Home Cooking Brought Van Herk to SCC
Southern California College often uses its location--across the street from the Orange County Fairgrounds, a short drive from the sand and surf--as a lure to attract prospective student-athletes.
Lori Van Herk didn’t need the hard sell. Location was an important consideration in picking a college and a place to play soccer, but only in terms of how far it was from La Palma.
Van Herk, a standout forward at Cypress College, nearly wound up at Westmont. Last February, Cypress even announced that she would attend the Santa Barbara school. She enjoyed the campus and was friendly with the players she met, but one thing changed her mind.
“Distance was the key factor,” Van Herk said. “Westmont is a little too far from here.
“I’m a homebody.”
Van Herk abandons that stay-at-home instinct on the soccer field for the SCC women’s team. A striker, she uses a quick first step and above-average speed to outrun most opposing defenders.
“She probably has been our most dynamic addition,” SCC Coach Scott Dameron said. “We have added three strong players this year, and she has shown the quickest what she is capable of doing.”
Sweeper Courtney Leonard, a junior from Irvine Valley College and Dana Hills High, and stopper Katie Kelley, a freshman from Bothell, Wash., are making an immediate impact for the Vanguards, but Van Herk has been the most productive.
In nine games, Van Herk has 12 goals and five assists for a Golden State Athletic Conference-leading 29 points. She was named the conference player of the week after scoring four goals and assisting on two others in a 9-0 victory last Friday over Mills College.
Van Herk, who played at Kennedy High School, brings consistency and winning experience to a program in its third year of existence. Last season, the Vanguards finished 6-11-2 after losing their final five games.
The past two years at Cypress, Van Herk played on a team that never lost during the regular season. In 1993, the Chargers lost in the State title game in penalty kicks. Last season with Van Herk out with a knee injury, they lost in the first round, again on penalty kicks.
SCC’s program is still young and isn’t likely to challenge for a national title, but Van Herk hopes to give it a shot.
“Would I like to win the whole thing? Yes, I would,” she said. “If it happens, it happens, but we are going to give it our all until we lose.”
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The Vanguards (7-3, 2-0 in the GSAC) have survived a number of injuries.
Goalkeeper Amy Lewis, the only senior on the roster, broke her nose and suffered a concussion in a preseason scrimmage. Because backup goalie Jessica Jenkins already had broken her wrist in a practice and was out for the season, fullback Katrina Bohn, from San Clemente High, was forced to play goalie for the first seven games.
Lewis played in her first game Friday.
Another key player, forward Jamie Gardiner, still hasn’t recovered from an injury. Gardiner, a junior from Sunny Hills and SCC’s leading scorer last season with 17 goals, sprained her knee after scoring her second goal in the first game of the season.
Midfielder Meggen Fleener, a sophomore from Newport Harbor, has filled in well at forward. She has two goals and eight assists and Kelley, pushing up from her defensive position, has seven goals. It’s a balanced team--every player on the roster, excluding goalies, has at least one point.
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ACL blues: The knee injury Chapman quarterback Curtis Robinson suffered Saturday in the Panthers’ victory over Claremont-Mudd will keep Robinson out of this week’s game and might threaten his season, Chapman Coach Ken Visser said.
Robinson’s anterior cruciate ligament apparently was stretched when he was tackled after a 29-yard run in the first half.
Visser said a brace has been ordered and the knee will be evaluated again early next week. “He’s encouraged,” Visser said. “He thinks he has a fighting chance to come back. But he’s always been a tough kid with a high pain threshold, so we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Robinson, a senior, played last season with a separated shoulder he injured in the first game.
Josh Bravo, a junior transfer from Fresno College, will start Saturday’s game against Occidental, Visser said.
The game, at Chapman, is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
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Men’s soccer: Between victories over Colorado College and Claremont-Mudd, two of the better NCAA Division III teams in the West, Chapman was ranked sixth in Division III by USA Today.
More importantly, however, the Panthers (5-2) are tied for the No. 1 in the West Region rankings, the poll that helps determine the four western teams that will advance to the postseason.
Chapman lost its first game of the season Saturday to Cal State Dominguez Hills when the Toros scored on a header with three minutes left. Chapman goalkeeper Craig Bennett got a hand on the ball but deflected it away from teammate Gary Hurtarte, who was in position to knock it away.
Notes
The Chapman football team is ranked fourth in NCAA Division III in rushing offense (349.7 yards per game) and sixth in scoring offense (42.3). . . . Tuesday the Chapman women’s volleyball team lost its showdown with Cal Lutheran, ranked No. 7 in NCAA Division III. The Panthers (6-3), ranked No. 12, lost 13-15, 15-3, 5-15, 15-10, 15-4, which ended a six-game winning streak. . . . Jason Schaefer, a senior on the Southern California College cross-country team, is the Golden State Athletic Conference runner of the week. Schaefer finished third in the Hawaii Invitational men’s race, finishing five kilometers in 16 minutes 6 seconds and leading the Vanguards to a second-place finish. . . . The Chapman women’s cross-country team its highest finish in an invitational meet, finishing in a tie for second at the Caltech Invitational.
