Sidelines & By-lines

It’s time again for NIACC’s athletic coaches to be recruiting and preparing their teams. Football and volleyball coaches have signed their players and are planning their August camps to prepare players for September competition. Men and women’s basketball coaches continue to do some strong recruiting and plan to be competitive in their respective conference competitions.

SOCCER - NIACC recently hired Jason Hoenshell to head up a new men and women’s soccer program to start intercollegiate competition the fall of 2001. Hoenshell comes from an assistant coaching position at Bartlesville Wesleyan College in Oklahoma, and will spend this school year recruiting. NIACC is also hoping to have enough interested women to start golf this fall.

VOLLEYBALL - The 2000 Lady Trojan volleyball team is set and preparing to spike their opponents. Head coach Rachel McGuire has four players returning and six new players signed for next season. Casey Spree signed a letter of intent to play Division III volleyball for Simpson College this fall. "We have a good group of freshmen coming in," McGuire said. "All received conference awards with many also receiving state and district awards. With the talent of the freshmen and the experience of our sophomores, the team should get together very well." Their first home games will be played during a triangular match on August 31^st.

FOOTBALL - The NIACC football team will soon be preparing to kick off another winning season. Head football coach Dick Ramsey, in his 14^th year, has over 80 signees and 24 returning players. Football practice for the 2000 season begins the second week of August. NIACC also received some good news about a former player this spring. Thad Sheldon from Rockwell, who went on to play for the University of Iowa, has signed with the New England Patriots as a long-snapper. The team’s first home game is September 9^th verse Iowa Central.

MEN’S BASKETBALL - Head coach Steve Krafcisin has been busy covering Iowa and area states in recruiting efforts, and has already signed three Iowa natives. The team’s leadership will come from the five returning sophomore players. "I am excited about the 2000-2001 season, and hope to make improvements from last year," Krafcisin said. "I’d like us to be more consistent defensively. We have Ben McCollum (from St. Mary’s High School in Storm Lake) back who had a very good freshman year, that we can build around." The men tip off their first home game on November 18^th against Minneapolis Community and Technical College.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL - The Lady Trojan’s basketball team will welcome back two returning starters. "The 2000 Lady Trojans will lack the size the team had last season, but hopefully will have more of a scoring ability from the perimeter with a number of players having excellent 3-point shooting skills," head coach John Oertel said. Oertel currently has eight new recruits with other players still visiting the campus. Several of last year’s players are going on to play basketball at the next level. Kristina Longseth and Kelly Blunt will transfer to the University of Missouri at St. Louis, a Division II school, and Casey Spree will be playing for Simpson College in Division III basketball. The women face Bethany Lutheran Community College for their first home game on November 10^th.

BASEBALL – The baseball team will be heavy in experience in the 2001 season with 18 of the 24 players returning, according to head coach Jerry Dunbar. Pitcher Matt Leonhart plans to play for Wartburg next season. "We have signed two pitchers, and need to sign at least four more to fill the void of graduated pitchers," Dunbar said. "Pitching seems to be the key to having a successful season. We are returning a good defensive unit as well as some strong hitters."

SOFTBALL - Head coach Joe Yegge has already been preparing for his second season at NIACC with two new recruits. The team will have some experienced college level players with seven returning players. "I think we will have an improved team next season," Yegge said. "We will return two pitchers and gain a freshman and six other players. I think our defense will be our major strength."

GOLF - The golf team returns four strong golfers for the spring of 2001. This year the team won the Conference golf meet and hopes to qualify individual members or the team for the