COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Graff-Ermeling Finishes 19th in Nationals

After a slow start, Concordia’s Genevieve Graff-Ermeling rallied to finish 19th in the NAIA national cross-country championships Saturday at Wisconsin Parkside in Kenosha.

Graff-Ermeling, who earned All-American honors, covered the 5,000-meter course in 18 minutes 31 seconds, 30 seconds slower than she ran in her second-place finish at the District 3 championships earlier this month. As a freshman, Graff-Ermeling was sixth in the national meet.

Elizabeth Onyambu, the District 3 champion, won Saturday’s race in 17:35. SCC’s Nikee Pool finished 163rd in a field of 342 in 20:18.

In nonconference men’s basketball:

Southern California College 68, Black Hills (S.D.) State 67--The host Vanguards (2-0) led, 40-25, at the half but nearly let the victory get away. Todd Anderson’s dunk with 31 seconds remaining gave the Vanguards a 68-63 lead, but he received a technical for hanging on the rim, and Scott Jaggi made the two free throws to make it 68-65.

Jaggi then put in a rebound to make it 68-67 with two seconds left, but time expired.

In Mountain Pacific Sports Federation water polo:

UC Santa Barbara 10, UC Irvine 7--Doug Wierenga scored three goals to lead seventh-ranked UC Santa Barbara (19-12) over the No. 4 Anteaters. Matt Maunz scored three goals for UCI, which finished the regular season 17-9. Pairings for the NCAA tournament, which begins Friday at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach, will be announced today.

In a consolation game of the Cal Poly Pomona women’s basketball tournament:

Southern California College 75, Biola 44--Heather Brannan scored 17 points to lead SCC (1-1), while Tina Demarsh added 16 points, including four three-pointers.