2005-06 Winter Sports In Review
May 4, 2006
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INDIANAPOLIS -- Horizon League student athletes excelled in both athletics and academics this winter, earning numerous awards for their individual and team performances.
Six winter championships took place with University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee taking home four League crowns -- Women's Indoor Track & Field, Men's Indoor Track & Field, Women's Basketball and Men's Basketball. The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay took home its second-straight Women's Swimming and Diving title, while Cleveland State University won the Men's Swimming and Diving championship.
With the four NCAA appearances, UW-Milwaukee ranks 64th through the winter sports standings of the 2005-06 United States Sports Academy Directors' Cup presented by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). Formerly known as the Sears Directors' Cup, the annual contest awards points for NCAA post-season appearances and performances in all sports.
The Panthers, who have won the McCafferty Trophy as the Horizon League's all-sports champion the past two years, rank eighth-highest among non-Division I-A programs and second among institutions that do not sponsor football at any level, behind only Santa Clara University (53rd, 206 points), which earned all of its points in the fall.
In the classroom, the 2005-06 Winter Academic All-League selections featured the most student-athletes from Wright State University (12). University of Detroit Mercy had the second-most honored (11), while University of Illinois at Chicago and UW-Milwaukee each had 10 members.
Swimming and Diving
The 2006 Horizon League Swimming & Diving Championships concluded with Cleveland State claiming its first team title in any sport since 1999. The Viking men defeated three-time defending champion Wright State to win the crown. On the women's side, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay captured their second-straight title by ousting Wright State.
Eleven championship records fell at the 2006 Horizon League Swimming & Diving Championships, giving further support to the claim that Robert F. Busbey Natatorium, the site of this year's meet on the campus of Cleveland State University, is the "fastest pool in the League."
Men's champion Cleveland State and women's champion UW-Green Bay each posted three record-breaking times, while both the UW-Milwaukee women and UIC men boasted two new marks.
Horizon League Swimmers of the Meet and Athletes of the Year Bjorn Schantz of Cleveland State and Lindsay Caldwell of UW-Milwaukee added to their impressive list of accomplishments this season, as Schantz set two individual records in the 500 and 1000 freestyle and Caldwell surpassed her own League-best time in the 100 freestyle with a 50.94 mark. Schantz's time of 4:24.65 bested former Viking Henk Maarkgraaf's time of 4:26.10, while his 9:17.93 mark in the 1000 free topped WSU's Scott Lang's previous record of 9:22.92.
Swimming and Diving Page
Indoor Track and Field
UW-Milwaukee swept the team titles at the 2006 Horizon League Indoor Track & Field Championships in Kent, Ohio, with both the men's and women's team holding off host Youngstown State University for the championship.
Butler senior Scott Overall closed out his Bulldog indoor track and field career with a 12th-place finish in the men's 3,000-meter run at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championship. Overall, the 2006 Indoor Track & Field Most Outstanding Performer for Running Events, was the lone Horizon League athlete competing in the national meet, hosted by the University of Arkansas at the Randall Tyson Track Center.
Overall was also named the 2006 Horizon League Men's Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year, while University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee senior Tenia Fisher claimed the honor for the third consecutive season on the women's side.
Fisher set both a school and League record at the 2006 Horizon League Indoor Track & Field Championships, crossing the line in 55.69 seconds to win the 400-meter dash. Overall set a meet record with a time of 2:24.75 in the 1000-meter run at this year's championships.
Track and Field Page
Women's Basketball
The 2005-06 season wrapped up when Horizon League Tournament champion UW-Milwaukee suffered a 65-46 loss to Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. UW-Green Bay also saw action in the postseason with a berth in the Women's National Invitation Tournament, dropping a 79-71 overtime contest at Iowa State in the opening round of action.
The year primed the League for an exciting '06-07 campaign as eight of the ten members of the All-League Teams will return to their teams, the only seniors being UWM's Nichole Drummond (First-Team) and UIC's Chrissy Dizon (Second-Team). Wright State's Brittney Whiteside, Butler's Jackie Closser, Milwaukee's Traci Edwards and UW-Green Bay's Player of the Year Nicole Soulis should all return from the First Team, while Butler's Lade Akande, Loyola's Marquise Hanser, UIC's LaShonda Grant and UWGB's Natalie Berglin are slated to take the floor again next season from the second squad. Only Detroit (Lindsey Pasquinzo) and Cleveland State (Omega Harrington) will have to replace the team's top scorer.
Perennial powerhouse UW-Green Bay fell from the top spot in the League, failing to reach the final game of the conference tournament for the first time since 1995. UIC topped the Phoenix, 74-62, in the semifinals before falling in the championship to UW-Milwaukee, 71-63. It was the Panthers' second loop title in program history and the first League championship for any team besides UWGB since 2001 when the Panthers won their last loop crown.
Player of the Year: Nicole Soulis, UWGBCoach of the Year: Sandy Botham, UWMNewcomer of the Year: Traci Edwards, UWM
Women's Basketball Page
Men's Basketball
UW-Milwaukee claimed its third League title in four years, going 12-4 in the League (22-9 overall) and defeating Butler, 87-71, in the League Championship in front of 10,021 fans at the U.S. Cellular Arena. The Panthers then went on to defeat (#6 seed) Oklahoma, 82-74, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to the eventual national champion Florida, 82-60, in the second round. Butler also earned a trip to the post-season, slipping past Miami (OH), 53-52, in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament. The Bulldogs season ended in Tallahassee, Fla. as Florida State handed Butler a 67-63 loss in the second round of the NIT.
Loyola posted a 19-11 overall standard, the Ramblers' best showing since the 1984-85 squad went 27-6 and reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. Junior forward Blake Schilb was an Honorable Mention All-America selection by the Associated Press, becoming the first LU player to gain that honor since Alfredrick Hughes in 1985. UWM senior forward Joah Tucker was named a Mid-Major All-American by CollegeInsider.com.
Youngstown State junior guard Quin Humphrey became the first player since 1991-92 (and second in history) to lead the League in both scoring and rebounding in the same season. Humphrey averaged 19.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, with the scoring pace including three consecutive outings of more than 30 points in January.
Player of the Year: Brandon Polk, BUCoach of the Year: Todd Lickliter, BUNewcomer of the Year: Othyus Jeffers, UIC
Men's Basketball Page
Academic Honors
As one of its platforms, the Horizon League stresses the importance of academic achievement. That emphasis was evident Tuesday (April 18) with the announcement of its 2005-06 Winter Academic All-Horizon League teams.
A total of 79 student-athletes from six sports were honored in balloting by the League's faculty athletics representatives and sports information directors. Wright State University led the way with 12 selections, followed by the University of Detroit Mercy (11). The University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee each had ten student-athletes recognized, followed by Youngstown State University (nine) and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (eight). Butler University and Loyola University Chicago boasted seven honorees apiece, with Cleveland State University receiving five awards.
The College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) announced its Academic All-America teams recently and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's and women's swimming & diving teams were both among the schools on the prestigious list. The Panthers were one of only three Horizon League schools to make the list on the women's side and one of two on the men's. UIC and Butler were other league schools to make the cut for the women, with UW-Milwaukee being honored for the 33rd-straight semester. On the men's side, Milwaukee earned the distinction for the ninth-straight semester, with its 3.04 GPA ranking 24th. The only other league team to make the men's list was Butler.
Jackie Closser, from Butler's women's basketball squad, was named to the Second-Team Academic All-District team. The junior point guard earned a 3.49 GPA in Elementary Education this past semester.
Adrian Tigert of the UW-Milwaukee men's basketball team was named a Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association Scholar-Athlete. The senior, who completed his undergraduate degree last spring and spent this school year working toward his masters degree in business, is the first winner from UWM in the four-year history of the awards. He is one of 11 Division I-AAA men's players named to the team.
Academic Performance Page
