Lindenwood - Winter 2017 - Connecting to Alumni and Friends

Lindenwood University NCAA SPORTS 18 Field hockey won the national title in 2017, and men’s cross country won the MIAA title. Chandler Diekvoss FALL SPORTS TEAMS CELEBRATE STRONG SEASON by DANIEL NEWTON LION BASKETBALL FEATURES YOUTH AND EXPERIENCE by DANIEL NEWTON The fall sports teams provided lots of good moments for Lindenwood sports fans, including two of its top programs making huge improvements and two others bringing home championship trophies. The football and women’s volleyball squads were both under the direction of new coaches. Football Head Coach Jed Stugart led the Lions to their best season since 2012. More importantly, a new culture was built inside the locker room, which will pay huge dividends in the upcoming seasons. Women’s volleyball, under the direction of Will Condon , also had its best season since 2012, and the Lady Lions made the MIAA postseason tournament for the first time in program history. The men’s cross country team surprised everyone in the conference by winning the 2017 MIAA Championships, the first conference title for the program at the NCAA level. Lindenwood, which was picked seventh in the preseason poll, put forth a complete team effort at the conference meet, resulting in a six-point win over runner-up Central Missouri. Omar Es Salmouny and Clayton Duchatschek earned all-MIAA honors, and Austin Crowe was an honorable mention all-conference selection. Head Coach Randy Cole was named the MIAA Coach of the Year. The field hockey program won its second straight ECAC Tournament title in 2017. The Lady Lions went 15-2 during the regular season, including a 9-1 mark in conference games. Lindenwood hosted the ECAC Tournament and outscored its opponents 7-0 on the way to the title. In the championship game against rival Limestone, the Lady Lions scored less than three minutes into the game and went on to win 3-0. Nicole Johnston was the ECAC Defender of the Year, and Skylar Starbeck was the ECAC Goalkeeper of the Year. Head Coach Sarah Johnson was named the ECAC Coach of the Year. The 2017-18 Lindenwood basketball teams both have the rare mix of being young and having experience. Those qualities should be the top factors for the Lions and Lady Lions as they try to build on last year’s success. The men’s team returns 10 players with playing experience at Lindenwood, but it has just one senior and 60 percent of its roster is freshmen and sophomores. The top four scorers from last season are back, led by second-team all-MIAA Chandler Diekvoss . Diekvoss averaged 15.2 points and 6.2 rebounds a game. Jackson Price was named honorable mention all-MIAA after averaging 11.4 points, and he made 72 three-pointers on the year. The women’s team returns 76 percent of its scoring from last season, as well as the top six rebounders. It is still a young team though, with seven freshmen and sophomores and just two seniors. Kallie Bildner was the MIAA Freshman of the Year last season after averaging 14.8 points and 9.2 rebounds a game. Gabby Walker also averaged more than 10 points a game, and Lindsay Medlen was a member of the MIAA All-Tournament team for her performance late in the season. Lindenwood’s MIAA schedule starts in Mid-December. A complete schedule can be found at www.lindenwoodlions.com .