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September 2008
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Home Team
By Jeff Kelly
An unspoken rule in sports is
that it takes time to build a winner. When a program is created,
odds are it will struggle before it turns the corner toward success.
 Apparently,
no one ever told that to Paul Burns, the first and only coach
the Austin College women’s soccer program has known since its 1996
beginning. He brought winning to women’s soccer in a hurry. In the
team’s second year, the Kangaroos posted a winning record of 11-7-1,
and have not been under .500 since. They won 12 games in their third
season, and within just five years of the inception of the program,
they won a program-record 16 games and the first of two conference
championships.
In all, Burns has led his teams
to 11 consecutive winning seasons, with 10 seasons of double figures
in the win column and plans to add to the streak this fall.
“My goal when I started the
program was to compete every year for a conference championship,”
said Burns. He attributes the success to strong recruiting and
developing a pool of committed and competitive student-athletes.
“Lots of sacrifice is needed,”
Burns said. “I push the players outside their comfort zone. We want
players that understand this dynamic and have a passion to improve,
compete, win — and combine this with succeeding academically and
enjoying student life.”
Burns said his coaching
philosophy is simple. “Practices always are thoroughly organized,
supervised, and intense,” he said. “I provide the student-athletes
with challenging year-round training programs that improve players’
game, development, and understanding. I believe a successful coach
is part technician, part mentor, and part entrepreneur. He must know
his game thoroughly and instinctively, be sensitive to the needs of
his players, and employ the business skills of a successful manager
with zest and flair.”
The hard work is necessary to
achieve and maintain success, but as Burns says, “Nothing is free
and nothing is easy. You get out what you put in.”
At the same time, Burns teaches
his players that there is no room for placing blame or reacting
poorly when something doesn’t go their way. “I believe a team must
come to play no matter the adversity,” said Burns. “The athletes
must be prepared, motivated, competitive, and always gracious in
victory or defeat. They must take responsibility for their own
actions and always strive for excellence on the field and in the
classroom. I believe each player has talent, and through physical,
mental, and spiritual enhancement, each student-athlete has the
ability to reach maximum potential.”
For now, Burns is focused on the
2008 season, and as always the goal is to challenge for a conference
championship. With a plethora of talented returners and yet another
strong recruiting class, it seems a goal well within reach.
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Coach Carl Iwasaki |
Baseball Team Can’t Repeat SCAC
Championship
The Kangaroo baseball team came
up short in defending its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
title, falling in a best-of-three series to No. 15-ranked DePauw
University in the SCAC Divisional Tournament to end the season with
a record of 18-24. The ’Roos also had a 7-9 regular season mark
against conference opponents.
Shortstop Andy White ’10,
first baseman and pitcher Bobby Schleizer ’08, and
third baseman Bennett Herrick ’11 were honored in the
postseason for their outstanding play during the year. White was
named All-Conference after batting .355 with 12 doubles, four
triples, four home runs, and 29 RBIs, and also provided perhaps the
biggest highlight of the season when he turned a rare unassisted
triple play. White also was named the SCAC Player of the Week during
the season.
Schleizer finished the season
ranked second in the conference with 10 home runs and added nine
doubles and 42 RBIs while hitting .336 with a .603 slugging
percentage. Herrick hit .296 with a team-best 14 doubles, along with
three triples, three homers, and 29 RBIs.
Also posting strong seasons were
catcher Patrick Ray ’10, who batted .349 with three homers
and 17 RBIs, and outfielder Jordan Robison ’10, who
hit .357 with four triples and three home runs on the year.
Scooter Merritt ’11 acclimated to college ball quickly, hitting
.318 with five doubles and 21 RBIs during his first season.
Cory Stevens ’09 put
together a solid season on the mound for the ’Roos, posting a
team-best five wins in nine starts while striking out 58 batters.
Will Chermak ’10 added four wins on the year and led the team
with 63 strikeouts. Tyler Steed ’11 had a strong first season
for the ’Roos, earning three wins and two saves while striking out
26 batters and walking just 12 on the year.
With the ’Roos losing just one
senior from the 2008 team and boasting so much young talent, there
will be plenty of firepower in place for coach Carl Iwasaki
and his team to once again be near the top of the SCAC in 2009.
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Soccer Women Discover Magical Kingdom
 Women’s
soccer coach Paul Burns and several members of his team traveled to
the United Kingdom this summer for a training tour in the coach’s
home country. The women played three games against teams from
England and Wales and took in the sights along the way, traveling to
Manchester, Peterborough, Abergavenny, and London. The trip was
immensely enjoyable for the players as well as successful — as the
team went 3-0 in competition. Fourteen of this fall’s 22 returning
players, as well as Nicole Christy ’00 and Kim Frazier, father of a
current player, took part in this road trip of a lifetime.
Soccer travelers stopping for a Big
Ben photo are, left to right, first row: Allison Wurmbrand ’10,
Paige Rutherford ’09, Ashleigh Johnson ’11, Amy Holman ’10, Holly
Messamore ’09; second row: Caitlin Sperry ’11, Sarah Fennewald ’09,
Bahar Abbassi ’10, Brooke Adams ’09, Katie Hudson ’11,Faren Frazier
’09; and third row: Helen Heres ’09, Mackenzie Lund ’11,and Kaitlin
Elledge ’11.
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Softball Team Shows Signs of Growth,
Makes Donation for Cancer Research
The Austin College softball team
saw a huge improvement in its second year as an NCAA varsity sport,
finishing third in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC)
tournament, posting a 17-23 overall record and an 11-5 mark against
conference opponents. The 11 conference wins alone top the team’s
win total from last season.
The ’Roos finished the regular
season in second place in the SCAC West, and were the only SCAC team
to defeat Trinity prior to the postseason, splitting their series
2-2. Leading the way for the ’Roos were first baseman Stefanie
Faith ’11, outfielder Laci Hart ’08, and utility player
Sam Smith ’11.
Faith made an incredible impact
in her first collegiate season, named to the Louisville
Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III
All-South Region Third Team and the SCAC All-Conference First Team.
Hart, who joined the team for
her senior season after excelling for the volleyball team for four
years, joined Faith on the SCAC First Team, as well as the SCAC
All-Tournament Team.
Smith, who played catcher, third
base, first base, and outfield at various points in the year, was
named Honorable Mention All-SCAC for her work at third.
It wasn’t just the ’Roos who
were scoring whenever a ball went over the outfield fence. At the
suggestion of head coach Edie Fletcher, a two-time cancer
survivor, the ’Roos created Home Runs for Hope to raise money for
St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. Every 'Roo homerun of the
season resulted in donations, totaling $3,213 for the charity.
Hart presented the check on
behalf of the Kangaroo softball team during the team’s April trip to
play Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.
Softball players visiting St.
Jude’s Hospital are, front row, left to right, Brittany Gaertner’11,
Ashely Johnson ’11, Sam Smith ’11, Abbey Hayes ’11, Carolyn Stone
’11; and second row, Kali Gossett ’11, Stefanie Faith ’11, Lauren
Harrison, ’11, Laci Hart ’08,Whitney Bodine ’11, and Bobbi Schulle
’10.
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Women’s Tennis Team Finishes Strong;
Navey Recognized for Men
 The Austin College women’s
tennis team had a solid year, winning two matches in the
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Tournament and
finishing the year with an 8-9 record. The men’s team finished
2-13, with wins coming against the University of the Ozarks and
Concordia University of Texas.
The two teams debuted the
new Russell Tennis Complex in the 2008 season, with both the men
and the women winning their first matches at the new facility in
an April 11 match against the Ozarks. Both the men and the women
won by scores of 5-4 over the Tigers.
The women were led by a pair
of first-year players in Minnie Satyavada ’11 and
Kelly Lewis ’11, who were strong throughout the season,
and each was named to the SCAC All-Tournament Team, with
Satyavada earning the honor for
both singles and doubles. Lewis, who was Satyavada’s doubles
partner during the tournament, was selected for outstanding
performance in doubles competition. Both Satyavada and Lewis
went undefeated at the event.
Satyavada also was named
Honorable Mention All-SCAC after excelling in number two, three,
and four singles, as well as being paired with Lewis in number
one doubles. Satyavada was the women’s Carroll Pickett Award
winner as the most outstanding player.
On the men’s side, Nate
Navey ’09 was named the men’s Carroll Pickett winner for the
second straight season. Navey played well all season in both
number one singles and number one doubles.
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Alumni Honored at 2008 Legends
The annual Legends Celebration July 19–21
attracted record numbers for the Sunday awards dinner as well as
large numbers for the Saturday receptions and a full course for
the annual McCord Golf Tournament.
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ATHLETIC HALL OF HONOR INDUCTEES |
Jim Baird’93
Coppell, Texas
Football, baseball
Captain, Coppell
Fire Department |
W.K. “Bo” Brown’75
Dallas, Texas
Football
Owner, Brown Fryar,
and Long Law Firm |
Allison McKinney Tarpley’99
Frisco, Texas
Basketball
Account vice president,
UBS Financial |
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Kenneth D. Tatum’89
San Antonio, Texas
Football
Senior consultant,
Travelers Insurance |
Kenneth W. Street
Sherman, Texas
Honorary Inductee
Professor Emeritus,
Austin College |
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COACH JOE
SPENCER AWARD
FOR MERITORIOUS SERVICE AND
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN COACHING |
KEDRIC COUCH
ALUMNI COACH OF THE YEAR |
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Butch Worley’76
Austin, Texas
Senior associate athletics director,
University of Texas |
Larry Uland’61
Farmersville, Texas
Athletic director and football coach
at Greenville Christian School |
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September 2008
Feedback? |
Continued Excellence Expected from
 2007-2008 Outstanding Freshman Athlete
Coach Ronnie Gage is
looking for strong play from this fall from 2008 Tim Jubela Freshman
Athlete of the Year Chris Hickson ’11.
Hickson made an immediate impact
on the ’Roos football team in 2007, starting all 10 games of the
season. The defensive back finished among the team leaders with 35
tackles, including 22 solo tackles.
Gage described Hickson as a
gifted athlete with an incredible work ethic and competitive spirit.
In addition to praising Hickson’s diligence and dedication to his
team, Gage also called the young star defensive back a person of
great moral character.
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