鶹ý City University built on its impressive history of competition in the Sooner Athletic Conference this month when a pair of teams brought home conference championships.
On March 3, 鶹ý’s women’s wrestling team claimed the program’s first Sooner Athletic Conference crown, outpacing top competitor Wayland Baptist University by a mere 1.5 points in the team race.
In the process, the Stars crowned two individual conference champions – Alexis Miller at 103 pounds and Iby Garcia at 110 pounds – and had seven other wrestlers earn spots on the podium.
First-year head coach William McKinney was honored with the SAC Coach of the Year award. The coach said his athletes “stepped up at the biggest moments.”
“I couldn’t be prouder of how they competed and represented 鶹ý,” McKinney sad. “The bond this team has is special – they wrestle for each other, and that makes all the difference.”
The Stars advanced to the NAIA championships on March 14-15, where they fought to a 14th-place national finish that featured a national finalist run by Miller and additional All-American honors for Sofia Abramson and Natalia Posada.
The second conference title of the month came March 8, when 鶹ý’s competitive cheerleading team claimed victory in the SAC championship meet hosted inside the Freede Center.
鶹ý topped the tables with a score of 91.82 points, besting second-place Xavier University of Louisiana (last year’s NAIA championship runner-up) by 1.67 points.
The victory also gave the stars a sweep in the individual conference awards, with Scotty Banfield winning conference Performer of the Year, Matthew Carmen claiming Newcomer of the Year, and coach Alicia Bailey being named Coach of the Year.
“I am very proud of this team for the conference win,” Bailey said. “We have known all year long that our conference this year would be tough.”
The Stars this week traveled to Ypsilanti, Michigan, for the NAIA championship meet, where they will seek the program’s third national title. Competition is scheduled for March 28-29.
“The team is looking really good right now heading into nationals,” Bailey said. “We feel like we have a great chance of bringing home the banner this year. Our difficulty level matches the competitors we will see, so it will come down to who executes and performs the best.”
The event can be live-streamed through the .