MUSTANG MINUTES By Dave Rebstock
Morningside sports highlights
Morningside wins GPAC All-Sports Trophy
Morningside captured the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) All-Sports Trophy for the 2011-2012 academic year. The Mustangs won the trophy with a total of 159 points for an eight-point margin over runner-up Doane College. It was a clean sweep for the Mustangs, who led all schools with 81.5 points in the men’s sports and 77.5 points in the women’s sports. Morningside won regular season GPAC championships in football, volleyball and wrestling and was the league runner-up in baseball, women’s basketball and women’s tennis. Morningside claimed its third all-sports trophy in the last six years. The Mustangs also won the GPAC All-Sports Trophy for 2006-2007 and 2007-2008. The Mustangs finished second in 2008-2009 and finished third each of the past two years.
Track athletes excel at national level
Morningside had its greatest success in track & field at the national level since its transition to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Mustang athletes have earned NAIA All-America honors in 27 events since their move to the NAIA in 2002, and 14 of them came this year with eight All-America efforts during the indoor season and six more in the outdoor campaign. Morningside crowned its first-ever NAIA Track & Field National Champions at this year’s NAIA Indoor National Championships in Geneva, Ohio. Megan Glisar captured the women’s high jump crown by clearing a height of 5-8 3/4. The Mustangs added another national title when their men’s 3200-meter relay team of Brad Wright, Taylor Chapman, John Harris and Monte Larsen clocked a school-record time of 7 minutes, 33.55 seconds to upset heavy favorite Wayland Baptist University at the finish line. The Mustangs also had two national runner-ups at Megan Glisar became Morningside’s first-ever individual NAIA the NAIA Track & Field National Champion when she won the high jump during the indoor season. Photo by Dr. Gene Knudsen 1971. Indoor Championships with second-place finishes from Larsen in the men’s 600-meters and Jessica Weborg in the women’s mile. Glisar had the Mustangs’ top finish at this year’s NAIA Outdoor National Championships with a second-place finish in the high jump.
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Wrestling team wins back-to-back GPAC titles
Morningside’s wrestling team went 6-0 in this winter’s GPAC duals en route to its second straight league championship. Tim Jager was named GPAC Coach of the Year and Joe Sievert was the GPAC Wrestler of the Year. Sievert had a perfect 28-0 record before he suffered his first loss of
the season in the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Championships. Sievert, Brian Block, Kory Kistner and Jared Wildeboer all earned NAIA All-America honors with place-winning performances at the national tournament. The Mustangs’ top showing came from Kistner, who was the national runner-up at 125 lbs.
Women’s basketball team extends streak
The Mustang women’s basketball team enjoyed another banner campaign by posting a 26-9 record and extending its streaks to nine consecutive 20-win seasons and 10 consecutive NAIA Division II National Tournament appearances. Chelsie Trask led the team in scoring with an average of 16.6 points per game en route to first-team NAIA II All-America honors. Just a junior, Trask will have an opportunity next season to join Dani Gass 2009 as the Mustangs’ only two-time first-team All-American. The Mustang men’s basketball team also enjoyed a successful campaign, winning eight of its final 10 games to finish at 18-13. The top player was Danny Rudeen, who made the All-GPAC first team as a sophomore and now has the chance to join Brad Schmit 2006 as the Mustangs' only three-time first-team All-GPAC performers.
Softball and baseball finish at or near the top of the GPAC
Morningside’s softball team kept an impressive streak alive. After hovering around the .500 mark for most of the season, the Mustangs got hot at the right time by going 4-0 to win the GPAC Post-Season Tournament championship to lock up a fourth straight trip to the NAIA National Tournament. The softball team finished with a record of 28-21 and was led by freshman Taylor Michaelson, who topped the team with a .386 batting average, and sophomore Kati Steffen, who paced the Mustangs with 11 home runs and 43 RBIs. It was also a successful spring for the Mustang baseball team, which posted a 37-21 record and finished second in the GPAC in its first season under new head coach Brian Drent. Sophomore A.J. Staiert was the team’s top hitter with a .376 batting average and a school-record 10 triples, while junior Travis Hanson had a school-record 45 stolen bases to lead the nation in that category for the second year in a row.
Freshman makes history in golf
Freshman Brandon Thompson was named a third-team NAIA All-American this spring to become Morningside’s first-ever NAIA golf All-American. Thompson was the GPAC Men’s Golfer of the Year and the individual medalist at five of the Mustangs’ seven spring tournaments. The Mustang men won three tournament championships in 2011-2012, while the Morningside women captured four tournament titles.
Tennis programs on the rise
Head coach Larry Mason 1973 has Morningside’s men’s and women’s tennis programs on the rise. The women had a 14-7 record, while the men finished at 9-7. Both teams established school records for victories and reached the championship matches at the GPAC Post-Season Tournament.
