Weekly Sports Beat debuts

Beginning with this post, the COURIER Sports Beat blog will now feature a weekly update that will cover multiple sports teams throughout Claremont with a little bit of commentary included. The blog will still also feature individual updates but this will be a way to provide more highlights of what is going on with the sports teams in Claremont. Let's dive right into what will now be called the "Weekly Sports Beat."

Photo courtesy of C-M-S Athletics

-Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's basketball coach Jodi Burton reached the 500-win milestone last Saturday as the Athenas defeated Caltech in Pasadena, 51-36. Coach Burton has been with C-M-S for 32 years and has a career record with the Athenas of 500 wins to 293 losses for a winning percentage of .631. The C-M-S coach becomes the 5th coach in Division III history to win 500 games and she is the all-time wins leader in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play.

Landus' Note: I first met Coach Burton as a public address announcer for C-M-S men and women's basketball during the mid 2000's and have always respected the class in which she carries herself. She is very deserving of the award and when I spoke to her this morning, she humbly tried to downplay her accomplishment but we all know better. Coach Burton is truly an exceptional coach and C-M-S has been fortunate to have her for the past 3 decades.

Photo by Michael Balchunas

-The Claremont High School girls soccer team returns to the field today against St. Lucy's at Damien High School at 5:30 p.m. The Wolfpack enters tonight's match with an undefeated 15-0-2 record and is currently ranked No.1 according to MaxPrep's national rankings. CHS is led by Madison Stark (11 goals, assist), Rebekah Evans (5 goals, 7 assists) and Merin Arft (6 goals, 2 assists) and other members of a experienced and talented roster.

Landus' Note: I am really looking forward to today's match as this will be my first chance to see the 2011-12 version of the Wolfpack in action. And being that Claremont is facing St. Lucy's, the Pack's sworn rival and Sierra League foe, I am anticipating a very competitive match. The teams split their 2 matches last year and I'm expecting for the Regents to give the No.1 rated Wolfpack its biggest challenge to date.

-Just in case you missed it, the C-M-S men's basketball team went through its entire preseason with an undefeated record of 11-0 and then opened SCIAC play with an easy 77-42 win over Caltech for its 12th win of the season. The Stags are led by Chris Blees, who averages 14.9 points and 8 rebounds per contest and is shooting an impressive .558 clip from the field.

Landus' Note: I've followed the Stags for a number of years and what I've always been impressed by with the program is how head coach Ken Scalmanini knows how to get the most out of his roster of players and not just one player. While Blees is the top scorer for C-M-S, players such as Mani Maceira (11.4 ppg) and Cody Mivshek (9.3 ppg) are also contributing to the Stags' success. What's more, C-M-S typically fares even better in SCIAC play. Watch out for this team.

-Congratulations to the CHS varsity basketball team for a big resurgence that has resulted in 7 wins in their last 8 games and a current 3-game winning streak. Claremont's most recent win was a 65-52 win over Ontario on January 6. The Wolfpack (10-7) will host Damien tonight in search for its 11th win of the season.

Landus' Note: Sometimes all that is needed for a team to gel is time. And it seems that with the more time that passes, the better Claremont has become. Entering into Sierra League play will be a different beast altogether and will be the true test to let us know where the Pack stands.

As always, feel free to share your thoughts and look for the next installment of the "Weekly Sports Beat" next week.