Athletics Archives - ��سԹ�

Reaching Higher Ground

��سԹ� — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 20:41:00 +0000

GWU Athletics Achieving Championships Throughout the Fields of Life

With its team championship wins in 2022-23, ��سԹ� became the only Division I university in North Carolina to earn titles in football, women’s basketball and men’s basketball since 2019. On their way to the championships, the programs and student-athletes set records as well.

GWU also earned a men’s tennis Big South co-championship for the regular season, and individual championships in Southern Conference wrestling, and Big South track and field.

“Intercollegiate athletics has seen more change in the past three years than in the last 30,” shared Dr. Andrew T. Goodrich, vice president and director of GWU Athletics. “As a result of these changes, the success of the most watched and visible collegiate sports of football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball is more important now than it has ever been in our past, which is why our results, which are unmatched by any other D-I university in the state of North Carolina, should be celebrated and known throughout our community and across the nation.”

The Dance to Remember

The first history-making win came on March 10, 2019, when the buzzer ended the Big South Conference Championship game. On that day, a celebration began as the Runnin’ Bulldogs Men’s Basketball Team realized, “We’re going dancin.’” The victory advanced ��سԹ� to the NCAA Men’s Tournament for the first time in program history. The team’s win continued a rich basketball tradition at GWU—the Runnin’ Bulldogs previously made national tournament appearances at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and NCAA Division II levels. The historical season also inspired the award-winning documentary “The Dancin’ Bulldogs: A 16 Seed’s Journey to the NCAA Tournament” and the CBS documentary short “Four Sides of the Story: March Madness Begins.”

Gridiron Victories Offer NCAA Playoff Upset and Team Honors

Then, on Nov. 19, 2022, in Spangler Stadium, the Runnin’ Bulldogs football team topped off a historic season by winning its first Big South conference title since 2003. In that game, the Runnin’ Bulldogs ran for 240 yards and used a 21-point second quarter to roll to a 38-17 win over North Carolina A&T. The victory sent the team to its first-ever NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs, where they won a first-round game on the road against Eastern Kentucky University, 52-41.

During the playoffs, home teams were 20-2, and the Runnin’ Bulldogs were one of only two road squads to earn a win. Additionally, ��سԹ� dominated the Big South honors for 2022. Quarterback Bailey Fisher was Offensive Player of the Year, defensive lineman Ty French was named Defensive Player of the Year, linebacker Ty Anderson was the Defensive Freshman of the Year, linebacker William McRainey was voted the Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the league, and GW head coach Tre Lamb was selected Coach of the Year. The conference win in 2022 marked the Runnin’ Bulldogs third overall Big South football title.

Women’s Basketball Brings History Home

The ��سԹ� Women’s Basketball team took its place in the history books on March 5, 2023, by winning both the Big South Tournament and the Big South regular season. At the championship game, the women claimed their 21st consecutive victory to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. They also finished 21-0 against Big South Competition, the best mark in the history of the league. And in that final game, forward Jhessyka Williams scored a season high 33 points, tying a championship game mark for most points scored by an individual.

��سԹ� Women’s Basketball earned four spots on the All-Big South Conference team and secured three of the league’s major awards.

Williams (Augusta, Ga.) was unanimously named Big South Player of the Year, forward Alasia Smith (Johnson City, Tenn.) was named Big South Defensive Player of the Year and head coach Alex Simmons was named Big South Coach of the Year.

Guards Lauren Bevis (High Point, N.C.) and Ki’Ari Cain (Sumter, S.C.) joined Williams and Smith on the All-Big South Conference team, with Bevis earning first-team honors and Cain earning an honorable mention selection. Bevis was also runner up for Big South Player of the Year.

Guard L’Mia Littlejohn (Shelby, N.C.) earned a spot on the Big South Conference All-Academic Team. Littlejohn
is an exercise science major who carries a 3.75 cumulative GPA. She plans to pursue a career in physical therapy upon graduation. A top reserve, Littlejohn played in 28 games during the regular season and knocked down 40.5 percent from beyond the three-point arc.

Williams was the first ��سԹ� standout to be named Player of the Year since Margaret Roundtree in 2010. The team finished the season with a 29-5 record.

Wrestlers Earned Individual Spots in the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships

Oklahoma City native R.J. Mosley became a three-time NCAA qualifier at 165 pounds and the first ��سԹ� wrestler to ever win back-to-back Southern Conference titles. Mosley went 24-5 during his final regular season and was 7-1 in Southern Conference action.

Jha’Quan Anderson made his second appearance in the national championships after earning an at-large bid. The Conyers, Ga., native advanced all the way to the SoCon finals at 184 pounds before dropping a decision in the finals. Anderson went 22-13 overall and was 7-1 against SoCon foes during the 2022-23 regular season.

��سԹ� has now seen 33 wrestlers advance to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships since 2000.

��سԹ� Tennis Earns Regular Season Title and Individual Honors

GWU Head Tennis Coach Mike Griffith was named the Coach of the Year while Victor Putter was honored as Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the Big South, as the team earned a regular season co-championship as well.

Griffith was selected as the coach of the year for the Big South for the second time in his career. The first came in 2019, which was the only other time in school history that GWU has won the conference title. He guided the team to a 15-6 mark in the regular season and 4-1 record against league opponents. The 15 wins marked the most in a single season since the team joined the Big South Conference.

Putter became the first in GWU history to earn the title of Scholar-Athlete of the Year in Men’s Tennis. He has compiled a 4.0 GPA in his four years at GWU while pursuing a degree in mathematics.

*Check out the companion story on Putter later in this section

Track and Field Athletes Chase Titles

The Big South Outdoor Championship events were highlighted by ��سԹ�’s Cameron Donoghue and Amy Prugh’s record-breaking finishes.

Donoghue, a Yarmouth Port, Mass., native, earned a first-place finish in the decathlon while also setting a GWU record and personal best for the event.

Prugh was named to the women’s All-Academic Team, and her season was also highlighted by a first-place honor for the 3000m Steeplechase at the Big South Outdoor Championship. Prugh also set a new ��سԹ� school record with the finish. Prugh posted a 3.94 GPA in economics/finance to earn the academic honors.

��سԹ� Pitcher Selected for Top Big South Honor

��سԹ� hurler Bobby Alcock, from Lynn, Mass., was voted the 2023 Big South Baseball Pitcher of the Year. Alcock is the first-ever Runnin’ Bulldog to be voted Big South Pitcher of the Year. He concluded the regular season as the Big South leader in strikeouts (99), ERA (2.20) and batting average allowed (.170). Alcock went 7-2 overall with three combined shutouts in 81.2 innings pitched, and permitted just seven extra base hits all season (five doubles, two home runs among 48 allowed) in his 13 appearances. Named to the College Baseball Foundation Pitcher of the Year Watch List, Alcock was a three-time Big South Pitcher of the Week honoree in 2023, and fanned at least 10 batters four times—including 12 in a 1-0 win over Longwood on March 18. In league games this season, he was tops in ERA (1.79), strikeouts per game (10.89), strikeouts (73), innings (60.1) and batting average against (.155) while going 5-2.

Alcock was also named to the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division I All-America Second Team and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) NCAA Division I All-Region Second Team in the Atlantic Region.

With all of these championships and individual honors, ��سԹ� Athletics has built a culture of competitive excellence. Our past, present, and future students will be inspired to become champions in competition, in the classroom and in our community.
Dr. Andrew T. Goodrich, vice president and director of Athletics

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Selected for ‘The Show’

��سԹ� — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 17:00:50 +0000

Mason Miller, Selected in Third Round of MLB Draft by the Oakland Athletics

Contributing writer Jacob Conley

��سԹ� pitcher Mason Miller thought his baseball career was finished and was all set to enter the world of finance.

However, Miller’s suit will be on the hanger a little longer in favor of a MLB uniform. He was selected in the third round of the 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Oakland Athletics.

“I love this game,” Miller asserted. “I feel like I’ve gotten a second chance, and I want to make the most of this opportunity.”

Miller is the fourth Runnin’ Bulldog to make it to “The Show,” joining Blake Lalli (Cubs), Emilio Pagan (Rays) and Jeremy Walker (Braves) in that exclusive fraternity.

He was a pro before he’s a pro. He doesn’t let anything get to him and just goes out there and takes care of business.
Jim Chester, Head Coach

“He was a pro before he’s a pro,” Head Coach Jim Chester said of Miller. “He doesn’t let anything get to him and just goes out there and takes care of business. He’s also great off the field and in the clubhouse. We were very blessed to have him here.”

His journey did not come without a few bumps in the road though. During his sophomore season at Division III Waynesburg University in Pennsylvania, Miller was diagnosed with Type I diabetes. Once the condition was treated, he gained roughly 35 pounds and several miles per hour on his fastball.

In 2020, before the season was cut short due to COVID-19, Miller thought his career was over. Then, the NCAA granted baseball players an extra year of eligibility. Miller took the opportunity to jump from Division III to Division I, and came to GWU because of Coach Jim Chester.

“Coach (Chester) is a Pennsylvania guy, and a lot of people I know and trust speak very highly of him,” Miller informed.

A six-foot-five, 205-pound righthander, Miller finished the 2021 season with an 8-1 record, forging a 3.30 ERA with 121 strikeouts in 92.2 innings of work. In fifteen trips to the mound, Miller fanned 10 or more batters on seven occasions, including a season-high 13 in a 6-2 win at Campbell on March 5.

Miller led the Big South Conference and ranked 21st in the nation with 121 strikeouts, the second most in a single season by a ��سԹ� pitcher and his .210 opponent batting average tops the all-time GWU listing.

Miller was a 2021 Big South All- Conference First Team selection and was named to the 2021 ABCA/Rawlings Division I Atlantic All-Region Second Team. He graduated from Gardner- Webb with a Master of Business Administration degree.

Reprinted with permission from The Shelby Star.

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Mad About Dancin’

Office of University Communications — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 19:11:00 +0000

Men’s Basketball Provides Opportunity for National Spotlight on GWU

When the buzzer ended the Big South Conference Championship Game on March 10, 2019, a celebration began as the Runnin’ Bulldogs Men’s Basketball Team realized, “We’re going dancin’.” The victory advanced ��سԹ� to the NCAA Men’s Tournament for the first time in program history.

The team’s win continued a rich basketball tradition at GWU—the Runnin’ Bulldogs previously made national tournament appearances at the NJCAA, NAIA and NCAA Division II levels.

Over the next 12 days, the players, coaches, students and community seized onto the “March Madness” experience.

MARCH 10, 2019

The Big South Win

D.J. Laster scored a career-high 32 points in ��سԹ�’s 76-65 win over defending Big South Conference champion Radford. The Runnin’ Bulldogs beat two straight higher-seeded teams in the semifinals and finals.

Even though Laster, tournament MVP, scored 32 points, it was a team effort on both sides of the ball as ��سԹ� shot 52 percent from the field (70 percent in the second half) while holding Radford to 41 percent and outrebounding Radford 35-31.
“I just knew I needed to play really hard, go hard and leave my legacy out there on the court,” said Laster.

“So I brought that approach from the jump ball. I felt it during starting lineups, that this was my last time to show what I’ve got. So I just went hard from the jump ball to the end.”

Although students were on spring break, the team didn’t have a quiet homecoming. Later that evening, hundreds of fans greeted the Runnin’ Bulldog bus when it pulled into the parking lot at Lutz-Yelton Convocation Center. Cheers and applause erupted from the crowd as the players stepped out.

MARCH 15, 2019

Celebration Continues

Following the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ victory, the historic achievement was a trending topic nationwide on Twitter and other social media platforms. According to Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Marc Rabb, Craft received interview requests from CBS, ESPN, “The Jim Rome Show,” and many other national outlets.

“There were so many reasons to be excited,” ��سԹ� Vice President for Athletics Chuck Burch noted. “Not only did it give the University national attention, but it gave our students and our alumni an incredible sense of pride to be a Runnin’ Bulldog. My phone was ringing constantly with former players and other alumni saying they were coming to watch us no matter where we played (in the Big Dance). The support was incredible. Boiling Springs businesses displayed championship banners and signs with messages of congratulations and support.”

The mayor of Boiling Springs, Bill Ellis, reveled in the win because he is a GWU alumnus and athletic hall-of-famer. Ellis played basketball under legendary GWU coach Eddie Holbrook from 1971-75. Boiling Springs businesses flew championship banners and displayed signs with messages of congratulations and support.

His freshman year the team made it to the final four in the NAIA, and in his senior year they earned a spot in the nationals. Ellis maintains his support of GWU as a lifetime member of the Bulldog Club and also serves on the Board of Trustees.

“My dream for ��سԹ� was always to go to the Big Dance,” Ellis reflected. “We have come real close before with other coaches, but Tim Craft got them all together. There was unity there, and they talked about it before the season started. I’ve been to practices and watched Tim coach behind the scenes. They pray together. He is building young people’s lives. He’s sincere all the way around.”

Dean of Students Sarah Currie noted that the excitement was contagious. “There was just a collective sense of joy,” Currie said. “You saw it on everybody’s face, you heard in their voices and you read it in their (social media) posts. The team’s win was a win for us all.”

One place to find that sense of joy was at The Bulldog Quik-Snak, a longtime local favorite restaurant. The words ��سԹ� and NCAA Tournament could be heard on the lips of many red and black-clad patrons.

Roger Passmore is a longtime fan of the Runnin’ Bulldogs program. “I remember coming to watch Artis Gilmore and all those guys from the late ’60s and
(early) ’70s,” related Passmore. “They were a big deal back them. It was good to see ��سԹ� get back to that same kind of attention.”

MARCH 22, 2019

The Dance

The ��سԹ� men’s basketball team took on top-seed Virginia, the eventual national champion, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 22, 2019, in Columbia, S.C. As the players stepped onto the court, they were met with a roar of approval from ��سԹ� fans who had made the two-hour drive from Boiling Springs and surrounding areas.

When the Runnin’ Bulldogs built as much as a 30-16 lead with just over six minutes left in the first half, that roar was deafening and sent shockwaves across the college basketball world.

“It felt like an ACC road game,” Virginia’s Kyle Guy said. “The crowd was definitely against us, and we had to overcome that.”

For coach Tim Craft and his players, the support of their fans was palpable. “Honestly I was in shock at how loud it was,” Craft said. “In all my years
of basketball, I’ve never seen or heard anything like that.”

Craft wasn’t the only one.

“I’ve been at ��سԹ� for five years and never heard it that loud,” forward Brandon Miller said. “It really motivated us to play our best. It was a crazy experience, something I will never forget.”

Unfortunately for the more than 1,500 ��سԹ� fans estimated to be in attendance and those watching around the world rooting for the upset,
the Runnin’ Bulldogs could not hold that lead and eventually fell 71-56.

Even with the loss, Craft’s message to his team was to enjoy what they accomplished. “I never want any team member to be satisfied with a loss, but I want them to be proud of what they did,” Craft said. “Virginia has beaten teams in the ACC by 20. We played right with them.”

Craft explained that the success of this March Madness appearance was a celebration of community, “‘Together’ was chosen by our players as the one word that would be most important to our team’s success. The idea was that we needed every individual to commit to playing for the team and for their teammates and not for themselves.” Craft added that the success and end-result of the spotlight pouring over ��سԹ� was nothing short of commitment and sacrifice …“by our players, our coaching staff
(and staff families), our administration, our athletic department staff, our faculty members, our student body, our alumni and our community – all working TOGETHER for many years to lead to this historical moment for ��سԹ�.”

��سԹ� takes on UVA in the 1st round of NCAA March Madness in Columbia, SC, March 22, 2019.

APRIL 7, 2019

National Media Attention

Despite the loss, ��سԹ� gained national and international media attention that lasted throughout the NCAA Tournament. According to the University’s marketing division, from March 10-April 10, the total number of media mentions of GWU was 10,145. The total earned media reach was over 6 billion. Website pageviews were up 57.77%, and virtual tours of GWU increased by more than 600%.

The University and the men’s basketball team returned to the national spotlight in a CBS television special that aired on Final Four Weekend.

From March 20-23, 2019, CBS commissioned a film crew to capture the excitement, energy and mayhem of ��سԹ�’s first men’s NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. They documented March Madness on the GWU campus through the eyes of two students, Jada Robbs, of Shelby, N.C., and Will Marvel, of Buford, Ga.

Robbs’ and Marvel’s stories were included in “CBS Four Sides of the Story, March Madness Begins,” a segment that examined the NCAA Tournament’s first week through four viewpoints (or four sides). From the student’s engagement (��سԹ�), to the NCAA officials, to a veteran broadcaster, to the graduate assistants of No. 7 seed Nevada, all angles were covered.

Marvel spoke about the opportunities the University has given him and its impact on his life. “I hoped people would see how special ��سԹ� is, and ultimately, get a glimpse into how strong the future is for this university,” he said.

Robbs described what being a student at ��سԹ� feels like. “Our school is something to take pride in,” she affirmed. “We have great people and a great community and the majority of those relationships are connected by the love of Christ.”

The CBS team immersed themselves into the GWU (and Cleveland County) lifestyle for several days. Coverage included sunrises over Lake Hollifield, classroom visits where Dr. Anthony Negbenebor dialogued about the economics of ��سԹ�’s March Madness breakthrough, students watching tournament games in a residence hall, and a ride along with the student fans on the tournament game bus. The crew also took in Cleveland County barbecue, the regional delicacy, livermush and even experienced Boiling Springs’ staples – the Snack Shop and Bulldog Quik-Snak.

Tucker Gragg, video director for the CBS crew, was impressed by the relationship between the community and University. “It became very clear to our crew immediately that the community was at the heart of everything,” he shared. “The community rallied behind the team when they left for the game, cheered them on during the game and supported them when they returned. Each student that we met took pride in being a part of the community and an ambassador for the school. My favorite part about being on campus was the way each student/faculty member greeted each other. There were no strangers on this campus and that really helped solidify the sense of community.”

This story includes excerpts from articles written by Jacob Conley, a 2008 GWU alumnus and sports correspondent for the Shelby (N.C.) Star.

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