Bearcats Unleashed

Bass Fishing

The bass fishing team placed five boats in the Top 12 at the Major League Fishing (MLF) Central Conference Qualifier on the Lake of the Ozarks in October, earning berths into the MLF National Championship to be held at Fort Gibson, Okla., in March. Senior Bailey Bleser and graduate student Nate Doty caught five bass weighing in at 14 pounds 4 ounces to take first place. Junior Nick Holtgrave and firstyear Jaxson Freeman finished in fourth place; seniors Tyler Christy and Trey Schroeder finished in fifth place; sophomore Colton Head and junior Trey Budach finished in eighth place; and first-years Lane Stephens and Kyle Hopping finished in 12th place.

Football

Three Bearcats earned All-Great Lake Valley Conference (GLVC) first-team accolades this season, including redshirt sophomore receiver Jacob Bachman, senior center Jake Stevenson and sophomore defensive lineman Sidney Houston. The Bearcats’ lone second-team All-GLVC selection was redshirt junior receiver Steven Towns, Jr. Twelve players earned honorable mentions All-GLVC accolades.

Golf

First-year women’s golfer Imogen Rafferty won three tournaments this fall, including the USI Screaming Eagles Invitational at Cambridge Golf Course on Sept. 13, Lady Panther Fall Invitational at Silo Ridge Golf Club on Sept. 21 and Flyer Intercollegiate at Cog Hill Golf Club on Oct. 5.

The men’s golf team closed out the fall season with three straight tournament titles. First-year Fabian Wennerlof led the field at the Bearcat Dual Gender Tournament at Far Oaks Golf Club on Oct. 19 and the Kentucky Wesleyan Fall Invitational at The Pearl Club on Oct. 31. Junior Phasin Vichitcharoenpaisarn won medalist honors at both the Flyer Intercollegiate at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club on Oct. 5 and the Midwest Regional at Fox Run Golf Club on Oct. 12.

Tennis

The men’s tennis team finished out the fall season with two individual titles. In September, graduate student Boriss Kamdem won the men’s singles title at the ITA Fall Circuit at Dwight Davis Tennis Center and junior Ryan Fung captured the men’s “C” draw singles title at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships at Grand Valley State University.

Head women’s bowling coach and eight-time World Champion Shannon O’Keefe rode in the Go Bowling float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Two members of the Bearcat women’s wrestling team were recently featured on the Family Feud. Senior Joye Levendusky and her sister, first-year Esther, competed in two episodes of the show in May, along with their sister Grace, father Derek and mother Heidi.

Soccer

The men’s soccer team reached the quarterfinals in the GLVC Championship Tournament. Senior forward James Stone and senior midfielder Eddie Davis were named to the All-GLVC first team and junior defender Cole Gerstenberger was named to the All-GLVC third team. James was also named to the United Soccer Coaches Midwest Region second team.

Water Polo

The men’s varsity water polo team finished second at the 2021 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference-West (MAWPC) Regional Championships and third at the 2021 Collegiate Water Polo Association Division I Championships. Five Bearcats were selected to the MAWPC-West Region All-Conference Team. Graduate student utility player Michael Rojas was named to the first team, while fifth-year senior goalie Ori Scanlon, senior utility player Matthew Haygood, graduate student Uros Pelemis and senior attacker Nico Rodriguez received second team nods.

The men’s club team recorded a program-best sixth place finish at the 2021 Men’s National Collegiate Club Water Polo Championships.

Staff/Coach News

Longtime collegiate women’s basketball coach Paula Buscher was named as the school’s interim assistant athletic director and senior woman administrator. Paula comes to McKendree after spending the past 35 years coaching women’s basketball at both the NCAA Division I and II levels and most recently spent nine years as the head women’s basketball coach at SIUE.

Other new athletic hires include Ben Greenberg, sports information director; Patrick Knapinski, assistant sports information director; Brad Bechel, head powerlifting coach; Barry Ford, head men’s and women’s track and field coach; Alec Nichols ’00, Division II head men’s hockey coach; Heather Tarter, head softball coach; and Cameron Wyper, head men’s and women’s rugby coach.

Women’s Soccer Spotlight

With a 12-2-2 regular season record, the women’s soccer team earned a fourth-straight GLVC regular season title. The No. 4 seeded Bearcats got an at-large bid to their fifth-straight NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament, before losing in the opening round to conference foe University of Indianapolis.

As a team this season, the Bearcats had 1.72 goals per match and outscored their opponents 31-15. The defense only allowed 7.3 shots per game and less than 50 percent of opposing shots to be on-goal.

Three Bearcats earned All-GLVC First Team honors, including senior midfielder Emma Knoebel of Maryville, Ill., junior defender Morgan Bova of Troy, Mo. and sophomore forward/midfielder Anna Stiffler of O’Fallon, Mo. Coming off a standout season in the spring, where she garnered GLVC Co-Freshman of the Year honors, Anna earned GLVC Player of the Week nods twice this fall. Anna and Emma also earned United Soccer Coaches Midwest Region second team honors.

After playing two seasons in the same calendar year (the 2020 season was played from February 2021 through April 2021, after being rescheduled due to COVID), 24 players returned for the fall season. “This year has been unbelievable, just great for this program,” said 2020-21 GLVC Coach of the year and Head Coach Tim Strange. “These players deserve a ton of credit playing through the spring and turning around to do it right away again this fall. They achieved so much on top of just playing the games.”

FAN // ZONE

Tune in to listen to live audio play-by-play on the GLVC Sports network at www.glvcsn.com/mckendree/. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Check out McKBearcats.com for upcoming schedules, team news, and to purchase tickets. Visit shopmckendree.com to buy official athletics gear!

The women’s hockey team held a special signing ceremony for Raeanne Toennies, who is disabled and in a wheelchair. She has been a part of the Bearcat women’s hockey program the past three years through a program called Team IMPACT. At the signing ceremony, Raeanne and her mother signed her letter of intent to compete in hockey for McKendree. She received an official team jersey and was presented with her own locker in the locker room. Raeanne participates in weekly Zoom calls with the team and attends games and practices when she can and offers support to our players and coaches.

Team IMPACT has a mission to improve the quality of life for children facing serious and chronic illnesses through the power of teams, forming life-long bonds and life-changing outcomes. Throughout this journey, the child gains strength, camaraderie, and support while the student-athletes experience lessons of courage, resiliency and perspective they can’t learn in a classroom.

Beach Volleyball Coming to McKendree

One of the fastest-growing NCAA sports - women’s beach volleyball - will be the newest intercollegiate sport at McKendree beginning in the 2022-23 academic year.

“This is an exciting time for McKendree Athletics as the emergence of beach volleyball at the collegiate level continues to grow at a rapid rate and we’re excited to be able to add the sport to our intercollegiate athletics program here at McKendree and also to the metro east area,” said Director of Athletics Anthony Francis. “I’m very confident that our new beach volleyball program will be a fit here at McKendree and will be able to succeed in conjunction with our current women’s indoor volleyball program.”

With the addition of beach volleyball, McKendree will now sponsor a total of 25 NCAA athletic programs, including 13 NCAA women’s sports and 37 intercollegiate athletic teams overall.

715 Total gifts Received $135,17o Total Dollars raised 122 Donations to bearcat pantry from 23 individuals $43,000 challenge gifts received

We did it, Bearcats! Thank you to all who gave back and helped to make #GivingTuesday 2021 a huge success for McKendree University. The University participated in its 7th annual #GivingTuesday on November 30 and it was the largest #GivingTuesday in dollars raised to date. The collective contributions from this incredible community of alumni, faculty, staff, students, family and friends will create countless opportunities for our students and impact the future of this great institution.

Holman Library 552 Challenge $25,000 to the Annual Fund Renovation Michael Gauble’s 40 Years of Service Challenge Learning & Conference Center $15,000 to the Annual Fund Dr. Rennegarbe’s 44 Challenge $1,000 to the Division of Nursing Renovation Studies| Occupancy Study Alumni Board Finish Strong Challenge $1,500 to the Annual Fund President Dobbins’ Alumni Challenge $1,000 Division of Nursing - 28 alumni gifts

Holly Sallee ’13, MBA ’18 Director of Annual Giving and Advancement Systems

Didn’t get a chance to make your gift? You can still support McKendree before the end of the fiscal year on June 30. Visit: giving.mckendree.eduor call 618.537.6824.

Renovations will be taking place on the south side of the second floor beginning in January 2022. As you head upstairs and peer to your right, you will see not stacks of books but a space filled with eye-catching, modular furnishings and the latest technology, including drop-down microphones, enhanced video and sound technology and large screens with projectors. This space, which will seat up to 75 people, will be a meeting room in which presentations are given, Board of Trustees’ meetings or Brown Bags are hosted and collaboration is fostered.

Debbie (Miller) Houk ’91, director of Holman Library, is also eagerly anticipating the changes to the building and what it means for the library’s future. “The renovation will allow us to better serve the student population – we can have more collaborative spaces, areas for studying and allow for better use of technology,” she said. “The library is a great place for resources and to receive assistance with assignments or projects. I believe the renovation will increase the visibility of the library and be a place for more students to collaborate and study.”

Holman Library is Turning a New Page with Exciting Renovations

Ever since its completion in 1969, Holman Library has been the home of the University’s countless books, several computers and quiet corners in which students tuck themselves away to study. Now, the library is getting some much-needed renovations to make it an even more student-friendly study space.

Upper Level Floor Plan Total Occupancy 178 people

Holman Library Renovation – Phase 1 Concept Drawing (Upper Level)

New Learning & Conference Center

From the Alumni Board President

Hello, Alumni and Friends,

Now that we have entered into this new year, it is time to reunite with McKendree family, friends and alumni.

I was very pleased to see so many alumni during Homecoming Weekend. It was great to see the campus alive again.

The pandemic caused all of us to pause and put our health and safety of others at the forefront, which also led us to limit our alumni engagement activities. Now that the world has begun to open up to a new “normal,” I encourage you to reengage and become more involved in the Alumni Association.

This spring will bring several engagement opportunities for you to attend. The Alumni Association will be sponsoring several events over the upcoming semester. Join us in Florida for the Cardinals Spring Training from March 25 to March 27. We will also spend an afternoon at the Fabulous Fox Theater for a showing of Hamilton. Don’t forget about Commencement! It will be held on Friday, May 13.

There are also several opportunities throughout the year for you to volunteer at McKendree events. You can join the Alumni Association Board and be involved in the planning of various events. Aside from serving on the Board, you can also give back to McKendree by donating gently-used clothing to Bogey‘s Career Closet and signing up to be a potential mentor in the newly established Career Connector Program that the Alumni Board, Personal and Professional Development Committee has created.

I look forward to seeing you and working with you over the upcoming months. Let’s continue to reunite and become

One McKendree.

Ryan Furniss ’00

From the Alumni Director

Dear Alumni,

I hope that all of you are healthy and staying safe as we have entered this new year. As the newly-appointed Director of Alumni Relations, I want to highlight a few events that the Office of Alumni Relations has successfully sponsored this academic year and update you on future events that might be of interest to you.

The 2021 Homecoming Weekend was an overwhelming success, and we were gratified to see the number of alumni and their guests attend the on-campus events. The actionpacked weekend hosted several events such as the Golden Anniversary Reunion, Homecoming Parade, Bearcat Tailgate and the annual Alumni Awards, to name a few. Our office was inspired, as well as grateful, to see so many alumni “reunited” once again.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all of us in deeply personal ways; however, the Alumni office continues its mission to connect, engage and involve our alumni in activities that will strengthen their bond with McKendree University. We have resumed our Purple Friday engagement program. I visited a number of employers that employ many McKendree alumni. It has been a great opportunity to connect with various alumni in different career fields to bring them McKendree swag and other goodies.

In this new year, the Office of Alumni Relations will continue to bring new and exciting alumni events, including Hamilton at the Fabulous Fox Theater, Spring Training with the Cardinals in Jupiter, Florida and a host of other events. Please be sure to follow McKendree Alumni on social media, the McKendree University website and the Bearcat Buzz for more detailed information.

I look forward to seeing you on campus very soon.