As the fall sports season moves towards a close, the fate of several teams’ seasons are dependent on their performances within the next few games.

Some teams have already met their final matches, including both sets of golf teams as well as the tennis squads. For the men’s golf team, Jack Patterson tallied the lowest average at 75.00 with Ryan Forrest not far behind at 75.50. Sera Bebon led the women with an average of 83.27. Of course, they will both have short seasons in the spring as well.

For the men’s tennis team, the doubles team of Logan Bennett and Greg Schwoeppe tallied a 3-0 record. Jacob Palley and Colin Sandgren went 4-2 overall. Holden Owens had perhaps the best record in singles play at 5-2, but Jacob Palley earned a record of 4-1 on the regular season. The women finished their fall season with losses in Wisconsin to Carthage and Carroll. But, Danielle Beard had the highest number of singles wins with six. In doubles, Morgan Bettner and Shelby Jones finished with five wins in doubles. They went 1-7 in CCIW play.

The men’s soccer team started off hot in CCIW play. They began 3-0 before dropping two in a row to Augustana College and Wheaton College. To round out the season, they recently headed to Carthage College before matching up against Illinois Wesleyan and Carroll at home. To make the conference tournament, they must finish in the top four.

Women’s soccer has the same schedule to finish, but they have a harder fight. They held a record of 2-3 after dropping a game 0-2 to the ninth ranked Wheaton College Thunder.

For the cross country teams, the 2018 CCIW Championships will be held on Saturday, October 27. Millikin’s men’s team was picked in the poll to finish in seventh place with 22 points. The North Central Cardinals were the unanimous selection in the coaches’ poll to take the top spot in the race. The predicted standings mirror that of last year’s finish.

On the women’s side, the Big Blue were picked to finish in eighth with Wheaton leading the pack. The championships are in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. If any athlete is to make it to the NCAA Championships, the race will be held in Winneconne, Wisconsin.

When it comes to football, the end of the season will be exciting. After travelling to Elmhurst, their three remaining games may be the toughest of the season. First up is two home games, against the Titans of Illinois Wesleyan University and the Bears of Washington University in St. Louis. Their final game will occur in Naperville, Illinois, on the campus of North Central College. The Big Blue have the potential to make it to the playoffs, but they must find a way to defeat some tough opponents.

The volleyball team also still has a shot at making the conference tournament, even though they are not seeing the same amount of success they had in the past two years. They head to Wash U over the weekend before their final conference match at home against the Carroll University Pioneers.

While some seasons are coming to a close, others are just starting up. The swim teams have their first official meet at Augustana College on Saturday, October 27 where they will match up against the Vikings of Augustana and the Prairie Fire of Knox College. The first home meet for both the men and the women is scheduled to take place at the Decatur Family YMCA on Friday, November 2 against Franklin College.

And of course, the basketball teams will soon start their seasons. Both the men’s and women’s teams will begin their seasons in the beginning of November when they have their first games. The wrestling team is also back and looking for more with three NCAA tournament qualifiers returning on the roster.

The Big Blue is proving they are a force to be reckoned with on many different playing fields, and the hope is that they will continue to move forward as time progresses.