LIONS’ CORNER

Maddie Haberthy '21

Photo by Mark Byron

MADDIE HABERTHY ’21: HCAC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Shooting guard Maddie Haberthy ’21, was named HCAC Player of the Year and to the All-Great Lakes Region Team. This past season she ranked fifth in the country averaging 23.1 points per game, shooting 46.6 percent from the field, and 43.6 percent from beyond the arc, leading the Lions to their first HCAC tournament win in over 15 years. In November she was named a 2021-22 D3hoops.com preseason second team All-America selection, the Mount’s first in women’s basketball since the University joined the NCAA. “Since the day Maddie hit the campus I knew she was going to be a hard worker,” says Head Coach Dan Benjamin. “Along the way she really developed as a player. We look for chemistry and culture in our program and Maddie represents them well.”

JOSH TAYLOR: HCAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Josh Taylor

Photo by Don Denney

In the spring 2020 football season, freshman quarterback Josh Taylor (now a sophomore) received First Team All-Conference honors and was named HCAC Offensive Player of the Year. Taylor led the Lions offense with 779 yards on the ground and 17 rushing touchdowns, finishing the season as the national leader in both stat categories. Additionally he added 1,320 passing yards and 12 touchdowns. “Josh is a true competitor and works to win in everything he does,” Head Coach Tyler Hopperton says. “His teammates noticed his example as soon as he stepped on campus and he has earned the honor of being a team captain.”

ALEHIA TUCKER ’21: ALL-AMERICAN AND HCAC FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Alehia Tucker '21

Photo by Don Denney.

Shortstop Alehia Tucker ’21, was named All-American by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA), the first in the Mount’s history, and 2020-21 HCAC Female Athlete of the Year. Tucker led the Heartland Athletic Conference (HCAC) in seven offensive categories with 62 hits, 48 runs scored, four triples, nine home runs, and 28 stolen bases, and led in at-bats and walks. She broke the MSJ record for career stolen bases and doubles, and set a new single-season record for home runs. “As she grew each year, she just blossomed on the softball field,” says Head Coach Beth Goderwis. “Her personality and mentality on the field really changed as well. Just as a senior, she did everything right.”

SERVING UP A NOTABLE YEAR

Photo by Don Denney

The 2020-21 women’s volleyball team had an impressive season, making the HCAC championship game and, at one point, ranking No. 13 in the nation.

“These young women have worked hard, and we went from being a team who didn’t even qualify for the conference tourney, to a team that was one match from winning the whole conference,” says Head Coach John Spinney.

In addition, Emily Abshire, now a sophomore who only had three months of club volleyball experience prior to playing for the Mount, was named HCAC’s Freshman of the Year.

Photo by Don Denney

“Emily definitely gets noticed by all the other coaches, and those coaches are shocked by her relative lack of experience,” Spinney says. “What makes her a star player is her pace. She has a live arm, and from out of nowhere, just cranks the ball for kills. Her development has been a complete joy. She knows she still has so much to learn—and she is incredibly humble— but her talents are amazing.”

Of note are these accomplishments during a pandemic. The team was regularly tested, shut down at times, and practiced in pods of 10 or fewer throughout the fall. Spinney says the Centennial Field House served as invaluable practice space.

Photo by Don Denney

Spinney is thankful for an increased focus on student-athletes’ mental health and recognizes his role in that capacity, particularly during difficult times.

“I think that mental health of players is talked about more, due to the Pandemic, which is great,” he says. “There are challenges being a college athlete. I feel as though coaches are not only teachers, we’re an extension of the parents; we are the players’ touchstone to the University,” he says. “We share heartaches, we share successes—it is why we coach—particularly in DIII.”

Spinney, who previously held coaching positions at the Mount 19931997 and 1999-2000, thinks back to the program’s success since its inception in 1969.

“I know many of the stars of those teams from the 1970s,” Spinney says. “I also know Pat Shibinski, Jean Dowell, and Mary Ann Broderick, three revered coaches from years ago. I simply want to return to the great tradition of success,” he says. “I would like to lead a program that is a national contender, but also one that is active in the community, and one that does well in classes—and later in careers.”

GRAND SLAM

By Tabari McCoy

Photo by Don Denney.

The 2020-21 women’s softball team season culminated in an HCAC tournament championship. That achievement, however, does not tell the full story of their historic run.

In addition to the HCAC conference championship, the Lions achieved a No. 12 ranking in the final National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) poll of the season. In addition, senior shortstop Alehia Tucker ’21 was recognized as the 2020-21 HCAC Female Athlete of the Year this June. Tucker led the HCAC in seven offensive categories while setting a new single-season record for home runs with nine and tying the single-season doubles record with 19.

Alehia Tucker '21

Photo by Don Denney

Tucker wasn’t a one-woman show, however. HCAC tourney MVP Sarah Miller ’21 tossed several standout performances in her senior season, including a perfect game against Manchester on May 1. Junior Kamryn (Kam) McCool likewise hurled three shutouts en route to setting a new MSJ single season record with 170 strikeouts, one of several highlight performances this spring.

Sarah Miller ’21

Photo by Don Denney

Asked how satisfying last season’s achievements were to experience, Head Coach Beth Goderwis defers a large part of the team’s success to assistant coach DeeDee Morris’ hiring several years prior.

“I truly believe this with all my heart: When I hired Coach Morris, that’s truly been the difference in the program’s (success),” she says. “The kids have a great connection with her and obviously her knowledge of the game (is fantastic). We changed our recruiting and that was also a huge factor in our success.”

Morris says COVID-19 cutting the previous season short, coupled with a craving for more respect, didn’t hurt either.

“They had a chip on their shoulder all year long...that just fueled the girls and it was not good for anybody in our path,” Morris says. “We talk about buying in all the time, be it to our culture or what we’re saying. It was cool to see those kids do that and enjoy the results.”

Junior infielder Rachel Gabbard hopes to enjoy more success in 2022.

“I have never been a part of a more determined team and it showed on the field with how successful we were, how much fun we had, and how well we played together,” Gabbard says. “Between the students and faculty past and present there wasn’t a person that wasn’t following along and rooting for us.”

Kamryn McCool

Photo by Don Denney.

McCool, whose twin sister Kendall has also shared a part in the Lions' softball family, says the values Goderwis and Morris have taught them have already made them winners. Kam is destined to live out this legacy in her senior campaign with her twin sister cheering for her from the sideline.

“One of the first things that (my) coaches and I talked about was that they don’t only search for good softball players, but they search for good people. I believe this is a true statement,” McCool says. “My coaches do a great job of instilling being good people day in and day out... the heart and dedication that they bring to the team and the expectations that they set impact the accomplishments that we have achieved and will continue to achieve.”

MOUNT-ING UP SUCCESS

By Tabari McCoy

Photo courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics.

By Jesse Minter’s ’05, own admission, he wasn’t a great athlete. But he had a dream, a strong work ethic, and coaching in his DNA, as the son of a college football coach himself—and Mount St. Joseph University is where it all truly began to take shape.

“I think back to the Mount and the requirements to do well there. You show up, you work hard, and there are great professors that can help you—and to me, that’s just what coaching is and does,” says Minter, reflecting on football principles as they relate to college life. “All you want your players to do is show up, work as hard as you can, then you’re there to guide and help develop them. The layout and the culture at the Mount are such a strong parallel to everything that goes on in this coaching profession.”

Having gone from Division III player to Division I coach and the NFL, and now back to college as a defensive coordinator in the high-profile SEC, the fun of living out his vision is unparalleled.

Minter spent four years (2002-2005) at the Mount, playing wide receiver for the Lions before graduating with his liberal studies degree. He then landed an internship with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish where his father, former University of Cincinnati football coach Rick Minter, happened to be coaching at the time. That led to four years as a coach in his own right at Indiana State University and then Georgia State University.

Then, in 2017, he would land his biggest opportunity to date: Helping coach defense with one of the NFL’s premiere franchises in the Baltimore Ravens in 2017. Presented with the chance to return to the college ranks, he left the Ravens earlier this year to become the new defensive coordinator at Vanderbilt, where the team has already improved under his watch.

A Positive Perspective

While his family’s football pedigree may have initially opened the door to coaching, making the most of each opportunity is what’s enabled him to keep living his dream.

Photo courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics.

“How you go about your day-today operations, the impact you make on people in whatever job you’re in, is what gets you an opportunity to move up,” Minter says. “Every job that I’ve had, I’ve tried to treat it like it’s the most important job in the world and never really worry about what the next opportunity might be. The people that sit around and wonder ‘What’s next?’ miss out on the present.”

For Minter, however, nothing “other than getting married and having my three kids” is greater than being able to walk off the field a winner.

“You work too hard not to enjoy the wins, especially as tough as they might be to come by sometimes,” he says, “The look on the players’ faces is honestly what inspires me to work hard because there’s nothing better. Seeing those guys enjoy winning because they haven’t had it a lot is such a great feeling to be a part of.”