A Look Back at the Athletic Accomplishments of 2005-2006
Eighty-nine Mid-South Conference All-Conference athletes; five MSC Players of the Year; sixty-eight MSC Academic All-Conference members; two MSC Coaches of the Year; six Mid-South Conference titles; and the Mid-South Male and Female Scholar Athlete of the Year. Nine National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Region XI team members, twenty-six Daktronics-NAIA All-America Scholar Athletes; forty-six All-Americans (39 from the NAIA); and eight top 25 rankings in the NAIA with five in the top ten. The Patriots also took an astonishing twenty-three MSC Players of the Week, along with seven NAIA Region XI Players of the Week, and two NAIA National Players of the Week. All of these accomplishments in one year for a small college seem unreal and beyond reach, but all were achieved by the Patriots in 2005-2006. With all 21 of the varsity sports competing tremendously well, the Patriots once again brought home the coveted Mid-South Conference President’s Cup and a USSA Director’s Cup ranking of 18th out of the 289 NAIA schools. Both cups are designed to measure the strength of the athletics programs at individual colleges and universities. The President’s cup is for the members of the Mid-South Conference while the Director’s Cup is for the entire nation. Football topped many highs during the ’05 season. They finished 8-3 overall, 3-2 in the Mid-South Conference East Division, and ranked #21 nationally. The Patriots tied or broke seven individual game or season records, placed 12 players on the All Mid-South Conference teams, and had two players recognized as NAIA All Americans. The Patriots were ranked as high as #5 nationally throughout the season, with 5 th being the highest in school history. The Patriots finished the season as the top rushing team in the nation for the second consecutive year averaging 303.5 yards per game. They also finished third nationally in total offense at 465.8 yards per game and fourteenth in scoring offense averaging 31.4 points per game. The season also saw some excellent individual performances. Senior quarterback Larry Hay, senior wide receiver Jeremy Vaught, and sophomore running back Moses Cochran led the Patriot offense from their respective positions. Hay finished the season 93-of-165 passing for 1527 yards, 15 touchdown passes and only three interceptions, ranking third nationally in pass efficiency at 160.5. The passing yardage and touchdowns are both, single season school records. He also rushed for 309 yards and 11 touchdowns. Vaught caught 37 passes for 856 yards and a school record tying eight touchdowns. His 85.6 receiving yards per game average ranked 12 th nationally. Cochran had 196 carries for 1415 yards and eight touchdowns. His 183 all purpose yards per game led the nation and 128.6 rushing yards per game ranked 10 th nationally. Earning All Conference honors were Donny Atha, Cochran, Kavoris Daniels, Hay, Lemuel Holifield, Brandon Lucas, Lawrence McGee, John Patton, Gary Russell, Kyle Singleton, Ricky Walker, and Ben White. Holifield was also named NAIA All American Honorable Mention. He led the team in total tackles (76), tackles for loss (13.0), and sacks (5.5), adding four pass breakups, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Cochran was named 4 th Team All American by NAIAFOOTBALL.NET and 2 nd Team NAIA All American. Cochran rushed for the third highest single season total, has the highest career yards per carry average, and ranks fourth in career rushing yards in school history. The 2006 Patriots will be under new management, as Head Coach Chuck King moved on to other endeavors, John Bland will come in to head up the program. Coach Bland and his coaching staff plan to lead the Patriots to another successful season and they “Will” be prepared to win. Fall sports had tremendous success in their ’05 season. Men and Women’s Soccer, along with Volleyball, all had changes in their coaching staff with Paulo Neto, Aron Bassoff, and Amanda Walton heading up the programs respectively. Each team adjusted well to the changes and led to some successful teamwork on the field. The ’05 season was promising to Coach Neto and his soccer team. With a brand new coach, returning players, and an excellent set of recruits, the men’s soccer team found their way to a 14-5 overall record. The Patriots took a regular season finish of second in the MSC, just falling short to soccer powerhouse Lindsey Wilson College. The Patriots also made their way into the NAIA Top 25 poll, with their highest spot being 22 nd. Several athletes received MSC honors including: All-Conference first team members Todd Petzold and Bosko Cupac; All-Conference second team members Shawn Picou, John Mills, Gino Ray, and Gerard Brennan; All-Conference honorable mention team members Chris Waters and Joseph Townsend; and academic All-Conference members Charlie Pait, Stephen Reddy, Petzold, Tyler Sweeney, and Jonathan Strange. Picou was named NAIA National Player of the Week for the week of September 14 th and was also named to the NAIA Region XI Team as well as being named an Honorable Mention NAIA All-American. Pait, Strange, and Sweeny were all named to the Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete Team. Picou led the Patriots with 21 goals scored; while Bosko Cupac led the team is assists with 9. Starting goalkeeper for the Patriots, Petzold, had only 12 goals against in 17 games, with 43 saves and a record of 12-4 at the goal. The Patriot soccer team will be driving to get a National Tournament appearance in the 2006 season. The Patriot ladies women’s soccer team finished overall 8-9-2 under the management of new coach Aron Bassoff. Several Patriot ladies received MSC honors this season including: All-Conference second team members Lesley Bryan and Dana Ferguson; All-Conference honorable mention team members Melissa Neale, Melanie Roberts, and Nery Saucedo; and academic All-Conference team members Jody Adams, Katie Delozier, Rachel Morrin, Roberts, Ferguson, Tori Hogg, Bethany Ott, Christy Noel, and Kelly Mason. Roberts was also named the Female MSC Scholar Athlete of the Year while Ferguson was named to the NAIA Region XI Second Team. Hogg and Roberts were named to the Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete team. Bryan led the team with 13 goals scored, and Saucedo and Rebecca Rube tied for most assists with 5 each. Goalkeeper Ott had 92 saves on the season. The Patriot ladies soccer team is anxious to get into the ’06 season and have several talented recruits set to join the team. Former Patriot Lady Amanda Walton stepped up to net to head the Patriot Volleyball team. The ladies finished up the ’05 season with a 20-19 overall record. Several Patriot ladies led the team in stats: Anna Clemenz comprised 1175 kills; Taran Johnson averaged 2.21 kills per game; Liz Bowling averaged 7.99 sets per game; Katherine Tinsley averaged .46 serves per game; Lauren Taylor and Johnson both averaged 1.30 total blocks per game; and Traci Snyder averaged 4.36 digs per game as well as .43 receptions per game. Several Patriot ladies were honored by the MSC: first team All-Conference Bowling; second team All-Conference Clemenz and Johnson; and academic All-Conference Clemenz, Maggie Callis, Katharina Mueller, Shawna New, Heather Rutherford, Laura Sivado, and Aslean White. The Patriot Ladies will have several key returnees next season including Bowling, Clemenz, Johnson, and Tinsley. The volleyball team will return to the nets in the fall when they will be joined by several new faces and a new excitement that should help them take hold of a Mid-South Conference championship. The Patriot men and women’s cross country team had successful seasons as usual. Both men and women’s teams took first place in the Mid-South Conference/NAIA Region XI Championship. The men went on to finish 25 th at nationals, while the women finished 28 th. Several Patriots men and women were honored by the Mid-South Conference including: Coach of the Year, Floyd Stroud; Female Runner of the Year, Kelly Schnee; Male Runner of the Year, Josh Laughlin; All Conference team members K. Schnee, Whitney Brainard, Shelly Schnee, Michelle Warnky, Laughlin, Brad Wells, Josphat Melly, and Landon O’Banion; and academic All-Conference members Brainard, Barb Davies, K. Schnee, S. Schnee, Megan Rawe, Warnky, and Carl Roberts. Named to the Daktronics-Scholar Athlete team were K. Schnee and S. Schnee. Making the NAIA Scholar Team with a team GPA of 3.58 were Brainard, Davies, K. Schnee, S. Schnee, and Warnky. The Patriot men and women are looking forward to the ’06 season and hope to bring back their winning spirit to dominate the conference and region once again. Winter sports had an excellent run as well in their ’05-’06 season. Both cheerleading and men’s wrestling saw new coaches, but both came together to pull out great finishes for the season. Men’s Basketball saw their fare shares of ups and downs throughout the season. The Patriots opened up their season with an 8-0 run, along with climbing up the polls in the NAIA Top 25 to the #9 position. But in the end the Patriots didn’t receive their bid to nationals and finished the season out 21-9 overall. Despite such a rough season, the Patriots did garner some top honors. The MSC honored Pat Cureton and Sam Brown as All-Conference team members, as well as honoring Pierre Darden as an Honorable Mention team member. Brown, Christopher Simmons, and Ryan Williams were all named MSC Academic All-Conference members. Receiving national honors were NAIA Honorable Mention All-American Cureton and Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athletes Simmons and Williams. The Patriots are looking forward to starting the ’06-’07 season and plan to get back their bid to nationals. Women’s Basketball had a successful season. The Patriot ladies finished overall 21-9, taking the regular season MSC Championship. Thanks to a successful regular season, the Patriot ladies received a bid to nationals and faced the Lady Bulldogs of Cumberland University. This game proved to be even closer than the MSC title game as UC won 68-67 to advance to the second round of the NAIA tournament. Unfortunately, in the second round, the Patriot ladies had to face Vanguard University (CA) who had been ranked #1 for the majority of the season and who were also undefeated. The Patriot ladies put up a good fight and only lost by six points 80-74. Senior Tenille Cann and junior Jennifer Nagy both reached their 1000 point mark in the ’05-’06 season. Several Patriot ladies received honors including: MSC Player of the Year, Cann; MSC All-Conference Cann, Nagy, and Lissi Fuller; MSC Honorable Mention Kirsten Roberson; MSC Academic All-Conference Nagy; Third Team NAIA All-American Cann; and Honorable Mention Team NAIA All-American Nagy. With the loss of only one senior, look for the Patriot ladies to turn it up and make a repeat run at the NAIA National Championship. The Patriot Cheerleaders brought back a third place finish in the Mid-South Conference Competition held in Pikeville, KY. This was a large achievement for the cheerleaders, especially under the guidance of a new coaching staff. The Mid-South Conference is the only conference in the NAIA to hold a cheerleading competition each year. Several cheerleaders were honored by the MSC. Those honored were: All-Conference Greg Foley and Heather Parks and Academic All-Conference Jolina Miller and Tarrah Minor. The Patriot cheerleaders are shooting for a championship in the ’06-’07 season. The University of the Cumberlands swimmers had a very successful year. The Patriots concluded the regular season with five wins against their opponents, suffering only three losses. In tournament action, the men's team finished first twice and second three times. The ladies earned two first place finishes, were runner-ups twice, and received third place once. Cumberlands swimmers closed the ’05-’06 season in St. Louis, MO March 1-4, 2006. The ladies returned home with a third place finish in the 2006 NAIA National tournament. Eight of Cumberlands ladies and four relay teams finished with top 12 times. The men's team finished sixth in the competition. Seven Patriot swimmers and two relay teams had top 12 times within the tournament. Several Patriots were honored by the NAIA including: All Americans Laurie Anderson (800 yard freestyle relay and 400 yard freestyle relay), Lane Royer (800 freestyle relay, 400 yard medley relay, and 400 yard freestyle relay), Christen Heideman (800 yard freestyle relay, 400 yard medley relay, 100 yard butterfly, and 200 yard butterfly), Jessica Harrison (800 yard freestyle relay, 500 yard freestyle, 1650 yard freestyle, and 400 yard freestyle relay), Carol Clayton (400 yard medley relay), Lindsay Madsen (400 yard medley relay), and Sara Crooke (400 freestyle relay); Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athletes Heideman, Catherine Mack, Madsen, Royer, and Noel Zvonar. With losing only three seniors and gaining a good recruiting class for next season, Coach Nelson hopes to continue to build on the success of both squads. The University of the Cumberlands men’s wrestling team closed yet another exceptional wrestling season. The Patriots finished in third place at the NAIA National Championships for the second time. Bringing back home a national champion, two runner-ups, a third place finisher, and two eighth place finishers, Cumberlands totaled six wrestlers as All-Americans. Reaching All-American status were Delrico Choates, Brad Cooper, Eric Flinchum, Matt Bishop, Honorable Mention Dustin Center, and Honorable Mention Todd Allen. Coach Medders is looking forward to the 2006-2007 season as some key red shirt players come out ready to perform. The Patriot ladies wresting team had an excellent season as well. The team finished ranked second by TheMat.com. Several Patriot ladies stepped up for the team this year. At College Nationals, the Patriots took first place with several individuals placing well including: Aquilla Hills (silver, 48kg), Deseree Cazares (4 th, 48kg), Jessica Medina (gold, 51kg), Rikki Giles (4 th, 51kg), Tara Williams (bronze, 55kg), Maggie Klauck (6 th, 55kg), Othella Lucas (gold, 59kg), Jessica Jauck (gold, 59kg), Alaina Berube (gold, 63kg), Krisha Childress (4 th, 63kg), Heather Martin (gold, 67kg), Shelly Ruberg (gold, 67kg), Sherolynn Eppinger (4 th, 67kg), Tabetha Golt (silver, 72kg), Sheri Hilliard (5 th, 72kg), Clarissa Dalke (6 th, 72kg), and Tocarra Montgomery (gold, 80kg). The Patriot ladies look to a talented team to get back to the University's number one ranking in North America for the 2006-2007 season. Spring sports dominated this past spring. Three teams taking high honors with regular season championships or tournament championships, several region tournament appearances and a few national tournament appearances. Recovering from the loss of key players last season, the Patriot tennis team spent most of the year rebuilding a successful team. Cumberlands was successful in reaching this goal by concluding the 05-06 season with a top four finish in the Mid-South Conference. The Patriot tennis team finished behind long-time champions Lindsey Wilson College and a strong team from Georgetown College. Several of Cumberlands’ athletes were recognized with All-Conference honors. Veronica Sizemore earned the only All-Conference Singles honor for the Patriots. All-Conference Doubles honors were received by Sizemore and her partner Nickie Dugger. Earning All-Conference Honorable Mention - Singles were Mitchel Hubert and Felix Koch for the men and Yamila Verdejo and Nickie Dugger for the ladies. Doubles teams Hubert and Anthony Un, Verdejo and Jessica Lowrie, and Christy Phelps and Keysha Dugger gained All-Conference Honorable Mention - Doubles honors. Student-athletes receiving the Academic All-Conference awards were Mike Rudolph, Linda Chiromo, Keysha Dugger, Nickie Dugger, and Ashley Shepard. K. Dugger was also named a Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete. Only two members from the Patriot tennis teams will be graduated in May, Linda Chiromo and Keysha Dugger. Though the Patriots are a predominately young team, comprised of mostly freshman and sophomores, these athletes have gained yet another year of experience heading into next season. The Patriot baseball team had their season end at the NAIA Region XI Tournament in Lebanon, TN, for the second consecutive season. The Patriots (39-16, 13-4) won the Mid-South Conference Regular Season Championship and advanced to the region tournament before being eliminated after the fourth game. Several Patriots received honors including: MSC Coach of the Year, Brad Shelton; MSC All-Conference Victor Wooldridge, Chris Cartas, Robert Mills, Chaz Gentry, and Adam Walker; MSC All-Conference Honorable Mention John Sullivan, Daniel Guttridge, Trevor Urbanick, and Adam Blaker; MSC Academic All-Conference Justin Adams, Blakey, Josh Bowman, Joel Dobney, Guttridge, Justin McDonald, Alex McDougall, Jon Silverman, and Ty Smallwood; NAIA Region XI Team members included Wooldridge, Mills, Walker, and Gentry; and NAIA All American Honorable Mentions Wooldridge, Mills, Walker, and Gentry. This was the first year in school history that Patriot Baseball received more than 2 Honorable Mentions for All-Americans in the NAIA. The Patriots have now won 123 games over the past three seasons. The Patriots look forward to working for their national’s appearance in the ’07 season. The Patriot ladies softball season has come to an end as they finished up the season with an overall record of 24-28; winning 10 and dropping seven in conference play. Several honors were earned by these ladies. The first were at the Mid-South Conference tournament where several ladies grabbed All-Conference recognition. Capturing first team honors were: senior Sabrina McCullough, catcher; sophomore Whitney Piar, pitcher; and senior Ashley Rismiller, pitcher. Named to the honorable mention team were: senior Melanie Downey, outfield; and junior Kim Catoe, outfield. The Patriots grabbed some off the field honors with Maggie Callis, Kim Catoe, Erin Clancy, Sabrina McCullough, and Jessica Taulbee being named to the Academic All-Conference team. Honors were also gained at the NAIA Region XI Tournament where Sabrina McCullough and Whitney Piar made first team honors, while Ashley Rismiller received honorable mention honors. Also receiving national honors were McCullough and Clancy being named Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athletes. The Patriot ladies recorded the second longest game in NAIA history against MSC foe Campbellsville University at 16 innings with a win before falling in the NAIA Regional Tournament. The Patriots came off of an excellent 2005 season, only to have an even better 2006 season. Their record may not reflect their accomplishments this season, but it is evident from the honors gained and records broken how great the season really was for the ladies. The Patriot ladies are looking forward to the 2007 season, which is set to begin early next spring. Patriot Golf also saw a season of ups and downs. The men’s team finished co-champions in the MSC. The women, however, only had 2 members competing, which unfortunately did not constitute a team. Several honors were received by the Patriot golf team including: All-Conference Jennifer Keiffer, Eric King, and Justin Price; Academic All-Conference Keiffer, Katie Bowers, and King; Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes Bowers and Keiffer; and PING East NAIA All-Region team member King. With an excellent recruiting season, the Patriots plan to come back in full swing with an excellent men and women’s team for the ’06-’07 season. Patriot Track and Field had yet again another championship season, winning both the men and women’s MSC/Region XI championships, and bringing home All-Americans in both the indoor and outdoor seasons from the NAIA national championship. Receiving honors were: MSC Men’s Runner of the Year, Marius Cozmanciuc; MSC Women’s Runner of the Year, Shelly Schnee; MSC All-Conference Eric Tisdol, Chris Rasado, Brandon Careathers, Lemuel Holifield, Cozmanciuc, Josh Laughlin, Whitney Brainard, Sherolynn Eppinger, Kelly Schnee, Kristin McKenna, Kelley Seifert, and S. Schnee; MSC Academic All-Conference Nathan Barnes, Joshua Patrick, Carl Roberts, Jared Tackett, Brainard, Barb Davies, McKenna, Jessica Medina, Megan Rawe, K. Schnee, Megan Wakely, and Michelle Warnky; Indoor Track and Field All-Americans Cozmanciuc, K. Schnee, Warnky, Vanity Vazquez, S. Schnee, and Shari Reese; Outdoor Track and Field All-American Cozmanciuc; and Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athletes K. Schnee and S. Schnee. The Patriots look forward to the ’07 season and getting back to nationals. With so much excellent talent and athletic ability, the Patriots etched out a mass of milestones in the 2005-2006 year. It’s so hard to believe that so much can be accomplished in one year. One can only wonder what the 06-07 has in store for the Patriot teams.
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