The Northwest Missouri State men’s and women’s cross country teams both improved in the week one regional poll as released by U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

The Bearcat men and women both improved one spot, but the one spot was a big jump for both teams as the polls saw relatively little movement. It came almost a week after both teams finished successful runs at the Woody Greeno Invitational in Lincoln, Neb.

The Northwest men jumped to No. 6 in the South Central Region, switching places with perennial power Missouri Southern. Central Missouri remains the highest ranking MIAA team at No. 2 while East Central (Okla.) held onto the top spot.

On the women’s side, Northwest moved from No. 6 to No. 5 after a great showing in Lincoln. The Bearcats, paced behind Angela Adams still trail a number of MIAA teams including power Missouri Southern at No.2 and Truman at No. 3, neither of which changed from the preseason poll. Midwestern State also held onto the No. 1 spot.

Both teams have the weekend off before heading to the Emporia State Invitational, Sept. 30.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

The sixth-ranked Washburn Lady Blues made quick work of the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats Tuesday night taking a, 3-0 win inside Bearcat Arena in MIAA volleyball action.

Northwest falls to 3-6 on the season and 0-2 in the MIAA falling to perennial power Washburn, 25-13, 25-16, 25-20. The Lady Blues improved to 9-1 on the year and 2-0 in league play as they extended the Bearcats losing streak to four games.

“Washburn is one of the top teams in the country and they proved that here tonight,” head coach Jessica Rinehart said. “You can’t make as many mistakes as we did against top teams. All you can do is shake it off and get back out on the court. And we get to do that Friday night against Fort Hays St.”

The Lady Blues came out and silenced the Bearcat faithful taking the first two sets in dominating fashion. Washburn hit .281 as a team while unforced errors saw the Bearcats post a -.143 hitting percentage.

Northwest would pull out early in the second set, but the Lady Blues would again dominate at the net hitting .429. A Bearcat timeout would momentarily halt the Lady Blues momentum before cruising to a, 25-16 win and a, 2-0 lead.

The Bearcats would hang with the Lady Blues in the third and final set forcing seven ties and three lead changes. However, errors would again haunt Northwest as they finished with an .050 team hitting percentage falling, 25-20.

Laira Akin would pace the Bearcat offense with 23 assists while Tori Beckman’s 14 digs led all players.

Heavy hits from freshman Brooke Bartosh and senior Alex Hanna would swing the momentum towards Northwest in each set, however the Bearcats could not capitalize as they only held serve for three consecutive points once in the entire match.

Hilary Hughes of Washburn led all players with nine kills.

Northwest continues MIAA action at Fort Hays State on Friday. Tip from Hays, Kan. is set for 7 p.m.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State golf team picked up their second tournament win in three days, and third title of the fall season late Monday at the Nebraska-Wesleyan Invitational and the Pioneer Golf Club.

The Bearcats, who have participated in three tournaments this fall, have taken home first-place trophies at each one. The golfers will have the weekend of before heading to Fort Hays State next Monday for the Fort Hays St. Invite, a two-day event.

Northwest was led by Steph Charteris, who followed up Sunday’s 78 with a 75 (+1) and a third place finish. Charteris started the day in second place, but despite going even lower on Monday, the freshman could not make up the five strokes to champion Mel Buxton of Iowa Western Community College who shot a, 76-72 for a two-day total of 148.

Three Bearcats finished in the top 10 including Cassie Lowell, who also fired a second round 79 (162) to tie for fifth.

Tess Edwards rounded out the Bearcat trio in the top 10 at ninth after a second round 84 (166).

Kristina D’Angela finished in tied for 14th to round out the Bearcat scores with a consistent two-day score of 86-86 for a total of 172.

All five Northwest golfers finished in the top 20 as Jacy Gasper finished tied for 18th.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Ten top 25 teams lost over the weekend propelling the Northwest Missouri State football team to the No. 1 spot as announced by the AFCA on Monday.

The Bearcats took a blowout, 73-7 win over Lincoln on Saturday to stay perfect on the season at 3-0 and extend their MIAA record winning streak to 48 games. Northwest has also won 12 straight regular season games the most in the nation after Albany State (Ga.) and Abilene Christian each lost.

ACU fell, 23-17 in a battle of top five teams to then No. 4 North Alabama who moved up two spots to No. 2. Behind the Lions, who received two first-place votes, was Shepherd (W. Va.) moving from No. 7 to No. 3, followed by Bloomsburg at No. 4 and Valdosta State at No. 5.

Along with the Bearcats three other MIAA schools are ranked in the top 25 including Washburn who moved to No. 8 after a come from behind win at Missouri Southern. Pittsburg State moved to No. 15 after narrowly escaping with a, 27-26 win at Truman, while No. 20 Central Missouri also needed late game heroics to pull a, 45-38 win over Emporia State.

Last year’s runner-up, Delta State moved back into the top 10 at No. 6 and picked up the final first-place tally followed by Nebraska-Kearney at No. 7 and MIAA rival Washburn. At is No. 8. Wayne State (Mich), who knocked off then-No. 22 Michigan Tech while Abilene Christian rounds out the top 10. Former No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth was shutout, 7-0 by Wayne State (Neb.) dropping the Bulldogs to No. 11.

The Bearcats have now been ranked 17 weeks at No. 1 in the AFCA top 25 poll. Northwest was last ranked in the top spot opening the 2010 season, which was the first time the Bearcats were ranked No.1 since the 2000 season.

Northwest returns home to host Fort Hays State this Saturday at 1 p.m. in the first ever Blackout at Bearcat Stadium.

Click here for the entire AFCA Top 25.

Playing in wet and sloppy field conditions the Northwest Missouri State football Bearcats took a 73-7 win over Lincoln University on Saturday afternoon at Dwight T. Reed Stadium in MIAA action.

Northwest stays unbeaten on the season at 3-0 and moves to 2-0 in league play without two senior captains in uniform, Jake Soy and Blake Christopher. The Blue Tigers fall to 1-2 on the year and 0-2 in conference action.

The Bearcats jumped out early on the Blue Tigers scoring four times in the first quarter to build a 24-0 lead. However, four turnovers from the Bearcats on wet field conditions kept the game scoreless in the second quarter.

Northwest would come out firing on all cylinders to start the second half as Trevor Adams replaced Christopher and threw four touchdown passes, two in each half. Adams would find Tyler Shaw for the second time of the day to build a 31-0 lead just three minutes into the third quarter.

With seven minutes left in the third quarter Adams’ final touchdown came on a 16-yard pass to Clint Utter pushing the Northwest lead 38-0. But it was the Bearcat defense the showed pride in the final 30 minutes of action.

Lincoln would score their only touchdown on a 90-yard kickoff return from Fred Fuller; however the Bearcats would not be outdone as Jordan Simmons returned the ensuing kickoff 75-yards to pay dirt for the first special teams touchdown of the year for the Bearcats.

Northwest would finish with 577 yards of total offense while holding under 150 total yards of offense. The Bearcat defense held the Blue Tigers to only 10 first downs in the game compared to 28 for Northwest.

The only blemish in the Bearcat blowout would be five Northwest turnovers. Trevor Adams was picked off twice and Tyler Seals once. It was the first time in 2011 the Bearcats allowed an interception and the first turnover since the opening drive of the season at Truman.

Northwest returns home to host Fort Hays State in the first ever blackout at Bearcat Stadium. Kickoff between the Bearcats and Tigers is set for 1 p.m.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri State University soccer team blanked the Southwest Baptist Bearcats 0-2 Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Pitch as Northwest goalkeeper Kelsey Adams recorded her second shutout of the season.

The Bearcats are now 2-2-2, 1-0 MIAA after tying Truman 0-0 Thursday.  With the loss Southwest Baptist University fell to 1-4-1, 0-1 MIAA.

Northwest was outshot in the first half 14-9 with Adams having eight saves.

Northwest went on the attack in the second half outshooting Southwest Baptist 15-3.  Victoria Von Mende struck first for the Bearcats when she scored her fifth goal of the season in the 51st minute.  Northwest would strike again and put the game out of reach in the 71st minute when Tammie Eiberger scored her seventh goal of the season.

Southwest Baptist had six corner kicks in the contest while the Bearcats had four.  Kelsey Adams recorded nine saves in the match for Northwest.  Megan Link saved thirteen shots for the Bearcats of Southwest Baptist.

The Bearcats (2-2-2, 1-0 MIAA) continue MIAA action this week when they host the No. 25 ranked University of Central Missouri Jennies (4-1-0, 0-0 MIAA) at Bearcat Pitch on Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m.  Central Missouri was picked to win the MIAA in the preseason coaches’ poll.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Senior Alex Hanna finished with a game high 16 kills, but it was not enough for the Northwest Missouri State volleyball team as they fell, 3-0 to 22nd-ranked Emporia State Wednesday night at White Auditorium in MIAA play.

The Bearcats who have now lost three straight fell to 3-6 on the season and 0-1 in MIAA play. Northwest fell, 25-19, 25-21, and 25-20 as the Hornets improved to 6-3 and 1-0 in conference play as they snapped a two game losing streak.

Northwest hung with ESU early on, but a, 12-5 run by the home team forced a Bearcat timeout as they trailed, 22-15. Back-to-back points by the Bearcats’ Hanna and Brooke Bartosh would force an ESU timeout before they finished the first set on a 5-1 run, winning 25-19.

The Hornets would again control the second set early on, but the Bearcats would refuse to go quietly. A kill from Hanna would pull the Bearcats within one at, 13-12 and followed by a Bartosh pulling Northwest even at, 15-15. Hanna would also finish with a .414 hitting percentage leading the Bearcats.

However, ESU would get four straight points from Paige Vanderpool breaking the tie and taking the second set, 25-21.

The third set would again be all Emporia St. as Northwest would make a late run to pull within, 21-19 after an ESU error. The Bearcats would get no closer in the set falling, 25-20 in the final set as Laira Akin recorded her third double-double of the season notching 36 assists and 10 digs in the loss.

The Bearcats return home to continue MIAA play against their second consecutive nationally ranked opponent hosting Washburn on Tuesday night. Tip is set for 7 p.m. from Bearcat Arena.

Northwest will also host a Green and White scrimmage this Friday night inside Bearcat Arena starting at 7 p.m.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State University Department of Athletics, head coach Adam Dorrel, and the nationally ranked football team are encouraging fans to wear black Sept. 24 for the first ever Blackout when the Bearcats host Fort Hays State.

“Scott and I visited earlier in the summer about doing a blackout to tie in with our new uniforms,” said Director of Athletics Wren Baker. “He was very excited and passionate about this promotion and felt like it would be exciting for our student-athletes and fans. We hope that Bearcat Nation will help pay tribute to Scott by wearing their black shirts, and of course, red hats on the 24th.”

Along with the Blackout promotion, Northwest has planned several tributes to honor the late Scott Bostwick during the weekend. Some activities include:

* The naming of Scott Bostwick Drive, the circle drive west of Bearcat Stadium.

* A new banner that will hang off the west side of the stadium

* Also an Autumn Blaze red maple was planted on the northeast corner of the stadium in memory of Coach Bostwick. The tree was made possible by Landscape Services and Moffett Nursery.

* A video tribute to Coach Bostwick will also play at halftime

Some special tributes fans may have noticed during the Bearcats home opener last week include the red “SB” circle on the field as well as helmet decals of a red paw with the initials “SB” inside. The Bearcat football team also repainted the hand rails red, that lead from the locker room to the field.

Blackout shirts will be available for purchase during the week of the game through the Northwest Athletic Department as well as at the game so all fans can support the Bearcats as they blackout the Tigers of Fort Hays State.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri’s Victoria Von Mende has been named the MIAA Soccer Student-Athlete of the Week for the week of Sept. 6-11 as selected by a conference SID panel.

MIAA SOCCER PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Victoria Von Mende, F, Northwest Missouri

Von Mende scored both of the Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats’ goals in their 2-2 draw at Newman University on Saturday. Von Mende’s first goal was off an assist from Tammie Eiberger in the 12th minute making the game 1-1.  Von Mende’s second goal of the day came in the 57th minute and was also off an assist from Eiberger.  The sophomore from Council Bluffs, Iowa, is currently second in goals for the season with four and also in second for shots on goal for the Bearcats with six.

— MIAA News Release —