League & Kats Southland Strong In 2013-14
6/30/2014 1:58:00 PM | Athletics
During the 2013-14 sports season, the Southland Conference lived up to its hashtag of “Southland Strong” with outstanding successes in every sport.
Sam Houston State University, winner of this year's Southland Commissioner's Cup All-Sports trophy for the second year in a row and a record fifth time in the last decade, had a hand in a number of those accomplishments.
The Bearkats won league titles in men's golf, baseball, women's indoor track and field and women's outdoor track and field. SHSU teams also advanced to the NCAA playoffs in football, men's golf and baseball.
Sam Houston also claimed the Men's All-Sports Award, while Stephen F. Austin took the Women's All-Sports Award.
“The 2013-14 academic year will likely be remembered as one of the most successful competitive and academic periods for the Southland Conference,” league commissioner Tom Burnett said. “There were countless athletic successes for Southland teams and individuals, and we continue to see increasing academic achievements from our student-athletes.”
In football, for the first time since 2014, the Southland advanced three teams into the NCAA Division I Football Championship – Sam Houston, Southeastern Louisiana and McNeese State. The league recorded two playoff wins (including a Bearkat victory over Southern Utah) pushing its all-time win total to 53.
Sam Houston State's Timothy Flanders finished as the league's all-time leading rusher with over 5,600 yards. Five football student-athletes earned Division I FCS first-team All-America honors.
At the Southland Indoor Track & Field Championships, eight records were either set or tied. Sam Houston's Sabrina Starr was one of three Southland student-athletes who went on to earn All-America status.
Sam Houston's men's basketball squad was one of three Southland teams to advance to NCAA Division I post-season tournament action. The Bearkats and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi both played in the CollegeInsider.Com Tournament while Stephen F. Austin lost to UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Championships.
The Bearkats picked up their first NCAA Division I men's basketball post-season victory with a C.I.T. first round win over Alabama State.
Led by league high point scorer Lygia Foreman, Sam Houston's women completed a sweep of both the league's indoor and outdoor track and field championships.
In baseball, the Southland sent two teams to the NCAA regionals – Sam Houston State and Southeastern Louisiana – the third straight season that multiple teams from the league have advanced to postseason play.
Also, 18 Southland student-athletes were selected in the 2014 Major League Baseball draft. And on the academic side, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi catcher Russell Vaughan was named a first-team Academic All-American.
And, while it's not an official Conference sport, the Southland took great pride in the 2014 NCAA Women's Bowling national championship won by Sam Houston State.
In cross country, Lamar's Matt Johnsen competed in his fourth straight NCAA Cross Country national championship race, while six men's teams and five women's cross country teams finished in the Top 15 at the NCAA Cross Country Regionals. In women's soccer, 10 Southland student-athletes earned All-Region honors.
In volleyball, Central Arkansas finished with an 18-0 Conference schedule, the best league mark in nine seasons, and became the first team in 14 years to win both Conference regular season and tournament titles in back-to-back years.
In women's basketball, four Southland programs advanced to postseason play, the fourth straight season that multiple league teams have accomplished that feat.
Academically, the Southland Conference continues to excel. The Conference has recorded its highest multi- and single-year NCAA APR averages in the recent release of the national Academic Performance Program, and student-athlete graduation rates continue to rise. In the fall and spring semesters combined, more than 400 Southland Conference student-athletes received their diplomas.
The Conference also set records with the number of Commissioner All-Academic Honor Roll recipients in the fall and spring semesters, a total of almost 2,200 student-athletes earning at least a 3.0 grade point average, and over 400 of them with perfect 4.0 GPAs.
Two Bearkats – Azar and Foreman – were honored as Southland Conference Student-Athletes of the Year in their respective sports (baseball and women's outdoor track and field).
Southland student-athletes continue to make remarkable strides with their community service efforts assisting entities such as Houston Food Bank, Samaritan's Feet, Ronald McDonald House, Abraham's Tent and numerous charities in their local communities.
The league's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee oversaw a total contribution of more than 1,700 pounds of recycled aluminum can pop-tabs to the Ronald McDonald House Charities this spring.
Numerous Southland track and field programs made donations to victims of spring tornadoes in Arkansas on their way to the Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Conway.
