Congratulations to the IWU baseball team on their World Series victory! The team won 11 of their last 12 and 17 of their last 21 games to take home their first-ever national championship, and they did so just four days after the IWU women's track team won the Division III outdoor track championships. Congratulations to Coach Schumacher and his team as well! The two titles were the fourth and fifth in IWU history, respectively; the women's track team won both the indoor and outdoor championships in 2008, and the men's basketball team won it all in 1997.
So just how exciting was the IWU sports scene in 2010? Here's a summary from IWU Sports Information Director Stew Salowitz:
Including baseball, 10 Illinois Wesleyan teams were involved in NCAA postseason competition in 2009-10: football and women's soccer advanced to the second round; men's basketball went to the final eight and women's basketball to the final 16; softball won three games in the regional; men's golf tied for 15th and women's golf placed 13th in their national tournaments; women's indoor track tied for fourth and the women's outdoor track team won the Division III championship last weekend. In addition, IWU has sent individuals to the NCAA championships in women's cross country, women's swimming and men's swimming.
It seems like there should be some way to acknowledge such a great year across the board, doesn't it? Well we're in luck, because there is! Each year, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics awards the Directors Cup, which is given to the school in each division that accomplishes the most athletically. I'm not sure exactly what the current standings account for (though they definitely do not yet include these two championships), but IWU is ranked ninth in Division III. It seems somewhat likely that after the two spring championships, the Titans will finish in the top five, something they've never done since the Cup was first awarded in 1996.
