Truman sports labeled unfairly

Everybody talks about how Truman sports don't stack up. That is the way this University has been painted for the last 15 years or so. The way people present Truman sports often seems like a fair accusation. The revenue programs have been bad the last few years. There is no way to spin it differently. No disrespect to men's basketball and football. They have been bad but both of those teams have a good chance to improve next season because they have coaches who know what they're doing.

Athletic Director Jerry Wollmering said football has become a lot more competitive.

"Going down to our last two games we could have been potentially 6-5 and a winning season, which, after going 2-9 [the year] before would have been one of the biggest turn arounds in the country," he said.

Just because football and men's basketball are sub-par right now people make the assumption that all Truman sports are bad.  

Let's be clear. I am not suggesting all Truman programs are good. Just because some sports have had below average records the last few years does not mean the entire athletic program is terrible.

Take baseball for instance. They traditionally are the worst program on campus. Since the program's inception in 1967 there have been few winning seasons. The last winning season was 1982, 29 years ago. It hasn't been good at Truman Baseball Park but this year things have been looking up.

Junior Ryan Trimble and sophomore Jarrett Eiskina have a combined ERA of 2.31. The offense has had timely hits at many times as well and the pitching has shown some serious potential when it performs to its ability. All that has added up to 11 conference wins this year, tying the highest total in program history. While the program has some goals it has yet to reach this year, they have been heading the right direction.

A sport that doesn't receive a lot of attention but performs well is women's golf. Senior Jen Lawson has won four tournaments this year, including a sting of three straight in the fall. She was named MIAA Female Golfer of the Week three times. It has been a marquee year for Lawson. She is one of the best female golfers in Div. II and, it could be argued, in the country. The team has placed in the top five in five of their eight tournaments. That is the definition of competitive.

Women's basketball was one of the top eight teams in the MIAA this season. They made the conference tournament. Sophomore forward Jennifer Conway stands 6 feet tall, but she handled much taller women on opposing teams with ease this season, averaging 8.8 points per game. Freshman Nicole Gloor averaged 9.1 points per game and junior Breanna Daniels led the team with 12.9 per game. Notice the years for those players. Two of three are underclassmen, which means two more years of these three scoring more than a combined 30 points per night. Three players combining for 30 per game makes the women contenders in the MIAA.

Soccer is another sport that thrives at Truman. Both the men and women made the NCAA tournament this year. The men claimed the No. 13 slot in attendance in all of NCAA Div. II, averaging 352 fans per game. For the men, seniors Bobby Larkin and Matt Kimball led an evenly balanced team attack. On the women's side sophomore Olivia Hayes had 19 points to lead her squad. For a few weeks Hayes was unstoppable. It was as if she could score on command. Truman soccer earned fan support and a pair of playoff berths this season. When people give their opinion about Truman athletics those accomplishments never seem to come up but are the facts.  

Then there is the most successful of all Truman sports, swimming. Granted, not a crowd pleaser. Watching people swim back and forth does not entertain most. Can't say I blame you. Neither do most of the swimmers, so don't sweat it. You still have to admit that swimming takes athleticism, so while events might not be exciting to watch, the accomplishments achieved at meets mean just as much as the results of other team sports.

Although this year was a down year for the Bulldog swimming program, featuring a midseason coaching change and the cancelation of a yearly training trip, the women won their 11th straight conference title. The men placed fourth at conference.

Sophomore Jerod Simek and senior Anna Grinter made a trip to the NCAA Div. II national meet as well. It was Simek's second straight trip to the nation's biggest meet. Again, most people agree that for the Bulldogs it was a below average year. That should tell you all you need to know about the Truman swimming program.

If you walk past the second floor trophy case in Pershing Arena, you'll see seven women's swimming national championship trophies. The women were the best team in America every year from 2001 to 2006 and once again in 2008. Last decade, no university in the country was better in women's swimming than Truman. Seven national titles in eight years. In the sports world we refer to that as a dynasty.

There are a lot of other Bulldog athletes and teams who achieved at a high level this past year. Freshman Ryan Maus went to the NCAA Div. II national meet in wrestling as an individual. He was the MIAA freshman of the year. In track and field, junior Jennifer Zweifel took fourth in the country in triple jump at the indoor track national championships. Softball freshman Kelsey Bollman tore the cover off the ball this year, leading the team with a  .414 batting average.

By the way, while football and men's basketball are down on their luck at the moment, they feature great histories that include NBA hall of famers, NFL alumni, Harlon Hill Award winners, final four teams, year-after-year of MIAA titles and days that saw full stands of fans. Truman's athletic history is strong and this year was no exception, even if you weren't aware of everything Truman athletes and teams were doing.