This past Fall was a successful one for the Scots as teams achieved a number of great highlights. The football team had another strong season finishing with an overall record of 7-3 and going undefeated in conference, defeating St. Norbert with that famous drive in the conference final. A standout season from Joe Krall led to an All-American trifecta of nominations, with Joey Biel, Clarke Gaden, and Head Coach Braun also receiving nominations for their outstanding contributions.
Men’s and Women’s Cross Country also had a very successful season. All meets culminated in the conference Cross Country Championships in which both Men’s and Women’s came in as runners up. Three men finished with all-conference honors including Griff Morrill, Riley Dulin, and Tanner Heiple. The women boasted 5 all-conference honors including Ezzie Baltierra-Chavez, Caitlyn Allen, Caroline Young, Arika Hoffman, and Julia Sterr. With many returners, next season is looking strong for both Men’s and Women’s Cross Country.
Men’s and Women’s Soccer achieved a number of firsts and had very successful seasons. This is epitomized with the Monmouth women winning conference for the first time in history over rivals Knox, finishing with an overall record 14-5-2 and 6-3 in conference. All-Conference first team awards went to the scoring might of Jacie Reis, Kara-Jade Gordon, who was also named offensive player of the year, and Devin Cross. Second Team Honors went to Jordyn Gosell, with Coach Nick Rizzo receiving Coach of the Year.
The Men’s Soccer team also had an outstanding season making the playoffs for the first time in 18 years with an overall record of 14-5-2, with 4-3-2 in conference. All-Conference First Team Honors went to Alvaro Alvarez, with Second Team Honors going to Martin Zafirov and Newcomer of the Year Jaxon Coleman. Coach Kooten Johnson also received Coach of the Year Award.
The Men’s Water Polo Team had a testing season with long trips to Pennsylvania a regular this Fall. The Scots finished 0-11-0, and 0-6-0 in conference despite their valiant efforts. The Scots succeeded in the classroom, however, with 4 nominations to the Association of College Water Polo Coaches all-academic list. This list includes Joseph Addison, Quentin Bartram, Kaveh Moaddeli, and Dakota Salmi. With many returners, the Scots hope to be more successful next season.
Women’s Tennis flew under the radar this Fall as their season finished earlier than most other sports. The Scots finished with an overall record of 6-8 and 4-5 in conference. Monmouth reached the consolation finals of the Midwest Conference championships with Rachael Leifheit and Emily Laughlin winning their positions at number three and number four respectively.
Finally, Women’s Volleyball finished up their season with a competitive 12-16 overall record and 4-5 in conference. The Scots struggled to string consecutive wins together despite some strong performances. The Scots’ Riley Cook was the lone player to pick up All-Conference nominations being selected to the second team.
This season was particularly strong for the Scots with success both athletically and academically. The future looks bright for Monmouth’s athletics program.
Kieren Marshall - Contributing Writer