League Sees Success In 2015-16
7/1/2016 5:56:00 AM | Athletics
The Southland Conference closed a prosperous 2015-16 academic and fiscal year this week, and as it heads toward a promising 2016-17 campaign, the league paused to celebrate the collective accomplishments of its member institutions, their athletic programs and student-athletes.
“The 2015-16 academic year has proven to be 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. Additionally, Southland student-athletes are making a tremendous difference with more and more selfless community service efforts.”
Sam Houston's 17 sports teams made a strong impact on the league's success. The more than 400 Bearkat student-athletes produced a department record 3.22 grade point average in the fall and followed up with a 3.11 GPA in the spring, the third highest in SHSU history.
In football, for the fifth straight season, multiple Southland teams advanced into the NCAA Division I Football Championship as Sam Houston and McNeese both participated in post-season play. Sam Houston advanced to its fourth national semifinal round in the last five years.
Seventeen Southland student-athletes were named to various football All-American teams, and three student-athletes were drafted by NFL teams, bringing the league's total to 211 all-time draft picks. Punter Lachlan Edwards became Sam Houston's first NFL draft choice since 2009 when he was tabbed in the seventh round.
Defensive end P. J. Hall, offensive tackle Donald Jackson III and wide receiver Josh Reynolds added to the league's football success. Hall and Jackson both were FCS All-America honorees while Reynolds was named CoSIDA Academic All-Region.
The Southland Conference, along with its Frisco partners, was rewarded with a four-year extension from the NCAA to continue serving as the host conference for the Division I Football Championship Game at Toyota Stadium. The game has been held in Frisco since 2011, and has been a sell-out for five straight seasons.
Women's soccer featured an exciting championship finals in which Houston Baptist edged the Bearkats in penalty kicks after overtime play. The performance marked Sam Houston's second Southland championship finals appearance in the program's 11-year history after the Bearkats' most successful season ever.
Sam Houston's young volleyball team surprised host and second seed Central Arkansas to advance to the Southland Conference championships semifinals to highlight action in the league's post-season event in Conway.
Four Southland men's basketball teams earned berths in post-season tournament play with Sam Houston making its third consecutive appearance in the CollegeInsider.Com event. The league has had 15 teams earn postseason berths in the last four seasons.
The Southland women's basketball championships in Katy featured an amazing run by the Bearkats as Sam Houston became only the second team not seeded among the top four to reach the finals.
Indoor track and field saw eight Southland records set or tied at the SLC meet in Birmingham as Sam Houston swept both the men's and women's championships. Two Bearkats, Ashley Jenkins and Danielle Demas, earned All-America honors at the NCAA Championships.
Andrew Ertel, Heather Shake and Nicole Budnik all earned All-Southland Conference honors in golf. The Sam Houston softball team bounced back from a rough start with a late season run into the Southland Conference tournament.
In outdoor track and field, 18 Southland Conference student-athletes including Sam Houston's Danielle Demas, Ashley Jenkins and Elizabeth Lyssy earned All-American status. The Bearkat women made it a clean sweep of league team honors by taking the outdoor championship.
In baseball, the Southland once again sent two teams to the NCAA regionals – Sam Houston and Southeastern Louisiana – the fourth time in the last five seasons that multiple teams from the league have advanced to postseason play. The young Bearkat squad won both the regular season and post-season tournament championships and made the university's ninth NCAA Division I championships appearance.
In its second year as an affiliated sport, the Southland Bowling League again rated as the nation's best conference with the NCAA's national eight-team tournament featuring four SBL teams for the second straight year. Sam Houston's Janine Kuwakara and Heather Penatzer both earned National TenPin Coaches Association All-America honors. Kuwakara won both the coveted NCAA Elite90 and CoSIDA Academic All-America and All-Region awards.
Maddie Mortimore also was a CoSIDA Academic All-Region selection and earned all-conference honors in women's tennis.
Sam Houston State captured the Men's All-Sports Award for the third season in a row and fifth time in Cup history.
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 last year, nearly 900 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 more than 2,300 student-athletes earning at least a 3.0 grade point average, and more than 430 of them with perfect 4.0 GPAs.
Southland student-athletes continue to make remarkable strides with their community service efforts, accumulating a combined 28,000 hours assisting entities and charities in their local campus communities.
The Southland Conference also completed its most televised year ever in 2015-16, as the league and its members produced more than 170 television broadcasts through its new and ongoing partnerships with ESPN, American Sports Network, Cox Sports Television, CBS Sports Network, Root Sports Southwest, Fox College Sports and Time Warner Cable Sports Channel.
