May 21, 2008...4:39 am
Some track tidbits and NCC honors
This was the busiest day out of the sports department at the University since the NCC championships. Three releases were sent out, which made me feel lazy so I should post them on the blog here. Also coming up, news on the volleyball coaching search, a volleyball transfer, the other volleyball coaching jobs at Augie and SDSU (quite the vball season all of a sudden huh), and a new men’s bball assistant coach is going to be hired I guess. But I am a jerk and will get more info and inform everyone later, hopefully this week. Hey, I am lazy in the summer plus the fact I don’t get paid by the Volante in the summer.
Anyways, onto the sports news.
Head women’s track and field coach Lucky Huber was named, and I am just going to type out the letters because this is the longest abbreviation I have ever seen, the USTFCCA North Central Region Women’s Coach of the Year. It’s the fourth time Huber has received the award, and fourth time in the last five years as well.
Huber earned the award by leading the women’s track and field team to their fifth consecutive North Central Conference outdoor women’s title. Huber is in his 14th season guiding the Coyotes.
Huber is a great coach to be leading the team into Division-I. He has just knocked up the awards the past few years and the women’s team has dominated the outdoor season and indoor season the last five years.
The Division II National Championships take place this weekend in Walnut, California. Stay tuned to the Volante for the results.
Also, former Coyote Great Elena Swan Davis will be inducted into the USTFCCA Hall of Fame. Okay, that stands for U.S. Track and Field/Cross County Coach Association Division II Track and Field Athlete Hall of Fame. That is the award Swan Davis is getting.
Swan Davis graduated from USD in 1998. Swan Davis be inducted this weekend during the national championships. Swan Davis was a 15-time track and field All-American at USD. Swan Davis is the only two-time individual national champion in women’s track and field history at USD. She won the long and triple jump titles.
Swan Davis won 13 individual NCC titles while at USD and set four school records. She also earned the USTFCCA Division II National Female Outdoor Athlete of the Year. She was named the 1997 North Central Region Female Outdoor Athlete of the Yer and MVP at the NCC Outdoor Championship in ‘97.
Swan Davis earned her degree in elementary education and is an educational consultant for the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools. I think that is in California.
Swan Davis put together quite the resume at USD and definitely deserves this honor I would say. Plus she has quite the job now. Food for thought though. She had 15 All-American awards. Senior Steph Gebhart has 18 All-American awards, the most in school history, and has nationals this weekend. Could we see this same press release for Gebhart in about 10-15 years?
Finally, diver Jill Smolczyk and kicker Frank Leibfarth were named NCC Honor Athletes. They are among 14 male and seven female athletes recognized by the NCC during the 2007-08 year.
To earn the award, each athlete must have graduated this spring or be within 12 credit hours of graduation. They will be honored at the NCC Celebration Dinner on June 21st in Sioux Falls.
I won’t be attending because for one, it will probably be out of my price range, and two, longtime Volante sports writer and great friend Vance Janak will be getting married.
Anyways, Smolczyk finished wish a 3.833 GPA for psychology. She has won a crap load of awards. Seriously, check it out on usdcoyotes.com to see the number of awards she has piled up, academically and athletically.
Leibfarth finished with a 3.949 GPA in chemistry and physics. Did you read the title of his thesis during graduation? I had to pull out a dictionary for it. Sounded like he was curing something with whatever it was. Leibfarth also has a ton of awards as well. Check it out again at usdcoyotes.com.
Well, stayed tuned to the blog as I will look to keep it rolling during the summer. Have fun all.
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