BaseballThe Simpson baseball team traveled to Phoenix to compete in the RussMatt Invitational. The Storm finished 5-4 on the road trip. Simpson won two games versus Augsburg (Minn.), and got wins against Carleton (Minn.), Dickinson (Pa.) and Johns Hopkins (Md.). The Storm were led by junior infielder Dave Johnson of West Des Moines and senior infielder Scott Ethell of Knoxville. Johnson went 20-34 at the plate, including four triples and four home runs. He scored 21 runs and drove in 16. Ethell went 19-34, scoring 13 runs and had 14 RBIs. Both are hitting over .500 on the year. Sophomore pitcher Chris Dorff of Urbandale picked up the win against No. 30 Johns Hopkins.The team attended a Dodgers and White Sox spring training game on its day off.

SoftballThe Simpson softball team attended the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Fla., and finished 6-3. The Storm defeated Regis (Mass.) in its first game before having the next three cancelled over two days. Simpson took two more games from Fontbonne (Mo.) and Anderson (Ind.) when it resumed play. The Storm dropped three games before closing out the trip with three consecutive wins. Senior pitcher Whitney Oviatt of Carnation, Wash., picked up two wins on the final day. Oviatt pitched 12 innings and struck out 14 in wins over St. Norbert (Wis.) and Wisconsin-River Falls.

Men’s SoccerThe Simpson men’s soccer team became the first team at Simpson to travel abroad when it took an eight-day trip to Europe for spring break. The trip included stops in Holland, Belgium and Germany. Although there were no official games, the Storm played three exhibition games, took part in some practices with professional coaches and attended a European professional match.

Track and FieldSenior Lauren Bucklin of Bondurant earned All-American honors for the third time in her career at the NCAA DIII National Championship meet March 12-14. Bucklin finished fourth in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8:20. Sophomore Kinsey Bak of Hinton also earned All-American honors by finishing third in the high jump with a jump of 5-5 1/4. This was the best finish at the national meet by a Simpson athlete since 1993. Bak also placed eleventh in the pentathlon the following day. The first outdoor meet of the year was the Rhodes Open held in Memphis, Tenn., on March 20. It was comprised of athletes from Division I, II and III schools. Senior Jess Christensen of Harlan finished second in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 17:58.34. It was the second fastest time in Simpson history for that event. Bak and Bucklin both provisionally qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the high jump and 100-meter hurdles, respectively. Bak tied a personal best at 5-5 3/4, which is second in Simpson history. Bucklin’s time of 14.62 was good for fourth and second in the Simpson history books.Senior Scott Danielson of Dayton took home fourth place in the shot put with a throw of 46-11 3/4. Senior Marty Rounds of Council Bluffs finished sixth in the 110 high hurdles.

Men’s GolfThe Simpson men’s golf team took a spring break trip to Las Vegas.