2014-15 Heartland Conference Year in Review

2014-15 Heartland Conference Year in Review

Waco, Texas – The Heartland Conference had one of its best years to date since the start of the conference in 1999-2000.  As a conference in 2014-15 there were two NCAA DII South Central Region Champions, one NCAA Final Four appearance, two NCAA Elite eight appearances, over 25 All-Americans, and over 100 All-Region honors.  

Below is a breakdown of each sport and how the 11 member schools contributed to one of the more successful years in the history of the conference.

Cross Country

Team Accomplishments
Oklahoma Christian’s men finished second at the NCCAA Championships.
Dallas Baptist women finished second at the NCCAA Championships.

Individual Accomplishments

Men
Roger States Baylor Harvey was named Capital One Academic All-District.
Oklahoma Christian’s Bryant Keirns, Sisay Gillock, and Evan Durill earned NCCAA All-American Honors.

Women
Texas A&M International’s Rebekah Hernandez made it to the NCAA National Championships and was named to the NCAA DII South Central All-Region Team.
Oklahoma Christian’s Maci Rich earned NCCAA All-American Honors.
Dallas Baptist’s Cashlee Rayas earned NCCAA All-American Honors.
Dallas Baptist’s Sarah Rayas received the Ray Bullock Cross Country Award at the NCCAA Championships.

Soccer

Men

Team Accomplishments
St. Edward’s advanced to the NCAA DII Sweet 16.

Individual Accomplishments
11 players from five different schools were named to the Daktronics South Central All-Region Team.
10 players from six different schools were named to the NSCAA South Central All-Region Team.
St. Edward’s Brian Young was named the NCAA DII South Central Region Coach of the Year.
St. Edward’s Andrew Fox was named NCAA DII Daktronics First Team All-American and NSCAA Second Team All-American.
Four players were named to the Capital One Academic All-District Team.
St. Edward’s Kevin Leib was named Capital One Academic First Team All-American and NSCAA Scholar Third Team All-American.

Women

Team Accomplishments
Dallas Baptist and St. Edward’s advanced to the NCAA DII Regional tournament.
St. Edward’s defeated DBU in the first round and advanced to the round of 32.

Individual Accomplishments
11 players from four different schools were named to the Daktronics South Central All-Region Team.
11 players from four different schools were named to the NSCAA South Central All-Region Team.
Dallas Baptist’s Lee Sedwick was named NSCAA Third Team All-American.
St. Edward’s Katie Donahue was named NSCAA Third Team All-American and Daktronics Honorable Mention All-American.
Six players were named to the Capital One Academic All-District Team.
Dallas Baptist’s Lee Sedwick was named Capital One Academic First Team All-American.

Volleyball

Team Accomplishments
UA Fort Smith won the NCAA DII South Central Region.
UA Fort Smith went on to advance to the NCAA DII National Semifinals where they were defeated by the eventual National Champion. 

Individual Accomplishments
Two players were named to the Daktronics South Central All-Region Team.
Five players were named to the AVCA South Central All-Region Team.
UA Fort Smith’s Michelle Walker was named AVCA Second Team All-American.
UA Fort Smith’s Jessica Anderson was named AVCA Honorable Mention All-American.
Lubbock Christian’s Amy Edward’s was named Capital One Academic All-District and Capital One Academic Third Team All-American.

Basketball

Men

Team Accomplishments
St. Mary’s advanced to the NCAA DII Regional Tournament.
Dallas Baptist finished second at the NCCAA Championships.

Individual Accomplishments
Newman’s Reggie Baker was named to the Daktronics Second Team South Central All-Region.
Two players were named to the NABC All-District South Central All-Region Team.
Oklahoma Christian’s John Moon was named NCCAA Honorable Mention All-American.
Roger State’s J.C. Hartzler was named to the Capital one Academic All-District Team.
Dallas Baptist’s Myles Johnson was named NCCAA Second Team All-American.
Dallas Baptist’s Myles Jonson was named Capital One Academic All-District and Capital One Academic Third Team All-American.

Women

Team Accomplishments
UA Fort Smith advanced to the NCAA DII round of 32.

Individual Accomplishments
Three players from three different schools were named to the Daktronics South Central All-Region Team.
St. Mary’s Morgan Pullins was named the Daktronics South Central Region Most Outstanding Player.
St. Mary’s Morgan Pullins was named Daktronics First Team All-American and WBCA Honorable Mention All-American.
Oklahoma Christian’s McKenzie Stanford was named the NCCAA Central Region Player of the Year and NCCAA First Team All-American.

Golf

Men

Team Accomplishments
St. Mary’s, St. Edward’s, and Dallas Baptist made it to the NCAA DII Regional tournament.

Individual Accomplishments
Four players from four different schools made the Ping DII South Central All-Region Team. 

Women

Team Accomplishments
Dallas Baptist, St. Edward’s, and Newman were the top three seeds in the NCAA DII Regional Tournament.
St. Edward’s advanced to the NCAA DII National Championships and finished sixth overall.
Dallas Baptist and Oklahoma Christian finished second and third respectively at the NCCAA National Championships.

Individual Accomplishments
St. Edward’s Haley Haught was named WGCA Second Team All-American.
Dallas Baptist’s Sydney Williams was named WGCA Honorable Mention All-American.
Newman’s Julie Bernard was named to the WGCA West All-Region Team.
Dallas Baptist’s Kenny Trapp was named the WGCA West Region Coach of the Year.
Oklahoma Christian’s Anna Arrese Cortadellas, Audrey Meisch, and Catherine Odgers were all named to the NCCAA All-American Team.
Dallas Baptist’s Erin Barrington was named to the NCCAA All-American Team.
Newman’s Kendall Anderson was named Capital One At-Large Academic First Team All-American and Capital One Academic Second Team All-American for women’s golf.

Tennis

Men

Team Accomplishments
St. Edward’s and Newman made the NCAA DII Regional Tournament.
St. Edward’s advanced to the NCAA DII Sweet 16.

Individual Accomplishments
St. Mary’s Michael Maciel received the ITA South Central Region Sportsmanship and Leadership Award and was named Capital One Academic All-District.
St. Edward’s Ricardo Pineda was named the ITA South Central Region Rookie of the Year.
St. Edward’s Patrick Clynes was named the ITA South Central Region Senior Player of the Year.

Women

Team Accomplishments
St. Mary’s and St. Edward’s made the NCAA DII Regional Tournament.
St. Mary’s advanced to the NCAA DII Elite Eight.
Dallas Baptist finished as the runner up at the NCCAA Championships.

Individual Accomplishments
Dallas Baptist’s Natalie Gennissen received the ITA South Central Region Sportsmanship and Leadership Award.
St. Mary’s Cristina Lopez was named the ITA South Central Region Player to Watch.
St. Mary’s Kaylin Kruseman was named the ITA South Central Region Rookie of the Year.
St. Mary’s Mariana Rong was named the ITA South Central Region Senior Player of the Year.
Dallas Baptist’s Sara Gray was named the ITA South Central Region Coach of the Year.
St. Mary’s Jamie Lee Denton was named Capital One Academic All-District.
St. Mary’s Mariana Rong was named Capital One At-Large First Team Academic All-American.
St. Mary’s Cristina Lopez was named Capital One At-Large Third Team Academic All-American and Academic All-District.
St. Mary’s Christina Lopez and Mariana Rong were named NCAA DII ITA All-American for doubles.
Dallas Baptist’s Natalie Gennissen was named NCCAA First Team All-American.
Dallas Baptist’s Maria Fernandez de Camilo was named NCCAA Second Team All-American.

Softball

Team Accomplishments
St. Mary’s won the NCAA DII South Central Region.
St. Mary’s hosted both the NCAA DII Regional and Super Regional Tournaments.
St. Mary’s advanced to the NCAA DII College World Series and finished ranked #6 in the Nation.
Oklahoma Christian won the NCCAA Central Region and finished runner up at the NCCAA World Series.
Oklahoma Christian helped the NCAA (due to inclement weather) by hosting the semifinals and finals of the NCAA DII Softball College World Series.

Individual Accomplishments
10 players from six different schools were named to the Daktronics South Central All-Region Team.
St. Mary’s Vianna Gutierrez Touchtone was named the Daktronics South Central Region Pitcher of the Year.
Nine players from four different schools were named to the NFCA South Central All-Region Team.
St. Mary’s Vianna Gutierrez Touchtone was named NFCA Second Team All-American, while StMU’s Nicole Sardelich was named NFCA Third Team All-American.
St. Mary’s Nicole Sardelich was named Daktronics Second Team All-American, while StMU’s Vianna Gutierrez Touchtone was named Daktronics Third Team All-American, and StMU’s Taylor Vidrine was named Daktronics Honorable Mention All-American.
Oklahoma Christian’s Shea Coats was named NCCAA Central Region and NCCAA National Pitcher of the Year.
Oklahoma Christian’s Kendra Pierce was named NCCAA Central Region Player of the Year as well as NCCAA All-American. 
Oklahoma Christian’s Kendra Pierce was named a top 25 finalists for the NFCA National Player of the Year.
St. Mary’s Vianna Gutierrez Touchtone was named a top 10 finalists for the NFCA National Player of the Year.
Lubbock Christian’s Sydney Beuthien and St. Edward’s Morgan Dufour were each named top 10 finalists for the NFCA National Freshman of the Year.
St. Mary’s Haley Richter was named Capital One Third Team Academic All-American.

Baseball

Team Accomplishments
St. Mary’s and St. Edward’s advanced to the NCAA DII South Central Region Tournament.
St. Mary’s made it to the championship game of the South Central Region Tournament.
Oklahoma Christian won the NCCAA Central Region and advanced to the NCCAA World Series.

Individual Accomplishments
13 players from seven different schools were named to the ABCA/Rawlings South Central All-Region Team.
14 players from six different schools were named to the Daktronics South Central All-Region Team.
17 players from seven different schools were named to the NCBWA South Central All-Region Team.
Rogers State’s Andrew Vanisi, Newman’s Tyler Bugner, St. Mary’s Matt McClain, and St. Edward’s J.D. Arrowood were all named NCBWA Honorable Mention All-American.
St. Mary’s Matt McClain was named ABCA/Rawlings Third Team All-American.
St. Edward’s Collin Sherrod was the nations NCAA DII ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove winner for the pitcher position.
Oklahoma Christian’s Derek Jones was named NCCAA Honorable Mention All-American.
Oklahoma Christian’s Lonny Cobble was named the NCCAA Central Region Coach of the Year.
UA Fort Smith’s Ryan Justus was named Capital One First Team Academic All-District.
Newman’s Jarrod Flax was named Capital One Third Team Academic All-American.
St. Edward’s J.D. Arrowood was drafted in the 40th round of the MLB Draft by the Cincinnati Reds.

Acronym Meanings

*NCAA – National Collegiate Athletic Association

*NCCAA – National Christian College Athletic Association

*NSCAA – National Soccer Coaches Association of America

*AVCA – American Volleyball Coaches Association

*NABC – National Association of Basketball Coaches

*WBCA – Women’s Basketball Coaches Association

*WGCA – Women’s Golf Coaches Association

*ITA – Intercollegiate Tennis Association

*NFCA – National Fastpitch Coaches Association

*ABCA – American Baseball Coaches Association


*NCBWA – National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association

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