Spartans Athletics 2014-15 Year in Review ... in 140 Characters or Less!
Jul 1, 2015
It was the year of the championship in 2014-15 for the Spartans as the women’s soccer team captured their first ever regular season Iowa Conference title and won the Iowa Conference tournament title in thrilling fashion, the women’s basketball team took home its first regular season Iowa Conference title, and the men’s basketball team won their second Iowa Conference tournament title in three years.
There was a plethora of other stand out performances and milestones from all UD sports. They are all detailed below in Twitter-esque style with one 140-character (or less) summary and one next level stat. Sports are arranged in order of season.
FALL 2014
Women’s Soccer
Twitter says … “Spartans win 1st Regular Season IIAC CShip and Take Tourney IIAC CShip in PK Marathon! Set School record with 7 All-IIAC Players. #UDoubleUp”.
The stat of the season is 52. Nine seniors go out as the winningest class in school history with 52 wins over their four years, including handing Loras’ their 1st IIAC loss since 2007 … also a UD victory.
Men’s Soccer
Twitter says, “Close calls pepper Spartans after 5 OT bouts, 3 ties, and 9 one-goal games. Jensen brilliant, 1st UD GK named 1st Team All-IIAC. #NailBiters”.
The stat of the season is 4. The number of overtime affairs in the Spartans last six games (2-3-1), including three, double overtime bouts. Spartans finished one game back of second-place.
Football
Twitter says,“Rutenbeck ties TD record, him and Myles invited to NFL. Win BIG at HC. Retain KEY for 4th straight year after 34-7 W over Loras. #Lockdown”.
The stat of the season is 176-23. It is the combined score of the last four meetings in the Key City Clash against Loras. The Spartans held Duhawks to seven points combined in last three seasons.
Women's Tennis
Twitter says, “Martinez (16-1) earns IIAC Flight "A" runner-up and "B" Doubles Champ w/ Schlueter, who ends career #1 in wins. LoCasto is "B" Champ. #WIN”.
The stat of the season is 15-0. This was freshman Arantxa Martinez’s start to the season as she suffers only loss as #1 seed in IIAC Tournament Flight “A” Singles Championship, 6-3, 1-6, 10-12.
Men's Cross Country
Twitter says, “Bass and Nevills pace senior-less Spartans to 5th at IIAC CShips, best finish since '83. Harriers also win 1st meet in over 50 yrs. #RISE”.
The stat of the season is 0.8. Freshman Alec Bass (26:17.7) and junior Payton Nevills (26:18.5) were separated by just 0.8 seconds as they set the 2nd and 3rd fastest times in UD history in separate races during the season.
Women's Cross Country
Twitter says, “Ortiz is 2nd Spartan to claim 1st team All-IIAC at IIAC CShips as UD matches best finish in history, 5th. Seven, Top-25 times set. #DropEm”.
The stat of the season is 18.6. Already one of the fastest Spartans in history, sophomore Fabiola Ortiz, is also one of the most consistent as five of her seven 6k race times fell within a range of 18.6 seconds (23:05.5 – 23:24.1) in 2014.
Winter 2014-15
Women's Basketball
Twitter says, “Quintet of seniors leads Spartans to 1st ever IIAC title. UD sweeps Loras and Simpson (1st ever). Kotas and Schmidt All-IIAC #MakeHistory”.
The stat of the season is 3. Jenna Kotas, Meggie Schmidt, and Emily Brinker won three consecutive IIAC Player of the Weeks during IIAC play. In the history of the award, it was only the second time three different players from the same institution won in three consecutive weeks. The last occurrence came during the 2003-2004 season by BVU.
Men's Basketball
Twitter says, “Norris 1st IIAC MVP since '91, leads UD to 2nd IIAC Tourn. title in 3 yrs. Set school record w/ 23 wins. Three others named All-IIAC #OntotheNextOne”.
The stat of the season is 83. The number of wins compiled in the last four seasons by this year’s senior class, a new school record that included 21+ wins in the last three seasons.
Wrestling
Twitter says, “Turnage (6-1 IIAC) leads foursome that finishes 1 win away from Nat'ls. Nearly clip #10 Coe (17-18), Cisneros paces UD w/ 25 Ws. #We’llBeBack”.
The stat of the season is +62. It was the Spartans combined margin of victory in their three IIAC victories. UD fell by a combined 7 points in two of their four IIAC defeats.
Indoor Track and Field
Twitter says, “Winters wins 3 events, named IIAC MVP. 8 IIAC Champs, 2 All-IIAC performers, and 5 school records lead UD to 3rd. #FastDontLie”.
The stat of the season is 18. The number of total indoor school records broken during the season. Winters broke three at the IIAC Championships while senior Rachael Busjahn broke five on the women’s side.
Spring 2015
Outdoor Track and Field
Twitter says, “Valcin decimates 25-yr. IIAC Cship record in PV win. 5 IIAC Champs and 14 All-IIAC performers. M 4th and W 5th. #Reload”.
The stat of the season is 70%. That is the number of possible IIAC titles won (7 of 10) in the last 3 years by men’s senior pole vaulter Rick Valcin and women’s senior triple jumper Nikki McKenzie. Valcin won 3 of 4 (did not compete due to injury in 2015 indoor) while McKenzie won 4 of 6 possible IIAC titles (placed 2nd and 3rd in 2013).
Women's Lacrosse
Twitter says, “Outscore opponents, 154-79, in school record 9 Ws. Three named All-CCIW as UD whoops Loras and finishes 7-2 at home. #Contenders”.
The stat of the season is 3. Despite defeating Elmhurst (Ill.) earlier in the season, the Spartans lost out to the Bluejays in a three-way tiebreaker with Illinois Wesleyan based on goal differential for the final spot in the inaugural four-team CCIW tournament. Elmhurst finished CCIW season -10, Spartans ended -13.
Men's Lacrosse
Twitter says, “GK Mullins paces CCIW in saves by wide margin and leads UD to 1st ever WIN! Finishes with 2 Ws, while Mullins 2nd Team All-CCIW. #MovinOnUp”.
The stat of the season is -1. After leading the CCIW with 85 saves over the course of five CCIW games, Mullins fell one short of tying the combined save total of the next three goalkeepers (86).
Men's Golf
Twitter says, “Spartans play host to rain-delayed IIAC CShips and snag 3rd place finish. Schuberg gets it done w/ 2nd straight All-IIAC honor #RainorShine”.
The stat of the season is 5. The number of consecutive years the Spartans have finished in the Top-4 at the Iowa Conference Championships that included UD’s first title in 75 years at last year’s championships.
Baseball
Twitter says, “Eastman’s G1 gem (CG, 2 H, 0 ER) propelled UD to Fri. sweep of #11 W’burg on Apr. 10. Garst and Casanova named 1st Team All-IIAC. #UDominate”.
The stat of the season is 2. Dalton Garst, who played pitcher, infield, and designated hitter throughout the season, struck out a mere two times in his final 96 plate appearances and hit safely in 21 of 22 games in April/May. The sophomore batted .400/.419/.494 over that time and whiffed just eight times over 166 total plate appearances on the season.
Softball
Twitter says, “In 3rd straight IIAC Tourn. trip, UD bounces back with upset W over Simpson in 1st Rd. Schmidt, Smith named 1st Team All-IIAC #Spoiler”.
The stat of the season is 9. Schmidt, a senior and a 4-year softball letterwinner, led this year’s team in numerous categories, including batting average and slugging, and finished in UD Softball’s Top-5 in nine major categories.
The Spartans look forward to another successful campaign as the 2015-16 season kicks off in August!
