North Dakota State BISON ATHLETICS YEAR IN REVIEW 2017-18 THE TRADITION OF SUCCESS CONTINUED... From our first year of athletics competition in 1894 we have experienced a long history of tradition and success on so many levels. For an athletic program that has been one of the most successful in all of college athletics, it is amazing to see that 124 years later we continue to achieve firsts and milestones today. This year we witnessed our 26th national championship, our 254th conference championship, our third Summit League Commissioner’s Cup, our first Division I men’s golf championship, and the first time in history that Team Makers generated revenue to support Bison Athletics in excess of $5.5 million. Not to be outdone by all the athletic successes, our student-athletes continued to raise the bar academically and set a new standard for future Bison to strive toward. For the first time in our Division I history, all athletic teams reached a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or greater while also achieving our highest overall student-athlete GPA of 3.42. In addition, Daniel Polansky (football) and Clay Ream (wrestling) each received the Elite 90 award at their respective national championship for the highest GPA of all participants. This classroom success is preparing our student-athletes for their professional careers upon graduating from NDSU. Our facility profile continued to be transformed with phase one completion of a new softball stadium and a short-game facility in the Sanford Health Athletic Complex for both golf programs. These new facilities, coupled with our recent enhancements and future projects, have paid dividends in training our student-athletes and providing new opportunities in recruiting. All of the above success, accolades and progress is not surprising given the strategic investment in scholarships, facilities, operations and personnel. The power of Bison Nation has been witnessed on so many levels, but none more important than the financial support of our athletics program. This investment and belief in our program is the driving force behind our pursuit of excellence and the development of our student-athletes. As we celebrate this past year, we look to your continued support as we strive for new milestones next year. The following pages highlight what has been another outstanding year in NDSU Athletics. Please join us in recognizing all the athletic and academic accomplishments of 2017-18. Thank you in advance for your continued friendship, loyalty, pride and financial support. Go Bison! Matt Larsen Director of Athletics Facilities NDSU Athletics is in the fundraising stage for a new $37.2 million indoor football practice facility. The facility will be a full 120 yards long and 60 yards wide with a 70-foot height clearance over the field, and will open up to a second artificial turf field outdoors. The operational side of the building will include a locker room, team meeting room and sports medicine facilities, and the strength and performance center will include a weight room and fueling station. Facilities directly impact success. Three months after opening the new golf short-game facility within the Sanford Health Athletic Complex, NDSU won Summit League championships in both men’s and women’s golf. The facility includes contoured putting and chipping turf to simulate on-course play with 12 holes spread over a variety of flat and sloped conditions. 4 2017-18 Phase I of an $800,000 renovation to the Ellig Sports Complex softball facility was completed in time for the 2018 season with the addition of a new grandstand with chairback seats and protective netting, a press box and camera deck, sound system and scoreboard. Phase II began in June 2018 to install artificial turf, new fencing, a visiting team bullpen and additional seating. 5 Football 6 NDSU won its sixth NCAA Football Championship Subdivision national championship in seven years with a 17-13 victory over top-seeded defending champion James Madison in the title game. It was NDSU’s 14th football national championship since 1965 and tied the FCS record of six national titles held by Georgia Southern. Quarterback Easton Stick was voted Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA championship game and was named FCS National Performer of the Year by the College Football Performance Awards. He passed for 2,466 yards and 28 touchdowns while also rushing for 663 yards and 12 TDs. NDSU’s 106 wins during this decade are more than any other program in college football. NDSU is 97-8 since the beginning of 2011, its first of five straight national championship seasons. 6 2017-18 NDSU had seven FCS All-Americans, including first-team honors for right guard Austin Kuhnert, linebacker Nick DeLuca, long snapper James Fisher and safety Tre Dempsey. Running back Bruce Anderson and safety Robbie Grimsley were second-team All-Americans, and Jabril Cox was a Freshman All-American. NDSU finished 14-1 overall and won its seventh straight Missouri Valley Football Conference championship with a 7-1 record in league play. NDSU led the FCS and Linebacker Jabril Cox led the Bison with set conference records with 79 total touchdowns 75 tackles including 13.0 tackles for loss and and 48 rushing touchdowns. The Bison tied a school was voted Missouri Valley Football Conference record with 581 points and Freshman of the Year and Newcomer of the Year. 4,083 rushing yards. NDSU’s defense allowed only 237.4 yards and 11.6 points per game, ranking first and second in the FCS, respectively. Junior safety Robbie Grimsley was voted to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team for the second straight season. He and junior quarterback Easton Stick were named to the MVFC All-Academic Team for the second year in a row. Chris Klieman was named MVFC Coach of the Year for the first time in his four seasons. 7 volleyball 6 Mikaela Purnell was Summit League Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season. She ranked fifth nationally with a school-record average of 6.06 digs per set and NDSU ranked sixth as a team with 19.02 digs per set. All-Summit League setter Brianna Rasmusson was named to the Summit League Academic All-League Team and CoSIDA Academic All-District Team. NDSU advanced to the Summit League tournament semifinals and finished with a 19-9 record overall. NDSU went 9-5 in the league for fourth place during the regular season. First-year head coach Jennifer Lopez was named NDSU received its sixth an AVCA 2018 “Thirty Under consecutive American 30” award winner. Lopez is Volleyball Coaches NDSU’s second recipient Association Team Academic since the award’s conception Award in recognition of their in 2009, joining then assis- academic success for the tant coach Kari Thompson 2017-18 season. It was NDSU’s (2010). 18th award overall. 8 2017-18 Soccer NDSU advanced to the Summit League championship match for the fifth time in program history after tying 3 for second place with a 5-2 record in the regular Three Bison were season. NDSU was 8-11 named All-Summit overall, including a 7-2 home League. Junior Malley record at Dacotah Field. O’Brien was selected first-team all-league, while junior Hanna Norman was a second- team all-league honoree. Freshman Danielle Algera earned all-freshmen team accolades. Senior Anna Reinholz and junior Malley O'’Brien were voted to the Summit League Academic All-League Team. Michael Regan, a former Division I assistant at Indiana and Drake, was introduced as the team’s fifth head coach in January. He replaced Mark Cook, who resigned after leading the Bison to two Summit League championships in his six seasons. 9 Cross Country 2 The Bison men’s and women’s cross country teams both finished second at the Summit League Championships in late October. Both squads earned their sixth consecutive All-Academic Team awards from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The women posted a 3.62 GPA in the fall and have had 14 consecutive semesters over 3.30. The men posted a 3.56 GPA in the fall, the eighth-best team GPA in Division I. The NDSU women were led by an outstanding performance from freshman Kelby Anderson, who finished third overall with one of the top 6k times in NDSU history. Her time of 21:08.5 was the eighth-fastest 6k in NDSU history, trailing only six races by All-American Erin Teschuk and one by all-region performer Brecca Wahlund. The NDSU men matched the team’s best conference meet finish since joining the league in 2007. Junior Elliott Stone, senior Brant Gilbertson and redshirt freshman Tim Heikkila all earned first-team All-Summit League honors by placing in the top seven overall. 10 2017-18 Men'’s Basketball Senior A.J. Jacobson was voted to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® first team for the second straight year, 605 joining Brett Winkelman (2008-09) as the only NDSU Senior guard Paul Miller men’s basketball players to became the first Bison in earn the first-team distinction NDSU’s Division I era to twice. Jacobson graduated earn NABC All-District with a 3.99 cumulative GPA honors twice in his career. in zoology (pre-dentistry) Miller finished the season following his junior season with 605 points, becoming and has a 4.00 GPA toward only the fifth Bison to his MBA. score more than 600 in a season. His 1,719 career points rank fifth in NDSU history. NDSU was the only Division I school in the country with two For the second CoSIDA Academic All-District honorees this season, with consecutive seniors A.J.