16
alumni
& friends
JIMMIES ON A NATIONAL STAGE HOW A TIME OF ADVERSITY LEADS TO SUCCESS
by: Sean Johnson Adversity is a word often used in college athletics. This year, student-athletes and staff across the country faced a myriad of unique challenges presented by the COVID pandemic. At UJ, our student-athletes responded to that adversity in a positive way. Amidst new ways of learning, practicing and playing, our students athletes excelled. They managed their time, working with their professors as their athletic schedules continued to change. They communicated with their coaches, making sacrifices when needed to continue to succeed academically. Through it all, they put in extra time and effort to not just get through this pandemic, but to come out of it exceeding all expectations, with many athletes competing and excelling on the national stage.
The final story of national significance encapsulates what it means to be a Jimmie student-athlete. Senior Ruben Zepeda, a native of Puebla, Mexico, was named College Sports Information Directors of America First Team Academic AllAmerica. One of the Soccer program’s all-time leading scorers, Zepeda earned a perfect 4.0 grade point average in Mechanical Engineering, making him just the sixth University of Jamestown student-athlete to earn first team Academic All-America honors. Adversity came in strong this year. But we came out stronger.
GO JIMMIES!
For the Jimmie men’s basketball team, this year was a chance to compete in one of the most iconic facilities in the history of college basketball, the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. They even competed at a new level: from NAIA Division 2 to Division 1. The Jimmie women’s volleyball team proved time and time again they could adjust to changes. Their run on the national stage was pushed from the fall to the spring, which meant a return to competing in the second semester. While this new schedule may seem daunting to some, the team used the extra time to fine-tune their skills—leading to a national ranking. The high-profile volleyball success didn’t stop with the Jimmie women, as the UJ men burst onto the national scene. In just their second year of existence, the team showed the importance of quality time over quantity. No, they don’t have years of experience under their belts. But they took the time they did have to come together as a team, leading to victory in the GPAC tournament. Finally, the national women’s collegiate wrestling spotlight again fell on the University of Jamestown, as we hosted the 2021 NAIA Women’s Wrestling Invitational. No championship event has battled through more challenges since its inception in 2019. In year one, the region was crippled by a brutal blizzard. Year two was cancelled just 20 hours before the first match due to the COVID pandemic. Year three, this March, the show returned to Jamestown but not without additional hurdles. Our staff at UJ came through, putting in the extra hours and rigorous protocols needed to keep competitors and fans safe. The event was a huge success with no positive tests and incredible competition with UJ finishing seventh as a team and seven student-athletes earning All-America honors.
Sophomore Mason Walters ’23 was named first team NAIA All-America, becoming the youngest Jimmie to ever earn first team status, and was also named to the NAIA All-Tournament team.
