Wildcats win all-sports title
6/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | General
Wildcats claim all-sports title
Five LSC crowns lead way for ACU's 8th straight win
ABILENE -- ACU captured its eighth straight Lone Star Conference all-sports championship, rolling up 138 total points to easily outdistance second-place Central Oklahoma, which finished with 101.5 points overall.
The Wildcats won five conference championships, four regional titles and two national championships in one of their most successful full seasons in some time. ACU won Lone Star Conference titles in men's and women's cross country, men's and women's track and field and men's tennis.
In addition, ACU won NCAA Division II South Central Region championships in men's cross country and baseball, and NCAA Division II Central Region championships in men's and women's tennis. The men's track and field team won both the NCAA Division II indoor and outdoor national championships, running their streak to four straight national championships.
For the first time since 1999 the baseball team failed to win LSC Post-Season Tournament, but the season didn't end on a sour note. Instead of winning the conference title, the Wildcats won the regional title to earn their first-ever berth in the NCAA Division II College World Series in Montgomery, Ala. ACU twice beat No. 1-ranked Delta State (Miss.) on its home field to earn the trip to the CWS.
Besides their usual success in the spring sports, the Wildcats also enjoyed a tremendous turnaround in the fall in football. ACU finished the regular season at 6-4 (its first winning season since 1997) and tied with Texas A&M-Kingsville for the LSC South Division championship.
The division title was ACU's first football championship of any kind since the 1977 team won the NAIA Division I national championship. The Wildcats will be among the favorites to win the 2003 LSC championship.
Central Oklahoma, third-place Northeastern and fifth-place West Texas A&M each won two conference championships, and all three schools also national championship trophies during the season. Central Oklahoma continued its domination of NCAA Division II wrestling with its 14th national championship, while Northeastern State won the conference's first-ever national championship in basketball by upsetting heavily favored Kentucky Wesleyan in the Great Eight final in Lakeland, Fla. West Texas A&M won a share of the IHSA national championship in equestrian.
Texas Woman's, which competes in just four sports in the conference and again finished last in the standings, continued to dominate the gymnastics landscape, winning the USAG national championship.
In all, the conference's 15 schools won nine regional championships and six national championships.
