“The shot” hit by Ty Rogers in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament might have headlined Western’s 2007-2008 athletic year, but it’s only a glimpse of the success of the entire Topper’s athletic program.
In the 2007-2008 seasons, Western claimed 10 of its possible 18 Sun Belt Conference titles, more than any other Division I university in the country.
“You can name all the greatest names in the history of intercollegiate athletics, and there wasn’t another Division I-A school that won more championships than WKU did last year,” Athletics Director Wood Selig said.
The closest any school came to Western’s 10 championships was Notre Dame with eight.
The Toppers claimed the Sun Belt Conference titles in baseball, women’s cross country, women’s soccer, women’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, men’s and women’s outdoor track and men’s and women’s basketball.
“We are hitting on all cylinders in our athletic department,” President Gary Ransdell said. “We have great student-athletes, a terrific group of coaches. We are performing well in the classroom and winning championships.”
Men’s cross country, men’s golf and volleyball also represented the Toppers in NCAA tournaments.
The list of successes didn’t stop there.
Curtiss Long, Jason Neidell, Bob Benson, Erik Jenkins and Mary Taylor Cowles were all honored as Sun Belt Conference coaches-of-the-year.
Senior baseball shortstop Terrence Dayleg attributes the success to the hard work athletes put in during the offseason.
“If you look at every single sport, the athletes work their butts off in the offseason,” Dayleg said. “I think a lot of credit should go to the behind-the-scenes work in the offseason.”
The success of the athletic program was enough to earn the Sun Belt Conference Vic Bubas Cup which goes to the best all-around program in the conference. Western has received the cup four of the last seven years.
“I hope our students and fans are taking pride in and enjoying the most athletic success we’ve ever experienced as an institution,” Ransdell said.
The Toppers are looking to set the bar even higher this year.
At a welcome back session on Sunday night in Diddle Arena, all student athletes were given T-shirts with “what have you done to be a champion today?” printed on the front.
“Can we do better than 10?” Selig said. “Absolutely.”
Reach Corey Ogburn at sports@chherald.com.
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