When they defeated Asbury College (now DePauw University) twice on the baseball diamond in 1866, Wabash athletes established a tradition of victory. In the years since, there have always been great teams and players.
But the remarkable accomplishments of Little Giants teams and individuals in the 2014-15 academic year leave me wondering: When considering all sports and athletes, is this the greatest season of success in the history of Wabash athletics?
The current surge in the College’s winning ways across all sports really began in 2011, when the track and field team won the North Coast Athletic Conference indoor championship—the first of five consecutive titles. Two months later Little Giants celebrated an outdoor track and field NCAC title, followed by our first baseball conference championship since the 1998 team captured the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference crown.
In the fall of 2012, the Red Pack claimed its first NCAC Men’s Cross Country title mere weeks before the Wabash football team secured another NCAC football championship and with it, a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Conference titles weren’t the only accomplishments for those 2011-12 teams. The football team advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Playoffs. Jake Waterman finished second in the indoor 800-meter run, while Kevin McCarthy ’12 and Seth Einterz ’12 added All-America honors in outdoor track.
In 2012, miler Kevin McCarthy ’12 became the first Little Giant national champion in any sport since 1989. In 2012 and 2013, Jake Waterman added two national championships in the 800-meters.
The Wabash wrestling program crowned its first national champion in March 2014 when Riley Lefever captured the 184-pound title.
So Wabash fans came into the 2014-15 school year with high expectations.
Cross-country got things rolling, following up an NCAA regional title in 2013 with a second-straight NCAC title last fall. The Little Giants placed all seven runners in the top-21 spots to win the title by 62 points.
After snapping Calvin College’s 17-year chokehold on the regional championship the previous season, the Little Giants came to the 2014 regionals with a different approach.
“This year we are just hoping to get out safe and fresh,” Coach Roger Busch ’96 said on the eve of the meet. “The team knows that it has the potential to perform at its expected standard and win.”
That plan paid off—Wabash crushed the competition, winning the team title by 89 points. Nick Boyce ’15 crossed the finish line in fifth place, and Busch earned Regional Coach-of-the-Year honors for the second straight year with five runners finishing in the top-15 places.
Coach Erik Raeburn’s football team was also busy making a name for itself. Opening the season with a 34-21 victory over Hampden-Sydney in the inaugural Gentlemen’s Classic, the Little Giants won their sixth consecutive Monon Bell game 27-3, continuing to hold DePauw without a touchdown at Hollett Little Giant Stadium since 2010.
Wabash earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament and defeated Franklin 33-14 victory before falling to eventual national champion Wisconsin-Whitewater.
But the biggest surprise last fall came from the Wabash soccer program. Picked in the NCAC pre-season poll to finish ninth out of 10 teams, the Little Giants rolled off a school-record 12 straight matches without a loss and defeated Kenyon, the number-two ranked team in the nation, with a stunning 1-0 victory at Mud Hollow Stadium. The Little Giants went on to finish third in the NCAC standings with a 6-2-1 mark, earning a berth in the NCAC tournament for the first time in school history. Wabash lost the rematch 3-0 versus Kenyon in the semifinals, but finished 13-3-3 overall to break the old school record for wins by one.
NCAC and NSCAA Regional Coach of the Year Chris Keller’s squad became the first Wabash team to be ranked nationally. Freshman Mike Gore was named NCAC Newcomer of the Year and a record-setting six Little Giants were named to the All-NCAC squad.
The splendor of the fall season rolled right into winter sports. Fresh off its success from 2014, the Wabash wrestling team started the season ranked among the top-five programs in the nation. The Little Giants stayed in the mix for the top-three for most of the year, with the Lefever brothers—Riley along with older twin brothers Reece ’16 and Conner ’16—eventually all earning number one rankings and individual regional titles. Behind All-American performances by the Lefevers and Ethan Farmer ’16, the Little Giants finished third at the national tournament. Riley Lefever repeated as a national champion, this time joined by his brother, Conner.
That same weekend, hurdler Ronnie Posthauer ’15 earned All- American honors at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championship meet. The senior’s success capped an indoor track season in which the Little Giants won their fifth straight NCAC indoor title and the Wabash staff led by Coach Clyde Morgan earned top coaching honors.
The Wabash swimming and diving team knocked off arch-rival DePauw in the opening dual meet of the season by a score of 162-129, claiming victory over the Tigers for the first time since 2006. Brent Noble’s team went on to rewrite the record books at the NCAC Swimming and Diving Championships, setting 14 new school marks while producing six All-NCAC performances. The Little Giants’ efforts would earn Noble the NCAC Men’s Coach of the Year Award. Swimmers Zechariah Banks ’16, Elliot Johns ’16, Jack Belford ’16, Chris McGue ’16, Jake Childress ’15, and Carter Adams ’15 all qualified for the NCAA Championships, making it the largest group of Wabash tankers to earn championship berths since 1991.
Wabash basketball began the 2014-15 season under new head coach Kyle Brumett, who guided the Little Giants to an 18-9 record and a third-place finish in the NCAC after being picked fifth in the preseason coaches’ poll. Wabash defeated 17th-ranked and conference regular-season champion Ohio Wesleyan University and 10th-ranked Wooster as part of a 12-6 league mark. Wabash ranked fourth
in the nation in rebounding margin, while junior Daniel Purvlicis finished the season ranked among the top scorers and rebounders in the NCAC.
As impressed as I’ve been by these teams, I wondered what two legendary Wabash coaches had to say about this growing success across all the sports.
Emeritus Coach of Track and Cross Country Rob Johnson H’77 has been around Wabash athletics since arriving at the College in 1971.
“I think the kids see our facilities and talk to the coaches and see their enthusiasm and effort in building championship-level teams,” Johnson told me just as the winter sports were beginning in January. “We have a really great year going and I think it’s just going to
continue to get better and better.”
Emeritus Head Basketball Coach Mac Petty H’82 continues his duties as the Little Giants’ golf coach, and he echoed Johnson’s thoughts concerning the foundation for the excellence Wabash athletics is enjoying.
“This success is a great credit to the coaches and student-athletes that we have,” Petty says. “It’s outstanding. It shows the growth that we’ve over the years.
“When I came here in 1976 I think we were maybe at the start of that growth. The administration has done a great job hiring excellent coaches. These young guys have come in and done an outstanding job.”
Wabash teams continue their winning ways into the spring season. The tennis team opened with wins over three regionally ranked
programs, opening the year with a 9-3 record. Weather delayed the start of the baseball team’s season, but a group of veterans makes the Little Giants one of the favorites to make the NCAC tournament in May. Golf continues to improve under Coach Petty’s watchful eye and will make a push toward the top half of the NCAC standings. Outdoor track and field will stride for its fifth straight league title along with what has now become a tradition of placing athletes in the NCAA Championship meet each May.
And the newest varsity sport on campus—the Little Giant lacrosse team—takes the field this spring. A young program that will only get better.
So is this greatest season of success across all sports in the history of Wabash athletics? It just may be. But from the looks of this year’s Little Giants, next year could be even better.