The transition from falling autumn leaves to overcast and cold days signals people to stay warm indoors. It also signals the transition from volleyball, soccer and cross country competition to basketball and indoor track and field.
Seattle Pacific’s fall sports lineup completed its 2024 season run after 18 weeks of competition on Saturday, Nov. 23. Winter sports will enter conference play on Thursday, Dec. 5.
Men’s basketball is eighth overall in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a 2-6 record. Assistant coach Donald Rollman looks forward to the first conference games in December.
“It’s always an interesting GNAC schedule, but the way it is gives you some time in between [the first few] conference games,” Rollman said. “We’ll play [MSU] Billings on the seventh, so it’ll be a good first test. Then we’ll go back to non-conference for a while, so it gives us time to work on and retool and tinker with some things before we get back to league play.”
Rollman expects the team to grow more cohesive on the court as conference play begins.
“We’ve got a lot of new guys coming together to play for the first time, so there’s going to be some growing pains, and we’ve definitely felt those,” Rollman said. “You have to grow through what you go through, and that’s going to be big for this group. They work hard, they’re great kids, so there’s no doubt that we’ll keep growing, keep learning and keep getting better.”
Women’s basketball is tenth overall in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a 2-7 record. Interim head coach Karen Byers is optimistic about the team’s first conference games against Western Washington University and Simon Fraser University in early December.
“We don’t have an easy start. Western and Simon Fraser will give us a taste of where we’re at, and then we have three or four weeks to improve before we go back into our GNACs,” Byers said. “Our team’s energy is great. Even though we’ve lost a few games, we’re all just surrounded by each other and energetic and looking forward to the rest of the season.”
A tough preseason run has Byers enthusiastic about the conference after identifying and addressing areas for improvement.
“We played some difficult teams in our preseason, which has given us a view of what we need to get better at,” Byers said. “We’ve put together some great quarters against nationally ranked teams, [so] if we play our game how we want, we can play with them and be up in that league. We’re hoping to get on the right path starting next week and take it to the GNACs.”
Track and field will begin their indoor season on Saturday, Dec. 14. Head coach Karl Lerum is excited for his cross country runners to bring their energy onto the track.
“We’re excited to see the side of our team that just finished up cross country,” Lerum said. “They’re pushing their season through to that December meet, so they’re going to hang in there and show off all the great fitness they’ve gained over the fall.”
Another exciting factor is the newer Falcons stretching their competitive muscles.
“We’ve been getting excited for our first opportunity to compete,” Lerum said. “We have a young team this year, which is exciting, and so I’m still getting to know all these athletes, and I haven’t seen them compete yet, but I do expect a strong first outing. We’re working hard, and they’ll practice their competitive muscles on that first track meet. I feel good about where we are. They’re all headed in the right direction.”
