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Great Fall Season for the MIAA in 2009
By David Boyce
Instead of sweltering heat and humidity that normally greets football players on the first day of practice, temperatures were in the 70s on Aug. 6 when Northwest Missouri began its quest to complete unfinished business.
The Bearcats were eager to make another run at a national title after falling in the championship game the previous four seasons.
"It's always in the back of your mind that we were so close, so close, and that is one of the driving forces that motivates you all summer when you are running in 90-degree weather and busting your butt in the weight room," said junior quarterback Blake Bolles on Aug. 6.
"But we are totally focused on this season."
The Bearcats lived up to those words, capping a magical season with a 30-23 victory over their national nemesis Grand Valley State in the NCAA Division II championship game on Dec. 12.
"The past is the past," Northwest Missouri coach Mel Tjeerdsma said immediately after the game. "They are national champions.
"It feels great."
It is indeed great for the players, coaches, school and community when a team wins a national championship. It is also good for the conference.
Out of the thousands of athletes in Division II who started August with dreams of being a national champion, only a few achieve the goal.
But that doesn't make the journey any less enjoyable.
Sure, the ending may leave a few tears. The ride, though, is filled with smiles, video and photo album moments that families will enjoy for years.
The 2009 fall semester in the MIAA produced many wonderful times for all 11 schools.
Here are just a few snapshots of what made it so special.
In the most obvious ways, cross country is a lonely, grueling, individual sport. You spend hours running by yourself.
At Missouri Southern and Southwest Baptist it was definitely a team sport in the truest sense.
Missouri Southern's women's cross country team won its fourth straight MIAA title. Senior Kimi Shank led the way by winning her second straight conference title. The Lions went to regionals and finished first and ended the season with a third-place finish at the national meet, the highest in school history.
"I know it seems like an individual sport, but I really like the team atmosphere because as soon as I cross the line or my teammates cross the line we are looking back and saying, ‘where is so and so'" Shank said on Oct. 14. "We will go cheer them on. It is really helpful and the crowd gets into it."
The men's team at Missouri Southern was just as successful, capturing the MIAA and regional titles and finishing 11th nationally.
Perhaps the most inspiring performance in cross country was turned in by Michael Pierce, who overcame injuries from a year ago to finish first in the MIAA.
"I wanted to take it in and soak everything in," Pierce said on Nov. 4. "It was my last chance to do it."
Pierce won in style. His time of 24:35.23 in the 8K race was nine seconds better than the second-place finisher and the second-fastest time ever at the Jones Park course in Emporia.
His time was also the fastest in the conference championship meet since 1992.
"It was something I was looking forward to for four years," Pierce said. "I knew it would be special, not just for me, but for the SBU program, also."
Pierce is like a lot of athletes in the MIAA who turned the negative of an injury into a positive of working hard to get back to competition and coming through the adversity a stronger person.
Nebraska-Omaha freshman forward Nicole Baier was a perfect example of it. She didn't allow two ACL surgeries on a knee prevent her from playing on the women's soccer team.
Baier turned in one of the best, if not the best, freshman season ever in the MIAA. She finished with a conference-leading 16 goals, 11 assists and 43 points. She was voted player of the year in the MIAA.
"To see how much hard work she put into it, it is really rewarding to see her success," Nebraska-Omaha assistant coach Ted Anderson said in October.
At Central Missouri, the Jennies proved that longtime coach Peggy Martin left her program strong and in good hands with Flip Piontek, who guided the team to a stellar season.
The Jennies finished 34-5 overall and was runner-up in the South Central Regional. They lost to eventual national runner-up West Texas A&M.
Central Missouri had just one senior on the squad, but setter Caitlin Pankratz was like a coach on the court. She set the agenda that the Jennies' goal was to win a national championship.
And though the Jennies fell short, they brought a lot of joy to a lot of fans at the Multipurpose Building.
Of all the wonderful, winning moments in the fall, the most important one for me came in a loss.
It's easy to talk after a victory; it takes maturity and class to speak after a tough loss.
That's what Washburn senior linebacker Zach Watkins and the Ichabods showed after a heartbreaking 22-19 overtime loss at Northwest Missouri on Oct. 24.
Washburn knew it needed to win if it wanted to make the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Ichabods led 13-7 most of the fourth quarter.
In the final four minutes, Northwest Missouri made some incredible plays and eventually pulled out another win.
The Ichabods' playoff hopes were dashed and they knew they had a team talented enough to make a deep run in postseason.
It's tough to talk about a game when you face those circumstances as a senior. And Watkins was no ordinary senior. He wound up being selected MIAA Defensive Player of the Year.
Watkins showed his class after the game against Northwest Missouri by answering questions in a mature way.
"That's what you put all the summer work in," Watkins said. "You try to dedicate yourself to be the best defense in the country. I think we showed we can play with anybody today.
"They are a top five team and they played well. But we also played well."
As great as it is to win, it is actually more important to put in the hard work and dedicate yourself to be the best that ultimately counts more. If you consistently work hard through all kinds of adversity, good things will eventually happen.
The Bearcats proved it, and so did numerous other MIAA athletes this fall.
To reach David Boyce, contributing writer for the MIAA, e-mail dboyce@themiaa.com.
