2008-09 Summit League Year In Review
2008-09 Summit League Year In
Review
- The Summit League set records for attendance, corporate
sponsorship, ticket sales and program sales at the 2009 basketball
championships in Sioux Falls, S.D. Total attendance for the
tournament reached 34,681 while the women's sessions shattered the
previous record and totaled 16,999. Corporate sponsorship surpassed
the $290,000 mark. Daktronics supplied video replay boards and
digital display panels used at the 2009 Final Four and provided the
only LED digital backdrop used at a league tournament press
conference.
- League
teams combined for seven NCAA Tournament victories. North Dakota
State advanced to the NCAA Softball Super Regionals after winning
the Norman (Oklahoma) Regional, marking the first time a Summit
League school had advanced past regional play since 1999. Oral
Roberts won two games and finished as runner-up at the Tempe
(Arizona State) Baseball Regional. South Dakota State claimed a
first round women's soccer victory over Colorado, the first in
league history, while the Jackrabbits' women's basketball team
defeated TCU in the first round to claim the league's first NCAA
triumph since 1998.
- Three Summit League teams ended their seasons with national
rankings. North Dakota State's softball team finished the year at
No. 18 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, South Dakota State's
women's basketball team was No. 19 in the final USA
Today/ESPN Coaches' poll and Oakland's men's soccer team
checked in at No. 30 in the College Soccer News final poll.
- Both Summit League Basketball champions, North Dakota State men
and South Dakota State women, reached the NCAA Tournament in their
first year of eligibility, marking the first time that a league has
had both its men's and women's teams achieve that feat in the same
season.
- Oral Roberts won The Summit League's Commissioner's Cup
all-sports trophy for the fourth consecutive year. The Golden
Eagles won team titles in four sports (baseball, men's golf,
women's golf and men's tennis) and had three second-place finishes
(men's basketball, women's tennis and volleyball).
- The University of South Dakota accepted an invitation to join The
Summit League on July 1, 2011 and will begin league competition
during the 2011-12 academic year with full eligibility for all
regular season and tournament championships in 2012-13.
Baseball
- Oral Roberts won its Summit League record 11th consecutive
regular season title and captured its record 12th postseason league
championship.
- ORU won two games at the Tempe Regional and finished as runner-up
to No. 3 Arizona State.
-
ORU's Jerry Sullivan became The Summit League's
highest draft pick since 2001 when he was selected in the third
round and led a total of seven league draftees.
-
Centenary defeated No. 1 Texas A&M, 8-4, on Feb. 25 at College
Station, Texas.
- ORU's Mark Serrano claimed both the Player and Pitcher of the
Year awards, marking the third time in league history that a player
earned both awards in the same season. He was also named a
Louisville Slugger Second Team All-American by Collegiate
Baseball Newspaper.
Men's Basketball
- Summit League attendance soared in 2008-09 with the largest
increase in the NCAA. The league finished 16th nationally in
attendance, up six spots over the previous season, and increased
its per game figures by 30 percent.
- North Dakota State won the regular season and tournament titles
to reach the NCAA Tournament in its initial season of eligibility.
NDSU was the first team to achieve that feat since the field
expanded to 64 teams and the first since 1970.
- Oakland won its first round game and advanced to the
quarterfinals of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
- NDSU's Brett Winkelman was named as the University Division
Academic All-American of the Year in conjunction with his first
team selection to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America
team.
- Oakland's Johnathon Jones led the nation in assists and assists
per game while Southern Utah recorded the NCAA's top team free
throw percentage.
- Ben Woodside set Summit League, school and venue records with 60
points, 30 free throws and 35 free throw attempts in a
triple-overtime game vs. Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 12. His 30 made
free throws tied an NCAA record held by "Pistol" Pete
Maravich.
Women's Basketball
- South Dakota State ended the season ranked No. 19 in the final
USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll. SDSU was nationally-ranked for the
final 14 weeks of the season and peaked at No. 14, marking the
highest ranking in Summit League history. The Jackrabbits earned
the highest NCAA Tournament seed (No. 7) in league history and
became just the second team to reach the NCAA Tournament in its
initial year of eligibility.
- SDSU recorded the league's first NCAA Tournament win since 1998,
and second in history, with a 90-55 first-round rout of 10th-seeded
TCU. The Jacks tied an NCAA Tournament record with 16 three-point
field goals in their victory. SDSU fell, 60-58, in the final
seconds of its second round contest against No. 2 seed Baylor.
- SDSU's Jennifer Warkenthien was named Honorable Mention
All-America by the Associated Press and head coach Aaron Johnston
finished third in the AP National Coach of the Year voting.
Oakland's Jessica Pike was named Division I-AAA Athletics Directors
Association Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
- The Summit League finished the season ranked No. 20 in the RPI
(rpirating.com), up seven spots from 2007-08.
Cross Country
- Oral Roberts' Jonah Lagat was The Summit League's lone
representative at the NCAA Division I Men's National Championships
and placed 172nd among 252 runners.
- IPFW's Crystal Martinez represented The Summit League at the NCAA
Division I Women's National Championships. The first Mastodon to
run in the NCAA National Championships, Martinez finished 177th
among 252 competitors.
- IPFW's Crystina and Crystal Martinez both were named to the 2008
NCAA Division I USTFCCCA Women's All-Academic Team.
Golf
- Western Illinois' Kyle Peterman won a qualifying
playoff to earn an amateur spot in the 2009 U.S. Open.
- The Oral Roberts men's team won the league title with a
three-round score of 860, three strokes better than the previous
Summit League Championship record.
- South Dakota State's Trent Peterson and Southern Utah's Nate Page
each earned individual at-large berths to the NCAA Regionals.
- ORU's women's squad won its league-record 12th consecutive Summit
League Championship.
- ORU's Christy Carter was the top individual finisher at the
league tournament for the second consecutive season.
Men's Soccer
- For the first time since 2003, and only the third time in league
history, The Summit League placed two schools (UMKC and Oakland) in
the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament. UMKC won The Summit League
Championship and earned an automatic bid while Oakland received an
at-large bid.
- Oakland finished the season ranked 30th in the College Soccer
News Top 30 Poll. Earlier in the season, the Golden Grizzlies
reached as high as No. 24 in the poll, marking the first time a
Summit League school earned a top-25 ranking.
- UMKC's Garret Guthrie was named to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine
men's soccer Academic All-America Third Team. He was also an
Academic All-District honoree and selected as a Lowe's Senior CLASS
Award finalist.
Women's Soccer
- South Dakota State advanced to the second round of the NCAA
Women's College Cup with a 1-0 win over No. 13 Colorado in first
round play and finished the year receiving votes in the final
polls. The Jackrabbits' victory was the first NCAA Tournament
victory by a Summit League team.
- SDSU's Erin Kasmarik was named to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine
Academic All-America Second Team.
- IUPUI's Katrina McCrory was tabbed as an NSCAA/adidas Scholar
All-Central Region second team selection.
- Oakland's Jessica Boyle and Western Illinois' Ashley Hoch each
earned the fourth all-league honors of their career after garnering
first team accolades.
Indoor Track & Field
- North Dakota State captured both the men's and women's Summit
League Indoor Track & Field Championships for the second
consecutive season.
- Oral Roberts' Marvin Bonde finished fifth in the 200-meter dash
(20.86) at the NCAA Indoor Championships to earn All-American
honors.
- North Dakota State had a Summit League-high three representatives
at the NCAA Indoor Championships: Matt Bishoff (heptathlon), Laura
Hermanson (800m) and Leslie Brost (pole vault). Hermanson recorded
the best finish, seventh, while Bishoff and Brost each placed
11th.
Outdoor Track & Field
- North Dakota State's Laura Hermanson finished as
800m runner-up at the NCAA Championships leading a trio of Bison
All-Americans that included Whitney Carlson
(5th in 400m hurdles) and Brittany Gigstead (7th in 800m). NDSU
finished in a tie for 31st as a team.
- Eight Summit League
athletes reached the NCAA Outdoor Championships: NDSU's Leslie
Brost (pole vault), Whitney Carlson (400m hurdles), Brittany
Gigstead (800m) and Laura Hermanson
(800m), ORU's Katie Stoever (pole vault) and Autumn Hubbard (100m
hurdles), SDSU's Sara Ackman (discus) and UMKC's Marcus Lee (triple
jump).
- The
Summit League sent a combined 62 male and female athletes to NCAA
Regional competition.
- North Dakota State's Matt Bishoff and Weston Leutz recorded the
top two decathlon scores in The Summit League and each were NCAA
Provisional Qualifiers.
- Eight new records were set at the 2009 Summit League Outdoor
Track and Field Championships in Cedar City, Utah.
- North Dakota State's Whitney Carlson set a pair of Summit League
Outdoor Championship records in the 400m-hurdles (59.97) and the
long jump (21'1.25"/6.43m).
Softball
- North Dakota State defeated nationally-ranked Oklahoma and Tulsa
at the Norman Regional to advance to the NCAA Super Regionals. The
Bison became the first Summit League team to win a regional since
1999.
- The Bison
ended the season ranked No. 18 in the final ESPN.com/USA Softball
poll and No. 21 in the USA Today/NFCA poll.
- NDSU defeated top-seeded Western Illinois to win The 2009 Summit
League Softball Championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament in
its first year of eligibility.
- Five no-hitters where thrown by four separate Summit League
pitchers during the season: Centenary's Hillary Phillips and
Jessica Bock, Oakland's Brittany Doyle and North Dakota State's
Andi Padilla. Padilla hurled two no-hitters in one week, one of
which was a perfect game.
Swimming & Diving
- The Summit League sent six student-athletes (Oakland's Chelsea
Oates and Marcella Barretta, IUPUI's Jaron Tuttle and Chen Ni, and
Western Illinois' Eric Campbell and Anthony Holzhauer) to the NCAA
Zone C Diving Championships.
- Chen Ni was the first IUPUI student-athlete to qualify for an
NCAA individual championship and finished fourth in platform
diving with a pool-record mark of 310.40 at the NCAA Women's
Swimming and Diving Championships.
- Oakland's Anders Jensen finished 12th in the 200-yard backstroke
at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships to earn All-America
honorable mention and help Oakland to a 35th-place team finish.
Tennis
- Oral Roberts defeated top-seeded IPFW in the Summit League
Women's Championship to win its third consecutive league
championship.
- UMKC topped regular-season champion Oral Roberts in the Summit
League Men's Championship and earned its first league title and
NCAA Tournament berth since 2000.
- IPFW's Amy Recht and ORU's Oleksandr Kotsuik each earned their
second consecutive Player of the Year award.
- Katie Brien became the first IPFW tennis player to earn a
national ranking in the ITA poll, checking in at No. 118 on Feb.
19.
Volleyball
- North Dakota State compiled a 24-4 overall record and a perfect
16-0 Summit League mark on its way to the league crown. The Bison
earned their first NCAA Tournament appearance after becoming just
the fifth team to go undefeated in the Summit League's double
round-robin schedule and the first since 2004 to achieve that
feat.
- NDSU placed 42nd in the NCAA attendance rankings.
- NDSU freshman middle hitter Chrissy Knuth won both the Summit
League Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year awards.
- IUPUI led the NCAA in digs per set while North Dakota State
ranked third and Western Illinois sixth. SDSU's Mackenzie Angner
ranked second in the NCAA with 5.09 kills per set.
