 - Western Nebraska CC vs. Salt Lake CC (Utah)

Yates signs with women's basketball

                Alyssa Yates knows what it takes to get better at basketball. The 5-foot-10 put lots of hours in the gym during and out of season.

                That hard work has landed her a scholarship to play for Coach Dave Harnish and the women’s basketball. Yates signed a letter of intent on April 30 and is excited to be continuing her basketball career.

                “Coach contacted me and he wanted me to come down for a visit,” Yates said. “I came down and I really liked it here. This area is definitely different, but I like the feeling of it. It seems like a good community and that is what I was looking for in a college.”

                Yates played basketball at Northwest Christian High School in Spokane, Wash., and has worked with many Division I players and coaches from around the Spokane region.

                “Living in the Spokane area has given me the opportunity to practice with some of the greatest Gonzaga women’s players to date.  I was able to get several workouts with Courtney Vandersloot before she was drafted by Chicago’s WNBA team,” Yates said on her recruiting page. “Courtney helped me with my vision of the game, ball handling and one on one game against her.  I also worked with Heather Bowman who holds the West Coast Conference scoring record.  Heather helped me with post game and how to work inside with larger post since I am only 5-10. I do not play a lot of post, but she really helped when I do. 

“My strength coach, Peter Faletto trained Angie Byorkland who was formally with the University of Tennessee.  My longest coach I have had is my shooting coach, John Morrison.  He coached his son Adam Morrison formally with the Charlotte Bobcats and the L.A. Lakers.”

Yates is averaged about 12 points a game in high school and six rebounds. She started both seasons at Northwest Christian and a captain her senior year. She was more of a guard, but can play inside as a forward. She averaged about three 3-pointers a game.

Yates transferred to NWC her junior year and helped the team to back-to-back state tournament appearances. In the post season, she led her team in scoring and earned back-to-back scholastic awards. She was also presented the coach’s award at the team banquet.

Yates said she has always wanted to play college ball since she started playing in the fifth grade. Her goal is to play at the Division II or Division I level. She said the only colleges she was looking at before WNCC called were Division III schools.

“I am definitely excited to playing here,” Yates said. “I always wanted to come to college for basketball. It is just something I always wanted to do since fifth grade.”

Yates, who is a pre-engineering major, said while coming here will be an adjustment, she is ready to improve her skills even more.

“It will definitely be a culture change, but I don’t think it will be too hard and I can adapt pretty well,” she said. “I just want to improve my skills, get better and move on to a four-year school after this. I am glad coach called and I think I will fit well here.”

Yates is the eighth recruit Harnish has signed for next year. The other seven include Torrington’s Mikayla Brower; Bridgeport’s Ashley Stevens; Katie Kerkhoff of Parker, Colo.; Simone Evans of Aurora, Colo.; Shalisa Moffit of Colorado Springs, Colo.; Maurissa Ortega of Erie, Colo.; and Lauren Russel Rivera of Colorado Springs, Colo.

                The Cougars return just three players from this year’s team in Jessica Aratani, Kelsey Doddridge, and Idil Ozbayrak.