As the 2014 calendar year winds down, the Seattle University athletics department can look back on the past 12 months and point to several major accomplishments, continuing to make new history in this, the second NCAA Division I era of the Seattle U athletics program.
The Seattle U basketball teams entered conference play and provided tough competition to the Western Athletic Conference. Led by Second Team All-WAC performer Isiah Umipig, who set the school single-season record for most made three-pointers with 106, the Redhawk men’s basketball team closed out the 2013-14 regular season with a convincing victory over Idaho in front of an enthusiastic crowd on Homecoming, and then battled eventual WAC Tournament champion New Mexico State right down to the final buzzer, giving the Aggies their toughest test of the tournament.
Led by seniors Sylvia Shephard, Kacie Sowell, and Ashley Ward, the Redhawk women’s basketball team once again advanced to the WAC Tournament title game. Sowell earned WBCA All-Region honors as well as being named to the Division I-AAA Scholar-Athlete Team for the second straight year and the WBCA Allstate Good Works Team. All three seniors would leave Seattle U with their names in numerous places within the Redhawk women’s basketball record book.
In the spring, on its way to its best season since returning to varsity status in 2010, the baseball team picked up two victories against nationally-ranked Washington as well as a victory over Washington State to end the regular season. The Redhawks qualified for the WAC Baseball Tournament in Mesa, Ariz., the program’s first Division I postseason berth in 60 years.
The Redhawk softball team earned a victory in the WAC Softball Tournament as it hosted the event at Logan Field in May. One month earlier, the Seattle U men’s golf team hosted the Redhawk Invitational at Chambers Bay, host of the 2015 United States Open Championship, bringing some of the top collegiate golfers in the country to the world class course.
Dylan Burnett capped his collegiate career by winning the javelin throw title at the WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships and qualifying for the NCAA West Preliminary Championships for the second consecutive year. At the end of May, the second annual Red Tie Celebration, honoring Elgin Baylor and featuring a speech from basketball great Bill Russell, was a significant success, helping the Redhawk athletics program financially.
Academically, Seattle U student-athletes combined for a 3.35 grade point average during the spring 2014 quarter, the highest posted cumulative student-athlete GPA on record at Seattle U. Redhawk student-athletes received 181 Academic All-WAC honors in 2014, and teams such as women’s soccer, men’s swimming, women’s swimming, men’s track and field, women’s track and field, and women’s volleyball all were honored by their respective coaches’ organizations with team academic awards.
Over the summer, 2013 WAC Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Year Stephanie Verdoia received the Joe Kearney Award, bestowed annually to the top male and female student-athletes within the conference among all sports. By the end of 2014, Verdoia would need to make more room in the trophy case for the numerous honors she received: CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-American of the Year for Division I women’s soccer, Senior CLASS Award winner for women’s soccer, NSCAA Third Team All-American, NSCAA First Team Scholar All-American, 2014 WAC Offensive Player of the Year, and 2014 WAC Tournament MVP.
Led by Verdoia, Seattle U women’s soccer earned a share of the conference’s regular season title, and then dominated the WAC Tournament on its home field to earn its second straight berth into the NCAA Tournament. The team traveled across the state and upset Washington State in the first round with a 2-1 overtime victory, and then headed across the country to North Carolina, battling second round opponent South Carolina to a 0-0 draw after 110 minutes before falling in penalty kicks.
Men's Soccer, which opened up the season knocking off national power Furman in the Nike/Aaron Olitsky Soccer Classic hosted by the College of Charleston, also achieved a historic milestone during 2014 in earning its first ever NSCAA/Continential Tire Division I Top-25 National ranking, which occurred twice during the regular season.
The Seattle U women’s cross country team also made history in November, using a strong team effort to hold off Utah Valley and win the 2014 WAC Cross Country Championship, the program’s first-ever team conference title at any level. Senior Sophie Curatilo, the winner of two events earlier in the year, led the Redhawks with a second-place finish, and then she, along with Taylor de Laveaga, finished higher than any Redhawk female at previous NCAA Division I West Regionals, leading the Redhawks to a Division I program-best 18th place finish.
One week after hosting the WAC Women’s Soccer Tournament, Seattle U successfully hosted the WAC Men’s Soccer Tournament. The next week, the Redhawk volleyball team defeated Utah Valley and conference regular season champion UMKC to advance to the finals of the WAC Volleyball Tournament. The Seattle U women’s golf team honored one of the all-time greats by hosting the Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational in October, while the men’s golf team finished the fall season with back-to-back second place finishes at tournaments hosted by Pac-12 school Utah and Big East program Georgetown.
In late November, the Seattle U men’s basketball team hosted Washington and the Marv Harshman Classic in the span of 48 hours, while the women’s basketball team kicked off December by honoring five Women in Leadership at halftime of its game against Washington at KeyArena. The Redhawk swim teams posted numerous all-time top 10 times at the Husky Invitational, including two school records.
The Seattle U athletics department suffered a significant loss in February with the passing of legend Eddie O’Brien. However, thanks to the generosity and support of his family, that loss has been turned into the naming of the annual Student-Athlete of the Year Awards in his honor as well as the establishment of the Eddie O’Brien Endowment Fund, plus he, along with his brother Johnny, will be the honorees at the 2015 Red Tie Celebration Saturday, May 30, at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel.
After tying for the lead among WAC schools and finishing in a tie for 32nd place among Division I-AAA schools in the 2013-14 Learfield Cup standings, Seattle U is first in the WAC and tied for 10th in Division I-AAA after most of the fall sports have been factored in for 2014-15. As the calendar turns to 2015 this Thursday, the Redhawks will be aiming towards continuing their successes both athletically and academically.