SHINING MOMENTS

In short, Cumberlands athletics had the best year in the school’s history. A total of 23 out of 28 teams this year finished 3rd or better in their respective conferences. Cumberlands won the President’s Cup by 17 points, the largest margin of victory by any school since the President’s Cup began. This year marked the first time in the history of the MSC that a single school has won the cross country, indoor, and outdoor championship all in the same season. Additionally, a record-setting 184 student-athletes were named to the Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete list, marking the fifth consecutive year Cumberlands has set a new university record.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

The women’s basketball team had a historic season, winning 16 conference games in a season, the most in program history. They set an NAIA tournament record along with a program record for most combined points in a game in their 117-108 triple overtime win over Midway. The team is also just the second team to win multiple NAIA tournament games in the same postseason. Individually, Kassie Monday became UC's single season assist leader, dishing out 203 over the season, while she also notched 100 career steals. Destiny Haworth set the single season mark, converting 46.5% from behind the arc, while her career 45.7% from three-point range ranks first in program history. Victory Fredricks' 44 blocks are the second most for a single season, while Lakin Burke holds the second-best field goal percentage at 62.8%. Finally, Kaylie Monday tallied 87 steals on the year, which is third most for a season, while her 150 career steals rank sixth all-time.

Archery

Patriots Archery set three national records and six program records at the USA Indoor National Championships. Tyler Woosley set a pair of men's barebow national records, while Madison Cox broke the women's compound national record. The team also captured MSC Outdoor and Overall Conference titles this year; it’s the program’s fifth straight Overall title. Team members won MSC Women’s Shooter of the Year, both MSC Freshman of the Year awards, MSC Coach of the Year Award (the third straight year and fourth time overall Head Coach Kris

Strebeck, ’02, MAT ’13 has won), and MSC Assistant Coach of the Year (Caleb Kirby, ’16, MBA ’19) for the second straight year. The Patriots won their second consecutive national title for outdoor and became the first school ever to capture all three USA Archery national titles (3D, indoor, and outdoor) in the same season. The team had eight podium finishes at outdoor nationals this year.

Softball

Patriots Softball had a historic season. They were the No. 1 seed in the 2023 NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round, with Cumberlands’ softball complex hosting Opening Round games. The team won both the MSC regular season and tournament titles, had a 44-3-1 overall record, and was undefeated in conference play at 21-0. The Pats rank in the top 15 nationally in 12 different categories, including best fielding percentage in the country at .986. The team set three program records by earning 12 MSC All-Conference honors, six Golden Gloves, and four major MSC awards. They advanced to the program's first-ever NAIA World Series after clinching a 10-inning Opening Round game. In the semifinals at the NAIA World Series the historic season came to a close with a 3-0 loss to Oregon Tech. They finished with the best record in program history at 49-5-1 with a third place NAIA World Series finish.

Cross Country

The women’s cross country team came away from the NAIA National Championships with a 23rd place team finish, the third highest in program history. Freshman Emily Bird, was the first Patriot finisher that day. This year marked the team's third straight MSC title and NAIA Nationals appearance. They brought home MSC Freshman and Coach of the Year. The men’s team finished runner-up at the MSC Championships.

TRACK & FIELD

The women’s team made program history by winning the MSC Outdoor Championships. The women’s head coach and assistant coach both won MSC Coaches of the Year. Runner Kathryn Couch, ’23, was named Champion of Character for the second year in a row. The men’s team came away with runner-up finishes in both the MSC Outdoor and Indoor Championships. Bailey Muncey won the Champion of Character Award. Both the men’s and women’s teams broke program records this year. The teams competed in the NAIA National Championships, which began on May 24th.

WOMEN'S SOCCER

The women’s soccer team advanced to the NAIA Semi-Finals for the first time in program history. It was the third straight season they made it to the final tournament site. Laura Navajas, ’23, became the program’s leader in assists. The team had 11 shutouts this season. In addition, among other records and milestones this season, they captured their first Mid-South Conference regular season championship since 1999. Since the 2018 season, Cumberlands has won at least 15 games every season, notching a .819 winning percentage. It’s the best winning stretch in the program's history.

SWIMMING & DIVING

Both the men’s and women’s teams set several program records this year. The women’s team won its 11th straight MSC title, and the men’s team captured its fifth straight MSC title. The women’s team posted a pair of national runnerup finishes, and diver Emma Lehmkuhl, ’23, was this year’s 3-meter National Champion. On the men’s team, Jokubas Jankauskas broke the NAIA record en route to his first national title in the 200-meter backstroke, helping the men’s team place 4th in the NAIA Championships.

Tennis

Both men’s and women’s tennis tallied the 11th-seed at their sixthever national tournament, earning the highest seed for either team in program history. The men captured their first MSC regular season title since 2003 and their first NAIA Tournament crown in program history. They won 80.5% of their singles matches this year. The women won the MSC regular season championship, their third conference title in program history.

Lacrosse

The women’s lacrosse team won the AAC regular season championship and had 11 AAC All-Conference selections. Bella Richiazzi, ’23, won back-to-back NAIA Player of the Year awards and broke the NAIA tournament record for goals (eight) and tied the NAIA record for points in a game (10). The team had a 16-3 record. Meanwhile, the men’s lacrosse finished runner-up in the AAC Tournament and claimed the third seed for the NAIA National Invitational, the highest seed in program history. The Pats were second in the NAIA for caused turnovers this season with 358 and averaged 13.29 goals per game. They closed out the season with a 13-6 record, tying the program record for wins in a season.

Baseball

For the third straight season, Patriots Baseball clinched the MidSouth Conference Tournament title. The Pats took both the regular season and tournament titles, marking them as the undisputed champs. Fifteen baseball players garnered all-conference honors, along with the team also winning two Golden Gloves, Freshman of the Year, and Head Coach of the Year. They advanced to the NAIA World Series for the first time in program history. Charlie Muniz broke an NAIA Opening Round record while tying school records. Head Coach Brad Shelton notched his 1,000th career win. They finished their historic season in Lewiston, ID after a 4-3 loss against MidAmerica Nazarene in the NAIA World Series. Their final season record was closed at 49-9, with a conference record of 23-5.