MONROE, La.?With 2009 officially in full
swing, ULMAthletics.com is kicking off the New Year with a new tradition ?
naming the top 10 moments of 2008 in ULM Athletics.
The list was compiled by the ULM Media
Relations Department, and like all top 10 lists it is subject to debate. The list will be revealed
in stages. Moments 10-6 are revealed below and will be followed by
moments 5-4 on Tuesday, moments 3-2 on Wednesday and 2008's top moment
on Thursday.
Fans will then have an opportunity to vote on
their top 10 moments of 2008 by e-mailing their list to Prendergast@ulm.edu by Wednesday, Jan. 14.
No. 10
Rachel
Hobson Named Academic All-District
ULM senior soccer player Rachel Hobson was
named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District Team for the second
straight year. Hobson is scheduled to
graduate in May with a degree in kinesiology after scoring a goal and adding
three assists for head coach Stacy Lamb's Warhawks this past fall.
Hobson
represents one of only
three women's soccer recipients of the honor in ULM's 10-year playing
history. She joins Hope Davidson, who was named to the District VI
second team in 2002 and
2003, and Amanda Strope, who earned first team honors in 2005, as ULM's
academic all-district honorees.
She
finished her playing career tied for the school assists record with 13
and broke the record for consecutive starts (78). She also ranks in
the top 10 in ULM history in goals scored (9) and points (31).
No. 9
ULM
Hosts First Super Warhawk Weekend and Sun Belt Tennis Championships
ULM welcomed thousands of fans to campus for
the April 18-20 weekend. A record crowd
watched the Warhawk football team's annual Maroon & Gold Spring Game, over
2,700 fans watched the Warhawk baseball team sweep a three-game series from
Middle Tennessee, the ULM softball team saw great crowds for its three-game
series against Florida Atlantic and ULM hosted the Sun Belt Men's and Women's
Tennis Championships.
The tennis championship, which featured seven
nationally ranked teams, was the first Sun Belt Championship hosted by ULM in
the school's two years in the conference.
The first-class event jump started ULM's bid to host the 2011 Sun Belt
Baseball Tournament.
No. 8
Softball
Ends Louisiana-Lafayette's 20-Game Home Win Streak
The ULM softball team picked up steam for its
run to the Sun Belt Tournament title game on the final weekend of the regular season. Sophomore pitcher Kandace Causey picked up
her 200th career strikeout in a 1-0 shutout victory over Louisiana-Lafayette.
It was the only home loss and one of just
three Sun Belt losses on the season for Louisiana-Lafayette. Brianna Love drove home the winning run with
a rocket-shot single down the left-field line scoring Calli Baker, who doubled
earlier in the inning.
No. 7
Pair of
Track & Field Athletes Earn National Recognition
ULM freshman Kyle Kent finished sixth at the
NCAA Championships in the javelin to earn All-America honors ? the first by a
Warhawk in outdoor track & field since Olympian Breaux Greer and Andras
Haklits both earned All-America honors in 1999.
Kent also earned ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA
Academic All-America honors. He began
his march to the NCAA Championships by winning the NCAA Mideast Regional
Championship.
Kent was joined at the NCAA Championships by
Heather Davis, who qualified for the national meet for the second time in her
career. Davis finished third at the NCAA
Mideast Regional in the high jump to advance her to the NCAA Championships
where she finished 17th overall.
Kent was named Louisiana Male Freshman of the
Year and Davis was tabbed Louisiana Female Field Athlete of the Year by the
Louisiana Sports Writers Association.
No. 6
Ben
Soignier and Jeff Schexnaider Receive High Praise
ULM shortstop Ben Soignier became just the
fifth player in the school's illustrious baseball history to be named an
All-American for the second time. The
junior shortstop was named to the Louisville Slugger and Ping!Baseball All-America
teams after hitting .394 with 21 doubles and 16 home runs. Soignier led the NCAA in runs scored per game
and set the ULM single-season school record for hits (93), runs (83) and total bases (166).
Soignier was selected in the 17th
round of the MLB Amateur Draft by the Florida Marlins after earning
all-conference, all-Louisiana and all-region honors.
Warhawk skipper Jeff Schexnaider was tabbed
as Sun Belt Coach of the Year after leading ULM to the conference title in just
its second year in the league. The
Warhawks were picked to finish eighth in the conference's preseason coaches
poll before rattling off a 20-10 league record.
