Women's soccer team Region Champions

Triumphs and tribulations abounded the start of SCC's athletics calendar.

As the semester comes to a close, it is time to look back at the accomplishments of SCC's fall sports programs and the people who made it a memorable start to the school year.

The biggest stars of semester were the women's soccer team and its undefeated season. The team racked up an impressive list of honors and trophies on its way to its first ever birth to the NJCAA Division I Women's Soccer National Championship in Melbourne, FL.

With a regular season record of 20-0-1 and the titles of Conference Champions, Region Champions, and District A Champions, this is truly a season that will long be remembered in the annals of Artichoke athletics.

The team landed more than half of its starting roster on the All-ACCAC team, and head coach Skelly Kellar was named the Region I Coach of the Year.

"They are obviously one of the big highlights for us … They are headed to Nationals and we are really proud of them," Art Becker, SCC athletic director, said.

The football season started off with a big buzz on campus for the Artichokes, but a couple of close losses threw a wrench in the team's ultimate goals this year.

Though the team may have fallen short on some of those goals as a whole, there were a few players who stood out as truly special players for the SCC program that finished 7-4 for the season.

Quarterback Cody Sokol lead the nation is touchdowns on his way to setting seven different school records for the program including most touchdowns in a game (7 vs. Pima), most passing yards in a game (542 vs. Pima), as well as the single-season record for passing yards (3,807) and touchdowns (43). Also of note in the program was Tight End Blake Jackson, who topped the ACCAC in receiving yards (934) and nation in TD receptions (16).

"Offensively, we had our best season since head coach Madoski took over the program," Tommy Zeigler, assistant head coach and offensive coordinator, said. "We just fell short closing in some individual games and executing consistently on field goals."

The SCC cross-country program saw its star rise on the national radar when it fought its way to reinstatement to the school's Athletics Department when budgetary concerns forced its elimination.

"They told us this summer that they were eliminating our program due to lack of funding … through the help of some national attention, we were able to get support and get reinstated," Josh Trask, cross-country head coach, said.

Both the men's and women's squads finished sixth at regional competition and restored hope for a once dead program. Sophomore Montanna Scott was the team's most successful runner, earning herself All-Region honors and a trip to Nationals in Hobbs, N.M., where she finished 121st.

The volleyball team finished in a tie for first in Division II of the conference with a 12 and 10 record.

Though it lost in the second round of play at the region tournament, the team was held strong throughout its season by a pair of sophomores.

Callie Schuldt played her way onto the All-Region 1st Team and 1st Team All ACCAC lists. Christine Darras, who racked up a National Player of the Week award en route to an All Region 1st Team and Honorable Mention ACCAC.

Not to be lost in the mix is freshman Jamie Soliz, who was on the ACCAC Honorable Mention list, and showed much promise as a future leader for the program.

The Men's Soccer had a lot of the athletic department's confidence going into the season, but fell victim to a stronger and more experienced group of teams in the conference, which saw three teams ranked inside the top 13 nationally.

"Unfortunately, Men's Soccer struggled this year," Becker said. "We felt they had a really good team, but I think the problem there is that our conference is so strong ... the record doesn't show how strong they really were."

Though the team finished with a disappointing 7-11-2 record, three players earned spots on the 2nd team All-Conference honors in sophomores Chase Stewart and Griff Stratford, along with freshman Dan Chadbourne.