BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College is continuing its look back at the 2016-17 year with the second of two Top 10 lists, the Top 10 Stories of the Year. Before unveiling the top story of the year, we take a look at some of the stories that just missed out Top 10 lists.
Women's Track & Field Captures Landmark Conference Outdoor Championship
The Moravian women's track & field team won its tenth Landmark Conference Outdoor Championship by claiming the 2017 title after the second day of competition hosted by the Greyhounds at Timothy Breidegam Track and Rocco Calvo Field on May 6-7. The Hounds recorded a 21-point victory with Moravian scoring 245 points while Elizabethtown College had 224 points. The Greyhounds had eight individual champions and one relay finish first to earn 10 points apiece. The Greyhounds had 14 student-athletes garner 19 All-Conference nods.
Six Coaches Selected as Conference Coach of the Year
Moravian's coaching staff was well represented in the postseason awards last year. It began in the fall when Head Women's Soccer Coach Jeff Ykoruk was selected as the Landmark Conference Co-Coach of the Year and the ECAC Division III Metro Coach of the Year after leading the Greyhounds to a 10-7-1 record and a berth in the Landmark Conference Championship match. The Greyhounds had each of their winter coaches honored with Head Men's and Women's Indoor Track & Field Coach Jesse Baumann honored as the Landmark Men's Indoor Coach of the Year after leading the Greyhounds to the Landmark Indoor title for a ninth time, Head Men's Basketball Coach Justin Potts named the Landmark Coach of the Year after a 19-9 season and a berth in the Landmark Conference Championship game and Head Women's Basketball Coach Mary Beth Spirk selected as the Landmark Coach of the Year and the ECAC Division III Metro Coach of the Year after a 20-8 season that saw the Greyhounds in the Landmark Conference Tournament. After the spring season was completed, Head Softball Coach John Byrne was honored as the Landmark Coach of the Year for a 36-6 season and the top seed in the Landmark Conference Tournament while Head Men's Golf Coach Kevin Edwards was named the Empire 8 Conference Coach of the Year after a third place finish at the 72-hole conference championship.
Brockett Earns All-America Honors
Moravian College senior Meg Brockett made up 30 spots over the final 1,800 meters to finish 35th of 280 runners and earn All-America honors at the 2016 NCAA Division III National Championships run at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park and hosted by Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky on November 19. Brockett turned in a time of 21:16.1 on the 6,000-meter course, finishing in the final All-America spot by four tenths of a second. At the final checkpoint of the race, Brockett was in 65th place in 10:39.1, and she would pass 30 runners to finish the race as Moravian's first All-American since 2001 when Kim Jaick, Emily Shertzer and Heidi Wolfsberger all earned All-America accolades. Brockett's time was the third fastest in school history, and she ran the top four times and a total of six times under 22:00 minutes this past fall.
Matos, McPherson & Duncan Selected as CoSIDA Academic All-Americans
Moravian had three student-athletes selected to the 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-America Division III Teams selected by the College Sports Information Director of America with senior women's basketball player Camille McPherson and junior softball catcher Janae Matos making the Third Team on the women's basketball and softball squads and junior javelin thrower Mary Kate Duncan earning a spot on the Second Team for women's cross country and track & field. To be eligible for Academic All-America® accolades, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.30 grade-point average, be a sophomore, junior or senior and be a starter or significant reserve. Beginning in 2011-12, the program is made up of four levels – NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and College Division (NAIA, Canadian colleges and junior colleges). All three were on the All-District IV First Team to advance to the national ballot, and District IV in NCAA Division III is made up of schools from Pennsylvania. The trio give Moravian a total of 47 Academic All-American® with 34 selected in the last 20 years.
Women's Basketball Wins Play 4Kay for Ninth Straight Year
The Moravian women's basketball team was named as the NCAA Division III winner of the 2017 Kay Yow Cancer Fund Play 4Kay fundraiser with over $21,500 raised in 2017, the ninth consecutive year that the Greyhounds' program has led NCAA Division III schools in Play 4Kay. Play4Kay is the grassroots fundraising initiative of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. Its primary fundraising support comes from women's basketball teams across the country that dedicate an event to raise funds and awareness for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, an organization committed to funding women's cancer research and supporting projects that assist the underserved community. Moravian raised $21,662 this year, the top amount from an NCAA Division III school and the most raised by the Greyhounds in a single year. Moravian was also the top NCAA Division III team in 2016 with 18,520, in 2015 with $17,038, in 2014 with $12,573, in 2013 with $16,210, in 2012 with $12,025, in 2011 with $5,825 and in 2010 at $6,100. The Greyhounds had a total of $5,200 in 2009 to give Moravian a total of $115,153 raised over the last nine years.
130 Greyhounds Named to Conference Academic Honor Rolls
Moravian had 130 student-athletes recognized by the Landmark Conference, Centennial Conference and Empire 8 Conference as part of their Academic Honor Rolls throughout the season. Each sport had at least one Greyhound honored with the women's outdoor track & field program leading the way with 21 honorees this past spring.
Brockett & McPherson Named LVAIAW Outstanding Athletes
Moravian seniors Meg Brockett and Camille McPherson were recognized as Moravian's Co-Outstanding Athlete as well as the Outstanding Athlete in women's cross country for Brockett and women's basketball for McPherson at the annual Lehigh Valley Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women annual awards luncheon at Lafayette College on May 2. The LVAIAW is made up of seven schools, Cedar Crest College, DeSales University, Lafayette College, Lehigh University, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Moravian and Muhlenberg College. For more information on the LVAIAW, visit www.lvaiaw.org.
SAAC Special Olympics Basketball Tournament
The Moravian Student-Athlete Advisory Committee hosted its Annual Special Olympics Basketball Tournament in Timothy Breidegam Fieldhouse on the afternoon of April 3 with more than 40 participants from the Lehigh Country Special Olympics and Bethlehem City Special Olympics and over 100 Moravian student-athletes as the Greyhounds kicked off the 2017 D3Week. This was the fifth year of hosting the Special Olympics Basketball Tournament at Moravian. SAAC advisor and Assistant Women's Soccer Coach Melissa Koster and Head Women's Volleyball Coach Shelley Bauder met with local Special Olympic coaches to help organize the tournament.
Makuvek Field Debuts
During the summer of 2016, Moravian converted the HUB grass field into John Makuvek Field, a synthetic turf field that is now home to the Greyhounds' field hockey, men's and women's lacrosse and men's and women's soccer teams. In addition to switching the playing surface, Moravian added competition lighting to the field along with a press box.
The number one story in the Top 10 Stories of 2016-17 will be released on Friday, August 18.