Kristina O’Keefe

To qualify, student-athletes must compete in one of the 13 CCAA-sponsored sports, and must have achieved a grade point average of 3.40 or higher in a minimum of 24 semester units during the 2008-09 academic year.

Chosen as the Hal Charnofsky Memorial Award winners, presented to each institution’s top academic student-athletes, were HSU’s Kristina O’Keefe and Drew Ryan. O’Keefe was a senior basketball player who majored in Liberal Studies-Elementary Education, and Ryan was a senior soccer player majoring in Kinesiology.

Another women’s basketball standout, Jennifer Enos, has been selected as one of two Lumberjacks to receive the NCAA Division II Degree Completion Award for 2009-10. Also chosen was Caitlin Klug, who completed her four-year career with the HSU softball team last spring.

Drew Ryan

The purpose of the Division II Degree-Completion Award program is to provide financial assistance to deserving student-athletes who are working towards the completion of a first baccalaureate degree. Student-athletes who have exhausted their athletics eligibility and have received athletics financial aid are eligible candidates for this award.

To date, over $2,000,000 has been given to approximately 600 deserving student-athletes. Of those student-athletes who have received the award since its inception, 93 percent have earned their undergraduate degree using this program.

Tough road tests lie directly ahead

Southern California and its Humboldt-like weather (in recent days, at least) welcomes the Lumberjacks this week when they wing their way to the country’s largest city for two league games.

Now 13-5 overall and sharing the league lead with a 6-2 mark, Humboldt State goes up against tri-CCAA leader Cal State Dominguez Hills, 12-3 and also 6-2, on Friday. Cal State Los Angeles (9-6, 4-4) welcomes the Lumberjacks to the Eagles’ Nest on Saturday.

Jacks seek roadtrip sweep to finish first swing through league

Coming off a split at home, the HSU women’s team will seek a sweep on the road to keep itself among the contenders for the CCAA crown and eventual postseason.

Humboldt State, 10-5 overall and 5-3 in league, starts the weekend with a 5:30 p.m. Friday game against Cal State Dominguez Hills (10-5, 5-3), one of the four teams tied with HSU for second place in the standings. Saturday’s action sends the Jacks up against Cal State Los Angeles, 2-13 overall and 1-7 in the CCAA.

This Week’s Schedule

If you missed last week’s thrilling action in Lumberjack Arena, there is one chance to sample the atmosphere. Last Friday’s overtime win by the HSU men’s team over San Francisco State will be televised in its entirety Wednesday at 7 p.m. on Suddenlink Channel 12 locally.

Women focus on Chico State, CSU Stanislaus

Perennial powerhouse Chico State will host the HSU women’s team Friday at 5:30 p.m. in the Wildcats’ Acker Gym. Humboldt State continues its roadtrip Saturday, heading to Turlock to take on Cal State Stanislaus at 5:30 p.m.

Men’s team faces familiar opponents this weekend

While most of the players on HSU’s current team are relative newcomers, HSU men’s basketball has been quite familiar with the next two opponents during the program’s history. The Jacks go up against Chico State at 7:30 p.m. Friday, then make the quick trip to Turlock for Saturday’s game against Cal State Stanislaus.

Coach Frank Cheek.

Cheek is entering his 21st season as the head coach of the Humboldt State softball team, twice capturing the NCAA Division II Championship (1999, 2008). During his first 20 seasons with the Lumberjacks softball program, Cheek has guided the team to 16 conference championships, 19 west regional playoff appearances and five west region titles. The leader of the 2008 NFCA Division II’s Coaching Staff of the Year, Cheek has also served as the wrestling coach and athletic director at HSU.

“We’ve had a good run at Humboldt State,” Cheek says. “We won our second national championship and that carries a lot of weight. When you win the championship and there’s 275 teams and you’re the last one standing, that speaks for the program. The award didn’t just speak for this year, it spoke for 20 years of effort on the part of the players and coaches here at Humboldt. This is really quite an accomplishment for the entire University.”

Cheek will be back on the field with his squad this spring as the Jacks look to defend their national title. Right now, at the close of the fall semester, the team is in finals mode, Cheek says. That means studying for tests, writing term papers and no official softball practice. Nevertheless, Cheek says, when he stopped by the Student Recreation Center to workout this week he found a collection of his players practicing pitching and lifting weights.

“No one told them to workout, it’s finals week, you don’t expect it, but there they are working out,” Cheek says. “That’s a mark of a championship team. That’s something they did on their own and that’s the kind of leadership we have here with our juniors and seniors.”

The NFCA represents all levels of college softball, high school softball and virtually every other form of competitive softball played in the United States. Bill Edwards of Hofstra University and Diane Ninemire of the University of California, Berkeley will also be inducted at the ceremony next year.

Forward Kevin Atkins, top, looks for a pass. Guard/Forward Katie Franci takes a shot in a HSU women’s homegame. HSU Athletics

On the same road trip, HSU’s women saw a valiant comeback attempt fell short in the last two minutes, leaving Humboldt State on the short end of a 69-66 loss to UC San Diego in RIMAC Arena.

With the loss, HSU’s women dropped to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.

Humboldt State’s women’s next game is a non-league home contest against Academy of Art, scheduled for 2 p.m. Dec. 20 in Lumberjack Arena. The Jacks resume CCAA action when they host San Francisco State on Jan. 2, 2009.

Taking a break from league games, HSU’s men next see the court when they hosts the Lawrence R. De Beni, Sr. Memorial Classic on Dec. 19 and 20. HSU will face Lewis and Clark State on the first day, and conclude the tournament the next against Western Oregon.

All games take place in Humboldt State’s new Lumberjacks’ Arena and tickets are available at the HSU Bookstore.

For more information visit the HSU Jacks’ homepage.

The new Lumberjacks’ Arena. HSU Athletics

Women’s Basketball hosts one game, then travels

Sonoma State visits Arcata for Wednesday’s conference opener in Lumberjack Arena. With little time to rest, the HSU women’s squad boards a flight early Thursday, traveling to La Jolla for Friday’s CCAA game against UC San Diego. Both games begin at 5:30 p.m., and will be broadcast live on KATA 1340 AM radio and webcast on hsujacks.com

Men’s Basketball starts conference quest Wednesday

Humboldt State’s new-look Lumberjacks, whose predecessors claimed the CCAA title the past two years, hope to establish their own tradition of league success beginning with Wednesday’s game against Sonoma State. The Seawolves get their first look at Lumberjack Arena at 7:30 p.m.

HSU goes on the road for its next CCAA battle, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday against UC San Diego in La Jolla. Fans can keep track of the action via the radio broadcast on KATA, 1340 AM, or via the webcast on hsujacks.com. All CCAA games also feature live statistics on the web provided by the home team.

This Week’s Schedule

Wilson California Collegiate Athletic Association Women’s Basketball Player of the Week Katie Franci. HSU Athletics

Franci, a 5-foot-9 senior from Sebastopol, Calif., earned Phoenix Inn DII Shootout Most Valuable Player honors after helping the Lumberjacks post wins over Saint Martin’s and host Western Oregon. The Humboldt State senior averaged 15 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, three steals and one block while playing 25 minutes a contest.

Franci opened the tournament with 12 points and 11 rebounds against Saint Martin’s before coming back a night later to contribute 19 points, 10 rebounds and four steals against Western Oregon.

Humboldt State takes on Sonoma State in the Lumberjack Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 3, with a start time of 5:30 p.m.

Visit the HSU Jacks’ homepage for more information, including how to buy tickets and team schedules.

Forward Kevin Atkins looks before making a pass during Saturday’s win against Simpson University. Keri Larson / HSU Athletics

Elliot Babcock-Krenk scored 11 points, and teammates Mike Kehrig, Kyle Baxter and Kevin Atkins all added 10 in helping the Jacks improve to 3-2 overall. Justin Sparks scored 15 points, while Glenn Payne and Andrew Schritter each added 11 for the Red Hawks, who remained winless at 0-6.

The Lumberjacks jumped out to a 20-point lead midway through the first half, going up 26-6 on Ernie Spada’s three-pointer. The Red Hawks whittled the advantage down to 11 points on Andrew Barclay’s dunk as the half wound down, but David Broome drained a jumper as time expired to give the Jacks a 39-26 lead.

In the second half the Jacks again opened up a comfortable margin, pulling ahead by 29 points on Baxter’s layup with 13 minutes, 25 seconds remaining. They kept a sizeable lead while the HSU coaching staff frequently employed a variety of lineups throughout.

HSU claimed a rebounding advantage for the first time in the early season, out-boarding Simpson, 86-65. Babcock-Krenk and Atkins shared team-high honors with nine rebounds each, and Baxter and Jameson Figgatt both contributed four assists.

Humboldt State is back on the court today for another preseason matchup, hosting William Jessup at 7:30 p.m. in Lumberjack Arena.

For more information, including the box score to this game, visit the HSU Jacks homepage.

Davidson, author of “Never Too Late” and the first middle-aged man in NCAA history to don a rookie’s helmet, also will be on hand Saturday, Nov. 8, for the 5:00 p.m. kickoff in Redwood Bowl, where his story is set.

“Never Too Late” recounts the saga of a single dad who sets out to be a 50-plus pigskin novice, based on a pledge to a young man fighting cancer.

The true story chronicles Davidson’s struggle for physical fitness and his bid to understand the lives and fates of “throwaway” youngsters who inhabit locker rooms, juvenile halls and group homes.

For details, dial the Bookstore at (707) 826-3741.

In fact, the only sports programs home this week are the soccer teams, with volleyball and football traveling and cross country taking the week off from competition. Basketball continues practice sessions for the approaching season.

h2.Soccer to Honor Seniors; Others Travel

Postseason remains elusive for the HSU men’s and women’s soccer teams, but both have experienced marked improvement over last year’s results. The Jacks end the 2008 season at home, both with the potential to end with winning records.

Friday’s action begins with the men’s team facing Chico State at 4:30 p.m., followed by the women’s game against the Wildcats at 7 p.m. On Sunday, the women kick off against Cal State Stanislaus at 11:30 a.m., and the men take on the Warriors at 2 p.m. All games will be played in Redwood Bowl.

Football Makes Second Straight Roadtrip

Another opportunity to prove itself against another talented program comes Saturday, when the Humboldt State football team travels to Monmouth, Ore. to take on Western Oregon at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on local radio station KATA, 1340 AM, and also streamed live on hsujacks.com.

Volleyball Visits The Bay Area This Weekend

Their final roadtrip of the season finds the Lumberjacks in the Bay Area for matches against San Francisco State and Cal State Monterey Bay this weekend. HSU faces the S.F. State Gators at 7 p.m. Friday, and hits the court at the same time Saturday for a match against Cal State Monterey Bay.

Following this week’s journey, the Jacks return home for their final two weekends of California Collegiate Athletic Association action.

This Week’s Schedule