CAMPUS NEWS
ATHLETICS RECAP
FOOTBALL
With the fall season complete, the Warrior football team began focusing on the 2021 campaign and announced the signing of 46 recruits in early February, a group of incoming Warriors that includes 11 from Iowa and two more players from southern Minnesota.
In the first half of the season, the Warriors swept Faith Baptist Bible College during an 11-match schedule, which included seven NSAA matches. Compiling a 2-9 record in the fall, Waldorf is poised to make a charge during the league’s spring slate.
Fantastic finishes highlight football season The Warrior athletic teams hit the fields and courts with renewed enthusiasm this fall and winter, celebrating a return to competition after seeing the world of sports put on hold by COVID in March. Facing the challenges of competing in “the new normal” Waldorf’s athletic teams excelled this fall with the Warrior football team going 6-3 in North Star Athletic Association play, and a pair of Warrior cross country runners earning AllNSAA honors at their championship meet. Meanwhile, men’s and women’s soccer, and volleyball also competed strong but saw their season take a unique twist as all three programs also have games scheduled for the spring with their respective championship tournament planned for April. Facing the same unique challenges, winter sports continue to compete with basketball, wrestling, bowling, indoor track & field, and hockey all in action.
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The Waldorf football team racked up an impressive 6-3 record on the season, and in NSAA play, doing it in dramatic fashion with back-to-back fantastic finishes to close out another successful campaign. The Warriors rallied for 13 points in the final 5 minutes to beat Presentation, 13-6, on the road, then closed out the season at home celebrating Senior Day and scoring 10 points in the final 2 minutes to rally past Dakota State, 17-16. Along with the two frantic finishes that highlighted the season, the Warrior football team also saw 17 players honored by the NSAA with All-Conference honors, led by 1st Team honorees running back Jatoviay Hill (who led the NSAA in rushing), wide receiver Ryan Martinez (Waldorf’s career receiving TD leader), linebacker Thomas Edwards (who led the NSAA in sacks), kicker Slater Gifford (Waldorf’s career FG and PAT leader), offensive lineman Maxwell Drebenstedt, defensive lineman Logan Knutson, and defensive back James Jackson Jr., and first-year head coach Will Finley was honored by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) as he was named to the 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute.
WALDORF MAGAZINE // SPRING 2021
WOMEN'S SOCCER CROSS COUNTRY/TRACK & FIELD
Pair of Top 10 finishes for cross country Waldorf runners Naomi Alvarez and Dillan Plummer led the way at the NSAA Championship in South Dakota in November, each earning All-Conference honors. Alvarez was eighth individually for the Waldorf women, who finished fourth as a team, while Plummer finished ninth in the men’s race for the Warriors, who also were fourth as a team.
VOLLEYBALL
Volleyball plays 1st half of split season The Warrior volleyball team play half of its NSAA schedule during the fall, as the league opted for a split season with the NAIA Championships moved to the spring. The Warriors return to the court in March for more league contests.
Women’s soccer off to strong start Led by the prolific scoring of Sydney Boyd and Autumn Petersen, the Waldorf women’s soccer team went 6-4 in the fall portion of its schedule and returns to play in March. Boyd netted 10 goals in the fall and needs 5 more to match the school record of 15 held by Heather Collins (2006) for a single season. Petersen has 22 points with 7 goals and 8 assists and needs just four more points to match the single-season record of 26 points set by Brittney Thornton (2016). With that duo leading the way, the Warriors enjoyed a threegame victory streak in the fall that saw them outscore opponents 25-0. Currently third in the Association of Independent Institution standings, the Waldorf women will play four more games in March as the team looks to earn its first berth to the A.I.I. Championships in April.
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