This Week in the Forest: Feb. 11-17

This Week in the Forest: Feb. 11-17

The Midwest Conference Swimming and Diving Championships headline an important week for several Forester teams.

Lake Forest finished second to host Grinnell College last season and will try to chase down the Pioneers and hold off a few other teams looking to move up in the league standings this year. Forester athletes rank among the top five in the league in nearly every individual event and hold the top spot in eight of them. The team's defending champions include Lizzie Johns, Susan Guo, and two-time MWC Diver of the Year Heath Ogawa. Competition on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will feature prelims in the morning and finals in the evening.

Prior to the swimming and diving championships getting started, the Forester basketball teams will player their final home games of the year on Wednesday against league-leading Ripon College. The Forester women edged out Illinois College 76-74 on Saturday to improved to 12-11 overall and 11-5 in the MWC this season. They will be looking to avenge a 64-53 loss at Ripon (15-8, 14-2 MWC) 12 days earlier. Lake Forest needs just one more victory or a loss by either Knox College or St. Norbert College to qualify for the four-team 2019 MWC Tournament.

The Lake Forest men's basketball team's 96-63 victory over Illinois College on Saturday was its sixth win in a row, a streak that includes a 73-69 triumph at Ripon. The Foresters have already secured a berth in the MWC Tournament and enter the week 15-7 overall and 12-4 in the league. Ripon is 13-10 and tied with Monmouth College for fourth in the standings at 9-7 in conference play.

The Forester hockey teams will be in action on Friday. The men skated to a 5-5 tie at Aurora University last Friday before blanking the Spartans 3-0 at home a day later. The same two teams will face off in Alumni Memorial Field House this Friday and Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Harris Cup Playoffs. Lake Forest completed the regular season 11-8-6 overall and in second place in the NCHA South Division at 9-5-4 in the league. Aurora is 11-13-1 overall and finished second in the South with a conference record of 8-9-1.

Women's hockey will travel to the College of St. Scholastica this weekend for the final two games of the regular season. The Foresters and Saints are tied for second in the NCHA standings with 26 points, three fewer than Adrian College. Lake Forest will enter Friday's series opener 14-4-5 overall and 11-1-4 in the conference while St. Scholastica is 15-6-1 overall and 13-3-0 in NCHA play. Both teams will host NCHA Slaats Cup quarterfinal series the following weekend.

The basketball teams will close out their regular season Saturday afternoon at Grinnell College. The Pioneer women enter the week 8-14 overall and 6-10 in the MWC while the men are 17-5 overall and 13-3 in the league. The Forester women won 62-57 while the men fell 108-100 when Grinnell visited Lake Forest in late November.

Members of the Forester distance track team set a pair of program records and won at least one event for the fourth consecutive week last Saturday at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Invitational last Saturday. Lake Forest will look to continue that streak at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh during this Saturday's Titan Challenge.

After dropping its first two matches of the season, the Lake Forest men's tennis team will play two more this Saturday, taking on Milwaukee School of Engineering in the early afternoon and Carroll University in the evening. MSOE enters the week 1-3 and Carroll 0-3.

DATE TIME SPORT OPPONENT/EVENT LINKS
Wed, Feb. 13 5:30 p.m. Women's Basketball Ripon College Video | Live Stats
Wed, Feb. 13 7:30 p.m. Men's Basketball Ripon College Video | Live Stats
Fri, Feb. 15 10:00 a.m. Prelims
5:30 p.m. Finals
Swimming & Diving at Midwest Conference Championships
(Grinnell College)
Video
Fri, Feb. 15 Men's Hockey Men's Hockey Aurora University
(NCHA Harris Cup Quarterfinal Series - Game 1)
Video
Fri, Feb 15 7:00 p.m. Women's Hockey at College of St. Scholastica * Video | Live Stats
Sat, Feb. 16 10:00 a.m. Prelims
5:30 p.m. Finals
Swimming & Diving at Midwest Conference Championships
(Grinnell College)
Video
Sat, Feb. 16 11:00 a.m. Track at UW-Oshkosh Titan Challenge  
Sat, Feb. 16 12:30 p.m. Men's Tennis Milwaukee School of Engineering  
Sat, Feb. 16 1:00 p.m. Women's Basketball at Grinnell College * Video | Live Stats
Sat, Feb. 16 3:00 p.m. Men's Basketball at Grinnell College * Video | Live Stats
Sat, Feb. 16 4:00 p.m. Women's Hockey at College of St. Scholastica * Video | Live Stats
Sat, Feb. 16 6:30 p.m. Men's Tennis Carroll University  
Sat, Feb. 16 7:00 p.m. Men's Hockey Aurora University
(NCHA Harris Cup Quarterfinal Series - Game 2)
Video
Sun, Feb. 17 9:00 a.m. Prelims
4:00 p.m. Finals
Swimming & Diving at Midwest Conference Championships
(Grinnell College)
Video

Home events in Bold.
* Conference game 

All-Sports Calendar