SENIOR JONATHAN JOHNSON prote<ts the goal dUring a preseasonlacrosse practice Sept 13. The lacrosse club was ranked first inthe Great RIVersLacrosse Conference preseason poll and 12th in the National Coach es preseason pol l.•(. ROBERSON MEMBERS OFTHE ULTIMATE FRISBEE CLUB practice Jan. 20 at Harding Park, which allowed other students to play in apickup game with the team. InUltimate Frisbee th ere wereno referees; fouls weresel f-called. 'R. KECK THE NATIONALLY RANKED LACROSSE club began its spring season with a 2-2 record, mounting wins over St. Louis University and Stephen F. Austin University Feb. 12-13. According to the National Coaches preseason poll, Harding ranked 12th in the nation. The Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference preseason poll ranked the Harding team first. Seniors Jonathan Johnson, Mark Bates and John Tomassoni and sophomore JP Allen led the team as captains. Tomassoni said team members were prepared to live up to the high expectations placed upon them this year. "As far as physical ability goes, we're ready to take on these teams," Tomassoni said. "If we are organized and are able to stay strong mentally through all of the games, I know we can do it." Team members were confident they would perfonn well throughout the season. "We have a really hard schedule this season, and we are playing several teams in the A division, but we are starting to work together as a team and bring our intensity level up, so we're going to be able to dominate most teams," senior Joey Tennison said. Harding s opening games in St. Louis began with a loss to Lindenwood University but ended with a 8-6 victory over St. Louis University, despite poor weather conditions. Junior Kyle Latourette said the field was a mud pit because of a downpour that lasted throughout the game. "It felt like we were walking through cement," Latourette said. "We just pushed through, had fun and did the best we could under the circumstances." Harding played its first home game of the season Feb. 19 and lost to Creighton University by a narrow margin of 10-12. Despite a solid Harding lead early in the game, Creighton rallied in the third quarter to clench the win. Tomassoni said the team's penalties hurt them in the Creighton game. "We should have won, but we ended on a positive note and talked about what we needed to do to get better for our game the next day," Tomassoni said. "We turned the loss into something positive for the next game, and we came out really strong." The team beat SFAU 20-3 the next day. - KELLI OHRENBERGER 235 - ATHLETICS
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