It is the last issue of the semester, and I honestly cannot believe that this is my 14th column already.

Like the academic semester, the athletic semester has flown by. There has been at least one standout moment or event or person in each sport that we have covered in this section so far.

This week I want to highlight all of those achievements before we move on to the holidays and everyone forgets about school for a month. So, let’s begin.

GOLF

The standout from the fall golf season has to be Joey Walz. Walz is a junior transfer from NCAA Division I Marshall University. She had two individual tournament wins in three starts and is easily the best golfer to come through Point Park. In my time here, the golf teams have flown under the radar, and for the first time, they were gaining school-wide attention because of Walz and the talent she brought to the golf team.

VOLLEYBALL

The standouts in the world of volleyball just so happen to be the tallest and shortest players on the court for the Pioneers – Ashley Taylor and Morgan Dangelo. Both seniors, Taylor has made it clear that she is Point Park Athletic Hall of Fame material and Dangelo is one of the best liberos that the Student Center Gym has seen. Taylor and Dangelo have something else in common – both belong to the 1,000 club. Taylor recorded 1,000 kills and Dangelo tallied 1,000 digs very early in the season.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

The women’s soccer team saw a very impressive season, finishing 11-8 on the season and 7-2 in River States Conference (RSC) play, enough to clinch first in the RSC standings going into playoffs. Although the team lost 2-1 in the semifinal round of the playoffs to IU East, their effort was not lacking. Stars from the team this year come in the form of seniors Abby Magliocca and Asia Pennock-Franke, juniors Gabby Widman, Ashtyn Webb and Chloe Bowser and freshmen Britney Adrian, Taylor Goldstrohm and Tia Horew. Widman, Webb and Bowser were all named to the All-RSC First Team and Horew was named the RSC Newcomer of the Year.

MEN’S SOCCER

The men’s soccer team faced a similar fate after a 2-1 loss in the RSC Quarterfinal matchup against Brescia. Standouts on the team included seniors Marc Bentley and Juan Somoza, sophomores Geert Bijl and Mitchell Roell and freshman Lorenzo Diaz. Bijl and Diaz were named to the All-RSC First Team and Somoza was one of two goalkeepers named to the All-RSC Second Team. Most notably, Bijl, a Dutch-born player who transferred from Missouri Valley College, led the team with nine goals and 20 points this year.

CROSS COUNTRY

The standout from the cross country season, of course, is Anna Shields who grabbed the title of fastest woman in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa when she won the national championship by seconds. There is not much else to say then she is the best athlete in Point Park history and will be for a long time.

TRACK AND FIELD

The track and field standouts come early on in the season in Anna Shields (again, yes) and senior Kara Rohlf. Shields, who needs no more credit to her name, has already qualified for indoor track nationals in the 3,000 meters after setting another record in the Tiffin Alumni Meet. She ran a 9:55.56 in the meet. Rohlf is now the first person in Point Park history to qualify for the marathon at nationals after competing individually in the Nittany Valley Half Marathon. Honorable mention goes out to sophomore Alex Barr, who missed qualifying by just three seconds.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The women’s basketball team is off to a rough start after facing four different ranked opponents in the preseason, but standouts on the team have to go to senior captain Kaitlyn Smith, sophomore guard Michelle Burns and head coach Tony Grenek. Smith posted a career-high 23 points in an RSC loss to IU Kokomo on Saturday, but she has never failed to remain optimistic in what the team can do. Burns continues to lead the team in scoring, despite being only a sophomore. So far this season, Grenek has done an amazing coaching job of the Pioneers. In a tight game (which ended in a Point Park win) against Ave Maria (Fla.), I credit Grenek’s coaching job alone to the win.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

And finally, the men’s basketball team has already tallied as many wins this year as they did in the entire season last year – four. After going 4-22 last year, the men, under new coach and my former head coach Joe Lewandowski, are sitting alone in first place in the RSC standings with a record of 4-4 on the season and 2-0 in RSC play.