A Tradition of Excellence
The Vanguard University Athletic Department is proud of the program’s history athletically and academically. The names of 171 NAIA Scholar-Athlete All-Americans from the past 19 years are proudly displayed in a trophy case in Vanguard’s gymnasium (The Pit). Student-Athletes who qualify for this distinction have excelled both on the playing field and in the classroom and most have also earned Academic All-GSAC honors. Fully supporting the NAIA’s Champions of Character initiative, Vanguard also recognizes a male and female Champion of Character on a yearly basis. In 2003, Jessica Lenderman, VU’s 2002 Female Champion of Character, received the LeRoy Walker Sportsmanship Award, the highest non-athletic honor given by the NAIA. Last year, VU’s Female Champion of Character, Marissa Cothran, was a finalist for the same annual award.
On both the field and court, VU has built a tradition of athletic excellence that began in the 1970's with 7 individual National Championships in Track and Field in 1974, three straight District III Wrestling Titles in 1973, 1974, and 1975, and a District Baseball Championship in 1978. The baseball team won the District III Championship in 1985 and 1987, and in 1985 they finished fourth in the nation at the NAIA Baseball World Series. Tim Fortugno and Jim Dedrick, both baseball alumni, advanced through the system to be major league pitchers. Vanguard finished the 2002 season with a Championship in the Region II Baseball Tournament and proceeded on to the NAIA Super Regionals where they missed advancing to the NAIA World Series by one win. In June of 2002, VU’s 1st-Team All-American, Chad Chop, was selected in the 6th round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Montreal Expos. Chop and VU’s most recent draft selection, Nicolas Crouch, (2005, 26th round by the Chicago Cubs) are currently playing in the minor leagues.
Men's Basketball has one of the longest sports traditions in the history of the school. The men's basketball teams have qualified for playoffs 21 times, reaching the semifinal of the postseason tournament 13 times and playing for the championship five times. They won the GSAC Championship in 1987, 1989, and 1990, and won the District III Title in 1990 to qualify for the National Tournament.
The Men's Cross Country team advanced to the NAIA National Meet in 1994 and finished 22nd in the nation. They returned to the NAIA meet in 1995 and placed 25th. Jenny Thune and Elizabeth Huipe led the VU Women’s Cross Country team to its first team appearance at the NAIA Cross Country Championships in 2004. Thune, who finished as an All-American in 29th place, paced the Lions to a 19th place finish as a team, another program-best mark. Vanguard has also had several individuals post remarkable track and field performances in the past ten years, including an NAIA high jump championship by Kevin Carlson in 1996. In 2005, VU’s Brandon Shaw (2nd in the 800m) and Thune (4th in the 1500m) registered on the NAIA All-American list.
Women's Tennis has also had success at the National level. Five VU Women's Tennis teams have competed at the National Tournament and seven players have received NAIA All-American honors. Women's Tennis finished 11th, 17th, 9th, and 3rd, (1996, 1999, 2003, 2004) at the National Tournament and made their most recent appearance in 2005, finishing tied for third place for the second straight year. The VU Women’s Tennis team, ranked #2 in the NAIA all season, also captured its second straight GSAC Championship in 2005 with a perfect 14-0 record. Vanguard’s top player Olga Hlushchanka, the second ranked women’s player in the NAIA, dominated her opponents on a daily basis, losing only one singles match her entire collegiate career. She ended her VU career as an NAIA First-Team All-American and the NAIA’s top senior player last year.
The Softball team has won five GSAC Championships and was the first team at Vanguard to make a three-peat GSAC title run, winning the championship in '93, '94, '95, '98, and 1999. In 1998 and '99 they also won the Far West Region Championship and took fifth place at the National Tournament. Softball's highest NAIA finish was in 1995 when they claimed third place at Nationals. Eight softball players have received All-American honors, including Jennifer Houston and Chrissy Vega who were 1st-Team NAIA All-American selections in 1998.
Women's Basketball has won three straight GSAC titles (1998-2000 and 2003-05) twice in the history of the program. VU qualified for the NAIA National Tournament in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, and again in 2005. Their highest finish at the National Tournament came in 2003 when they made it to the "final four." The NAIA has chosen 12 Vanguard women's basketball players to the All-America team, including the 2005 NAIA Women’s Basketball Player of the Year, VU’s Lisa Faulkner. The Lions set a new program record with a 32-4 overall record and became the first Vanguard program to be ranked #1 in the NAIA during the 2004-05 season.
Men's Tennis has had a consistent stream of success in the last several years, winning GSAC Championships in 1996, 1999, and 2000 and qualifying for the NAIA National Tennis Tournament seven years straight. Vanguard's highest finish was in 2000 when they tied for third place at the National Tournament. Thirteen men's tennis players from VU have been honored as NAIA All-American athletes. After three consecutive trips to nationals in 2003, 2004, and 2005, the Men’s program has now represented Vanguard at ten NAIA National Tournaments. The Lions were ranked #3 or #4 in the NAIA the entire 2005 season.
In all, 30 teams have represented Vanguard at a NAIA National event. There have been 20 GSAC, eight District, and four Regional Champions among the team sports, not to mention the individual champions and individual NAIA qualifiers from indoor or outdoor track and field.
At the end of the 2004-05 school year, the Lions finished a program-best 19th place in the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Sports Directors’ Cup. Vanguard has steadily climbed the ladder in the past three years, improving from a 41st place finish in 2003-04. Committed to becoming an NAIA Champions of Character (COC) Program Center last year, VU will feature a full-fledged COC Program Center in 2005-06. More information on VU’s Program Center will be appearing soon on the Vanguard athletic website.