Week in Sports: Soccer, Polo, Triathlon in Town

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The Santa Barbara Foresters saw their season end with a collision last Friday morning (August 14) at the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita. The Foresters, defending NBC champions, finished in a tie for fourth place after a 3-2 loss to the Liberal Beejays of Kansas.

Liberal won the game in the bottom of the 14th inning when its base runner went from second to home while Santa Barbara second baseman Davis Duren was upended trying to turn an inning-ending double play. It was a sorry way to end the game, but the Foresters knew that they whiffed on several opportunities to break a 2-2 tie themselves. They stranded eight runners on the bases in extra innings. The do-or-die game ended at 2:15 a.m.

Also tying for fourth place were the Conejo Oaks, Santa Barbara’s rivals in the California Collegiate League. Winning the 75th annual NBC title were Kansas’s El Dorado Broncos. The Foresters won their first three games in the 37-team, double-elimination tournament before El Dorado beat them 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth. For the seventh straight year, the ’Sters (40-15) won at least 40 games.

Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser hope they have better luck in the Midwest. The Olympic beach volleyball champions from Santa Barbara won their second consecutive AVP championship in San Francisco last weekend, and the next three tournaments are at Muskegon (Michigan), Chicago and Mason (Ohio).

You don’t have to leave town to watch the nation’s leading summer polo tournament. The Bombardier Pacific Coast Open begins Sunday (August 23) at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club. Eight teams will be vying to meet in the championship match on September 6. Audi Polo, the defending champion, is coming off a 16-12 victory over Lucchese last Sunday in the final of the USPA America Cup. The season’s other high-goal tournament, the Robert Skene Trophy, was taken by Patagones, which edged Grant’s Farm 10-9.

Hundreds of athletes will be competing in the Santa Barbara Triathlon this weekend. The long course race (1 mile swim, 34-mile bike, 10-mile run) will be Saturday, the sprint races (500-yard swim, 6-mile bike, 2-mile run) on Sunday, starting and finishing at the East Beach Bathhouse.

Finally, the transition from summer to fall begins this week at UCSB. Westmont College and UCSB’s Gauchos will square off in a pair of season-opening soccer games – the women’s teams meeting Thursday night and the men’s Saturday. Both matches will start at 7 p.m. at Harder Stadium.

UCSB has introduced a new seating arrangement for the men’s games. Different sections of the stadium will be designated for students, season-ticket holders and game-day spectators.

The Gaucho women’s volleyball team will be unveiled Saturday afternoon when it faces an alumni squad, including Olivia Waldolski, Brett Quirarte, Erica Menzel, Heather Collins and Kathy Hanley, at the Thunderdome.

TOP SPORTING EVENTS: AUGUST 18-23

Tuesday, August 18

Running / swimming – Reef & Run Summer Series (1k swim, 1-mile swim, 2-mile run, 4-mile run), Cabrillo Bath House, 6:25 p.m. Continues every Tuesday through September 8. Sign-up information.

Wednesday, August 19

Running / swimming – Nite Moves Summer Sunset Series (1k swim, 5k run), Leadbetter Beach, 6 p.m. Continues every Wednesday through September 2. Sign-up information.

Thursday, August 20

College women’s soccer – Westmont at UCSB, Harder Stadium, 7 p.m.

Saturday, August 22

Swim-run-bike – Santa Barbara Triathlon, long course, Cabrillo Bath House, 7 a.m. Sign-up information

College women’s volleyball – UCSB vs. Alumni, Thunderdome, 2 p.m.

College men’s soccer – Westmont at UCSB, Harder Stadium, 7 p.m.

Sunday, August 23

Swim-run-bike – Santa Barbara Triathlon, sprint course, Cabrillo Bath House, 7 a.m. Sign-up information

Polo – Bombardier Pacific Coast Open at Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club, 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Sunday, September 6 – Pier-to-Peak Half Marathon, Stearns Wharf to La Cumbre Peak, 6:30 a.m. Sign-up information

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