Sellers strives against the best

The following are updates on area athletes at the collegiate level.

Nathan Sellers (Crescenta Valley High, 2006) senior, Adams State College cross-country: Running among a field rife with NCAA Division I competition, the former Falcons and Glendale Community College standout once again shined for the Grizzlies.

Sellers finished ninth overall, leading the Grizzlies to a third-place finish on Saturday in the 8K Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree.

Sellers finished in 24 minutes 15.45 seconds in a race won by Northern Arizona’s Diego Estrada in 23:34.34. Adams tied for third with Northern Arizona with 129 points apiece. The race was won by host and NCAA Division I top-ranked Oklahoma State (54 points) with NCAA Division I sixth-ranked Indiana (89) taking second. Adams is the No. 1-ranked team in Division II.

Francis Herrera, another former Glendale college runner who competes for Adams State, finished 117th in the race in 26:07. On the women’s side, Adams finished sixth overall in the 5K race and former Vaquero runner Vivian Ochoa was 104th overall (19:48.87).

The Grizzlies will be on hiatus until Oct. 22, when they look to defend their title at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championships.

Luke Collis (St. Francis high, 2007) senior, Occidental College football: In the 68th rendition of the “Battle for the Shoes” between Occidental and Whittier College, Collis’ Tigers prevailed Saturday night in Whitter, 31-17.

Collis was on his game, as the Tigers improved to 2-1 and opened their Southern California Interscholastic Athletic Conference season with a victory.

Collis, a former All-Area and All-Mission League standout on the Golden Knights, hit receiver Matthew Tuckness on five- and 49-yard touchdown passes — the first coming in the second quarter for a 17-3 lead and the second in the third quarter for a game-clinching 31-10 lead.

Collis completed 24 of 36 passes for 250 touchdowns and the two touchdowns to no interceptions.

On the season, Collis has completed 74 of 114 passes (65%) for 772 yards (257 per game). He’s thrown eight touchdowns to two interceptions.

Oxy returns to nonconference play at Pomona-Pitzer at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Ian Sternau (St. Francis High, 2011) freshman, Simon Fraser University football: A former All-Mission League and All-Area standout as a kicker and punter, Sternau’s putting his talents to use in the kicking game for the Canadian university right off the bat.

Sternau’s earned himself a spot as the starting punter and kicker for the Clan.

Simon Fraser dropped to 1-4 on the season and 0-4 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in Saturday’s 37-17 loss to Central Washington. Still, Sternau did well, converting a 27-yard field goal in the first quarter, making good on two point-after-touchdowns and turning in a busy day punting, as he booted seven punts with an average of 37.4 yards.

For his freshman season, Sternau has made good on both field goal attempts he’s taken — he also kicked a 27-yarder on Sept. 3 in a 36-28 win against Pacific in his first collegiate game.

He’s also made good on all nine of his point-after attempts.

In the punting game, he’s tallied 31 punts for a combined 1,188 yards, averaging 38.3 yards per punt. He’s notched a long of 53 with four punts of 50 yards or greater and put four inside the 20.

And, he’s also handled all the kickoff duties and made two tackles, as well.

Simon Fraser looks to end a four-game losing streak Saturday at home against Dixie State.

Brooke Elby (Flintridge Prep, 2011) freshman, University ofNorth Carolina soccer: As a true freshman in the most storied NCAA Division I women’s soccer program, Elby has already made an impact.

Having played in all 10 of her team’s games with two starts to her credit, Elby’s biggest highlight thus far came Aug. 28 in a 6-1 drubbing of Houston at home. Elby scored her first NCAA goal in the game.

On Sept. 11, Elby tallied her first-ever NCAA assist in a 4-3 overtime loss to Texas A&M.

Thus far, UNC is 8-2 and 3-1 in theAtlantic Coast Conference.

The Tarheels defeatedMiami, 2-0, on Sunday, with Elby notching 32 minutes of playing time. UNC has won two straight and will return to action on Thursday at home against Clemson.