SPRING MID-SEASON REPORTS

Baseball

For the first time in several years, Dana baseball received national votes in the NAIA poll. At mid-season, there weren’t enough votes to earn a national ranking, but the Vikes were listed as No. 5 in Region IV.

Eleven of Dana’s 15 losses have been to nationally ranked teams, and seven were ranked in the Top 10. None of these games were played at home.

Dana launched into the conference season on fire, going undefeated for the first nine games. Offensive leaders include Mark Listenberger ’04 (.412), Jon Moench ’03 (.371) and Kenny Nicoll ’04 (.342).

Softball

At midseason, the Dana College softball team sat in the middle of the highly competitive Great Plains Athletic Conference. The Vikings had a 17-10 record (6-4 in the GPAC) and were ranked seventh in NAIA Region IV.

On the way, the Vikings upset the GPAC-leading Concordia Bulldogs April 2. Cindy Ruch ’06 set a new school record for wins when she reached 10 at the Dana Invitational March 23.

At midseason, Erica Duncan ’04 was leading at the plate, with 32 hits, 15 RBIs and batting .421. Ruch leads pitchers with 48 strikeouts and a 1.42 ERA.

Track

Track finished the indoor portion of its season on a high note, with four team members earning All-America status at the NAIA Indoor Track Championships.

Matt Maltby ’03 put the shot 51 feet, 61/2 inches for second place at Nationals. Stephanie Collins ’03 was third in the 1,000-meter run, setting a new school record at 2:57.17. (She held the old record, as well.) Garry Clark ’04 placed third in the 600-meter dash with a time of 1:19.50. Allen Wagner ’03 placed sixth in the mile run, with his best time of the season, 4:17.95.

Coach Allen Friesen was looking forward to the outdoor season.