Bear Sports
Making the Right Call
UNC Football Safety Mike Van Portfliet Donates Bone Marrow so a Stranger May Live
| by Jordan Freemyer '77
If all goes as planned, Northern Colorado fans and alumni years from now will look back on the 2008-09 Bears athletics season as another step in the right direction for an athletics department trying to find its place on the national NCAA Division I stage.
Until that point, though—when national attention and record-breaking performances are commonplace—seasons like the one just turned in by Northern Colorado studentathletes are to be remembered and celebrated.
“That’s one of the many reasons why we decided to make the switch to NCAA Division I,” said Jay Hinrichs, Northern Colorado’s director of athletics. “We knew we had done some great things at Division II, but we also knew that there were so many more opportunities available to our studentathletes and our program as a whole at this higher level.”
“We hope to get to the point where some of the things we accomplished this year are just considered par for the course. Until then, it’s nice to sit back and really relish the strides we’ve made in just a few short years.”
Northern Colorado’s baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, wrestling, track and field and softball programs all inched their way into the national consciousness this season. Other programs, like women’s golf, women’s tennis and volleyball, saw unprecedented performances in their fields of play.
On the national level, baseball senior Kevin Sandberg finished in the top 25 in the nation in home runs (20). Senior basketball player Robert Palacios was the featured student-athlete in the 2009 NCAA Tournament Final Four program after graduating college in four years although he arrived in America with little knowledge of English. Women’s track and field junior Rachael Stevens became Northern Colorado’s first-ever female NCAA D-I Championships qualifier. Jen Schunke’s softball program hosted the D-I Independent Tournament. The Bears’ women’s basketball team finished tied for second at the 2009 MTE Caribbean Classic in Cancun, Mexico, after falling to eventual national champion Connecticut.
Jack Maughan’s wrestling program rolled out the welcome mats in early March to host the NCAA Division I West Regional tournament, where sophomore Justin Gaethje, junior Tony Mustari and freshman Mitchell Polkowske all qualified for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis.
Northern Colorado’s golf programs didn’t have the kind of success they were hoping for, but the women’s squad did witness a singularly impressive performance from freshman Ali Nelson, who saved her best performance of the 2008-09 season for last when she won the 2009 Big Sky Conference individual championship.
Tad Boyle’s men’s hoops program improved on its win total from the previous year for a second straight season and qualified for its first Big Sky tournament appearance, and senior Jabril Banks finished off his Northern Colorado career as the Bears’ first-ever All- Big Sky First Team performer.
Not to be outdone, the Bears’ women’s tennis team competed in the Big Sky tournament for the second straight season and saw senior Tabatha Knop earn a second straight all-conference nod when she was placed on the Big Sky postseason first team.
Northern Colorado’s volleyball program capped off a season that began with a mid-May trip to China by qualifying for its third straight Big Sky Conference tournament, Junior Kenzie Shreeve earned the Bears’ first all-Big Sky volleyball first-team selection.
While Northern Colorado athletic programs had varied levels of success in 2008-09, all laid the groundwork for continued strong efforts in campaigns to come. With a multimillion renovation to Butler-Hancock Athletic Center underway and an everincreasing investment in Bears athletics by the state of Colorado and campus leaders, Bears teams will now look to build on their successful 2008-09 seasons and launch into an exciting era for Northern Colorado athletics.
The New Butler-Hancock
enovations began the day after Spring Commencement on the New Butler-Hancock Athletic Center on the campus of the University of Northern Colorado. The renovations and new construction to the 37-year-old building will transform the facility into a showcase for UNC and the Sports and Exercise Science Department. It will be the new home for UNC Athletics.
The state-of-the-art renovation features new multifunction classroom spaces, large flexible meeting spaces, a video center, the new home to the SES Athletic Medicine Teaching Center, including the relocation of the Dan Libera Athletic Training Room, which will include a state-of-the-art hydrotherapy pool, the new Athletics Strength and Conditioning Center, new spacious team rooms for the UNC softball and wrestling programs, renovations to the swimming and diving locker facility, lockers and changing spaces for all UNC Athletic teams, and a renovated football team room including custom designed lockers and two coaches locker rooms.
The signature piece of the project that is expected to be complete in June 2010 is the long-awaited Northern Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame and Sports Museum to be built on the north side of the center. The Hall of Fame will proudly display the names of student-athletes, coaches and contributors enshrined in the Hall of Fame and will feature a video display system that enables visitors to call up the Hall of Fame member and view the accomplishment of the member.
All the new and renovated spaces are designed to serve the Northern Colorado SES students, UNC student-athletes, fans and alumni with the highest level of quality and amenities. There are hospitality areas for game-day and special events featuring color graphics and large murals adjacent to the UNC Athletic Hall of Fame and Sports Museum, which will highlight an athletic tradition rich in history and become a destination location for visitors to Greeley.
The University contracted with national contractor Hensel Phelps Construction, based in Greeley since 1937, for the construction and renovation, and partners with Denver-based Sink Combs Dethlefs to provide quality building design, architectural and engineering services.
The Butler-Hancock Athletic Center will proudly be the first building at UNC certified to meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards for “green” buildings. LEED designation certifies that a building meets a wide range of environmentally friendly criteria.
With this renovation and addition to Butler-Hancock, UNC will enjoy one of the finest on-campus athletic facilities in the Big Sky Conference.