Sports Wrapup

The Fall sports programs at Shorter enjoyed one of the most successful seasons in college history during 2007.

The Shorter men’s cross country team headed to Kenosha, Wis., for nationals after taking first place in the region championship at Berry College. Despite the foggy, cold conditions at the region championship, the Hawks performed their best of the season, finishing with the top four runners in the contest. Martin Hernandez took the top time by 44/100 of a second and captured the Region Runner of the Year award.

Shorter posted a final score of 24, ahead of Berry’s second-place 54 points and Lee University’s 71 points. Three runners were named to the All-Conference and All-Region teams.

Head coach Jay Stephenson was named the Region XIII and Southern States Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.

“I’m amazed at how well our guys ran,” said Stephenson. “No one on this team is willing to give up at any point. We’ve had some adversity this season, and we’ve learned that those times can be a blessing through the experience and growth that can come from them.”

The next step for the Hawks was the NAIA National Championship, where the team finished in 24th place with 583 points. Magrina Chepkoech, the lone Lady Hawk in nationals, finished in an exceptional 46th place in the 5k course. She qualified for nationals following a second-place finish in the region meet.

The Shorter College football team had their best year to date in 2007. In their final game of the season, the Shorter Hawks football team beat the Lambuth University Eagles, 42-18, to end the season with a college-best 7-4 record. In the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes (NAIA) final poll, Shorter College was one of four teams, not among the top 25, receiving votes.

The Hawks started the season with a 5-1 record, almost beating their first NCAA Division II opponent, Stillman College. Stillman finished the year No. 1 in the country in fourth-down conversions and No. 3 in rushing offense.

For their efforts, 11 Hawks were named to the 2007 Western Division All-Conference & Honorable Mention teams. In the conference’s annual year-end awards, Ryan Gloer was named the West Division’s Defensive Player of the Year. The 6’0” junior linebacker led the Hawks in assisted tackles this season with 42 and tacked on 24 more unassisted tackles. He started for the Hawks his third year.

Three players were also named to the Victory Sports Network All-American Honorable Mention team and an impressive 13 players made the MSC All-Academic team.

Both the men’s and women’s soccer teams earned berths in their conference tournaments this season, with the men playing a close 2-0 game against nationally-ranked Lee in their final game. Two men and two women made this year’s all-conference list.

“Both teams never gave up all season and proved to be among the conference’s best teams,” said Josh Severns, who is head coach of both teams. “The SSAC has some of the toughest teams in the nation, and all of our players can hold their own against them.”

A total of 11 student-athletes were named to the SSAC All-Academic team.

In the final round of the Southern States Athletic Conference volleyball tournament, the Lady Hawks beat the Lee University Flames, 3-2, to capture their first-ever championship title and to receive an automatic bid to the region tournament. Shorter didn’t lose a game in the double-elimination tournament, which included two victories over Lee, one over cross-town rival Berry College, and one over conference-foe Reinhardt College.

The Lady Hawks won the first match of the final game, 32-30, then got a scare in the next two as Lee won 22-30, and 24-30. Shorter rebounded to take the last two, 32-30 and 15-12.

In addition to their first-ever championship, two students were named First Team All-Conference, and two students received Second Team All-Conference honors.

“I couldn’t be prouder of what we accomplished this year,” said head coach Jon Moseley. “This is such a strong group of girls that never gave up. After beating teams like Berry and Lee, we feel like we can play with anybody. We played with great passion during the conference tournament, and we’ll need to continue that through next season.”

The Lady Hawks finished their season with a 21-14 record.

Not only were all the sports teams recognized in the region for exceptional play, but also three athletes were recognized nationally as NAIA All-America Scholar Athletes. “All the teams had such incredible seasons,” said Athletic Director Bill Peterson. “What is equally important about our athletes is that they not only perform well on the field, but in the classroom as well. There are so many standout players for Shorter, and it’s nice to see them getting recognized all across the country.”