USA TODAY/ESPN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOP 25 POLL UPDATES

Rank	Institution - First Place Votes	Previous Ranking	Record	Points
1	Hope College (Mich.) - 5	1	7-0	196
2	Illinois Wesleyan University - 3	2	8-0	195
3	Amherst College (Mass.)	3	8-0	184
4	Bowdoin College (Maine)	4	7-0	167
5	Washington University (Mo.)	5	6-1	162
6	Howard Payne University (Texas)	6	7-0	160
7	Kean University (N.J.)	7	7-1	156
8	Marymount University (Va.)	8	7-0	143
9	Thomas More College (Ky.)	9	7-0	141
10	Trinity University (Texas)	10	5-0	126
11	University of Wisconsin, Whitewater	12	7-1	116
12	George Fox University (Ore.)	14	4-2	98
13	William Paterson University (N.J.)	15	9-0	96
14	Carthage College (Wis.)	13	6-1	95
15	University of Chicago (Ill.)	16	5-2	75
T16	Messiah College (Pa.)	18	8-0	71
T16	University of Scranton (Pa)	11	5-2	71
18	Muhlenberg College (Pa.)	17	7-1	65
19	Calvin College (Mich.)	19	9-1	62
20	Randolph-Macon College (Va.)	20	4-1	48
21	Capital University (Ohio)	25	5-1	31
22	Moravian College (Pa.)	T21	6-2	22
23	Simpson College (Iowa)	T21	5-1	20
24	University of Wisconsin, River Falls	NR	8-0	19
25	Mount Union College (Ohio)	NR	8-0	17

Dropped Out: Emmanuel College (Mass.), University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point.
Others Receiving Votes: Emmanuel College (Mass.) - 13; Saint Norbert College (Wis.) - 8; College of St. Benedict (Minn.) - 7; University of Puget Sound (Wash.) - 7; California Lutheran University - 6; Lewis & Clark College (Ore.) - 5; Roanoke College (Va.) - 5; Washington & Jefferson College (Pa.) - 5; Christopher Newport University (Va.) - 4; Tufts University (Mass.) - 4.

Athlete Spotlight: Ryan Huxtable

Ryan Huxtable was the type of high school football player that you expected to do great things. He was named second team all-state, first team all-city and was a finalist for the “That’s my boy” award. He was also honored as the Wendy’s High School Heisman Representative. Needless to say, everyone knew he could go on to play college football, it was just the question of where. With an impressive list of options, including many Ivy schools, Ryan chose the University of Chicago. He has since graduated, and looking back on it he couldn’t be happier with the decision he made.

What schools from other divisions were interested in you/did you consider going to?
Brown, Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth, Middle Tennessee State, Davidson, Indiana

Why did you choose to play at Chicago instead?
Chicago offered me the perfect combination of academics and the opportunity to play the sport I loved. It also had the major that I wanted (economics) and was close enough to home that my family could still come to games. The University of Chicago provides an education at or above an Ivy League level and prepares students for life after college.

What were you able to be involved in at Chicago outside of sports?
Campus Crusade for Christ, The Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta, Stork Investment Partners

What do you think were some benefits of playing d3 instead of a higher division?
As a D-3 athlete you are there for an education, not an athletic career. Not one person on our team had a misguided dream of playing in the NFL. However, sports at any level in college prepare you more for the real world than any class ever could. It teaches you how to be regimented, multi-task, leadership, team-work, etc.

A lot of people say D3 is just an extension of high school sports, how would you compare the competition levels between the two?
As a whole, D3 athletics are better than high school, but you will get some “superstars” in high school that you won’t see in D3. Teams are better prepared and have more complex game plans that you won’t see in high school athletics.

How do you think your academics were affected by going D3?
Academics always come first at The University of Chicago as well as the majority of D-3 schools. Classes, study groups, and labs were never missed due to practice or meetings. Coaches were very understanding when classes or tests conflicted with practice.

What are you doing now that you’ve graduated?
Healthcare IT Consulting

What was the highlight for you of your college career?
Beating Washington University sophomore year and winning the 2005 UAA Championship.

Did you have any regrets about not playing in a higher division?
None at all.

And the Messiah soccer dynasty continues...

It’s a great time to be a Messiah soccer player. Both the men’s and women’s teams can call themselves National Champs… for the second year in a row. 
Messiah’s opponents were held scoreless in both games as the Messiah men defeated Calvin 2-0, while the women defeated Wash U. 1-0. The men AND women were able to take home the trophy for the second consecutive year. This was the seventh men’s championship soccer team in school history and third for the women. 

In the women’s game, Messiah controlled most of midfield play and the Falcons outshot the Bears 16-6. Amanda Naeher was credited with the game winning goal in the first half. Scoring is something the Falcons are used to as they have outscored their opponents an impressive 102-7 this season.
Although the men were no strangers to playing in the national championship game, there was one thing new to them, their coach. Even though Brad McCarty was not completely new to the program (assisted for 8 years), it was still his first time as the head coach. He got off to a great start with a 1-0 record in national championship games.

Wordless Wednesdays

Athlete Spotlight: Michele Goebel

Michele Goebel has played soccer since she can remember. While all those years prepared her to be capable of playing for a Division I team in college, she was clear that the most important aspect of her college search was finding a school she loved, soccer or not. Luckily for her, she was able to find both in Denison University, so let’s take a closer look at Michele’s decision:

What schools from other divisions were interested in you/did you consider going to?
I was talking to the coaches from Samford in Alabama and Gardner Webb in North Carolina (both D1) and came close to going to Samford.

Why did you choose to play at Denison instead?
I chose to play at Denison because they have a very successful program, I love the school and campus, I clicked with the girls and coaches, and I am able to be at a great school and receive a quality education while still being able to play soccer.

What have you been able to be involved in at Denison outside of soccer?
I am in a sorority (Kappa Alpha Theta) and am involved in service projects.

What do you think have been some benefits of playing D3 instead of a higher division?
Although soccer is a huge commitment, we have two games a week and practice every day, we don't travel as much or as far as D1 and because of that I am able to be involved in a sorority and do things on campus because I am actually on campus more than if I was at a D1 school and constantly traveling. I think this is a huge benefit because I wouldn't like being gone all the time and not being able to go down to the sorority house and see my friends or participate in activities on campus. Also, it gives you more time to focus on school and simply have time for yourself. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely still a struggle to fit in all your homework after practice but I feel like I still have more time than if I was traveling a lot more.

A lot of people say D3 is just an extension of high school sports, how would you compare the competition levels between the two?
I COMPLETELY disagree with that comment. The competition is much harder and the size, strength, speed, and skill of the players in college are a completely different and much higher level. In high school, there may have been four or five girls on the team who played club and were trained well but in college every single girl has played club since she was 7 or 8 and been trained since she was a child. Also, the attitude is much more serious in college. It's definitely not just a childish rivalry when you play a team, there is a much higher competitive attitude and people take it more seriously.

what you WILL see in D3 Hoops

There are a lot of things that as a spectator you probably won’t see when watching Division III women’s basketball this season. Most likely, no matter which teams you’re watching, you aren’t going to see the next WNBA draft pick. While it’s not impossible, you probably won’t witness a dunk like Candace Parker. And hopefully, you won’t see a player get pulled to the ground by her ponytail like in the New Mexico vs. BYU women’s soccer game. But—I can tell you about what you will see:

Fearlessness. Most people who knew anything about the George Fox Bruins would have expected the women on the team at Cal Lutheran to be afraid going into Sunday’s game. Clearly, that was not the case. They knew George Fox was the defending national championship team. And they knew that the Bruins were on a 36-game winning streak. Yet they were fearless. The Cal Lutheran Regals led almost the entire game and when the buzzer went off, they had won the game nobody thought they could.

Determination. The Illinois Wesleyan Titans spent the last six weeks of the 2008-2009 season as the No. 1 team in the nation. But when the pre-season Top 25 polls came out on D3hoops.com, they found themselves as #6. While they certainly haven’t had a long history as the top team in Division III, they wanted that position back. And with the team who filled that #1 spot (Washington University) on their schedule early on, they had the perfect opportunity to get it back. So that’s exactly what they did. They had a goal, and they were determined to achieve it. So they played the game, they won, and they earned their spot back on top.

Aggressiveness. Monmouth College lost a lot in their graduating class last year. The team will look to replace last year’s star players Tanesha Hughes and Melissa Gorski. A big problem they will face this season is their lack of size, but the way to make up for that is with aggressiveness. “We’re going to be smaller than most teams,” predicted Head Coach Melissa Bittner. “Lacking the size, we’ll need to be the scrappy, aggressive, athletic in-your-face team.” A team could have all the talent in the world, but if they don’t play aggressively it doesn’t matter. When it comes down to it, the best teams in the nation play aggressive.

Hard work. Every athlete knows that it is almost guaranteed that somewhere another athlete is working longer and harder. The University of Texas at Tyler will have a new head coach for women’s basketball this year.  Coach Stasha Richards will take over for the Patriots this season. When talking about success, she says this: “Everyone in the world would love to have a recipe for success. But, the truth of the matter is there is no sure fire way to ensure anyone will be successful in anything they do. I believe that there are many elements in the equation that can greatly improve the odds. The very first thing is to work as hard as we can in everything we do. We cannot take shortcuts.” Of course, not every single talented player is an extremely hard worker, but hard work can sometimes make up for talent, believe me I’ve seen it happen. Because the one thing no one can ever take away from you, and the one thing you can always control is how hard you work.

Victory. At the end of the season, there will be a team who can call themselves the best team in Division III women’s basketball. Though there will be many successful, hard-working, aggressive, determined and fearless teams, only one can win it all. There will be countless victories for numerous teams throughout this long season, and after all, that is what these teams are playing for. Even though people say “it’s not about wins or losses, it’s how you play the game”, I think Mia Hamm perfectly described how athletes really feel when she said “whoever said winning isn’t everything, probably never won.”

Gagliardi Trophy

Until 1 p.m. on Monday, December 7, the polls will be open for the public to vote for the outstanding Division III football player of the year. This is the 17th year that the Gagliardi Trophy will be awarded. The winner displays excellence in athletics, but also in academics and community service. Already more than 7,000 people have cast their votes. So let’s take a look at this year’s contestants:

1.    Gerry (Spud) Dick. DePauw. Senior Quarterback. Spud Dick completed 71.3% of his passes resulting in 27 touchdowns, as well as 309 passing yards per game. In the playoffs, he went 35 for 59 passing, 318 yards, 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
2.    Judd Lutz. Mount Union. Senior Linebacker. He finished the season with 80 tackles, 30 solo, 10 passes broken up and 4 tackles for loss.
3.    Dave Paveletz. Susquehanna. Senior Running Back. Paveletz ended with 1,414 rushing yards, 4.7 per carry and 128.5 per game. He scored 11 touchdowns, and had 20 receptions for 149 yards and a touchdown.
4.    John Peters. Union. Senior Linebacker. 121 tackles, 50 solo, 6.5 tackles for loss, five passes broken up and 1 forced fumble.
5.    Jeff Schebler. UW-Whitewater. Senior Kicker. Schebler is the NCAA’s all-time leading kick scorer. He went 10 for 11 on field goals, and 71 for 73 on extra points. His average on kickoffs was 60.3 yards.
6.    Adam Shaffer. Mississippi College. Senior Quarterback. Shaffer completed 59% of passes resulting in 33 touchdowns with 9 interceptions, as well as 259 passing yards per game.
7.    Alex Tanney. Monmouth. Junior Quarterback. Tanney had 44 touchdowns with 7 interceptions, as well as 70% passes completed for 350.5 yards passing per game.
8.    Blaine Westemeyer. Augustana. Senior Offensive Tackle. The 6-5 senior is a three-time first-team All-CCIW selection. Off the field he is a biochemistry/pre-med major maintaining a 3.94 GPA.
9.    Dan Whalen. Case Western Reserve. Senior Quarterback. Whalen completed 68% of passes for 304 passing yards per game. Totaling 34 touchdowns with 8 interceptions.
10.    David Zachary. Central. Senior Running Back. He totaled 1,254 rushing yards, averaging 6.1 per carry and 114 per game. He scored 13 touchdowns and had 5 receptions for 29 yards.

The trophy will be presented as part of the Stagg Bowl festivities in Salem, Va by Jostens, Inc and the J-Club of Saint John’s University.

Wordless Wednesdays

Any Given Day.

In California on Sunday, a women’s basketball game ended in a result that I think is fair to say no one expected. The George Fox Bruins’ 36-game winning streak came to an end. To say that their opponent, Cal Lutheran, had a very different season from them last year is an understatement. Cal Lutheran had only 7 wins to their 18 losses in the 2008-2009 season, while George Fox was the only team able to finish with a completely undefeated season by winning the national championship.
This just goes to show that any team can beat any other team on any given day. Of course it is a new year and neither team is the exact same team they were last year, but I’m sure that wasn’t enough to convince George Fox they would lose this game.
The Regals led for most of the game, and even after No. 4 George Fox was able to tie the score with two and a half minutes remaining, the Regals wouldn’t let go. They held the Bruins scoreless the remainder of the game. None of Cal Lutheran’s players reached double-digits but 10 players scored.

In 1980, the US hockey team beat the Soviets and America went crazy. In 2007, Appalachian State beat Michigan and Ohio State fans will never let Michigan forget it. In 1990, Buster Douglas defeated Mike Tyson and surprised the entire world. In the 2007 NBA Playoffs, #8 Golden State defeated #1 Dallas in the first round and the Warriors celebrated their first playoff series win in 16 seasons. And, let’s be honest, the upsets are the reason fans watch the early round games of March Madness. Each year everyone is wondering who is going to be the next Cinderella team. Upsets are one of the greatest things about being a sports fan.
A small company is not going to overtake Google tomorrow, but for any level of any sport, any team can beat any other team on any given day. And this, is why people love sports.