And now, the time has come. The end is near. We say goodbye, to another year…of Austin College Athletics with the end of exams this week.
First, good luck to all of you students cramming a semester’s-worth of information into one final demonstration of knowledge, oral report, term-paper, or another means of final examination.
Second, thank you to all of #RooNation for all of your support throughout the school year. AC Athletics will be back in the fall, and we can only express how much your attendance and enthusiasm at each one of our competitions means to us as Players and Coaches. Without you, the thrill of victory is not nearly as motivating, and the agony of defeat is simply not as crushing.
Finally, thank you to all of our Faculty & Staff for all of your accommodations and hard work for our Student-Athletes. Our schedules are a product of competitive availability and weather conditions, and our support staff always made our facilities something that we could be proud of when hosting Home Games.
We have to recap how Spring Sports wrapped up, and mention Convocation Award Winners in our final installment of this year’s AC Athletics Update!
Softball
The Softball Kangaroos (8-32; 3-21) just barely missed out on a chance to participate in the SCAC Conference Championships in Head Coach Kathleen Laster’s first year. But with several key returners and plenty of fresh talent coming in as a part of next year’s recruiting class, Austin College looks to be on the rise.
Baseball
Baseball (12-25; 6-12) fell in their last three games to defending NCAA Division III National Champion Trinity University, but had a vastly improved season in SCAC play, winning 4-more games against Conference opponents than in the 2015-2016 campaign.
The ‘Roos missed out on the Conference Tournament, but finished fifth out of seven teams after they were picked to finish last. Baseball has shown steady improvement through each year, and will look to make a push for what would be Head Coach Mike Ramsey’s first SCAC Tournament Bid in 2017-18.
Distance Track
The Austin College Distance Track team had a record-shattering season and has set itself up for growth in future years of the program’s development. Hannah Richards set the new program record in the 1500 meter event with a 5:06.30 result. Matthew Gregory set a new record of 4:22.98 in the 1500 meter as well.
AC will look to bring in several first-year student-athletes that are hungry to compete, along with all seven members of the 2017 squad returning.
Men’s and Women’s Tennis
Both Men’s (14-6; 6-3) and Women’s Tennis (11-10, 5-4) finished 3rd place in the SCAC Conference Tournament after two thrilling, come-from-behind victories over Schreiner University and Colorado College last weekend. Both programs found themselves down 1-2 after doubles, and took 8 out of a possible 10 singles matches to win 5-2 on the Men’s Side and 5-4 on the Women’s Courts.
It has been a banner year for Austin College Tennis this season, with both programs earning their first West Region Rankings; the first in program history for Men’s Tennis and the first since 2011 for Women’s Tennis. Both programs posted their highest finish in the SCAC Standings in program history, and with 15 players returning for the 2017-18 campaign, the future looks bright for the Tennis Program to continue to thrive.
Athletic Convocation Awards
It was an exciting evening for all of our Austin College Student Athletes this past Thursday evening, with a few that received individual recognition and took home some Departmental hardware…
For brevity considerations, we will only post the Department Awards, but you can find a list of all the Team Awards here: http://acroos.com/general/2016-17/releases/20170504wbg5b2
- Gene Day Award – Most outstanding female athlete – Bryce Frank, Women’s Basketball
- Pete Cawthon – Most outstanding male athlete – Phillip Le, Men’s Soccer
- Tim Jubela – Most outstanding female freshman athlete – Sophie Garriga, Women’s Swimming
- Tim Jubela – Most outstanding male freshman athlete – Chris Brown, Men’s Swimming
- Robert T. Mason – Sportsmanship Award – Josh Jones, Men’s Soccer
- Robert T. Mason – Sportsmanship Award – Presleigh Watson, Volleyball
- Slats McCord – Senior Perseverance and Improvement – James Hemen, Football
- Slats McCord – Senior Perseverance and Improvement – Kendall Heitmeier, Women’s Basketball
- Bo Miller – Outstanding Achievement in Academics and Athletics – Jeremy Swisher, Men’s Basketball
- Bo Miller - Outstanding Achievement in Academics and Athletics – Emily Low, Softball
- Sig Lawson – Dedication and Commitment to Austin College Athletics – Brett Taff, Baseball; JP Feider, Men’s Basketball; Cody Meyers, Men’s Cross country; Joe Traylor, Football; Michael Moran, Men’s Soccer; Tyler Brown, Men’s Swimming and Diving; Kenneth Hardy, Men’s Tennis
- Sig Lawson – Dedication and Commitment to Austin College Athletics – Ann Savage, Women’s Basketball; Sydney Perez, Women’s Cross Country; Ali Boehmer, Women’s soccer; Kat Wright, Softball; Bailey Clark, Women’s Swimming and Diving; Grace Ortiz, Women’s Tennis; Tatiana Ferrari, Volleyball
- T. Ellis Lockhart Spirit – Most Supportive Faculty/Staff Member – Dr. Don Rodgers
- Dr. Jack Pierce Academic Excellence Award – Highest Team GPA – Women's Tennis
Thank you again to everyone who made this year in Austin College Athletics so special. One final note, please join me in welcoming Mark Lawrence as our new Men’s & Women’s Water Polo Head Coach. Coach Lawrence comes to us most recently from the United States Naval Academy where he served as their Assistant Coach.
We hope all of you enjoy a safe and happy summer. Please make sure to travel home safely, and most importantly, come back ready to support Austin College Athletics in the Fall of 2017. One last time, for all of you in the cheap-seats…when supporting the Kangaroos home or away, always remember to…
Be Loud
Be Proud
Be Positive
GO ‘ROOS!