DBU Report Summer 2021 - Page 40

DBU REPORT 40 PATRIOTATHLETICS The pandemic made for a unique and challenging year for all of DBU Athletics, but that did not stop several of our athletic programs from standing out and making University history. Women’s Soccer dominated the Lone Star Conference, while Women’s Golf and our Patriettes and Cheer Teams surpassed the competition to achieve their first-ever national championships. DBU ATHLETICS ENDS WITH A SEASON OF HISTORIC FIRSTS BASEBALL Baseball won the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament title and has been invited to a 7th straight NCAA Division I tournament. BASKETBALL The DBU Basketball team went to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the fourth consecutive year, reaching the South Central Regional Semifinals. GOLF Women’s Golf won the program’s first-ever NCAA Division II National Championships after defeating Lynn University in the finals of medal match play at TPC of Michigan. Olivia Mitchell was named the nation’s Freshman of the Year by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association and three members of the Women’s Golf team were selected as First Team All- Americans including Hanna Harrison, Faith DeLaGarza, and Olivia Mitchell. Head Coach Kenny Trapp was named National Coach of the Year, while Assistant Coach Josh Aguilar was named Assistant Coach of the Year. Men’s Golf reached the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time since 2017 and earned a ninth-place finish. SPIRIT TEAMS The DBU Cheer team and Patriettes dance each won national championships in Daytona Beach, Florida, marking each program’s first- ever national championship. DBU STUNT qualified for their first STUNT National Championship in only two years of the program’s existence. HOCKEY Patriot Ice Hockey finished the season as the No. 6 ranked team in the country and qualified for their first-ever National Championship. ATHLETICS HIGHLIGHTS WOMEN’S GOLF The No. 1 DBU Patriots claimed their first NCAA Division II Women’s Golf National Championship. With points tied at two each for DBU and Lynn University, the single stroke by WGCA Freshman of the Year Olivia Mitchell clinched the title to cap off one of the most outstanding seasons in NCAA Golf history, which also included the Lone Star Conference and the NCCAA Championships. Five DBU players received All- American honors, while Head Coach Kenny Trapp was named the West COURTESY OF NCAA Region Coach of the Year by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association. This is the eighth time for Trapp in his 16-year career, during which he has guided the women’s team to 59 wins, including 39 tournament titles since the start of the 2016 fall season. His women’s team also compiled the nation’s top scoring average since the start of the 2017 season and has been ranked inside the top 18 on Golfstat for each of the past eight seasons. In only his second season, Josh Aguilar was named the NCAA Division II Golf Pride Women’s Golf Coaches Assistant Coach of the Year.