Denver Men’s Golf Names New Assistant Coach

University of Denver men’s golf head coach Eric Hoos announced the hiring of Ben Belfield as assistant men’s golf coach. The former Northwood University (Texas) head coach begins his duties for the Pioneers for the upcoming spring season.

Belfield comes to the Pioneers with three years of head coaching experience from NAIA’s, Northwood University in Dallas, Texas.

“Ben has had a lot of coaching experience and will hit the ground running, leading the recruiting for this team,” Hoos said. “He likes players to strive to improve everyday by one percent and I’m looking forward to combine our efforts to put that into effect.”

Belfield hails from Manchester, England and turned professional following four years of collegiate playing career at Northwood University (Texas). He has played mini tours both in America and in Europe, reaching the final stage of the US Open qualifying, while also played in many Monday qualifiers of the PGA Tour.

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Previews The Summit League

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper recently previewed the upcoming 2014 Summit League baseball season. Below is its analysis.

Projected Order of Finish
1. Omaha
2. South Dakota State
3. North Dakota State
4. Western Illinois
5. Fort Wayne

Projected Pitcher of the Year
J.D. Moore, South Dakota State

Projected Player of the Year
Tim Colwell, North Dakota State

Other Top Players to Watch
Alex Mortensen, Omaha
Zach Williamsen, Omaha
Tyler Fox, Omaha
Josh Bullock, Omaha
Chris Anderson, South Dakota State
Adam Bray, South Dakota State
Aaron Machbitz, South Dakota State
Paul Jacobson, South Dakota State
Wes Satzinger, North Dakota State
Jon Hechtner, North Dakota State
David Ernst, North Dakota State
Aaron Michel, Western Illinois
Tyler Willman, Western Illinois
Tom Constand, Western Illinois
Jameson Henning, Western Illinois
Zack Burling, Western Illinois
Carter DeBoe, Fort Wayne
Tyler Shepherd, Fort Wayne
Steve Danielak, Fort Wayne

North Dakota State Hosts Final League Home Opener at Bison Sports Arena

NDSU's Bison Sports Arena

The Summit League home opener for North Dakota State means the start of the final eight games to be played at the Bison Sports Arena. NDSU is among four Summit League schools making major facility upgrades in the near future as Jeff Kolpack of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead writes in Jan. 16 edition.

Fort Wayne's Bland Helps Key Program's Best Division I Start

Fort Wayne's Pierre Bland

Fort Wayne senior Pierre Bland has been a vital part of the program's success this season, including the school's best Division I start. The News-Sentinel profiled Bland, who is a team leader both on and off the court, in its Jan. 16 edition.

UNO's Lange Officially Named Head Coach, ‘Interim’ Tag Removed

University of Nebraska Omaha Director of Athletics Trev Alberts has announced the removal of the “interim” label from Brittany Lange’s title, officially naming her the head coach of the UNO women’sbasketball program.

Lange, who celebrated her 27th birthday on New Year’s Eve, becomes the eighth full-time head coach and the youngest to lead the program in its 43-year history. She assumed the interim head coach role in early October just one month before the Mavs’ exhibition game and has led the Mavericks to an 8-5 start with a team comprising seven newcomers among the nine healthy players available to play.

“Coach Lange and her staff have done an incredible job in all areas on and off the court, and they have earned trust and respect from their players,” Alberts said. “The decision to remove the ‘interim’ from Coach Lange’s title was not just about wins and losses. She and her staff have shown a tremendous amount of character and integrity, and their passion and work ethic is evident in how the team plays.”

Denver's Wirth Named WBCA Good Works Team Nominee

University of Denver women’s basketball junior Theresa Wirth (Mesa, Airz.) was chosen as one of 52 NCAA Division I women’s basketball student-athletes to be nominated for the2014 Allstate WBCA and NABA Good Works Team®, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and Allstate Insurance Company announced today.

A total of 202 men’s and women’s nominees are on the list that spans NCAA Division I, II, III and NAIA.

Denver's Theresa Wirth (photo by Lacey Den Hartog)

The award recognizes a select group of college basketball student-athletes who have made significant contributions to the greater good of their communities through volunteerism and civic service.

Wirth has proven herself to be a leader both on and off the court. This past summer, Wirth interned for the Special Olympics, getting an inside look into the inner workings of a non-profit, a dream she hopes to fulfill in the future with her own charity. During her internship, Wirth got to work events throughout the summer, getting to know and interview the athletes. In addition to her summer internship, Wirth also helped to set up and hand out water at aid stations during the Race for the Cure event this past September. She took part in a coaches’ clinic with the Denver Public Schools’ middle school coaches in the fall; and also visited elementary schools presenting on the benefits of healthy living through sports. In the spring of 2013, Wirth visited the local Children’s Hospital spending time with the patients and also took part in the University of Denver’s Day of Service, running a station for young kids and parents.

North Dakota State Names Tyler Oakes Pitching Coach

North Dakota State head baseball coach Tod Brown today announced the addition of Tyler Oakes as the team's pitching coach for the 2014 season.  Oakes replaces Jake Angier, who was hired in November as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Sacramento State.
 
Oakes was a graduate assistant pitching coach at South Dakota State in 2010 and 2011 before spending the past two years as a volunteer assistant at Minnesota.  He was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten performer from 2006-09 at Minnesota, where he pitched in the starting rotation as a sophomore and worked out of the bullpen for three seasons.  Oakes signed with the Tampa Bay Rays as an undrafted free agent and played one season with the Princeton Rays of the Appalachian League.

My Championship Experience – 2013 Volleyball Edition

My Championship Experience is a diary blog written by Summit League student-athletes detailing their experiences at each of the 19 Championships.

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IUPUI senior Kortni Wright writes about her experience at the 2013 Summit League Volleyball Championship:

My name is Kortni Wright and I am a fifth-year senior at IUPUI.  With this league tournament being my fourth in five season with the Jags, I had a feeling it was going to be the best.  Each year during preseason we set goals as a team, and winning a league title and making it to the NCAA Tournament have made the list almost every year I have been here.  Going into the weekend, we had already accomplished one of those goals in winning the regular season title, and I know I was hungrier than ever to achieve that second goal of winning the tournament as well.

Thursday, November 21:

The weekend started today with teams practicing and preparing for the upcoming matches and ended with The Summit League Tournament Banquet hosted by my school, IUPUI.  I personally want to thank everyone involved in planning and executing the banquet and tournament.  I know how much hard work and effort went into each event during the weekend, and it was greatly appreciated by all of us student-athletes and coaches.  I also want to congratulate all of the award winners.  You all have accomplished something great not only for yourself, but for you team and for this league!

Friday, November 22:

For four of the teams today was game day!  All of the teams started the day with their practice times for one last preparation or run through of the game plan.  We had practice at 9:35 a.m. followed by a lot of waiting.  I went back home, did some homework and then headed back to the gym for the first match- South Dakota vs. Western Illinois at 4:30 p.m.  After that match was over, we watched Fort Wayne vs. North Dakota State at 7 p.m.  This was particularly exciting because we were finally going to be able to mentally prepare for who we were going to play the following night!  During both of these matches, we all scouted each team, tracking serve-receive patterns and filling out hitting charts.  We wanted to be as prepared as possible for any team we may end up playing over weekend.  USD won the first match and IPFW the second, meaning the teams going on to participate the next night in the semi-finals would be Denver vs. South Dakota and IUPUI vs. Fort Wayne.

Saturday, November 23:

FINALLY IT IS GAME DAY! It seems like we have been waiting forever to play, especially after having to go a whole day with doing nothing but a short practice and watching two matches.  Today we started off with a serve and pass session at 2:15 p.m.  This gave me time to wake up in my own bed, drink my coffee, eat breakfast and kind of reflect on the season, myself, and what tonight could mean.  For me, it was kind of emotional as this could potentially be the last day of volleyball I would ever play on a collegiate team and could be the end of my volleyball career that has been a part of me for almost 10 years.  I was definitely not ready for tonight to be the end of it, and that was the mentality I was going into the match with.  And, if we did happen to get beat, I was not going to let it come easily and I was not going to let it end on a bad note with my performance and efforts. 

2:15 p.m. came and we warmed up, served some balls, went through hitting lines, and walked through the tendencies of IPFW.  After serve and pass was over, we went over to The Tower where we have pregame meals before every league match at 3 p.m.  Then, we headed back over the gym to watch film on IPFW and scout the Denver vs. South Dakota match.  What an exciting match that turned out to be with Denver being down two sets to zero going into the third, and end up winning the next three sets, advancing them to the championship the next day.  After that, we had 45 minutes to warm up for our match.  I remember myself and the rest of my teammates being so calm but so excited and determined to win.  We knew IPFW was a strong team and they were not going to give us anything, so starting the match we talked about that in the huddle and emphasized communication, insane defense, and controlling our side of the court.  We knew each of those things would allow us to beat the other team.  Sure enough, IPFW came out strong and were just as determined to win as we were.  We stuck to our game plan and all stayed on the same page throughout the whole match and fought hard to win.  We were going to the CHAMPIONSHIP!!

After the match was over I was so proud, happy, excited, and grateful that I had another day to play with my team.  I was also so exhausted from going five hard sets with IPFW that I went straight home, ate supper, and went to bed.

Sunday, November 24:

Today was the big day; the day my teammates and I would be competing for a bid to the NCAA Tournament!  It was a really quick turnaround from playing last night to having to be at the gym by 10 a.m. for serve and pass.  Even with this, I was not tired, but ready to play.  After serve and pass, we ate, hung out in the locker room, watched film, hung out in the locker room some more, then 45 minutes before game time, we took the court to warm up.  Our fans did an amazing job all weekend providing us with a fun and energetic atmosphere to warm up and play in and it was no different today.  They were cheering us on the entire time.  The energy level on the team was high as well which was a good sign for us! We all seemed calm and focused; knowing that we could potentially make school history.  I think this was in the back of all of our minds the entire match along with our game plan from the night before- stay focused, communicate, play good defense, and control our side of the court.  We again did these things and point-by-point, took control of each set and won! 

To be a part of such an influential team for our school is an awesome feeling.  From being the first volleyball team to win a league title last year to winning it again this year along with being the first team ever to get a bid to the NCAA, it is just such an honor and great experience to be part of something like that.  I am really looking forward for our upcoming preparations for the NCAA Tournament and going in with the mindset that we have nothing to lose and everything to gain.  This team can clearly do great things, and I cannot wait to compete again!

I would like to congratulate all of the teams in The Summit League for a great season and especially the ones who made the tournament.  We have all pushed each other to become better players and to make this league better as well.  Good luck to all of the seniors from each team and like me, I am sure you all will never forget your time and dedication to your school’s program.  Thank you again to IUPUI for hosting the tournament and for everyone’s hard work throughout.  My team and I hope to represent The Summit League in the NCAA Tournament as best we can! Go Jags!

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Don’t forget to check out the next edition of My Championship Experience as it follows the Swimming & Diving Championships, Feb. 19-22 and throughout the 2013-14 season for coverage at each of The Summit League Championships.