Fall sports wrap up their season, and seniors are celebrating
Pacific University fall sports honored their seniors this past weekend—and it was all the waterworks. Due to COVID-19, senior days have been complicated for the past few years—and for the bulk of senior athletes, that means for the majority of their college athletic careers. Senior night has been a tradition to thank and honor the seniors for everything they have put into the programs and sports. Despite a rainy week for these fall sports, honoring seniors brightened the days.
Men’s Cross Country has one lone fifth-year senior on the team, Will Wada. Wada has been having the best season of his Pacific career, even moving up in the record books. He is ranked 16th all-time in the Men’s 8,000-meter race at Pacific University, with a time of 25:46.4. His teammates have described him as someone who has always been welcoming and brought a true sense of team. Senior Olivia Meyers is a fifth-year senior on the women’s cross-country team. Meyers’s teammates said they would miss her positive energy and contagious laugh on the team. Meyers helped the women’s team rank third out of nine this season at the NWC Championship race. On to regionals, they go!
Nico Allen, Jericho Lara, and Connor Barres were the trio of seniors for Boxer Men’s Soccer. Starting their freshman year in 2019, these three have completed all four years with this team. Jericho and Allen have significantly impacted the offense this season, Jericho with 3 goals and 3 assists and Allen with 1 goal and 3 assists. In contrast, Connor Barres has held down the defensive line as a solid center-back. On the men’s senior night, they tied Whitworth 0-0 and left it all on the field one final time. But, rumor has it, the seniors might be back to cash in their fifth year.
Emily Rutkowski, Catalina Alvarado, Peyton Seals, and Julianna Ventura represented the senior class for the Boxer Women’s Soccer program. All four seniors have been consistent starters and have played high minutes this season. The four seniors had a heavy number of underclassmen this season, so they have taken on significant leadership roles all season. The underclassman has described the seniors as a “perfect balance, ” which helped build a lot of team culture.
With many seniors to honor, the Pacific Football Program has much to worry about on Senior Day. The senior class consists of Noah Carvallho, Deshayne Stevens, Robert Wood, Gerson Montoya, Aaron Krupinsky, Justin Ikei, Ty Tua-a, Kash Taylor, Ikaika Fetheran, Rustin Williams, Matthew Kimball, Loudyn Reese, Jacob Rasmussen, Zach Camy, and Caden Almer. Loudyn Reese.
“I think we are a very connected group,” said Reese. “There are a lot of dedicated athletes in the senior class.” In particular, Reese had one memory in mind during Senior Night. “My favorite memory of all time was beating Whitworth last year. It was the first time we had beaten them in a few years. It was a super fun bus ride there and back. But this year, beating Pomona-Pitzer was cool. We beat them in overtime, and there were a lot of people there as well as a lot of hype around it.”
Boxer volleyball also graduates a large class, with seniors Kimberlie Nordahl, Charlotte Powell, Shaianne Cambra, Karina Umali, and Kyla Sandoval representing the pack. These five seniors have been with the team since their first year at Pacific. The seniors have been all over the court this season, blocking, spiking, and setting. — Avari Schumacher
Major: Sports Communications
Hometown: Stayton, OR
Hobbies: Watching baseball, thrifting, skincare, hanging out with my pets, snowboarding, and going on walks.
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