bigsmooth wrote:with all due respect shuk, LC lax is not a national power. you have won 2 ODAC titles in program history. i could not find any archived rankings but if you only have two ODAC titles you have not been to the NCAA tournament much because usually the ODAC gets two berths the champion and runner-up. i doubt you would be in the top 5, much less top 10, but if you have facts to prove it, then fine. in baseball you have not won an ODAC title since 1990. track is your best sport there and mens soccer is occasionally good.please tell me what national scene you are competing on??? im not ripping LC, but obviously you have not seen what is offered at LU. There is a big difference in D1 and D3 athletics. so come check it out this fall.
LC lax was in the top 10 nearly all-season this year. 2006 we made it as high as a #2 national ranking and finished top 10 and made it to the second or third round of the ncaa tournament (can't remember which). 2005 we won the ODAC Championship (which has anywhere from 3-4 teams ranke din the top 20 EVERY year just about) and, I think, lost by jsut one goal to Roanoke in the third round of the ncaa tournament. 2004 was a bit of a down year with just a 9-5 record. 2003 we finished 12-5 and beat powerhouse Salisbury, us and Cortland are the only two teams to beat them in the last 5 years I believe. The lax team hasn't had a long road of success like Salisbury, but the past 5 or 6 years has seen this team be ranked in the top 10 on numerous occassions, make the NCAA tournament on numerous occassions, and give such lax perennial powers like Salisbury and Roanoke a run for their money. Check out laxpower.com for info on rankings (they give a week by week rbeakdown of where each team was ranked, but I don't know if they do year-by-year rankings)
Women's soccer has had a crap load of success over the past 10 years. It's not an uncommon site to see this team making a lot of noise in the NCAA Tournament.
Men's soccer saw a revival this year by winning the ODAC Championship and narrowly losing to a top 25 ranked team in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The team was really successful under Coach Shellenberger, who was at one point the NCAA leader in career wins across all divisions, but they struggled to find a replacement for him up until recently.
As you mentioned, the men's track team is year in and year out one of the top 25 teams in the country. The women's track team used to be, but they have had a couple down years since the coach decided to just coach the men instead of both teams.
Field Hockey has been really successful over the last few years. They won the ODAC Championship this year and finished #20 in the country but was "awardded" in the first round of the NCAA Tourney with having to face a top 10 team on the road and narrowly lost that game.
Softball has been really good over the years but has been a victim of being part of a sport that receives very few at large bids, even though they have shown over the years that they can compete with any team in the country. This year they won the ODAC championship and was thus allowed to prove how good they are for once. They were the #7 seed in their 8-team regional and advanced to the title game of their regional, beating other top 25 teams en route to the regional title game.
As far as the other sports go: baseball is normally a decent team, but not consistently a good team - by the way fumblerooskies son was a starting left fielder for the team this year, Jeff Taylor is his name. Men's and women's basketball has sucked, but they receive absolutely no support from the Athletic Director - I know that's not the only reason why they have sucked, but it sure as heck doesn't help us much. Cross Country is normally good but has struggled the past couple years. Golf is REALLY improving with the hiring of Dr. Bill Kuchler as the head coach in 2006. Tennis ahs sucked and always will because it is sadly not taken seriously at this school. Women's lacrosse is usually OK every year. Volleyball is OK or bad every year. The cheerleading team didnt do any competitions until this year, so it's too early to say if they'll be any good or not. Equestrian sucks, but no one really cares about that sport.
Little interesting factoid: the first national championship won by an LC athlete/team was via a track athlete named Major Tallent, talk about one heck of a name he had to live up to! lol
Also, I would check out the fall sports Liberty offers, the only sport that would interest me is soccer, but I cant get in to soccer unless I am a big fan of the team or its the World Cup - and yes I know I didn't mention football, but ever since I tried out and quit for my high school team I haven't really liked it at all, trying out for the team was one of the worst things I ever did. In the winter the only team that I would consider to be worth watching is men's basketball (I dont like the womens version of the game). In the spring, about the only thing I'd watch is baseball, and I can't really get in to baseball either. I won't even watch my favorite MLB team, or any MLB team for that matter, until the last few weeks of the season and the playoffs. It would be nice if Liberty offered a varsity men's lacrosse team or a field hockey team, now those are two fun sports to watch there!
- By olldflame
- By LU Armchair coach
- By Purple Haize