A year of athletic achievements
Many Newman student-athletes demonstrated great dedication throughout the year, and their efforts paid off.
The 2017-18 academic year was full of noteworthy achievements for Newman student-athletes. From bowling team record success to a NCAA national championship, the many accomplishments made by the Jets give reason to celebrate.
Women’s soccer: CoSIDA and Google Cloud Academic honors
Karen Tamayo was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team in November 2017 as well as being named Google Cloud Academic All-District.
Seven soccer players from the women’s team were named to the All-Heartland Conference team for 2017.
Amy Strath, 1st team — also named Defensive Player of the Year.
Rosa Urista-Chico, 1st team
Colleen Howland, 1st team
Grace Linton, 2nd team
Lexi Clark, 2nd team
Kyra Butler, 2nd team
Vanessa Ortiz, 3rd team
Strath said being an athlete at Newman has been a great experience.
“In my studies and in soccer, I have learned so much in the last year while being at Newman and I have had the privilege to have been part of a great soccer program. Being named Defensive Player of the Year was totally unexpected and a great honor, and I couldn’t have achieved this without the help of my amazing teammates and coaches.”
Men’s soccer: 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-Heartland honors
Andreas Agrell and Rich Wincer were named to the 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-District team in November 2017. They were named to the first team in District 6, which is made up of schools from the Heartland, Lone Star and Rocky Mountain conferences.
Agrell and Wincer were also named Google Cloud Academic All-District.
Teammate Jamie Barkway was also named All-Heartland Conference.
Jets volleyball: All-Heartland Conference honors
Emily Harvey, Kayla Turner, and Anna Burton were named All-Heartland Conference players.
Harvey won the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year award and was named to the first team for the third straight year. Turner joined her on the first team, and Burton picked up a spot on the honorable mention team.
Harvey was second in the conference and third in the Heartland, while setting a new program record during a match against Dallas Baptist. She was also named Heartland Conference Offensive Player of the Week on four occasions.
Burton was named a first-team CoSIDA Academic All-American in December 2017 for the third consecutive time. She was also named Google Cloud Academic All-America, becoming the second first-team honor in Newman history. Adding to her honors, she picked up a Google Cloud Academic All-District as well for the third time.
Turner was third in the conference and eighth in the league. Burton ranked 19th in the country in total digs per set and fourth in the Heartland. She was also named Heartland Conference Defensive Player of the Week twice during the season.
Tennis: All-Heartland Conference honors
The men’s and women’s tennis team had three players named All-Heartland Conference: Diego Rojo, Lucas Norbiato and Emily Young all earned the Heartland honors for the 2017-18 season.
Women’s golf: All-Heartland Conference honors
The women’s golf team shot a 36-hole total of 575 to set a new program record and the second-best mark in Heartland Conference history.
Imkeleen Meyer was named All-Heartland Conference and teammate Vicky Gonzalez scored a 137 at the TexAnn Classic in September 2017, which is the lowest 36-hole score in conference history for Heartland conference.
Women’s cross-country: Google Cloud Academic All-District team
Alondra Romo, a nursing major, was named All-Heartland Conference and Google Cloud Academic All-District. She maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA all through her academic career while soaring to new heights as a student-athlete.
She was the top finisher for the team in five out of six season races and helped lead her team to a third-place finish at the Heartland Conference meet in October 2017.
Romo’s teammate Clara Lane was also named All-Heartland Conference.
Austin Lavin – men’s cross-country: All-Heartland Conference
Austin Lavin earned All-Heartland Conference honors for the 2017-18 season. He ran in all six races with his best finish at seventh place with a time of 27:01.88.
Off-campus, Lavin competed in the Wichita Prairie Fire Half Marathon coming in first place.
Lavin said, “Being a student-athlete throughout my college years has helped me build my time management skills not to mention providing me the opportunity to form some solid friendships.”
Noel Torres and Tyler Mies — wrestling: Google Cloud Academic All-District At-Large team
Noel Torres, along with his teammate Tyler Mies, were two of the four wrestlers in District 6, which has three conferences: Heartland, Lone Star and Rocky Mountain.
Torres, a Newman MBA student, was also named Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission’s College Male Athlete of the Year and is the university’s first NCAA national champion, a distinction he earned during his final college career match.
Both athletes were named Google Cloud Academic All-America and All-District.
Mies is a healthcare science major at Newman. This is the second career Academic All-District honor for the athlete.
Newman wrestling team Kansas Cup winners
The 2017-18 Newman wrestlers received their first ever team championship at the 9th Annual Kansas Cup and four individuals went all the way to receive individual championship titles:
Tyler Lawley, 125, championship.
Dalton Weidl, 285, championship.
Tyler Mies, 157, championship.
Noel Torres, 184, championship.
Academic All-America Honors — Noel Torres and Tyler Mies.
Men’s basketball: CoSIDA, Google Cloud Academic and All-Heartland Conference honors
Kevin Bryant was named Google Cloud Academic All-District for the 2017-18 season. His honors also include All-Heartland Conference second-team and CoSIDA Academic All-District first team.
Teammate Dametrius Walker was also named All-Heartland Conference.
Hannah Alexander – women’s basketball: All-Heartland Conference
Hannah Alexander, who matched her career high of 33-point game for the second during the season, was named All-Heartland Conference first-team for 2017-18. Alexander played and started in all 29 games.
Jets Baseball: Google Cloud Academic and All-Heartland Conference honors
Both Daniel Jahnke and Aaron Mack earned a spot on the Google Cloud Academic All-America second team and are two of only 33 total players from across NCAA Division II to earn the prestigious honor this season. This is Mack’s second straight Academic All-America award.
Jahnke also finished his year as a Google Cloud Academic All-District along with teammate Paul Rupnick.
Teammates Ked Bailey, Brian Canfield and Channing Williams were all named All-Heartland Conference.
Emma Eck – softball: All-Hearland Conference
Freshman Emma Eck was named to the All-Heartland Conference first team as a utility player. She appeared in 50 games starting 50 and had a batting average of .301, with 133 at-bats, 40 hits, 18 runs, five doubles, two triples, and 17 RBIs.
Coach of the Year — R.J. Allen and Billy Murphy
R.J. Allen overcame some obstacles throughout his first year as head coach of the men’s basketball team, including the loss of three scholarship players to injuries. Yet Allen and the team pulled together, an effort that paid off when Allen received the Heartland Coach of the Year award Feb. 28.
Murphy was named the National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association (NCBCA) Women’s Coach of the Year for the 2017-2018 season.
This is the second time he’s received such an honor — the first being named Men’s Coach of the Year for the 2008-09 season.
Heartland Honor Roll
A total of 140 student-athletes out of 316 were named on the Heartland Conference honor roll for the spring 2018 semester. Of those, 85 earned a spot on the President’s Honor Roll with a 3.5 GPA or higher during the semester. The other 55 ended their semester with at least a 3.0 GPA, earning them a spot on the Commissioner’s Honor Roll.