Six programs win conference championships

The athletic department won six conference championships during the 2012-2013 season.

Five of the championships came from the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference, including football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s golf and men’s tennis.

This mark topped the 2009 season, in which four programs (football, men’s basketball, men’s soccer and cross-country) won the LSC Championship in the same year.

The cycling team received the sixth championship in the South Central Collegiate Cycling Conference, the only NCAA Division I sport on campus.

“We’ve just been really blessed here,” Athletic Director Charlie Carr said. “We have some really good kids that have been able to win year in and year out here. The fact that this has happened so many times (this year) for this program says a lot.”

Women’s cross country, golf and tennis all came in a close second in their conference championships, but all three joined the other six teams in making the NCAA II playoffs.

Winning seasons

Football was the first program to win a conference championship this year, when it pulled off a come-from-behind victory over West Texas A&M on Nov. 3 to clinch the LSC title.

The wins kept coming in during the spring when men’s and women’s basketball both clinched their conference championships within a week of each other.

The men won their title on Feb. 20 with an 85-67 win over Texas A&M-Commerce, while the women took their share of the title with Abilene Christian University on Feb. 27 with a 73-63 win over Texas Woman’s University while ACU lost to Incarnate Word to cause the tie.

The win for the women was the first in a decade for the program, and they also went on to beat West Texas A&M 85-83 in overtime to win the LSC Postseason Tournament heading into the NCAA playoffs.

“It was a huge lift for the women’s basketball program to have the success we did this year,” women’s head coach Noel Johnson said. “We had a lot of first-time accomplishments this year, along with streaks that have not happened in 10 years. We want to continue to enrich the tradition of winning in women’s basketball as it was nine-to-10 years ago. This team is so special and has a lot more wins ahead of them.”

Men’s golf and tennis players wrapped up their seasons with monumental conference championships wins as well.

Redshirt freshman Santiago Gomez became the first golfer in program history to win the individual title at the conference tournament on April 16, and he led the team to its first team conference championship in program history.

“Since we have only had men’s golf for seven years, it was great to win our first LSC championship,” men’s coach Jeff Ray said. “We have been close a few times before, so to finish the season like we did was great.”

The tennis program wrapped up the season for the athletic department with its third LSC championship, and its first since 2006, on April 20 with a 5-4 victory over ACU.

“I’m very pleased,” tennis coach Scott Linn said. “It’s a long season in tennis, and it’s tough on the players academically, especially playing conference and regionals before finals.”

Teams still in play

The season is not over for a few programs, however. While tennis and golf players are moving on to the playoffs, the softball program will play in the LSC Conference Tournament May 3-5 after wrapping up a 41-14 season.

According to softball coach Brady Tigert, this tournament is the least of the team’s worries.

“Winning the conference tournament is not our focus,” Tigert said. “We don’t talk about it at all. We are always talking about what we need to do to get better. Winning it would be a highlight for the year, and it’s something we definitely want to do, but we try to focus only on the next team.”

Despite the outcome of the LSC tournament, the softball team is still in good shape to make its way to the NCAA postseason tournament like tennis and golf.

While golf players prepare for their regional tournaments, both men’s and women’s tennis won their regional matches to move on to the NCAA II Sweet Sixteen.

Both teams hosted their matchups with the women facing St. Mary’s on April 27, and the men facing Western New Mexico on April 29. Both teams won 5-3.

Importance of championships

Whether it’s a conference championship or regional championship, many on campus believe that any win for the athletics department is equally as important.

“I think conference championships are really important to MSU, but I personally don’t look at (the tennis wins) any differently,” Linn said. “The men won a conference championship and a regional championship, but the women also won a regional championship. I think they’re both valuable.”

Johnson said the wins are impressive and important, but when you look at the coaching staff and administrative support, it’s not a surprise for MSU to be as successful as it has been this year.

Tigert also agrees.

“I believe now MSU athletics is very highly touted and we expect to win,” he said. “I don’t think our teams are arrogant, but they create a positive attitude of our own expectations. The LSC is a very tough conference, so having the success we have had is very impressive, and it reflects how hard our players and coaches work.”

Bringing support to campus

While some argue about the role the athletic department plays in the grand scheme of administrative decisions when there is plenty to fix on campus, Carr said he believes that there is plenty of good the department can do for the university.

“Sometimes it’s good, and sometimes it’s not fair, but (athletics) is the front porch of the university,” Carr said. “Because we are the front porch, we have the responsibility to represent the university in a positive fashion, and that’s really important to us. We try really hard to honor that responsibility, and we know we’re taking 6,000 kids with us when we go somewhere.”

Linn said he believes that the success of the university’s athletic programs can do nothing but help the university with various administration faces, including the growing problem of enrollment issues.

“I absolutely think the success of the athletic department can help in that area,” he said. “When students are picking a school, they want to know it’s a successful place, and parents definitely want to know that. So I think athletics being successful here is critical. I don’t think anyone wants to be part of something that’s mediocre.”

Despite all of the programs’ success, Carr said it’s still not enough in his and the entire department’s mind.

“When you win, you get people’s attention,” Carr said. “We won’t be satisfied until all of our teams get into the NCAAs in the same year. When they all get in, we will have achieved our goal, and we’re getting real close to it.”