kerr-pegual athletic complex

The Kerr-Pegula Field House will host the Western New York 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament tomorrow. The tournament is a daylong event in which teams, organized by age and gender, will compete in at least three games. According to the website, both male and female teams are divided into the following age groups: 11-14, and 15-18; 19-34, and 35 and over for the adult division. Each team includes between three and four players. Additionally, up to ten individuals were invited to sign up for slam dunk and three point shooting contests.

Harold “Skip” Lord, Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, explained this is the “first time” Houghton College has hosted the WNY 3 on 3 Tournament. He said, “It is unique in that most of these kinds of events are hosted outdoors in the summer in a kind of street ball format. Holding it in the field house will allow us to start before any of the other outdoor tournaments happen. We are hoping it will eventually grow into a fairly large and popular event.”

Because of this is the first time Houghton has hosted an event such as this, there is no verdict regarding how the tournament will stack up to the popularity of other 3 on 3 tournaments, such as the summer Gus Macker Tournament in Olean, New York. However, Marshall Green, KPAC Facilities Marketing and Scheduling Coordinator, stated, of the 66 teams that are registered, the 14-18 boys and girls make up the largest age group.

Adult participants may win cash prizes at the tournament. The tournament website stated whichever men’s and women’s teams of the Elite Division win first place will receive trophies and $400 cash. Additionally, trophies and $100 cash will be awarded to the winners of the slam dunk and 3-point contests. However, any participants in high school are ineligible and cannot win cash prizes.

Lord stated the men’s and women’s basketball teams will help run the event. “We couldn’t do it without them,” he said. “It will have a positive impact on our ability to hit our KPAC missional revenue goals. ”Green added, “Houghton is very excited to be hosting the first annual WNY 3-on-3 Indoor Basketball Tournament. This is an amazing opportunity to get players together of all ages and skill levels from throughout the Upstate region. With the size and scope of our venue, we will be able to host upwards of 200 teams so I am expecting some extreme basketball talent to show up.”

After two years of constant travel, the Houghton baseball team finally got a chance to play on their own field Friday, March 21, against the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford. The field, part of the new Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex, was finished in 2013 and was designed with many elements that should help the team gain an advantage over their competition.

In previous seasons, the team played their home games at Bolivar Richburg High School, about an hour away. Assistant coach Ignacio Villalobos thought the field would draw a crowd larger than just the few loyal fans that drove to home games last season.

“Hopefully they can get some more people out and we’ll have a home crowd which will be really cool for the team to play with,” he said. “The guys will enjoy playing at home.”

Both the team’s familiarity with the field due to practice and the fact that it is their home field is expected to be in favor of the Highlanders as the current season goes on.

Another aspect of the field that will give the Highlanders an edge on other teams would be its construction material. The field is made of turf, or artificial grass. One of the benefits of such material is immunity from weather conditions, especially rain, that often affect grass fields and cause games to be called off due to poor field conditions.

According to Michael Kerr, team captain, the field will also give the team a competitive advantage because turf allows for the game to be played at a much quicker pace. That, he says, will allow them to play to their strengths as a team. Kerr also thinks that the field will help the baseball program grow.

“The field will give future players a state-of-the-art playing surface and an awesome atmosphere to play at,” he said. “As the team grows and expands, I think Houghton can become one of the better baseball programs in the Empire 8 and Division III.”

Skip Lord, Executive Director of Athletics, thinks the current team has a promising season ahead of them. “They have exceeded my expectations as a young team,” he said. “They’ve worked really hard and are performing solid on the field.”

Both Villalobos and Lord are expecting to be middle of the pack in the Empire 8. Both men expect a few more wins than the team had in previous seasons, and Lord is hopeful that the team will be able to qualify for top playoffs for Christian schools.

Villalobos thinks the team has built a lot, not only in skills and abilities, but in size as well. One of the most helpful things for the team this season has been that they have twenty-nine players compared to the seventeen they had the first season. Kerr also thinks the team has played well together so far, but that in order to have a successful season they will need to compete at a high level.

Unfortunately, despite all these factors the baseball team was not able to win their match and lost to Pitt-Bradford with a score of 7-0.