Morningside sports highlights
All-Sports Trophy stays at Morningside
This year Morningside won the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) All-Sports Trophy for the second year in a row and the fourth time in the last seven years. The Mustangs scored 166 points to claim the all-sports trophy by an impressive 18-point margin over runner-up Doane College. In fact, it was the most lopsided all-sports trophy race since 2003-2004.
The Mustangs were the class of the GPAC across the board as they topped the all-sports trophy scoring in both genders with 91 points in men’s sports and 75 points in women’s sports.
Morningside won regular season GPAC championships this year in football, women’s basketball and wrestling. It was the league runner-up in men’s cross country, men’s golf, men’s indoor track & field, softball and women’s tennis.
On a national level, Morningside qualified as a team for National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Championship post-season competition in football, volleyball, men’s cross country, women’s basketball and softball. It sent individual athletes to compete at the NAIA indoor and outdoor track and field, swimming and diving, and wrestling national championships.
The Mustang women’s basketball team was in the national tournament for the 11th year in a row, the football team made its ninth consecutive post-season playoff appearance, the softball team qualified for the national tournament for the fifth year in a row, and the volleyball team returned to the national tournament for the fourth time in the last five years.
Wrestler John Sievert reigns at 197 pounds
John Sievert became the second wrestler in Morningside history to win an NAIA National Championship when he defeated Missouri Baptist’s Carl Lawrence 3-1 in the 197-pound title bout at the 2013 NAIA Wrestling National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.
Sievert joined Jake Stevenson 2008, who captured the NAIA 184-pound National Championship in 2007, as Morningside’s only wrestling national champions. Stevenson, who just completed his first year as the Mustangs’ head coach, was named the 2013 Hauff Mid-America Sports/GPAC Wrestling Coach of the Year after he guided the Mustangs to a perfect 6-0 record in league duals to win a second consecutive GPAC title.
Sievert, who joined the Mustangs at this year’s semester break in order to use his final semester of eligibility, went out in style by closing out his career with a 19-match winning streak to finish the season with a 21-2 record. Sievert graduated with a school-record 44 falls, the last of which came in 13 seconds against Eric Johnson of Calumet College at the NAIA National Championships, for the fastest pin in Morningside history.
John Sievert became the second wrestling national champion in Morningside history when he captured the 2013 NAIA 197-pound crown. Photo by Dr. Gene Knudsen 1971.
Mustangs make their mark in track and field
This year Morningside won national titles in both the men’s and women’s 3200-meter relays at the NAIA Indoor National Championships and added another men’s 3200-meter relay crown at the NAIA Outdoor National Championships.
Taylor Chapman, Jay Welp, John Harris and Monte Larsen 2012 combined to win both the indoor and outdoor national championships in the men’s 3200-meter relay. They blazed to a time of 7 minutes, 26.33 seconds to win the outdoor title, which was the second fastest time in NAIA history and shattered the Mustangs’ previous school record by more than 12 seconds.
Larsen also became an NAIA individual national champion for the first time in his career when he reigned in the 800-meters at this year’s NAIA Indoor National Championships. He finished his career as a 12-time NAIA All-American in individual and relay events.
Morningside’s McKenzie Reece, Jennifer Petsche, Hailee Heitkamp and Breanna Mathes combined to win the NAIA Indoor 3200-Meter Relay National Championship, and the same four runners added a third-place finish in the 3200-meter relay at this year’s NAIA Outdoor National Championships.
Morningside athletes earned NAIA All-America honors in 17 events during the 2013 indoor and outdoor seasons. Aside from their three national championship efforts, the Mustangs also had a runner-up performance by Garret Ehlers in the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase.
Football, women’s basketball teams go far
Morningside’s football team just missed putting an NAIA National Championship in its trophy case after the Mustangs lost 30-27 in overtime against Marian University in the 2012 Russell Athletic-NAIA Football National Championship Game on Dec. 13 in Rome, Ga.
Jared Goforth was a defensive standout for a Morningside football team that reached the 2012 NAIA National Championship Game. Photo by Dr. Robert Rasmus.
The overtime loss was the only blemish in a season where the Mustangs posted a 13-1 record, won a second consecutive GPAC championship, and appeared in their first-ever national championship football game. Mustang head coach Steve Ryan was named the 2012 NAIA National Coach of the Year by both the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and American Football Monthly, while defensive back Jared Goforth was named a first-team All-American by both the AFCA and Beyond Sports Network.
The Mustang women’s basketball team also came close in their quest for an NAIA Division II National Championship. Morningside charged into the national tournament with the GPAC’s regular season and post-season tournament championships and a No. 1 NAIA national ranking on its resume. The Mustangs advanced all the way to the NAIA II Semifinals, where they bowed out with a one-point loss (65-64) against eventual national champion Indiana Wesleyan.
Chelsie Trask was named a first-team NAIA II All-American for the second time in her career and graduated as the fourth-leading scorer in Morningside history with 1,859 career points.
-Dave Rebstock