It's a big week here at UW-Parkside with our annual Alumni Day scheduled for Saturday afternoon. All alums are welcome for the festivities … The schedule and registration information can be found HERE . All activities are free for alumni and their families.
 
The Sports and Activities Center will be abuzz all week with basketball at home for a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference contests and the track & field team hosting the second annual UW-Parkside Classic. Wrestling is back on the road fresh off a tournament title as they head to UW-Eau Claire.   
 
Let's take a look at what's happening this week in UW-Parkside Athletics. (Home games in bold)
 
-  Women's Basketball (15-4, 8-3 GLVC)
Last week: Defeated Saint Joseph's, 75-71; Defeated Indianapolis, 73-70.
This week: Thursday vs. Bellarmine, 5:30 p.m.; Saturday vs. Northern Kentucky, 1:00 p.m.
 
Of note: The UW-Parkside women picked up a pair of crucial victories last week to earn a tie atop the GLVC Eastern Division. Both games came down to the final minute with the Rangers hitting some clutch shots to pull out the win.
 
On Thursday at home it was Jadee Rooney scoring six points in the final minute; including a go-ahead three-pointer and a game-clinching three-point play. Her heroics, along with a couple of critical defensive stops, earned the hard-fought win over Saint Joseph's.
 
On Saturday, Kaitlyn Bettiga sliced down the lane with 12 seconds left to break a 70-70 tie with a three-point play. The Ranger defense held firm on the final possession to claim the win at first-place Indianapolis and force a three-way tie in the division.
 
The league now has seven games remaining with each team in the division getting one more crack at the others. Parkside will play two at home this week before three straight on the road. They'll wrap up the regular season with two straight home games.
 
The final round of divisional play starts this weekend with Bellarmine and Northern Kentucky in town. The Knights come to the DeSimone Gymnasium on a four-game winning streak (the longest current streak in the GLVC) including a victory over the Rangers on January 21 in Louisville. The Rangers have won six of their last seven games and 10 of 12. Gruber Law Offices will be sponsoring a t-shirt giveaway for Thursday's contest.
 
Then on Saturday, Northern Kentucky visits for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off for Alumni Day. The Norse are currently tied with UW-Parkside and Indianapolis for first in the East. They will be at Lewis on Thursday night. This will be Northern Kentucky's final visit to the DeSimone Gymnasium prior to their transition to the Division I level next season.
 
If you can't get out to the DeSimone Gymnasium this week be sure to listen to the Rangers over the airwaves. You can tune in locally at NewsTalk 1400-AM WRJN or online at www.gatewaysportsweb.org.
 
- Men's Basketball (8-9, 1-8 GLVC)
Last week: Defeated by Saint Joseph's, 85-94; Defeated by #21 Indianapolis, 86-73.
This week: Thursday vs. #1 Bellarmine, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday vs. #9 Northern Kentucky, 3:00 p.m.

Of note:  The Rangers continue their arduous schedule with two more games against nationally-ranked opponents. Combined with Saturday's game against #21 Indianapolis, that makes three straight games and five out of six against Top 25 teams. Assuming Southern Indiana and Kentucky Wesleyan stay ranked through next week it will be an unprecedented streak of seven out of eight games against the nation's best.
 
Top-ranked and defending national champion Bellarmine is at the DeSimone Gymnasium on Thursday starting at 7:30 p.m. The Rangers gave the Knights all they could handle for the first 22 minutes in Louisville before the home team got hot and pulled away. The Knights have opened up a two-game lead in the East with seven games to go. Gruber Law Offices will also be sponsoring a t-shirt giveaway for fans in attendance on Thursday night.
 
Northern Kentucky will be in on Saturday for Alumni Day with a 3:00 p.m. scheduled start. The Norse have dropped two straight and fallen into fifth place in the brutally-difficult Eastern Division. The Rangers have split the last four meetings with the Norse here in Somers.
 
Jeremy Saffold is coming off his best week of the season scoring over 20 points in each game last week. The junior averaged 22.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.5 assists last week against Saint Joseph's and Indianapolis. In Thursday's game against the Pumas he had his second career double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds along with four assists.
 
He followed that up Saturday by going 7-for-13 from the floor including 5-for-8 from three-point range. He finished with 23 points, four rebounds and three assists. He now leads the team in scoring at 13.0 points per game and is third in rebounding averaging 4.2 a contest.
 
The Rangers will look to get their defense going again this week as they take on two of the nation's top shooting teams. The Parkside offense has been strong this season averaging 75.3 points per game, sixth best in the conference.
 
As with the women, you can listen to both games this weekend if you can't get out to campus. Follow the links on the team schedule to watch or listen to the Rangers in action.
 
-Wrestling
Last week:  Defeated UW-Stevens Point, 28-6; Won the Wheaton College Invitational with 117.5 points
This week:  Saturday at Blugold Invitational hosted by UW-Eau Claire, 9:00 a.m.

Of note:  It was a great week for the UW-Parkside wrestling team as the grapplers followed up Wednesday's dual victory by claiming the Wheaton College Invitational and placing eight wrestlers in the top seven of their respective weight classes.
 
On Wednesday against UW-Stevens Point, the Rangers won eight of the night's ten matches to cruise to the win. Luke Rynish was honored prior to his final match in the DeSimone Gymnasium but did not wrestle due to a forfeit by the Pointers at 174. Matthew Gille earned four points with a major decision victory; the only one of the night. Jake Papke, Collin Crume, Mike Migawa, Monterail Johnson, Davien Willis, and James Malechek all recorded wins by decision.
 
The Rangers then went down to Illinois and claimed their third team title in four years at the Pete Wilson Wheaton Invitational. Parkside outdistanced UW-Whitewater, who placed second, by 15.5 points.
 
Rynish won the title at 174 pounds for his fifth tournament crown of the year. He is now five wins shy of tying the school's all-time wins record of 146 set by Dennis DuChene and matched last year by Cody Zimmerman.
 
Wilis went 5-1 on the weekend to place third at 197 pounds. His only loss came in sudden victory against the eventual champion in the weight class.
 
Papke was fourth after going 4-2 overall at 125. He had to win three matches in the consolation bracket to get back to that third place match.
 
Gille (184), Malechek (285), and Bera (157) all placed fifth. Crume earned seventh place at 133.
 
The team has just two events left before postseason action kicks in. They're at UW-Eau Claire this weekend for the Blugold Invitational with matches beginning at 9:00 a.m. Then on February 9 they'll head over to Whitewater for a dual with the Warhawks. The first match is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
 
-Indoor Track & Field
Last week:  Competed at Carthage College's Tadd Metzger Invitational
This week:  Saturday, hosting 2^nd Annual UW-Parkside Track & Field Classic, 10:00 a.m.
 
Of note: The Rangers took an abbreviated squad to the Tadd Metzger Invitational hosted by Carthage College on Friday. Despite the limited entries both teams finished in sixth place at the event.
 
On the men's side, Justin Armstrong won the 600m in a time of 1:24.01. Teammate Dylan Rivard came in just behind him at 1:24.58, good enough for third in an extremely close race.

Those two teamed up with Joe Smith and Eddie Lockhart for a fifth place finish in the 4x400m relay as well. Smith also got the Rangers some points in the individual 400. His time of 54.58 was good for fourth.

Jesus Escareno and Ron Hedman each had some success in a pair of distance events. Escareno was second (4:22) and Hedman sixth (4:29) in the mile run. The duo finished in tandem in the 800m as well with Escareno fifth (2:00.33) and Hedman sixth (2:03.44).

Cedric Ray and Josh Mulloy each earned fifth place finishes on the day. Ray's came in the 55m dash as he clocked in at 6.69. Mulloy's was in the 3000m run as he recorded a time of 8:57.

Zacke Lyons also placed in a pair of field events for the Rangers. He was sixth in the long jump with a leap of 6.39m. He followed that up with a seventh place finish in the triple jump (12.63).
 
For the women, Charlotte Smith, Roxanne Stratenwerth, and Jessica Watychowicz all won an event.

Smith won her first event of the season claiming the high jump with a best-mark of 1.55m. She also placed in the 200m dash finishing second in a time of 28.17.

Stratenwerth earned the title in the 400m dash for the second straight week after being victorious at Lewis last Friday. She shaved over a second off her time finishing in 1:01.08. She nearly pulled off the double as she finished second in the 200m's in 27.48. Teammate Rachel Bullis was fourth in that event at 27.74.

Watychowicz's victory came in the 3000m run after two straight weeks of winning the mile. She crossed the line in 10:27.26 on Friday nearly two seconds ahead of Rachel Dean of St. Xavier. Taylor Miller was fifth in that event for the Rangers at 10:42.61.

Amanda Zittleman just missed out on scoring for Parkside in the mile run as she finished in ninth place, one second off the eighth place slot.
 
The team is preparing to host this weekend's Classic in the Petretti Fieldhouse. The field events will begin at 10:00 a.m. with the running events starting at 11:00 a.m. A rolling time schedule will be in place.