Reflections Magazine Issue #77 - Fall 2012

Athletics News saints highlights Lloyd Carr Travels to Siena Heights Campus The Siena Heights football team had a special guest this fall when former University of Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr visited practice. Carr, who guided the Wolverines to a national championship in 1997, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame last year. Carr was able to provide some feedback to the SHU coaching staff as well as visit with longtime friend, SHU head coach Jim Lyall. Carr finished his visit by talking to the team before the Saints’ first game against Robert Morris (below). Track and Field Women: Lenzey Stidham won the women’s pole vault (below) at the NAIA national championships with a vault of 12 feet, 7 1/2 inches. Brianna Nordby was seventh in the javelin with a distance of 140-7 to also earn All-American honors. Phoenix Duncan, just a freshman, was second in the women’s high jump to earn All-American honors. She was also second in the indoor national meet and is the school record holder. Stidham (pole vault) and Duncan (high jump), each won events and Taylor Byron set a school record in the shot put as the women placed second at the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference outdoor championships. Byron was also named the meet’s Most Valuable Performer after scoring 24 points. She recorded a throw of 43 feet, 7.75 inches in the shot put and was third in the discus. Stidham took the pole vault (11-11.75) and Duncan the high jump (5-7.75). Cassie Keeping, a junior, and seniors Lyndsay Payne and Morgan Choszczyk were each named Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athletes.Bowling Men: Rich DePalma and the men’s 4x400 relay each finished second at the NAIA national outdoor championships to cap off an impressive effort. DePalma lost in a “vault off” to finish second in the men’s pole vault, while the 4x400 Saints Second in WHAC Directors Cup standings The Saints finished 32nd in the final NAIA Learfield Sports Directors Cup standings. The cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each school’s finish in up to 12 sports—six women’s and six men’s. Siena Heights earned the second highest score in the WolverineHoosier Athletic Conference, with Indiana Tech finishing 22nd overall. 14 Reflections Fall ’12 relay of Ryan McElyea, Anton Darby, Logan Moore and Doug Dawson clocked in at 3 minutes, 10.86 seconds – a new school record – to place second in the nation and also earn All-American recognition. Others earning All-American honors included Brett Smith in the marathon (seventh, 2:34.43.3), Logan Moore in the 110 hurdles (fourth, 14.36), Calvin Sullins in the decathlon (eighth, 6,480 points) and Will Hinton in the discus (eighth, 49.59 meters). Sullins’ effort was a school record. The host Saints also dominated the competition at Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference outdoor championships, winning several events and breaking three school records in the process. Sullins led the way, scoring 22 points to be named the Most Valuable Performer. The 4x400 relay of Anton Darby, Logan Moore, Ryan McElyea and Doug Dawson earned the Most Outstanding Performance, winning their event in a then-school record time of 3 minutes, 12.29 seconds. Ryan Hopson set a school record in winning the triple jump (47-7.25) and tied another by taking the long jump (24-3.75). Other event winners were Dawson in the 400 (47.44), Chris Schurr in the pole vault (16-0.75), Moore in the 110 hurdles (14.44), Jesiah Rodriguez in the 1500 (3:53.63) and Justin Bateson in the 5000 (15:26.12). Seniors Dawson and Kyle Armstrong and junior Chris Schurr earned Daktronics NAIA ScholarAthlete recognition. Baseball The SHU Saints won 4-3 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on a single up the middle by Kyle Benschoter to beat Indiana Tech, the top seed and ranked 21st in the nation, in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference baseball tournament championship (above right). Lefty Matt King tossed nine innings of four-hit ball and allowed just one earned run. Siena Heights won its first conference tournament title since 1994 and advanced to the NAIA national tournament. The Saints (33-25) then completed one of the most successful seasons in the program’s history by placing third at the NAIA bracket in Daytona Beach, Fla. SHU defeated Southern Poly (Ga.) 8-4 for the second time in as many days before falling to second seed and 15th ranked Auburn-Montgomery 9-8 in the loser’s bracket final. Fifth seed Siena Heights defeated Southern Poly (Ga.) 3-1 in the opener before losing to eighth-ranked and top seed and host Embry-Riddle 2-0. Senior shortstop Cory Lehman was named the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Player of the Year as three Saints landed on the conference first team.

Reflections Magazine Issue #77 - Fall 2012 | Page 14