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| Upcoming Events: Sat., Jan. 14: Saint Mary's at U. of Minnesota Open, Minneapolis, Minn. |
Cardinals can write sequel to memorable '05 season
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Ellen
Koranda NCAA Outdoor qualifier in '05 |
In fact, on more than one occasion during the off-season, Nauman would catch himself reliving some of the "clips" from his Cardinals' highlight-reel season.
* There was Ashley Dingels (pentathlon), Rob Friendt (heptathlon) and Maria Roche (New Prague, Minn. / 600) winning Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference indoor titles.
* There was the Cardinal women's fourth-place showing in the MIAC Indoor Championships — SMU's best-ever team finish.
* There was Dingels placing 13th in the high jump at the NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships.
And that was just the indoor season.
* There was Dingels completing the MIAC multi-event double, winning the outdoor heptathlon — shattering the school and conference records in the process.
* There was Dingels and Ellen Koranda (Blue Earth, Minn.) representing SMU at the NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championships.
* And there was Dingels clearing 5-feet-7 to place fourth in the NCAA high jump — earning the then-senior the third All-American honor of her career.
Nauman admits that the Cardinals' success a year ago made for a rather enjoyable off-season, but he is also well aware that what happened in 2005 doesn't guarantee anything for 2006.
The return of athletes like Koranda, Roche, Megan Mason (Rochester, Minn.), Autumn Valk (Appleton, Wis.), Emily Bartusek (Albert Lea, Minn.), Beth Cleveland (Wausau, Wis.), Amanda Weinmann (Rochester, Minn.), Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston,, Minn.), Dan Gerber (Belvidere, Ill.) and Jon Pace (Minocqua, Wis.), however, does keep Nauman rather optimistic heading into his team's season-opener at the University of Minnesota Open on Jan. 14.
So does the additoin of newcomers Ember Anderson (Blackbuck, Minn.), Sam Oreskovich (Prior Lake, Minn.), Chris Fisette (Elmhurst, Ill.), Joe Holman (Suamico, Wis.), Ryan Oldsberg (Jordan, Minn.) and Joe Weinmann (Rochester, Minn.).
"It's hard to believe the (indoor) season is already here — it seems like just yesterday we were at the (NCAA Division III outdoor) nationals," said Nauman. "Last year was a very good year for us. It was another stepping stone toward our ultimate goal.
"We had a lot of outstanding achievements last year, and, hopefully, we can pick up right where we left off this year."
One thing that will need to be picked up is the slack left by the graduation of Dingels, a four-time MIAC champion and a three-time All-American.
That task, according to Nauman, won't be easy.
"There's no way one individual is going to replace the impact that Ashley had on this program," the SMU coach said. "But our success last season wasn't just the Ashley Dingels Show. We had a number of individuals who stepped up and made huge contributions — and we don't expect that to change.
"We've got a great group of returners who have already made their mark on our program, and we had a really solid recruiting year, so I expect us to continue to make some noise around the conference," said Nauman, whose teams have broken 50 school records and had 14 athletes on the NCAA qualifying lists during his first two seasons. "I'm excited about what the future holds and I can't wait to see these guys in action."