Spring sports teams wrapped up an outstanding year for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) Athletics, as the department finished an unprecedented 13th out of 442 colleges and universities in the Learfield Sports Director’s Cup NCAA Division III standings. The department garnered its fifth-straight Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) All-Sports trophy, with CMS teams winning nine regular season conference titles and two SCIAC postseason tournament titles–– for the third-best year on record.
The overall All-Sports trophy was presented to CMS at a May 30 SCIAC banquet, along with the All-Sports trophy for both women’s sports and men’s sports. The overall trophy goes to the athletic department in the conference that has the greatest overall success in conference competition during the academic year. President Gann received the conference’s Distinguished Service Award for her years of work with intercollegiate athletics at the Division III level, in particular the SCIAC.
The spring sports season saw men’s golfer Brad Shigezawa ’14 win the NCAA Division III men’s golf individual national championship, while women’s tennis player Kristin Lim ’13 finished second in the NCAA in the singles tournament. Lim then partnered with Caroline Ward ’16 to finish second in doubles. For Shigezawa’s efforts, the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) selected him as the 2013 Jack Nicklaus Division III Player of the Year. Sports Illustrated featured Shigezawa in its weekly “Faces in the Crowd” column. He became the second CMS student-athlete to be featured in the column this spring, the other being Athena softball player Hayley Schultz ’15.
After a loss to Williams College in the national championship match, the CMS men’s tennis team garnered a second-place finish at the NCAA Championships, capping off its best season since 1994. For the first time in their history, the Stags held the No. 1 ranking in Division III for much of the season, winning the conference championship for the eighth season in a row. The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) named head men’s tennis coach Paul Settles the ITA National Coach of the Year. The women’s tennis team meanwhile registered a fourth-place finish at the team championships, set a school record with 31 wins, and also won the conference championship.
On the golf course, the Stags registered a fifth-place finish at the Division III Championships, just one spot behind the team’s fourth-place finish in 2012, which was the best in program history. The Athenas posted a program-best 11th-place finish (three places higher than 2012) and also won the SCIAC Championship for the second year in a row. In track and field, the Stags finished 28th nationally in the team standings, while the Athenas finished 39th overall. For the fifth-straight season, the Athena softball team made an NCAA postseason appearance. The 2013 season also marked the second consecutive year that the Athenas earned an automatic NCAA bid by winning the SCIAC Postseason Tournament.
For more information on CMS Athletics, please visit the CMS Athletics website at www.cmsathletics.org.
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