Fall athletics were in full swing for the Linfield Wildcats this past week, with the Wildcats earning team wins in volleyball and football, and the cross country team running at Pacific Lutheran.
On Sept. 20, Wildcat football beat Chapman University, based in Orange, Calif. 28-13. The game was a defensive coordinator’s dream as the first half saw only six first downs, but three touchdowns on short yardage situations.
Linfield opened the scoring with a touchdown pass from quarterback Luke McNabb, a senior sport management major, to junior accounting and finance major Jake Wallace. It was Wallace’s first career receiving touchdown and his lone catch of the day.
Chapman then marched down the field to score a touchdown capped by a 9-yard run by junior Andrew Latu. They missed the extra point, but scored again on a one-play drive featuring a 54-yard touchdown catch by junior Emilio Pucci. The game went into halftime 13-7.
The Wildcats scored three unanswered touchdowns to finish the game, two receiving from senior applied physics major Caleb Woodcock, and a rushing touchdown by McNabb. McNabb finished as the leading rusher for the Wildcats, with 63-yards and a touchdown on 13 attempts. Woodcock was the leading receiver with four catches for 100 yards and two scores. McNabb went 14-24 with 170 passing yards with three scores on the game.
The team leaves non-conference play at 1-1, and opens Northwest Conference play at George Fox on Oct. 4.
Linfield volleyball swept Pacific University in their conference opener in Forest Grove, Ore. The Wildcats won in straight sets, winning 21-15 in the first and 21-19 in the last two.
The Wildcats were dominant for the entire match, going on long streaks of consecutive points. Their longest streak was six straight points midway through the first set. Junior political science and psychology major Nora Myre led the team in kills with 14. Freshman education major Lani Taliloa led the team in aces with two and sophomore nursing major Pi’ilani Hirahara led in assists with 17.
Defensively, sophomore biochemistry and molecular biology major Madison Millard led the team with three blocks and freshman business major Naia Alefaio-Foifua led in digs with 15.
The Wildcats sit at 1-0 in conference play and 3-3 overall. They next host Whitworth University on Sept. 26.
Linfield’s cross country teams competed on Sept. 20 at the Pacific Lutheran University Invitational in Tacoma, Wash. Freshman Marco Stroman led the Wildcat men with a 28:12.6 finish, placing 64th. Junior history major CJ Brindeiro placed 114th with a 29:34.8, and freshman data science and sport management major Finley Wodke placed 147th with a 32:12.9. The team did not have a team score.
On the women’s side, freshman elementary education and psychology major Mya Budzik led the team with a 27:48.4 finish, getting 110th overall. Freshman chemistry major Jasmine Solso finished 116th with a 28:23.2 finish, junior exercise science major Liberty McElfatrick got 127th with a 31:08.4 finish and freshman physics major Ximena Sanchez-Lopez rounded the team out placing 128th with a 31:17.5 finish. The women also did not have a team placement.
Cross Country will continue their season at the Charles Bowles Invitational in Salem, Ore. The meet will be hosted by Willamette University and take place on Oct. 4.
