From the AD's desk: Fall brings an atmosphere of excitement

Greetings Falcon Fans and supporters. Summer is upon us and we look to this time to not only rest, but also to improve. The summer months are critical for us, as the student-athletes should be at home following the offseason conditioning program, our coaching staffs are finalizing recruiting plans and moving into planning for the upcoming season, the support staff is taking a much needed breath and preparing for another great year, and the administrative team looks towards making value added improvements for our program. Similar to expecting parents, we look forward to the arrival of brand new programs and student-athletes in Field Hockey and Triathlon for women this coming fall. I am sure that they will add breadth, depth and cultural diversity to our existing programs while giving Falcon Nation new rooting interests.

The past school year saw tremendous success locally, regionally and nationally, as we had teams and individuals accomplish great things in their ambassadorship of CUW. I am also very proud to announce that CUW was voted as winner of the 2105-16 NACC sportsmanship trophy for our women’s programs. This is a great honor that represents a high level of sportsmanship by our coaches, players and supporters of our women’s programs. In addition, we had the highest percentage of participation in the history of our strength and conditioning program, which I am sure will yield dividends in upcoming seasons.

The future is also very bright for us as we have several significant fundraising and facility initiatives underway, that if successful will add to the experience of all of our student-athletes and provide them with more of the tools necessary for their continued development. Intercollegiate athletics is a continual race for success. Student-athletes, coaches and administrators must be in a state of perpetual improvement as the calendar turns and we start over undefeated in all of our sports in August. I hope this finds all of you enjoying God’s blessings and have a restful summer.

January 11, 2016

Greetings Falcon Fans, Friends, and Alumni,

I trust that everyone had a great Holiday season and enjoyed time with family and friends. As we embark on a new year, it is an exciting time for CUW athletics. The men's and women's basketball teams enjoyed a successful tournament trip to Puerto Rico that saw the women hoopsters defeat No. 15 New England in a last second overtime nail-biter. We start back now with the full slate of winter sports and will begin the preseason training sessions for spring sports after the kids come back in late January. We kick off the Acrobatics & Tumbling season soon with their first competition on February 7th at 12 pm vs. the University of Oregon in the R. John Buuck Field House. The Ducks are perennial national champions and will pose quite a challenge for our young women, but it should be an electric atmosphere so mark your calendars. I have been working over the holidays on several construction ideas that will add to the quality of the student-athlete experience and serve our needs now and into the future. I hope to announce some things in short order and I look forward to the participation of our friends and alumni in making these a reality. I hope everyone will try to find some time to get to a Falcon athletic event or two and support these young men and women as they compete in the sport(s) they are passionate about in representation of all of us. Talk to you soon. Go Falcons.

November 23, 2015

Greetings Falcon Fans and Friends,

What an awesome Fall season. We were very competitive in our Fall sports and we were able to accomplish some great things on and off the field. As the weather starts to turn colder and we now transition into the Winter seasons it is a time to be thankful for our Fall blessings and be joyously optimistic for the future. We are off to very good starts in Men's and Women's Ice Hockey with both teams showing very well early in the season. The fans have been appreciative of their effort and the kids are playing very hard. Men's and Women's Basketball are also off to a great start with home-opening wins. The two squads look to be very athletic and stingy on defense so expectations are high. The Falcon Wrestling team is excited about their squad and will look to repeat their success from last year. We are coming off a tremendous performance by the Men's and Women's Cross Country teams at NCAA Regionals and they now begin the start of the Indoor Track and Field season. I encourage everyone to stay connected online and consider coming to a few contests to be a part of the action. It should be an exciting Winter. God's blessings to you all.

Dr. Rob Barnhill

October 15, 2015

Greetings Falcon Fans,

What a great start to the fall seasons. All of our fall sports are well into their competitive year and our spring sports are busy doing their nontraditional work. To date we are enjoying a tremendous amount of individual and team success, as our teams compete in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. We recently enjoyed a great Homecoming weekend where we were blessed with beautiful weather to enjoy fellowship with alumni and a come-from-behind football victory.

I am anxiously looking forward to NACC Championship time, as we will have great representation in the various tournaments and championships, and I have very high expectations for our success. I am very proud of our student-athletes that have been involved in community outreach and service programs this fall. For example, we had over 150 student-athletes and staff participate in the Mel's Pig Run 5K to raise money for charity.

Later in the month we will begin the transition into our winter sports preseason practice period and all of those student-athletes and coaching staffs are chomping at the bit to get going. Thank you to all of our fans for making the game day experience special and we look forward to seeing you on campus. GO FALCONS!

Dr. Rob Barnhill