Championships? So What!

Recently, I received my second conference championship ring. And as coach gave them out I felt, well, indifferent.

Don’t get me wrong, we worked hard for these rings. It was a tough season.

But after winning two conference championships in one year, and then losing two in the next, all I felt was obligation. I now EXPECT us to be in that championship game, in fact, we all do. Who can blame us? Let’s let the numbers do the talking:

4-6: that was our football record in 2005. In 2008, the team went 9-3. Adding two more games and five more wins in four years ain’t bad. Oh yeah, and the first ever bid to the NAIA Football Championship Series.

0: the amount of championships baseball won in 2005. 2: the amount of championships baseball won in 2008 (Region XII Region Championship and NAIA South Central Super Regional Championship), not to mention making into the NAIA World Series. And in between, the baseball team won the conference championship in 2006 and the region title in 2007.

.606: the winning percentage for woman’s basketball in 2005. During the 2007-08 season, the team had a .735 winning percentage, an AAC regular-season championship and AAC Tournament Championship to boot.

5: the number of championships, both conference and region won between 2005 and 2008. That’s averaging more than one a season.

Let’s not leave out the regular season AAC Championships won by softball in spring 2007 and volleyball in fall of 2007. Or Women’s tennis 6 championships (AAC regular season and tournament), including a Region XII Championship in only 3 years. How about the 9 individual AAC Championships won by our men’s outdoor track team? Oh, and there is the cycling team, who has won 3 conference championships, and one individual NCCA National Championship.

When I came in as a freshman, there were no expectations for either of the teams I played for. Yet here we are reaching the championship game year after year. Union has become the team to beat in the MSC and the AAC.

Who can we attribute this success to? Coaches? Some teams brought in new coaches, but others haven’t and have experienced this same success.

How about star athletes? Let’s take a look at the senior class, mine. There are a number of teams who are losing the largest number of seniors in years. We came, and we stayed.

Could it be thanks to Union President Edward de Rosset and the trustees? With the constant improvements made to not only academic, but also athletic facilities most students are bound to stay right?

Or maybe it’s the athletic director; can we give all of the praise to Darin Wilson? Wilson was honored by the Appalachian Athletic Conference in 2008 as the league’s Athletic Director of the Year. He wouldn’t take all the credit even if it was due solely to him.

It is the collaboration between all of these groups. It has become apparent that Union Athletics has become one well-oiled machine.

As the championship rings keep piling up, I’m excited to see how much farther the bulldogs can go from here. And judging by the numbers, it won’t take long for us to put a few more NAIA national championships under our belts.