2008-09 Year in Review (.pdf-- Complete stats, achievements of all 19 varsity sports)

The University of Indianapolis athletic department boasted a 2008-09 season to remember, with milestone achievements, conference championships and noteworthy performances that were nationally recognized.  Four different UIndy teams laid claim to league titles, part of 14 Greyhound squads that advanced to NCAA postseason play.

A national champion was crowned as junior Lyndsay McBride took medalist honors at the NCAA Nationals, helping the Hounds to a tie for third place as a team.  Both of those marks were firsts in school history--but it didn't stop there.  Also contributing to new school firsts were the softball team (first regional title and College World Series berth), women's basketball team (sweet 16), volleyball (back-to-back NCAA trips) and men's golf (consecutive top 8 finishes).

The fall highlights included senior Craig Jenkins breaking his own single-season school-record with his 1,324 rushing yards.  The volleyball team continued to churn-out wins, racking-up its tenth straight 20-win season en route to its second straight NCAA tournament.

The women's basketball team beat a pair of teams ranked in the top ten on consecutive days at the NCAA tournament.  The team advanced to the Midwest Regional final, the first "Sweet 16" in the program's history.  Later in the winter, the swimming and wrestling teams combined to send 22 athletes to the Division II Winter National Championships Festival in Houston, Texas.  There, the UIndy swimmers collected 13 All-America honors and the women's team took 11th with the men 15th in the nation.

It was the spring sports that put the cap on an amazing year.  Of the six teams competing, five made the NCAA tournament with four placing in the top 10 nationally.  The baseball (518 runs) and softball teams (58 homers) used record-setting offenses to make deep runs in their respective tournaments.  Softball coupled theirs with a dominating pitching performance from junior Megan Russell to win the regional and super-regional rounds and qualify for the NCAA D-II World Series.  Baseball was poised to join them, falling just one win shy of making another World Series appearance.

The men's golf team was led by freshman sensation Aaron Monson, who tied for fifth individually to help the Hounds tie for sixth as a team.  On the women's side, national champ McBride coupled with senior Kristi Piepenbrink to give the team its highest team finish ever (tied for third).

With the 14 teams qualifying for points in the Learfield Sports Director's Cup standings, the Greyhounds finished fifth, thanks in part to an outstanding spring that outscored every D-II school.  It marked the eighth time that Indianapolis has placed in the top 20 in the 14 years of the Cup's existence and tied the highest finish in school history.   

While the competition was fierce on the playing field, the UIndy student-athletes got it done in the classroom, too.  Five students were named to the ESPN the magazine/College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District Team with three advancing to the national ballot.  The accolades rolled in at the conference level too, as 142 UIndy athletes were named to all-academic teams by their respective league.  The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) honored 106 Indianapolis athletes while football and swimming combined for 36 more from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).

BY THE NUMBERS 
1,324  Single-season rushing yards by Craig Jenkins
581     Record number of points by Samantha Meissel
518     Record number of runs scored by baseball team
142     Academic All-Conference honorees (GLIAC and GLVC)
71.1    Single-season scoring record by Justin Hueber
67    Course and school-record round by Kristi Piepenbrink
58     Record number of HRs by the softball team
34     League Players of the Week/Month (GLIAC/GLVC)
25     All-America honors earned by UIndy athletes
17     GLVC-most HRs-Ben Sondgeroth (bb) & Megan Russell (sb)
14     Teams qualified for NCAA postseason
10     Consecutive 20-win seasons for UIndy volleyball team
10   Shutouts by Abby Tracy, tying single-season record
8     Teams that finished in the top 16 nationally
6     Tournaments won by Justin Hueber
6     GLVC Scholar-Athletes (WS, MS, VB, MG, WG, WT&F)
5     Five dollar, Five dollar foot looooooooong
5     National finish in the NACDA DII Director's Cup
4     GLVC titles (WIT&F, WOT&F, MG, WG)
4     GLVC Players of the Year (VB, MG, WG, SB)
3    GLVC Freshmen of the Year (K. Allen, A. Hamilton, A. Monson)
2     Top 10 teams bounced by WBB in NCAA tourney
1     National Champion (Lyndsay McBride- women's golf)