With the semester coming to a close, it’s a good time to look back on this year in NSU Athletics. The year’s gone by quickly, and has been filled with plenty of excitement and moments to be proud of.
Men’s soccer
The fall started off a little slow. Although the men’s soccer team won three of its first four games to begin the season, they failed to win any of their last 11 games. The team was young, having only three seniors on the roster, so they lacked experience. However, they can use this season to learn and grow. The team has a skilled coach in Giuseppe “Joe” DePalo who will make sure that his team doesn’t suffer another season like this one.
Women’s soccer
Like the men, the women’s soccer team started hot before quickly cooling. The Sharks won four of their five games before winning only one of the next 12 games. The one stand out was senior forward Malin Broberg, who set a career high with 10 goals. She scored half of the team’s goals and it will be difficult to replace her offensive presence next season.
Cross country
The cross country teams saw some success during the fall season, with the women’s team making the NCAA Division II National Championships in Spokane, Wash. Senior Alexandria Palm won her second Sunshine State Conference title and was named the SSC Runner of the Year. The men’s team sent senior Long Tran to Nationals. It is composed of six freshmen and three seniors, so they’ll bring back a good portion of their team, while also bolstering the roster through recruiting.
Men’s golf
The fall golf season was highly successful for the men, who finished third twice and second once. They were led by two sophomore standouts Hunter O’Mahony and Santiago Gomez, who are both averaging rounds of 72 for the year. Both also had third-place finishes individually in tournaments. The spring season showed continued momentum of the team, finishing third in four of the first five tournaments, and winning the other.
Women’s Golf
The women’s golf team, who, at one point in the program’s history, won four consecutive national championships, started the fall season slow, finishing 15th and 10th in the first two tournaments. But like any good team, the women were able to turn their luck around and finished the final fall tournament with a fourth place finish. They stayed on a roll starting up the spring season, finishing no worse than fifth in any of their five tournaments. Junior Daniela Ortiz was the only golfer, on either team, to win a tournament this year, with he Dennis Rose Invitational in the fall. Both golf program’s reputations and perennial triumphs will keep the programs strong for the foreseeable future.
Swimming and Diving
The men and women’s swimming and diving teams had many ups and downs throughout the fall and spring seasons. Neither was ever able to string together multiple wins in a row, which was rather disappointing, but they didn’t string losses together either. The men’s team sent six swimmers, including the Aldabe brothers, Marco and Oscar, to the NCAA National Championship at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio. The women’s team also sent Lauren Chapple to Nationals. Both programs are still very young, but they are headed in the right direction to compete with the best in the country on the Division II level.
Women’s Volleyball
Volleyball was the one sport that didn’t fair too well. The team had a long losing streak that spanned 10 matches and, in that time, they dropped 27 out of 30 sets. Lackluster performances like this that led to the firing of Head Coach Steve Wilcosky. The Sharks then hired Jennifer King, who hopes to change the mindset and culture of the program into a winning one.
Women’s Tennis
The nationally ranked NSU tennis team’s results were rather mixed, winning nine matches in a row before a five-match losing streak. Sabrina Kierberg has been doing the best on the court but Camryn Blackwood has been getting a lot of attention, too.
Women’s Basketball
The women’s basketball team had the best year in the program’s history. For the second straight year, the women made it to the Elite Eight, and, this year, they made it to the Final Four, the furthest the team has ever been before. They were ranked in the top-10 nationally all season long and began the season on a 15-game winning streak. They will be losing four seniors this year but Head Coach LeAnn Freeland is hard at work recruiting to replace the irreplaceable.
Men’s Basketball
The men didn’t have the kind of year the women did, but they learned a lot about themselves and built chemistry throughout the year, which will be crucial for the team moving forward. Transfers Chris Page and Casey Carroll and juniors Brian Cahill and Justin Jeangerard all played big roles for the Sharks after some early injuries in the season. Head Coach Gary Tuell will look to improve on the 13-17 record his team posted this year. They have the talent to do so and after becoming more comfortable with each other on and off the court, the team should do better next season.
Women’s Rowing
The rowing team is the most decorated of all NSU’s sports but doesn’t quite get the recognition they deserve. Coming off a National Championship year in 2013, the rowing team has been ranked number one all year long and hasn’t looked like anything but. Their confidence is building with every race and they will look to repeat as national champions this season.
Men’s Baseball
The baseball team began the season unranked before putting together a great start to their season and moving up the ranks, as high as fourth. The team is a balanced combination of youth and experience in pitching, hitting and fielding. Head Coach Greg Brown preached during the off season about how the team needed to win more series , and they have responded just the way he wanted. The team won 15 of their first 17 games, propelling them into the national spotlight.
Track and Field
Both the men and women’s track and field teams have had to hurdle several obstacles. Each team has had members make the Peach Belt Conference players of the week, including Laruschka Joubert, Ryan Jerothe, Peri Bowman and Talyn Washington.
The track and field teams broke three school records during the season, which included the women’s javelin throw, where Laruschka Joubert set the mark at 41.3-meters. Ryan Jerothe also broke a school record in the pole vault with a vault of 4.9 meters and Darren Hendricks in the hammer throw set the final record with a throw of 44.12 meters. Even with three records falling this season, the track and field teams aren’t in the spotlight like some of the other more popular sports.
Softball
Last, but certainly not least, is the softball team, which is currently on a four-game winning streak and won 14 of the last 18 games. Head Coach Lesa Bonee has been with the team for 11 seasons and led the women to their first, and so far only, NCAA tournament appearance in 2009. Her consistency has helped establish a pretty respectable program that the team and school should be proud of.
Erika Garcia has been leading the way for the Sharks, earning SSC player of the week two weeks in a row. She has earned nine wins as a pitcher and smashed six home runs on the offensive side of the ball. If they can keep this going for the rest of the season, they will have a good chance to make a run at the conference and NCAA tournaments.
