Monthly Archives: June 2013

Former track star advances in track and field championships

Posted on by

On Friday, Travis Mahoney certainly proved he can perform on the big stage.

The former Temple cross country and track & field member advanced to the final of the 3,000-meter steeplechase in the USA Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, IO, crossing with a mark of 8:38.67 and a sixth place finish overall. Mahoney placed top-5 in his heat, giving him the nod for a spot in the final on Sunday.

After a four-plus year running career as a Temple standout, Mahoney took his talents to the national stage this past year, running for the NJ/NY track & field club and other various track & field events around the country.

Mahoney racked up numerous individual awards in a Temple jersey, including seven Atlantic-10 Conference individual championships, three A-10 three A-10 Outstanding Performer of the Year awards, Mid-Atlantic Athlete of the Year and three NCAA All-American titles.

The steeplechase final will represent Mahoney’s first crack at a USA track & field championship race, and will start Sunday at 4:55 p.m. ET

Game times for three conference games announced

Posted on by

The American Athletic Conference has announced the kickoff times and television networks for many games, including three of Temple’s.

The Owls’ conference and home opener against Houston on Saturday, September 7 will kick off at noon and will air on ESPN regional networks. One week later, Temple will host non-conference opponent Fordham at 1 p.m. The game will air on ESPN3, ESPN’s web streaming service. Temple’s game at Rutgers on Saturday, November 2 will commence at noon, also airing on ESPN regional networks.

Temple’s season opener is against Notre Dame on Saturday, August 31 at 3:30 p.m. on NBC. A game on Friday, October 11 at Cincinnati will air on ESPN or ESPN2. Kickoff time for that game has not been announced yet.

Matakevich receives recognition

Posted on by

Temple sophomore LB Tyler Matakevich was named today to the 2013 College Football Performance Awards Linebacker Watch List.

“Congratulations to Tyler Matakevich on earning a spot on the 2013 CFPA Defensive Awards Watch List,” CFPA Executive Director Brad Smith said. “Under head coach Matt Rhule, Matakevich will be one of the nation’s top linebackers to watch in 2013.”

Matakevich had a breakout season last year as a true freshman, as he was later named Big East Rookie of the Year. The Stratford, Conn. native was also named to the 2012 Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-American Team. Matakevich played in every game last season for the Owls (starting in eight), and became the first freshman in school history to record 100 tackles.

Temple hosts inaugural Harrow Cup

Posted on by

Temple coaches and field hockey alumnae alike gathered at Geasey Field last weekend to participate in the inaugural Harrow Cup.

Head coach Amanda Janney, assistant coach Kelly Driscoll, former assistant coach Charise Young and alum Alli Lokey (2008 gradate), Erin Hanshue (2009 graduate) and Bridget Settles (2012 graduate) competed in the six-team tournament that was created to promote post-collegiate field hockey.

“The idea was born during the 2012 National Field Hockey Festival in West Palm Beach, Fla.” The Harrow Cup website statement reads. “Inspired by the passion, excitement, and enthusiasm of the Harrow Field Hockey staff at their annual opportunity to play, Mark Hayden, the leader of Harrow Sports, decided that more needed to be done for this underserved market segment.”

“The Harrow Cup aims to serve the post-collegiate market by providing a competitive and exciting opportunity to play,” The statement adds. “We want to give opportunity to play where there is none.”

Each team participating in the tournament competed for a winner take all prize of $10,000.

Both Janney and her former assistant coach in Young played for the Vipers.

Lokey played for the Boomers, Settles played for the Titans and Hanshue was a goalkeeper for the Ninjas.

Meanwhile, assistant coach Driscoll was the goalkeeper for the Mambas, who went on to win the tournament and the cash prize that went with it.

Coach Janney was on the board of directors for the Harrow Cup, and helped in bringing the event to Temple.

“We wanted to have it in Philadelphia it is kind of a central location,” Janney said. “A lot of girls came from Boston, D.C., people flew in from California.”

“It was the first year and we were happy to host,” Janney said. “Everything ran smooth, no major injuries. It was a just a great weekend of hockey.”

Tennis athletes honored by Inquirer

Posted on by

Two student athletes from the men’s tennis team were selected to be a part of the 2013 Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men’s Tennis Team.

Kacper Rams, who recently graduated this past spring, was recognized for his excellence in the classroom for the third year in a row. Additionally, sophomore Kristian Marquart was recognized for the first time for his academic performance.

The Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men’s Tennis selection is based upon athletes who are enrolled in at least their second year at the institution that have a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or higher.

Rams, a native from Poland, graduated with a 3.79 GPA and a bachelor’s degree in finance. Rams also earned many prestigious honors, including being named a member of Temple’s Trustee Ten, an honor given to the top ten student athletes with the highest GPA. Rams was also named to the Atlantic 10 all-conference and all-academic team twice. Unfortunately, Rams spent majority of his final season injured.

Marquart, a native of Germany, holds a 3.97 GPA and is majoring in international business. Marquart played both singles and doubles. In singles flight, he garnered a 9-17 record during tournament play, in which players play against each other for rankings. Marquart won seven of his final nine decisions. In doubles competition, Marquart had a 9-8 record, which included a 7-4 record with his partner, freshman Sam Rundle.

The Academic All-Area Men’s Tennis team was voted on by the sports information offices of the 28 area institutions from the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

Nikorak released by White Sox organization

Posted on by

Former Temple standout third baseman Steve Nikorak was released by the Chicago White Sox this weekend.

Nikorak was drafted by Chicago in the 32nd round of the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft. He was let go by the organization just as the 2013 Draft wrapped up.

Nikorak is Temple’s all-time leader in hits with 228, and is tied for seventh for most games started with 182. He was named to the Atlantic 10 Conference first team his senior season, leading the Owls in in hits (62), doubles (14), home runs (7), runs scored (46) and RBIs (42).

The 25th Owl to ever be selected in the MLB Draft, Nikorak broke the news of his release on Twitter.

“Just wanted to thank everyone for their support and encouragement throughout my career,” Nikorak tweeted. “I love you all and none of this would have been possible without my family and friends. When one door closes the next one opens.”

Field hockey releases competitive 2013 schedule

Posted on by

The field hockey team will enter the 2013 season as a Big East Conference affiliate, and the newly released schedule shows that they will be up against tougher competition as a result.

This season, the Owls will face seven teams from 2012 that were ranked in the Top 25. Temple will compete against No. 3 Penn State on Sept. 6, No. 19 Richmond on Sept. 8, No. 25 Louisville on Oct. 4, No. 8 Old Dominion on Oct. 13, No. 15 Drexel on October 20, No. 13 Lafayette on Oct. 27 and No. 4 Connecticut on Nov. 2.

The season will begin at home, with the Conference Cup Tournament at Geasey Field during Labor Day weekend.

Two games are scheduled for Aug. 31, with Maryland and New Hampshire playing at noon, followed by Temple’s matchup against Ohio State at 2:30 p.m.  The first and third place games will be played on Sept. 1.

The last home game of 2013 is Oct. 25 against Georgetown. From there the Owls will go on a two-game road trip to play Lafayette and Connecticut before the Big East Tournament begins on Nov. 8.

Temple finished with a 12-9 regular season record in 2012, making it the first time the team has finished with a record above .500 since 2007.

There are eight opponents the Owls faced from last year on this season’s schedule (Penn State, Richmond, Delaware, Monmouth, Rutgers, Bucknell, Drexel and Lafayette).  Temple went 3-5 against those teams last season.

Field Hockey Schedule

2013 women’s soccer schedule announced

Posted on by

The women’s soccer 2013 season schedule was released today, and the Owls will face an array of fresh faces, including teams from the newly created American Athletic Conference.

This year will mark the beginning of The American, where Temple will play nine conference matches against Houston, Southern Methodist, South Florida, Central Florida, Connecticut, Louisville, Cincinnati, Memphis, and Rutgers.

The Owls will host eight matches at the Ambler Sports Complex and travel for ten of their matches. In its ten road games, Temple will travel to six states outside of Pennsylvania: New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Florida, Connecticut, and Tennessee.

Eleven of Temple’s opponents this year posted a winning record in 2012. That group includes three NCAA tournament teams including Central Florida, Rutgers and 2012 MAAC Champion Loyola Maryland.

The season starts with a four match road trip opening with games against NJIT and Delaware State, and finishing with a weekend in Maryland to face Mount St. Mary and Loyola Maryland.

Temple will follow up the road trip with eight straight matches in Pennsylvania, including hosting seven of them at Ambler. Marshall, Rider and Binghamton will be Temple’s first three visitors. The Owls will then travel to Easton to face Lafayette, but returns to Ambler to face Delaware a week later.

Sept. 26 will bring an end to the non-conference schedule and begin the first ever conference schedule for The American. The Owls will stay at Ambler to host new conference foe Houston and SMU.

Temple will continue conference play, spending the weekend in Florida to visit the University of Southern Florida and the University of Central Florida. Then the Owls will continue on the road with a match against Conneticut.

For the Owls, the last two home events will comprise of matches against Louisville, and senior day against Cincinnati.

The regular season will come to a close with two straight road matches, one against Memphis and the finale coming against school rival Rutgers.

TUWS Schedule

Bond signs scholarship agreement, will play for Owls

Posted on by

Jaylen Bond, a 6 foot 7 forward, has officially signed a scholarship agreement with Temple and will play basketball for the Owls.

Bond will not get on the court for Temple in this upcoming season. He will sit out the 2013-14 season due to NCAA eligibility rules. He has two remaining years of eligibility starting with the 2014-15 season. There were rumors that Bond could be granted a hardship waiver, allowing him to play this season, but they turned out to be unfounded.

“Jaylen is an excellent addition to the Temple Basketball program,” Temple coach Fran Dunphy said in a press release. “He is a fine young man from a good family. We are looking forward to tremendous things from him during his Temple career.”

Bond, a former star at Plymouth-Whitemarsh High in Plymouth Meeting, Pa., attended the University of Texas for two years before transferring to Temple. In 13.8 minutes per game as a Longhorn, he averaged 3.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.

At Plymouth-Whitemarsh, he finished his career as the second-leading scorer in the Colonials’ history, with 1,608 career points. Bond averaged 19.0 points and 11.2 rebounds per game as a senior.

Volleyball schedule released for 2013 season

Posted on by

This year marks a new season, a new team, and for the first time in over 30 years a brand new conference for the women’s volleyball team—and yesterday, its schedule for the 2013 season was released.

The season kicks off with the University of Buffalo Invite the last weekend of August, followed by the Patriot Invitational at George Mason. The following weekend, the Owls come home to host the Temple Invitation starting on Sept. 20, which will be the fourth straight season that they will be holding the event.

The start of conference play in the new American Athletic Conference starts with a big road test against Cincinnati and Louisville. The Cardinals are coming off of a 30-4 2012 campaign and finished 17th in the Division I coaches poll. The Owls then play five straight home games, opening with Memphis on Oct. 4. The schedule also includes a five game road trip in which the Owls play three teams with better records then they themselves had last season. They play their final two matches in late November against the University of Central Florida and the University of Southern Florida.

“Our non-conference schedule is as competitive as it was last year, if not more so,” third-year head coach Bakeer Ganes said in a press release. “Trips to Buffalo, George Mason, and Penn as well as our home tournament on the fourth weekend will really prepare us for conference play. We open our American schedule with Cincinnati and Louisville which are probably the top two teams in the league. This schedule will be very competitive and very challenging, but also very exciting”.

The Owls are coming into 2013 ranked the seventh most improved team in Division I, as they won 11 more games last season than they did the year prior. They finished 19-11, good enough for fifth place in the conference and a trip to the conference tournament for the first time since 2009.

2013 Volleyball Schedule