Another Banner Year For CUW Athletics
MEQUON, Wis. – The Falcons soared to new heights during the 2022-23 school year. Here are some of the numbers and highlights from the year.
All We Do Is Win
The Falcons finished the year with a 263-174-11 record for a .599 winning percentage. The Blue and White protected the nest with a 126-50-4 (.711) record at home. The Falcons soared in conference matchups with a 149-70-6 (.676) winning record. CUW also landed 471 individual victories.
National Tournaments
Concordia Wisconsin had four teams compete in national postseason tournaments in the 2022-23 season. The softball, women's soccer and women's tennis tournaments advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2023. The softball team claimed the school's first NCAA regional title in any sport with victories over Wisconsin-Superior and Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The Falcons then faced the eventual national champion in Trine in the Super Regional round. The women's tennis team traveled to Chicago to take on Carleton. The women's soccer team faced Illinois Wesleyan in Wisconsin. The Falcons also competed in the ACHA Division II Men's Hockey National Tournament. The Blue and White defeated Florida Gulf Coast and Dakota College at Bottineau, falling to the eventual champion Massachusetts. The acrobatics and tumbling team won two individual titles at the NCATA Division III Championships in the 450 salto toss at 9.65 points with the team of junior Paityn Taormina, junior Eliana Schmit, senior Jessi Alexander, sophomore Ellen Marie Sanders and junior Amanda Owens. Paityn Taormina ended the day with the crown in the open pass at 9.000 points.
All-Americans
The Falcons had four All-Americans on the year. The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) named junior Ian Malcolmson to the All-Athletic Team and the ACHA Division II National Player of the Year. The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) voted senior Gina Followell to the NFCA NCAA Division III All-America First Team and senior Claudia Utz to the third team. Junior Maycee Karpfinger earned American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) honorable mention honors.
Academic All-Americans
The Falcons broke a school record in the 2022-23 season with four College Sports Communicators Academic All-America honors. CUW did so even with a record-breaking number of nominations. Senior Emily Hafemann claimed her second Academic All-America honor. Senior Andy Ellingham of men's volleyball and the women's soccer senior duo of Isabel Downs and Jordan Lafferty also claimed the honor. CUW had 25 student-athletes claim CSC Academic All-District honors. In total, 95 student-athletes were honored for their academic success by national organizations.
Regionally Recognized
CUW student-athletes claimed 16 all-region honors during the 2022-23 season. The softball coaching staff was named the NFCA Regional Coaching Staff of the Year. Ben Kayser also claimed the AVCA West Region Newcomer of the Year. Ian Malcolmson was also voted the ACHA Division II Central Region Player of the Year.
Conference Play
The Falcons posted strong seasons throughout the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC), Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA), Southern Athletic Association (SAA), College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) and the Northern Collegiate Hockey League (NCHL). The Falcons won five regular-season titles in the year. In the fall, women's tennis won the NACC title outright. The men's soccer and women's volleyball teams earned shared titles. The ACHA hockey team went unbeaten in the NCHL. Softball went undefeated in the NACC in the spring.
Conference Tournaments
Concordia had 12 of the 14 possible teams qualify for conference tournament play. The Falcons won three tournament titles in the season. The women's soccer program pounced on Edgewood, Dominican and Illinois Tech to claim the NACC Tournament title in the fall. The women's tennis team defeated St. Norbert and Edgewood to claim the tournament title. Softball secured the NACC Tournament title with victories over Aurora, Dominican and MSOE.
Simply the Best
Four Falcons claimed the NACC Student-Athlete of the Year honor in their respective sports. Gina Followell was the NACC Pitcher of the Year. Sophomore Max Esposito was the NACC Men's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Year. CUW claimed both NACC Athlete of the Year honors in tennis with senior Ricki Budewitz and sophomore Landon Sather.
New Kids on the Block
CUW also had four student-athletes claim four newcomer honors. Concordia had three NACC Freshman of the Year selections in Abby Proefrock in women's volleyball, Ben Kayser in men's volleyball and Katelyn Cardinale in women's lacrosse. Makayla Spejcher was also voted as the NCHA Freshman of the Year.
Quality Concordia Coaches
The staff of the softball and women's tennis programs were voted as the NACC Coaching Staff of the Year.
All-Conference Accolades
CUW Falcons soared once again in the all-conference lists throughout all sports. The Blue and White had a total of 85 student-athletes receiving all-conference honors. Any player who was listed on a first or second-team, or honorable mention.
Academic All-Conference Honors
Concordia Wisconsin broke the school record once again with 309 NACC Scholar-Athlete Award winners. The field hockey team brought in 10 SAA All-Academic Team selections, the hockey teams brought in 11 NCHA All-Academic Team selections, and the wrestling team brought in four CCIW All-Academic Team selections.
Conference Player of the Week
CUW posted a total of 53 student-athletes claiming conference player of the week honors. Any athlete who was listed as student-athlete, offensive or defensive, track or field athlete of the week was listed.
National Weekly Teams
Five Falcons claimed national weekly teams on the year. In March, Max Esposito was named to the USILA D3 Team of the Week. Johannes Haakenson was also voted to the D3Baseball Team of the Week in March and senior Ryan Green did so in May. Men's volleyball had junior Spencer Herman named the AVCA Player of the Week in March and in February, sophomore Lucas Beras was voted the FrogJump National Team of the Week.
Flying on the Falcon Athletic Network
Concordia Wisconsin produced 202 broadcasts on the Falcon Athletic Network this year. There were also 24 episodes, including the 100th episode of the Falcon Focus with Matt Menzl.
Sharing is Caring
The CUW athletics staff posted a school record of 271 photo albums and 143 highlight videos. We posted 821 stories on the year. The Falcons continue to grow on social media as well. The Instagram account had 263 posts and added 612 new followers to grow to 4614 followers. On Twitter or X, there were 1743 tweets, or Xs, or whatever you want to call them. CUW added 511 new followers to 5726 total followers. CUW had 24 tik toks and added 239 followers to 384 total followers. CUW added 234 followers on Threads.
Thank You
There are so many people to thank for an amazing year. To start at the top, thank you Dr. Rob Barnhill for everything you do to lead the department and everything that you do for the student-athletes and programs. Thank you to all of the student-athletes, thank you for inspiring so many people. To student-staff, we would not be able to do all of this without you. To our fans, thank you for cheering us on and continuing to root us on as we head to the new school year.
