Jan. 29, 2008
Men's Cross Country | Ratings | Honors
Malone College (Ohio) placed three runners in the top 10 to capture the 2007 NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championship at Dr. Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course in Kenosha, Wisconsin. This is the second national title for the Pioneers.
Malone College, this year's favorite to win the championship, finished with 59 points and defeated the runner-up Black Hills State (S.D.) by 144 points. The Yellow Jackets placed two runners in the top 15.
Aron Rono of Azusa Pacific (Calif.) crossed the finish line with a time of 23:52.1 to capture the individual title. A junior from Kapsabet, Kenya won his first NAIA cross country championship after finishing third last year.
The 2007 Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year honors went to Jack Hanez of Malone College. He also earned the honors in 1972 after leading the Pioneers to their first title.
Malone College and Black Hills State also earned the team awards after compiling the lowest combined scores at the national championships.
Women's Cross Country | Ratings | Honors
Simon Fraser (B.C.) defeated Cedarville (Ohio) by 46 points to win the NAIA Women's Cross Country Championship Saturday, Nov. 17 at Dr. Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Clan won their fifth straight and 10th overall title.
Simon Fraser posted a score of 99 points while Cedarville had 145 points and was runner-up for the second straight season.
Jaime Canterbury of Azusa Pacific won the individual title, finishing four second ahead of teammate Jacky Kipwambok.
For the fifth straight season, head coach Brit Townsend of Simon Fraser was named the Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year.
Simon Fraser and Cedarville earned the team awards after compiling the lowest combined scores at the national championships
Football | Ratings | National Statistical Rankings | Honors
Carroll (Mont.) won its fifth NAIA Championship in the last six years after a 17-9 victory over 2006 champion Sioux Falls (S.D.) on Dec. 15 in Savannah, Tenn. Ending the season with a perfect 15-0 record, Carroll went undefeated in the regular season for the third time in five seasons. Carroll was the pick for No. 1 in the final NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll (Jan. 14). Head coach Mike Van Diest gathered his third AFCA Coach of the Year award (in nine seasons) after his Saints were the first 15-0 team since 2003.
Sioux Fall's Chad Cavender brought home the Rawlings-NAIA Player of the Year, announced at the Championship banquet on Dec. 14. Cavender is the second Cougar to win the award, following 2002 recipient Nick Kortan. Cavender was 27-1 in his career as a two-year starter. This season, Cavender was 250-for-379 passing (66.0 %) with 26 touchdowns and 3,409 yards. In national rankings, he was fourth in passing efficiency (159.4), 11th in total offense/game (258.2 yards) and 12th in passing yards/game (243.5 yards).
Among a few memorable moments in 2007, Benedictine (Kan.) head coach Larry Wilcox won career game No. 200. He became the fifth coach in NAIA history to hit the milestone as he looks up at head coach Kevin Donley of St. Francis (Ind.), who is No. 4 on the list and has 217 wins heading into 2008. Ohio Dominican junior quarterback Cris Reisert set three notable NAIA single-season passing records - yards (5,434), touchdowns (54) and total offense (5,464). His passing touchdowns output even surpassed some NCAA Division I superstars in the likes of Texas Tech's Graham Harrell (48) and Hawaii's Colt Brennan (38). In the aftermath of Carroll's Championship victory, the Fighting Saints and linebacker Brandon Day were featured on the cover of the Dec. 18th edition of Sports Illustrated. That image appeared on the cover as part of the "Pictures of the Year" issue.
The site of the 53rd Annual Football National Championship will be new as Rome, Ga., will welcome the two finalists on Dec. 20, 2008. Shorter College (Ga.) and Rome-Floyd County will serve as hosts, ending the streak of 12 years in Savannah, Tenn.
Men's Soccer | Ratings | National Statistical Rankings | Honors
Azusa Pacific (Calif.) men's soccer brought home its first ever national championship after a 2-0 win over Concordia (Calif.) on Nov. 20 in the 49th Annual Championship from Olathe, Kan. Head coach Phil Wolf was named the Brine-NAIA Men's Soccer Coach of the Year after he guided the Cougars to a 20-1-1 overall finish, a school record-tying 14-match winning streak and third Golden State Athletic Conference Championship (GSAC) under his tutelage.
APU became the first No. 1 seed to win the Championship since 2001 and the sixth different team in the last six seasons. The Cougars finished at No. 1 in the final regular season NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll (Oct. 31). Concordia held the top spot in the polls for five weeks in the middle of the season, the longest of any 2007 team. The Eagles jumped out to a 13-0-0 mark.
Maine-Fort Kent totaled the most victories of any program in 2007 with a 21-1 record. Region II had perhaps the most competitive teams as four consistently ranked in the Top 25 - No. 1 Azusa Pacific, No. 5 Fresno Pacific, No. 10 Concordia and No. 12 Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) in the final regular season poll. Holy Names (Calif.) was in the "others receiving" category with eight votes. The California Pacific Conference (CPC) and the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) compiled Region II.
2007 Player of the Year, Ricardo Pierre-Louis of Lee (Tenn.) finished with 29 goals despite missing almost a month with a leg injury. He ended his collegiate career with a school-record 101 points. On Jan. 18, Pierre-Louis was drafted in the Major League Soccer SuperDraft in the second round (22nd overall). Steven Lenhart, an NAIA First Team All-American from Azusa Pacific, was picked No. 48 overall (fourth round) in the MLS SuperDraft. He posted 16 goals on the year including nine game-winners as he was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player. Both players are headed to the Columbus Crew to begin their professional careers.
The 50th Annual Championship will take place from Nov. 19-25, 2008. The site is yet to be determined and will be officially announced by mid-February.
Women's Soccer | Ratings | National Statistical Rankings | Honors
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Martin Methodist (Tenn.) was crowned the 2007 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics women's soccer champion on Nov. 20 with a 2-1 victory over Azusa Pacific (Calif.). MMC scored twice in the first half to defeat the No. 3 seeded Cougars in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. In route to the National Championship, the No. 5 ranked RedHawks beat the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 ranked teams.
Martin Methodist, who won the program's first national title in 2005, closed out their 2007 campaign with a 19-4-1 record. The 24th annual NAIA Championship was hosted by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Dayton Beach, Fla.
The Redhawks head coach Gerry Cleary was named the 2007 Brine-NAIA Coach of the Year. In Cleary's five seasons at MMC he has compiled an 88-19-5 record. In addition to his Coach of the Year honor, Cleary was named NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America) Regional Coach of the Year for the Southwest Region and was selected the TranSouth Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
Martin Methodist defender Marcia Silva received the Brine-NAIA Player of the Year honor. Silva started 23 games for the Redhawks and was a key member of the championship squad. The junior was selected to the TranSouth All-Conference Team, the Region XI First Team, was named the National Tournament MVP, and was selected First Team NAIA All-American.
Volleyball | Ratings | National Statistical Rankings | Honors
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) crowned a new champion in volleyball for the third straight season. The top-seed Fresno Pacific (Calif.) defeated No. 2 California Baptist, 3-1 (30-28, 25-30, 30-25, 34-32) to capture the 2007 championship. It's the Sunbirds' third title in school history. Fresno Pacific dropped just one match the entire season and posted a 36-1 record while CBU finished with a 31-5 record.
The Sunbirds opened the 2007 season as the No. 1 team in the first NAIA volleyball ratings and held on to the spot all 11 weeks.
Junior setter Shu Liu of Fresno Pacific was named the Tachikara-NAIA Player of the Year while the Sunbirds' head coach Dennis Janzen earned the Tachikara-NAIA Coach of the Year honors. Senior Heather Hernandez of Walsh (Ohio) was selected the Tachikara-NAIA Libero of the Year.
Liu led team with 1,388 assists in 106 games this season. Hernandez helped Walsh to a 29-9 overall record and was the team leader with 715 digs in 107 games. Janzen guided the Sunbirds to 14th consecutive national tournament appearance. He was also named National Tournament Coach of the Year.
