Men's Basketball

The Truman men’s basketball team closed its 2012-13 season with a 10-17 overall record, qualifying for the MIAA tournament for the first time since the 2006-07 season before falling in the first round at Pittsburg (Kan.) State.

Three Bulldogs earned MIAA honors, headlined by a third team all-MIAA award for junior forward Mike Carlson and honorable-mention accolades for senior guard Tom Norton and sophomore guard Seth Jackson.

The Bulldogs improved on last season’s win total and won the most games by a Truman squad since the 2006-07 season (16). In addition, the Bulldogs won more road games this season (5) than the last four years combined (4) and tied the most in a single-season since 2006-07. The Bulldogs also won more MIAA regular season games this year (7) than any since 2006-07 (9), despite playing two fewer games.

Truman finished the season ranked in the top third of the MIAA in three-pointers made per game (7.5), free throw percentage (72.8 percent) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.1).

On an individual level, Carlson led the squad by averaging 17.1 points and 6.7 rebounds per game and ranked in the MIAA’s top 10 in scoring, free throw percentage, steals, blocked shots and defensive rebounding.

Norton, meanwhile, led the MIAA in free throw percentage (89.5 percent) and in three-pointers per game (2.8). In addition, he became Truman’s all-time free throw leader by closing his career with an 85.8 percent clip from the charity stripe and finished 16th on the all-time scoring chart at 1,114.

Highlights throughout the season included a 57-point victory against Central Christian (Mo.), an MIAA-opening road win at Missouri Western, an eight-point road victory at 10th-ranked Washburn (Kan.), a one-point home win against Nebraska- Kearney in which Norton hit nine three-pointers, and an eightpoint win at Northwest Missouri to close the regular season in which the Bulldogs trailed by 18 points with 15 minutes to play in the game.

This was the second season under Head Coach Matt Woodley, as the Bulldogs graduated seniors Norton and Matt Patterson while returning four starters for the 2013-14 season.

Women's Basketball

The Truman Women’s Basketball team continued their rise to the top by posting their first 20-win season since the 1998-99 campaign. The Bulldogs, under fifth-year Coach Michael Smith, won every game in Pershing Arena this year. They were ranked in the Division II Top 25 Poll for 11 weeks and at one point, led the nation in three-point shooting.

The Bulldogs started the season winning 12 of their first 14 games. On Dec. 21, the team rewrote several school records in a 110-43 victory over Mount Mercy (Iowa) College. The team made 22 three pointers and shot 71 percent from outside while freshman Courtney Strait made eight triples in the rout.

Truman edged out nationally-ranked Central Missouri 73-64 in Pershing Arena, and a week later before a large home crowd, rallied from seven points down in the final minutes to knock off Fort Hays (Kan.) State University 57-55 in double overtime.

The team finished fifth in the regular season standings and hosted a first-round MIAA postseason tournament game. The Bulldogs defeated the Southwest Baptist (Mo.) University Bearcats 65-56 to extend their home winning streak to 15 games dating back to last season.

In the second round game in Kansas City against Emporia (Kan.) State University, Truman fell behind by 12 but fought back to tie the game with just over two minutes left. The Lady Hornets would hold the Bulldogs to just three more points the rest of the way to win 61-56 to end the season.

Senior guard Becka McHenry earned her second straight second-team all-conference honor after leading the team in scoring, rebounding and assists. McHenry became just the second Truman women’s basketball player to score over 1,100 career points, pull down over 500 rebounds and dish out over 350 assists. The only other player to accomplish that feat in Bulldog history was Amy Eagan.

Sophomore guard Allie Norton was one of the nation’s top three-point shooters. At times, Norton led Division II during the season and finished with a school record 45.2 percent from beyond the arc. The previous record was held by Kathy Patterson in the 1990-91 season at 44.9 percent. Norton was an honorable-mention all-MIAA selection.

The team, as a whole, shot a school record 41 percent from beyond the arc. They led all of Division II in three-point shooting and at several times during the season were leading all of NCAA Women’s Basketball from three.

Indoor Track and Field

Senior Rachel McCarroll earned All-America honors and broke the Truman school record competing in the weight throw this winter for the Indoor Track and Field teams. She finished sixth in her first Division II championships meet with a throw of 59-09.00. McCarroll was the conference champion in the weight throw when she broke the meet record and set a new Truman school record in the process. In the MIAA championships, McCarroll tossed the weight 61-10.25 to win her second straight conference indoor title. The previous school record was set by Ashley Colon in 2007 at 58-08.50.

McCarroll wasn’t the only Bulldog to successfully defend their MIAA title this year at the conference meet. Senior Ryan Peterson won the 600-yard run for the second straight year as he edged out Central Missouri’s Ross Lorber 1:12.78 to 1:13.38.

Senior Karen Grauel became a four-time all-conference performer in the women’s 5,000-meter run. Grauel ran 17:50.42 to finish second in the race and also picked up team points for the women with a sixth in the 3,000-meter run.

Junior Matt Schaefer just missed all-conference honors when he finished fourth in the men’s 800-meter run. Schaefer qualified second for the finals and had one of the top 25 times in the Karen Grauel event in Division II.

Swimming

Jerod Simek’s trip to the NCAA-II finals highlighted the 2012-13 seasons for the Truman men’s and women’s swimming teams. Simek, a senior, placed 17th in the 500 freestyle, 16th in the 1,000 freestyle and 14th in the 1,650 freestyle championships–held in Birmingham, Ala.

The two squads opened the season in October 2012 at the Missouri Show-Me Swimdown, where the Bulldog women took fourth, and the men grabbed seventh. After three dual meets, the teams closed the fall portion of the season at the University of Chicago “Phoenix” Fall Classic, in which the women came from behind to win the event, and the men held solid in third place.

Following three additional duals, the teams headed north for the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Swimming and Diving Championships/Meet, held in Rochester, Minn. A consistent event landed the women in second place, while the men took third in both teams’ inaugural years at the event. For the women, it marked the 24th straight season of placing either first or second in a conference meet.

Junior Casey Jepsen was named the NSIC Women’s Swimmer of the Year, while freshman Brynn Guardado earned NSIC Women’s Freshman of the Year honors. Three school records fell at the event, as freshman Levi Hanks set a new time in the men’s 200 freestyle (1:40.24), and Simek captured new top marks in both the 1,000 free (9:18.10) and the 500 free (4:31.29).

The women graduating seniors included Taylor Birsa, Allison Harding, Calla Kingery and Alyssa Smith, while the men lost Simek and Tony Hernandez to graduation.

Wrestling

Junior Ryan Maus became the 12th Bulldog to earn All-America honors on the wrestling mats as he placed third in the NCAA Division II Wrestling championships this spring. Maus won his first match 14-4 but fell to the consolation side of the bracket with a 6-1 loss to the eventual two-time national champion, Raufeon Stots of the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Maus bounced back to win his next match and guarantee an All-America spot with a 4-2 victory late on the first day of competition.

On day two, Maus knocked off three nationally ranked wrestlers to win the consolation finals. He is just the fourth Bulldog wrestler to place as high as third in the national meet and first since Blake Peterson did so in 2008. Maus was joined in the national meet by fellow junior Colton Schmitz. Like Maus, Schmitz won his first round match over fifth-ranked Daniel Kelly of Adams (Colo.) State College. He would lose 8-4 in the quarterfinals and then be denied All-America honors with a 5-4 loss to Nebraska-Kearney’s Chase White.

As a team, Truman posted a 6-6 dual record this season. They split the six home dual matches and went 1-4 in conference duals, with the return of MIAA Wrestling this season. The Wrestling program will remain a member of the MIAA next year as an associate member of the conference since the Great Lakes Valley Conference does not sponsor the sport as of now.

The Bulldogs again were one of Division II’s top academic teams. The team finished 11th in the Academic National Recognition program with a 3.16 cumulative grade-point average. Five Bulldogs earned All-Academic with Colton Schmitz being named first team and senior Alex Maus named to the second team. Senior Daniel Karlskin and sophomores Helmut Rentschler and Nick Shea were honorable-mention All-Academic.

Bulldog Athletes Receive National Recognition

Truman State University has been honored with the Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence amongst student-athletes for achieving a four-year Academic Success Rate of 92 percent.

Truman graduated 92 percent of all of its student-athletes from the 2002-05 cohort within six years of original enrollment and was the only MIAA program to achieve a rate of 90 percent or greater. The program’s future conference (effective 2013-14) – the Great Lakes Valley Conference– placed four programs amongst the 26 total schools recognized, including Maryville, William Jewell (Mo.), Rockhurst and Bellarmine (Ky.) and was second only to the Northeast-10 in conference recognition.

The Division II Academic Requirements Committee created the Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence to recognize programs achieving long-term academic success. The honor is intended to call attention to those programs and is not intended as a ranking.

The Academic Success Rate (ASR) is a measure that reflects the unique qualities of Division II. It measures graduation rates for virtually all Division II student-athletes, including transfers and those not receiving athletically-related financial aid. The national four-year ASR average is 72 percent

Truman State University has been recognized nationally for its academics for many years, including once again being named the No. 1 Public University in the Midwest Region by U.S. News & World Report’s 2013 edition of “America’s Best Colleges.” This recognition marks the 16th year Truman has been awarded this top ranking. In addition, the University was ranked in the top-20 on Kiplinger’s recently released list of the 100 “Best Values in Public Colleges,” placing it as the highest rated Missouri school and the only university in the state to be included in the top 65.

Support Your Bulldogs with These Upcoming Events:

The Bulldog Football team will host a golf outing this summer in Chicago on July 22 at the Orchard Valley Golf Club in Aurora, Ill. The golf outing is open to all alumni, family and friends of Bulldog Football.

Various sports camps will be taking place over the summer on the Truman campus. Men’s and Women’s Basketball, Volleyball and Men’s Soccer are among the offerings available for both high school students and younger. Check TrumanBulldogs.com for a listing of all camps.

Start making your fall plans to see the Bulldogs either at home or on the road. The fall schedules have been released and are available at TrumanBulldogs.com.