Baseball

Under the direction of veteran coach Mike Stockton, the baseball team finished 41-18 overall and in second place in the Heart of America Athletic Conference standings.  The 2007 season marks the fifth consecutive year the Cardinals have qualified for regional play. 

The team placed seven players on the Heart of America Athletic Conference All-Conference teams.  Outfielder Jeremy Strack and pitchers Darren O’Brien and Jesse McSpadden were named to the HAAC All-Conference first team.  Second baseman Garrett Smith, infielder Zach Kohan and outfielder Colt Ferguson were named to the All-Conference second team. Shortstop Jon Ubbenga was named to the All-Conference honorable mention team.  Kohan, Ubbenga and Strack were winners of the Rawlings Gold Glove award, which is given to individuals that the conference believes are the best defensive players at their positions.

Softball

Led by second-year head coach Dustin Combs, the softball team finished 33-27 overall, good for fifth place in the final HAAC standings. Jewell also made it to the semi-finals of the Region V tournament before losing to Columbia College 9-7 in 11 innings.

At the conclusion of the season, second baseman Lindsey Thorpe and pitcher Megan Suelter were named to the HAAC All-Conference first team.  Outfielder Ashley Hughes and catcher Kristen Dalley were named to the All-Conference second team. Thorpe has hit 12 home runs and tallied 43 rbi’s this season after setting school records in rbi’s and doubles last season.  Suelter has struck out 204 batters this season, which is a new school record, and leads the team in wins with 17.

Hughes has batted .333 on the year and is second on the team with 9 stolen bases. Dalley has hit .316 with 26 rbi’s and has a .993 fielding percentage behind the plate for the Cardinals. Thorpe was also selected to the All-Region V first team.

Men’s Tennis

The men’s tennis team was led by third-year head coach Paul Worstell this spring and produced an overall record of 6-10 in dual match play, including 0-4 in the HAAC.  The Cardinals lost a heartbreaking HAAC Tournament quarterfinal match to Benedictine 5-0. The men played extremely well and improved with great showings against NCAA Division II Northwest Missouri State University and Missouri Valley College.  The Cards return 5 out of their top 6 players for next year and have an outstanding recruiting class coming in to help the men’s team continue their climb upward.  In addition, junior Michael Holmes was named an NAIA Academic All-American. 

Women’s Tennis

The Cards finished the season at 12-12 and 4-2 in the HAAC, good for second place.  The Cardinals advanced to the Regional Semi-Final, losing to eventual champion McKendree University.    

The Cardinals excelled in the classroom by placing five players on the NAIA Academic All-American Team.  Those players are seniors Allison Cobb, Debra Bowman and Brittany Goldschmidt and juniors Ann Lewis and Angela Gambino.  In order to earn NAIA Academic All-American status, a player must be a junior or above in academic standing, be in attendance of their nominating institution for one full year, and have a grade point average of at least 3.50 (on a 4.00 scale) for the current academic year. 

Two members of the team were recognized as NAIA All-Americans.  Senior Allison Cobb and first-year player Nikki Chambers were named to the NAIA Honorable Mention All-American team. Next season looks to be another exciting one for the Cardinals as they will return five of their top six positions and have four outstanding recruits coming in.

Track and Field

The William Jewell College track and field team was represented by two athletes competing in the NAIA Outdoor National Meet held May 22-24 at Ralph Korte Stadium in Edwardsville, Ill. Junior Mark Stevenson finished in 14th place in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.42 seconds.  First-year competitor Colby Lehman finished in 13th place in the hammer throw with a toss of 51.14 meters.  “Both young men performed well and I was thrilled with how well they competed,” said head coach Ted Graves. “I am excited to have both back next year in addition to an outstanding recruiting class for 2008-09.”