Note: Alex Perez, Sam Quintantilla, Stefany Romero, Katie Richcreek and Landon Troka contributed to this piece.
Football
The football team finished with a record of 10-1 and repeated as GNAC champions, but the team was unable to make the playoffs. The repeat championships show the program’s quick adaption to Division II.
“NAIA has some respectable athletes, some that have played here. But when you look at NCAA, in every team all positions have quality athletes – some who can play a Division I level,” head coach Victor Santa Cruz said.
APU’s first game versus Grand Valley State was nationally televised by CBS Sports, which gave the program increased exposure. Coach Santa Cruz stated that since joining the conference, the program has received a large bump in exposure.
“The evidence is over staggering, about how much the Division II transition has helped us recruiting,” said Santa Cruz. “We just had our Junior Day last spring. It was our largest turnout ever.”
Aside from missing playoffs, Azusa Pacific had a successful season.
“It’s a new era. Azusa Pacific football program, as well as our other athletics are a national brand now,” said Santa Cruz.
Men’s Soccer
APU men’s soccer team finished its season with a 14-3-0 record after losing in the second round of the NCAA tournament that was hosted on campus. The Cougars finished ranked 19th in the NSCAA national poll.
The Cougars had a flair for the dramatic, playing 13 games that were decided by one goal, including three games won in overtime and the heartbreaking loss that sent the team packing from the NCAA tournament
Azusa Pacific had seven players named to the all-conference team and head coach David Blomquist was named Coach of the Year in the PacWest.
“First-year NCAA and to win the conference and to obtain the second seed for NCAA regional is great for the program and for the guys who put in the work the last couple of years during the transition,” said coach Blomquist.
Women’s Soccer
The women’s soccer team finished 10-7-1 and third in the PacWest. The team overcame a 2-6-1 start to the season by winning eight of nine games to finish the year. During that stretch the Cougars allowed only one goal and carried a shutout streak across seven games.
Mayra Almazan and Logan Chan were both named first team All-PacWest while Allyn Brown and Hayley Patterson were given honorable mention. Almazan was also named second team All-West Region
The Azusa Pacific women’s soccer team ended the game with 10 wins for the season for the 18th consecutive season
Men’s Cross Country
Cross country has some of the youngest talent in the conference. This season featured five freshmen who each played a pivotal role in the success of the team.
“The freshmen were really a big part of carrying and getting our team to a solid season performance,” said assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Bethany Blomquist. “We were a really young team this year. We had a great recruiting class last year; we had some solid returners, but the freshmen stepped in and filled the holes.”
Two standout freshmen moving into their sophomore years are Jeremy Porter and Cody Drisko. Porter was the team’s No. 1 runner at the regional meet this season. Both runners are currently very close to making nationals in the 10K for track and field. They have come out with great reputations as the athletes who will give 100 percent, run the extra mile and do whatever they need to do to improve.
“We’re looking for them to be national qualifiers and potential All-Americans in cross country and track in the next three years we get with them,” Blomquist said.
The men’s cross country team was close to qualifying for nationals this season.
“This is the start of a new era for [men’s cross country] progressing from here and doing things on the national level in the NCAA,” Blomquist said.
The coaches will give each runner a training plan for the summer so he can come back next year and have a chance to go to nationals.
Women’s Cross Country
The face of women’s cross country is Staci Foster, an All-American and record holder at APU. Foster finished 26th at the national championships.
“You can’t look at our cross country team and not look at Staci Foster,” said coach Blomquist. “Transferring from Colorado and stepping right in and qualifying for nationals, APU’s first national qualifier in the NCAA and her becoming All-American, that’s a huge deal.”
Because Foster is a fifth-year senior transfer, this is her first year as a Cougar. She has had no problem stepping into a leadership role for the team, and she constantly led by example through hard work and dedication.
Blomquist now looks at the plethora of young talent and expects great things for years to come. She named Eileen Stressling and Kylie Betts as possible future leaders of the team who have had strong contributions to the team this season.
Volleyball
Cougar volleyball battled to a near .500 overall record 14-15 and an even 10-10 record in the PacWest. The cougars finished seventh out of 14 teams in conference.
The highpoint of the season came for the Cougars when they knocked off eventual PacWest champion and 4th ranked BYU-Hawaii 3-2 in the final stretch of the season.
The Cougars lose three seniors but will return junior second team – All-PacWest outsider hitter Maddie Shelford and a host of other talented upperclassmen to lead the Cougars in 2015.
Men’s Basketball
The men’s basketball team had a tremendous season with several key high points. The squad won a share of the PacWest regular season championship, the program’s first conference title since 2006.
Coach Justin Leslie was named PacWest Coach of the Year, forward Petar Kutlesic was PacWest Freshman of the Year and senior guard Troy Leaf became PacWest Player of the Year and a first-team All-American.
The team finished with an overall record of 27-6, which led to an NCAA West Region win and advancing to the Elite Eight.
“Not only were we relevant in our first year of eligibility, we were dominant,” Leslie said. “It’s only happened once in the history of the NCAA that a team has made it that far in their first try. It was a monumental feat.”
Leslie is trying to prove that this successful season was not just a fluke but the beginning of a dynasty of dominance by APU basketball. He is looking to build and improve on each season with the new and returning players.
“In order to have sustained success, you have to have the right culture, and our culture is developing that day-to-day attitude that they will work, get better and the team will hold each other accountable to a high standard,” Leslie said. “The next guys are going to step up because of the foundation that was laid by the guys before them.”
Coach Leslie wants to create an attitude of men who play for many years and know what it means to represent APU. He works for them to understand that they are not just playing for themselves but for the people who played before them and come back with their wives and children to watch the game.
Women’s Basketball
Success is measured in many different ways. Some teams go by the overall record, some teams look to do better than the previous season, and some go by the individual growth both on and off the court. Azusa Pacific women’s basketball found success in all of these areas this season.
“We gauge our success off of if we worked our hardest on the court, academically and spiritually,” said head coach T.J. Hardeman.
A couple of season highlights include Kelly Hardeman being voted to all-conference and all-district teams and newcomers Cyndie Jones and Miriam Zabinsky becoming very important starters.
The leader who everyone turned to this season was senior Katie Powell, the poster child for APU women’s basketball.
“When [Powell] is gone, we will always have her as a model,” said Hardeman. “She grew so much mentally, academically and spiritually. She always kept her teammates accountable through her hard work ethic.”
The major bonding moment the team had was when players took a mission trip to Mexico to build shelter for the homeless.
“We want to win, but we also want to do things that will last for an eternity,” Hardeman said.
Swimming and Diving
The swimming and diving program took a step forward by qualifying a diver and swimmer to the national meet. Freshman diver Kianna Mourer and freshman distance swimmer Rosalee Santa Ana represented the Cougars at the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving National Championships in March.
“It’s a good showing of where we’re headed, and we’re looking forward to being a bigger part of the NCAA championship meet,” said head coach Tim Kyle.
The Cougars’ biggest loss will be senior Quinn Robertson, who was one of the team’s fastest sprinters.
“We gotta get better every year and make those qualifying times and see if we can get more athletes to that final meet,” Kyle said.
Water Polo
The women’s water polo team is now nearing a close to its season and is currently in fourth place in the Golden Coast Conference. This team seems to be the strongest since APU added the sport in 2009.
The team has won against three teams this season for the first time in program history, and senior Taylor Whitney broke the APU all-time scoring record and the record for multiple-goal games in a season.
“We have had a personal record-setting year, we have had a team record-setting year, and it’s not over yet,” said head coach Julie Snodgrass. “We are finally seeing what we are capable of as a program and starting to capitalize on it.”
Snodgrass took the head coaching position four years ago, and this year marks her first year of graduating seniors.
“I started here with them. They are my first full four-year class, and I care deeply for these girls,” Snodgrass said. “They have been a huge part in building a culture [and] standard of excellence and building the future of APU water polo.”
Because of the leadership and example that the seniors have made of themselves, Snodgrass believes that the core leaders for the future will be underclassmen Megan Myers and Ashley Taylor.
“Megan and Ashley have very good leadership capacity, and we have a lot of young talent of girls who are still developing as freshmen and sophomores,” Snodgrass said. “Our junior class will continue to carry out great leadership to our team.”
Acrobatics & Tumbling
Acrobatics tumbled into the season as the No. 2-ranked team in the nation after losing to Oregon in the championship meet last season. The team’s first meet was a rematch against Oregon, which APU lost 281.480-275.100. Since then, the Cougars have gone 1-3, resulting in a record of 2-4, beating both Fairmont State and Hawaii Pacific.
The team lost two players in the season due to injuries. Both members played significant roles.
“We had the talent we needed, but injuries affected us this season, as well as playing the Division I schools twice,” said coach Colleen Kassurd.
The Cougars have been off for a month since their last meet, which was a loss to Baylor (which took the season series 2-0). All schools in the NCATA, including APU, have had more opportunities to recruit elite athletes. Due to this, talks about merging with the NCAA have increased, stated coach Kassurd.
“The league has notified us that it’s happening soon,” said Kassurd.
The team travels to Fairmont, West Virginia for the NCATA national championship set to begin April 23
Men’s Tennis
The men’s tennis began the 2015 season with high expectations and goals for the season. The team returned six starters and was coming off back-to-back NCCAA national championships, garnering a No. 12 ranking in the preseason Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll.
Singles player Jan Meyer began the year ranked No. 7 in the nation and has now climbed to the top of the rankings.
“It’s been an eye-opener. It’s very competitive and interesting. It’s definitely more difficult to get into nationals, but it’s been a more enjoyable experience because of the professionalism of the NCAA compared to the NAIA,” said head coach Mark Bohren.
While it may be a more difficult road to the national tournament, the Cougars still find themselves on it. The West Region sends two teams to the national tournament and as of April 15, the Cougars were in the second spot. The journey to that spot started early in the year against third-ranked UC San Diego.
“I would say the first match of the season against UCSD, when we won 5-4 down there against a very hostile crowd, there was a lot of jarring back and forth with our players, and it was our first match of the season,” Bohren said.
The Cougars will discover their postseason fate on April 29, but with two wins over UCSD, the Cougars are comfortably slotted to move to the national tournament.
Softball
With the season approaching its end, Azusa Pacific softball is 25-22 overall and 12-13 in the PacWest. While the team hasn’t won as many games as expected, the Cougars have been the second-best team in the PacWest offensively and the fourth best by team ERA. Those numbers show promise for the Cougars.
“We didn’t quite live up the expectations we had for ourselves this year,” said head coach Carrie Webber. “It was a bit of a growing-pains season for us.”
The team will lose six seniors but return three of the top four hitters by average.
“We were always trying to do the best we can, win as many games as we can and try to go on to the postseason,” Webber said.
Baseball
Baseball has competed in the PacWest and is currently in fourth place with a record of 27-15 (17-11 in conference). The team has appeared in the Collegiate Baseball top 30 poll numerous times this season.
“Our competition level has changed for sure,” Coach Paul Svagdis said. “The non-conference schedule is much more competitive now than in the past.”
The team’s non-conference record this year is 10-4, an improvement on last year’s mark of 8-11. The Cougars are also on track to better last year’s overall record of 28-21.
Coach Svagdis commented on the rule changes in the NCAA, and how his team has to behave in a certain fashion, that is, according to league standards.
“Compliance and following the regulations is a huge part of being a member of the NCAA,” Coach Svagdis said. “I think that was a huge motivation for us to be a part of this league. We wanted to align ourselves with institutions that are OK with being essentially guided by a set of restrictions that put the best interest of the athlete first.”
The team’s next series is against Dixie State, which is currently 27-13 (20-4 PacWest) and sitting atop the PacWest standings. The Cougars need a strong showing over their final two series to make it to the regional tournament.
Track & Field
Multi-event athlete Justin Balczak and distance runner Staci Foster earned the school’s first NCAA national championship titles in the heptathlon and mile at the Division II Track & Field Indoor National Championships in March. Thrower Amber Panapa and multi-event athlete Megan Van Winkle also earned All-American honors for their fourth-place finishes in the weight throw and pentathlon.
The program has since moved into the outdoor season. Balczak and Foster have set the tone with automatic qualifiers for the outdoor championships, leading a host of fellow Cougar athletes who have earned provisional qualifiers.
The NCAA Division II Track & Field Outdoor National Championships will be hosted May 21-23 at Grand Valley State.
Women’s Tennis
Women’s tennis brought a young team into the season, carrying only two upperclassmen — seniors Danae Ingwaldson and Bethany Duval. Despite it’s youth, the team remained competitive throughout the year and remained focused on building towards the future.
The Cougars will return both their No. 1 and No. 2 singles players sophomores Natalie Johnson and Valeriia Kashina. The players both went 14-7 in their respective slots.
The team finished sixth at the PacWest tournament with an 14-11 record overall.