New coaches, broken records and championship runs all made headlines this fall as Storm Athletics stepped into a new age.
Most notably this season, after hiring new Head Football Coach Reed Hoskins, Storm football improved to a record of 3-7 overall and 2-6 in conference play over their single-win season just a year ago.
Fifth-year wide receiver Reed Worth used his final season to set program records in both career touchdowns (35) and receiving yards (3,265).
Worth, fellow senior Wyatt Schaben and sophomore CJ Hangartner were all selected to the All-American Rivers Conference team.
Soccer remained a bright spot for the Storm as the women’s team went 16-3-2 and advanced to the NCAA DIII Tournament by way of an at-large bid. This marked the second time in program history that the team had made it to the tournament. The historical season ultimately came to a close in the second round as the team fell 3-1 to Wis.-La-Crosse.
With a stacked roster, the team had five get all-conference recognition. Senior Julia Wagoner was named Defensive MVP, with fellow seniors Hailey Kowzan, Lani Mears and Cassie Nash all securing First Team honors. Sophomore Brissa Valadez also secured First Team recognition, with Jordyn Foelske rounding out the bunch as an Honorable Mention.
Men’s soccer finished 7-10-1, ending their season in the ARC Tournament First Round.
The team had four players tabbed for all-conference recognition, with junior Espoire Nkomezi, senior Matt Hasken and freshman Zach Kline grabbing Honorable Mention titles. Senior Ronaldo Ordaz received the team’s highest honors with a First Team designation.
Cross-country had a phenomenal fall as the program began its season regionally ranked. Both the men and the women ranked in the top 10 on the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Midwest Regional Preseason Rankings.
The cross-country season ended with three runners heading to the NCAA DIII Championships. These runners included fifth-year seniors Ean Warrick and Spencer Moon and senior Lara Kallem. Kallem, who finished 131st of 293, was the first woman Storm runner to make it to this level of competition in almost 15 years. For the men, the perennial stud Moon finished 94th in a field just short of 300 in his third national meet, while Warrick found a placing of 167th.
Women’s volleyball also had a solid season this fall as they made their way to the ARC Semifinals, which they dropped to Dubuque. The team had three all-conference recipients, with freshman Emily Williams receiving a first-team nod and sophomore Peyton Mitchell and senior Iman Ghalibaf receiving honorable mentions.
“I believe we have made significant progress with our fall sports programs,” Director of Athletics Marty Bell said in a statement to The Simpsonian. “The success we enjoyed with our women’s soccer and cross-country teams reaching the NCAA postseason is the standard of excellence we are striving for.
“We had an unprecedented 10 consecutive weeks with at least one Storm athlete earning player of the week honors from the conference. Additionally, we had a school record: 75 fall sport athletes received A-R-C Academic All-Conference recognition. My expectation is to carry this momentum forward with our winter and spring sports and continue to build on our Simpson Athletics culture and success.”
