SLIAC Weekly Release - March 22

This week in the SLIAC is a weekly review of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Read the recaps of the prior weeks results and highlights of upcoming events. You can also find the latest standings, statistics, schedules and awards.

HEADLINES

Feature Friday with Caitlin O'Neill (March 17, 2017)
This week's SLIAC Feature Friday interview is with Iowa Wesleyan University's Caitlin O'Neill. Caitlin, a two-sport athlete, talks about balancing athletics and school and why she wants to become a nurse.....MORE

Greenville Women's Basketball Captures NCCAA National Title (March 19, 2017)
The women's basketball team etched their position into the record books as one of Greenville's all-time best women's basketball teams as they won the NCCAA national championship with a 67-48 victory over Emmanuel on Saturday......MORE

SLIAC Game of the Week: Westminster at Spalding (March 21, 2017)
This week's SLIAC Game of the Week features two teams looking to secure their spot in the conference standings when Westminster College faces Spalding University on the baseball field this weekend. The two teams will play on Saturday, March 25 with game time for the double header beginning at 1 p.m. in Louisville, Ky.....MORE

SLIAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

The SLIAC Players of the Week are honored for their performances during the week. Click on the sport link below to see the full list of 2016-17 Players of the Week. For this week's Player of the Week release - HERE

Baseball l Softball l Men's Golf l Men's Tennis l Women's Tennis l Men's Track & Field l Women's Track & Field

FINAL SLIAC WINTER STANDINGS

AROUND THE SLIAC

	After a slow start to their season which saw them drop four straight, the Blackburn softball team did the opposite and won four straight games to even their season record. The Beavers won a pair of double headers over Ecclesia last week, scoring a total of 43 runs over the four games. Three players are hitting over .400 this season, led by Lexi Yockey with a .458 average. Blackbun opens conference play against Spalding this weekend.
	Weather has made a few changes to the Eureka schedule. The Red Devils baseball team will now open up their conference play against Blackburn on Friday, games start at 2 p.m. While the softball team will face Robert Morris-Springfield on Friday in a double header and then open their SLIAC schedule against Greenville on Saturday and Spalding on Sunday.
	Fontbonne University freshman Raven Venegas had an impressive debut to the Track and Field outdoor season, breaking two of the program's oldest records. Venegas the school record for distance in shot put, with a distance of 12.19 meters. She added a record throw in the discus as well, finishing with a mark of 29.04 meters.
	The Greenville baseball team wrapped up a strong spring break, going 5-2 during the trip. The Panthers will now face Wash U on Wednesday before opening up SLIAC play this weekend against Webster. Greenville is currently 8-7 overall this season. Outfielder Mike Hardin ranks fourth in the league in runs batted in with 15 this season.
	After spending a week in sunny Florida, going 2-8 during the trip, the Tigers took nearly two weeks off. They return to the field with a double header against Harris-Stowe this week in St. Louis, Mo. before taking on MacMurray on Saturday and Knox on Sunday.
	The MacMurray softball team will have a busy week ahead, with eight games scheduled. They will host St. Mary of the Woods on Wednesday before travelling to Knox on Friday. The Highlanders will then open up SLIAC play on Saturday when they face Iowa Wesleyan. Their week concludes on Sunday with a double header against Millikin.
	The Principia women's tennis team took time during their spring break trip to California to volunteer at Broadview Christian Science nursing home. The ladies spent time doing various jobs for the nursing home including painting and updating the home. Principia returns to tennis action on Thursday against Cal Tech.
	Spalding has announced the hiring of Grant Gupton as Assistant Men's Golf Coach. Gupton, originally from Jacksonville, Fla., is a graduate of the Brown School in Louisville, Ky. He was a multiple gold medalist Special Olympics golfer and has worked as a videographer for the Red & Blue Review TV Network. Gupton's younger brother, Gray, is a member of the Spalding men's golf program.
	The Webster men's golf team teed off in the Pinecrest Collegiate Invitational last week, finishing third in the field. They were led by Jon Hughes' three round score of 213, finishing second individually. Hughes finished with back to back rounds of 70 to close out the tournament. Will Murphy shot a 227 and tied for 20th individually in the tournament field.
	Shannon McCaul got her outdoor Track and Field season off to a fast start, recording a pair of first-place finishes at the Central Methodist Invitational over the weekend. McCaul took first int he 3,000 meter run with a time of 10:46.84 and first in the 800 meters with a time of 2:23.94.

THIS WEEK'S SLIAC SCHEDULE
To see a complete schedule of this week's SLIAC action click HERE

KEEP UP WITH THE SLIAC ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Be sure to keep up with the SLIAC using various social media platforms. You can follow us on Twitter (@sliac) HERE , Facebook (St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) HERE , or on Instagram (@SLIAC) Don't forget to share your game day photos from around the conference by using #SLIACtion on your tweets.

Be sure to check out the SLIAC Feature Friday interview series. Each Friday we will feature interviews with student-athletes, coaches, and administrators from around the SLIAC. You can also view our previous feature videos, where you can get to know our student-athletes outside of athletics and get an idea of what it is like to be a NCAA Division III student-athlete, as well as conference tournament highlight videos.