(CLEVELAND) – The Truett McConnell University Bears are carrying the momentum of the accumulated successes from all athletic teams in 2021-2022 to prepare for the 2022-2023 seasons.
In case you missed it, TMU Athletics finished fifth of 16 Appalachian Athletic Conference schools in the 2021-2022 Duard Walker All-Sports Trophy Standings, which is a point system where teams earn points based on their regular season finish only, unless the sport (i.e. cross country, track & field, swimming & diving) only hosted a championship meet. Points are assigned as follows: first place received 30 points, second place 25, third place 20, fourth place 15, fifth 12, sixth 11, seventh 10, eighth 9, ninth: 8, 10th 7, 11th 6, 12th 5, 13th 4, 14th 3, 15th 2, and 16th 1. TMU rounded out the top five with a total of 229.5.
FALL
Women’s soccer had a successful fall season, earning the title of AAC Regular Season and Tournament Runner-Ups, with a record of 13-1 in conference play, including a nine-game win streak. The Lady Bears were featured receiving a ticket to the NAIA National Championships, their fourth straight appearance, where they upset No. 2 Campbellsville University in the Spring Arbor bracket to advance to the championship game for the first time in TMU history. A 1-2 loss in overtime to No. 1 Spring Arbor University concluded the 2021-2022 season. The Lady Bears broke a program record for most overall wins in a single season. Graduate Student Hannah Logue collected the AAC Player of the Year, the Golden Boot Award, while earning a spot on the All-Conference First Team. Sophomore Eliska Dvorakova collected the AAC Offensive Player of the Year award, while earning a spot on the All-Conference First Team, including one other Lady Bear on first team (Lauren Bergevine) and two on second team (Sydney League, Ella Weir). Logue and Dvorakova were both honored as NAIA All-Americans. Hope Frady received an AAC Defensive Player of the Week honor, while Logue received AAC Offensive Player of the Week honor twice.
Men’s soccer continued to grow with Head Coach Scott Borchers, Assistant Coach Jose Herrera and additionally Student Assistant, Victor Clemente. The Bears finished their season with a 6-8-2 overall record, followed with a 5-8 record in conference play.
Women’s volleyball finished their season with a 12-21 overall record and a 7-13 record in conference play. Senior Bethany Ross met a major milestone of 1,000 career kills against Carolina University.
Cycling had a victorious season with eight, top-three finishers in the season opener. The Bears were ranked No. 3 by the Southern Collegiate Cycling Conference heading into the last race of the season. Freshman Jake Hutchenson, Sophomore Madison Wyatt and Junior Brennah Griggs each punched a ticket to the Collegiate MTB Nationals for the third time in program history.
Men’s and Women’s cross country both had eventful seasons, collecting multiple runner-up wins. Sophomore Marco Flores received an AAC Runner of the week honor, along with Junior Savannah Campbell receiving an AAC Runner of the week honor and a spot on the All-Conference Second Team. Individually, Campbell represented TMU as she competed at the NAIA National Championships, where she finished 130th in a deep field of 338 individuals in the women’s 5K.
WINTER
Wrestling opened their season with three players nationally ranked: No. 16 Geowel Silvestre (141), No. 19 Ian James (174) and No. 16 Ethan Powell (285). The Bears placed third at the AAC Tournament and sent two Bears to the NAIA National Championships, Leonel Silvestre (149) and Powell (285), who punched their tickets during the regular season. At the AAC Tournament, Brandon Navixay (125), Hans Evatt (184) and Ethan Powell (285) placed second, while Mitchell Thompson (165), Will Parker (184) and Nolan Cook (197) placed third. Leo Silverstre (149) and Ian James (174) rounded the tournament out with a fourth place finish. At the NAIA National Championships, No. 16 Powell finished going 2-2, while No. 16 Silvestre went 0-2.
Women’s basketball had a historical season, with an overall record of 18-14 and 13-11 record in conference play, which set a new record for most wins and most conference wins in a single season. Sophomore Alysee Dobbs and Senior Re’Tavia Floyd both earned AAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week honors during the regular season. The Lady Bears punched their ticket to the AAC Tournament after beating Bluefield College in the AAC play-in game, where they fell in the quarterfinals to the No. 2 seed Milligan college. Floyd was featured earning a spot on the All-Conference First Team.
Men’s basketball had a thrilling season, with an overall record of 20-12, 14-10 AAC, setting a new record for conference wins in a single season and tying the record for overall wins in a season. Senior Enocka Franky broke the career record for total rebounds with 720, while Junior Brent Kelly set a new team career record with 282 assists. Respectfully, Coach Jon Yeh achieved 100 career wins during the 2021-2022 season. The Bears punched their ticket to the AAC Tournament after beating Milligan College in the AAC play-in game, where they fell in the semifinals to the No. 1 seed Union College. Franky was named to the All-Conference First Team, while Sophomore EJ Smith earned a spot on the AAC Defensive Team and Freshman Raul Arias-Ortega earned a spot on the Freshman Team.
SPRING
Men’s and Women’s track and field had a historic season with one national champion, multiple records broken and qualifying for 13 total events at the NAIA National Championships, the most to ever qualify in a single season in program history.
The Men’s track and field team started early with sophomore Austin Mathis setting a new shot-put record (14.93 m). Sharod Cobb and Cameron Alamia punched their tickets to the National Championship early in the season. The Bears placed third out of 14 teams at the AAC Tournament, with several events receiving a first place finish, including 4x400m relay, 4x100m relay, 400m hurdles, 100m dash, 400m and the 200m dash. Two Bears received post-season awards: Alamia received the Freshman of the Year award, followed by Cobb who received the Runner of the Year award, along with three AAC Track Athlete of the Week honors throughout the regular season. Multiple members had NAIA Nationals Qualifying Times at the AAC Tournament, including 4x400m Relay, Cobb and Keishon Franklin in the 400m and Connor Morgan in the 800m.
The Women’s track and field team also started early with freshman Grace Jones setting a new shot-put record (12.28 m), followed by sophomore Katilyn Babb setting a program record in javelin, breaking a personal record and punching a ticket to nationals for the first time in women’s track and field program history. Savannah Campbell, Myesha Hall and Babb all received AAC Track and Field Athlete of the Week nominations throughout the regular season. The Lady Bears finished third out of 12 teams at the AAC Tournament, with several events receiving a first place finish, including 100m dash, Javelin, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, Long Jump and 200m dash. Two Bears received post-season awards, where Hall received the Runner of the Year award and Tenae Grigsby received the Newcomer of the Year award. Multiple members of women’s track & field had NAIA Nationals Qualifying Times at the AAC Tournament, including 4xx100m Relay and Grigsby in the 400m hurdles.
At the NAIA National Championships, freshman Myesha Hall was named the 2022 Women’s Track and Field Long Jump National Champion. Hall competed in three events (Long Jump, Triple Jump, Women’s 4x100m Relay), where she won the National Championship title in Long Jump after breaking the TMU program record and setting a new personal record with a mark of 6.15m. Hall has made TMU history by becoming the first individual athlete ever in the NAIA era to be named a national champion and All-American since the women’s basketball team was named national champions in 1980. Hall opened the event with a mark of 3.34m and recorded the winning mark on her third jump, which ultimately sealed the victory. The next closest mark was from Indiana Tech at 6.14m.
Softball finished their season with a winning record of 32-25 and a 20-8 record in conference play. The Lady Bears attended the NAIA Leadoff Classic Tournament, where they bested No. 8 Indiana Wesleyan and junior Ellie McCloy was honored with a spot on the all-tournament team. Five Lady Bears received All-Conference awards, including senior’s Alicia Price and Briley Lawson securing a spot on the All-Conference First Team, where junior’s Justine Kennington, Mattie Brooks and freshman Kyleigh Sanders were featured on the All-Conference Second Team. The Lady Bears finished fourth in the regular season, sending them to the AAC Tournament where they finished as AAC Tournament Runner-Ups. Senior Karley Hobbs hit a milestone of 102 career wins, along with a spot on the All-Tournament Team, followed by three other Lady Bears (Price, Lawson and sophomore Kyndall Gipson). Coach Jenni Shepard announced her retirement, passing the program to Coach Dylan Reichenberg as the Head Coach and Karley Hobbs as the Assistant Coach. Shepard earned 378 career wins, one AAC Tournament Championship, two regular season AAC champions, eight AAC tournament appearances, three NAIA National Tournament appearances and four years of NAIA Top 25 Rankings.
Women’s golf had a historical fall season of their own, with their second-consecutive team win at the Point Fall Invitational. Most notable, the Lady Bears had four golfers finish in the top five (Madison Panter, Audrey Grace Holder, Erin Dorsey and Jala Stamey), each earning a spot on the all-tournament team. This is the most players in TMU history to finish in the top five in a single tournament. The Lady Bears carried the success from the fall into the spring season, where at the Roadrunner Invitational, TMU secured a fourth-place finish with a team score of 926. Freshman MinJi Kang dominated throughout the spring season with eight consecutive individual tournament wins, one NAIA Golfer of the Week nomination and four AAC Golfer of the week nominations.
The Lady Bears broke the one-day, two-day and three-day team record by shooting a 299, 300, 327. At the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament, TMU made program history by being crowned AAC Regular Season Champions and AAC Tournament Champions with a final team score of 615. Head Coach Steve Patton was named AAC Head Coach of the Year, MinJi Kang was named AAC Player of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Conference First Team, Panter earned a spot on the All-Conference First Team along with an AAC Golfer of the Week award in the regular season, while Holder earned a spot on the All-Conference Second Team and the Lady Bears punched their ticket to the NAIA National Championships.
At the NAIA National Championships, The Lady Bears finished round two of play in fifth overall to make the cut for the final day of competition and showed their grit in round three to finish seventh overall out of 30 teams, with a team score of 899. TMU was featured besting thirteen nationally ranked teams, including No. 2 Keiser University who finished tied in eighth with No. 10 Texas Wesleyan University (900), No. 6 Southeastern University who finished tied at 14th (911), No. 8 Embry Riddle University and AAC foe No. 12 Milligan College who finished 16th (912). Holder tied for 62nd (232), Panter tied for 67th (234), Stamey tied for 76th (238) and Grace Landsdell placed 83rd (241).
Most notable, No. 1 MinJi Kang was named the 2022 Women’s Golf NAIA National Champion after shooting a 69 in round one, a stellar 66 in round two and a 69 in round three, for a total of 12 under par. Kang has made TMU history by becoming the second ever individual athlete in the NAIA era to be named a national champion since the women’s basketball team was named national champions in 1980. Kang delivered a sharp performance in round one of the national tournament with an under-par score, while improving by three strokes with a record-setting 135 (69, 66) for nine-under par. Kang currently holds three NAIA tournament records, the lowest score in an 18-hole round with a 66 and the lowest total in 36 holes with a 135, crushed the 54-hole tournament mark which was set in 2018 and has earned a spot on the Women’s Golf NAIA National Championships All-Tournament Team. Kang was named the first ever TMU women’s golf All-American, the NAIA Freshman of the Year, NAIA Player of the Year, 2021-2022 NAIA Ping WGCA National Player of the Year and 2021-2022 NAIA WGCA National Freshman of the Year. Kang broke multiple school records throughout the season, capable of setting a new one-day and two-day individual record and played a huge role in setting a new one-day, two-day and three-day overall team record. Kang also received four AAC Golfer of the Week awards, one NAIA National Golfer of the Week and is ranked No. 1 according to Golf Stat national rankings.
Men’s golf had a successful fall season, placing second at the Point University Invitational, where junior Michael Osborne finished third and sophomore Nate Thornton finished fourth. The Bears opened their spring season with a third place finish at the Dalton State Kinderlou Invitational and senior Jhett Lewis received the AAC Golfer of the Week award. In TMU’s final tournament of the season, the Bears places second and Osborne placed first, earning him a spot on the all-tournament team, the AAC Golfer of the Week award and the NAIA National Men’s Golfer of the Week award. The Bears finished second at the AAC Tournament, where sophomore Nate Thornton was a direct qualifier for the All-Tournament Team and had a third place finish. Three Bears received All-Conference awards, featuring Thornton on the All-Conference First Team, while Osborne and junior Vic Mincey received a spot on the All-Conference Second Team.
Baseball finished their 2022 season with an overall winning record of 25-22, 16-14 AAC. The Bears were forced to compete in an AAC play-in game against Montreat College, where they fell short to conclude their season. The Bears had three players earn AAC postseason awards, including Andrew Johnston on the All-Conference First team, Will Ingram on the All-Conference Second Team and Tanner Griffith receiving the Rawling’s Gold Glove at second base for the second consecutive year.
Women’s lacrosse concluded their 2022 season with a record of 2-9, 2-5 AAC, with the Lady Bears earning a spot in the AAC Tournament for the second time in program history. The Lady Bears were knocked out of the tournament by Montreat College in the opening round, with one player earning All-Conference and Champions of Character honors. Hope Frady earned a spot on the All-AAC Second Team, while Cameron Lee was honored as the AAC Champion of Character. Eleven players were also honored on the All-Academic Team: Sophie Beach, Holly Foster, Frady, Lee, Kaitlyn Morgenroth, Mallory Powell, Marley Reagan, Emily Sanders, Katie Smith, Camille Stanley and Gracie Wilber.
Men’s volleyball completed their second season with Dave Herron as the Head Coach and Barbara Herron as the Assistant Coach stepping in for their first year. Senior Owen Nobles was honored on the MSC All-Academic Team, while senior Kaleb Mitchell was placed on the Champions of Character team.
The Shot Gun team was featured completing their inaugural season as well, with Jeff Branyan named the Director of Shooting Sports and Marie Taylor named the Head Shotgun Coach.
Women’s beach volleyball completed their inaugural season with Coach Mark Corbin heading the program. The Lady Bears completed their 2022 season with an overall record of 5-25, 3-11 AAC. TMU recorded their first program win against Bob Jones University, featuring four winning pairs.
