Women’s basketball team ranked #4 nationally Following a very successful 2006-2007 season that saw the William Jewell College women’s basketball team advance to the Sweet Sixteen, the NAIA national pre-season poll has ranked the women number four in the nation. The Cardinals finished the 2006-07 campaign at 26-7 and were the co-champions of the Heart of America Athletic Conference. They also were ranked as high as number five in the nation last season, which was the highest ranking in team history. "The national ranking is great for the school and for our basketball program," said head coach Jill Cress. "We have been working very hard so far and we are excited to get the season going." Male and Female Athletes of the Year Honored The William Jewell College Athletics Department has named its annual Male and Female Athletes of The Year. Kyli Hufford (volleyball) has been selected as the Female Athlete of the Year. For the first time in Jewell history, two male athletes will share the designation of Male Athlete of the Year. Allan Nekuda is being honored for his achievements on the soccer field, and Mark Brackman will be honored for his contributions in baseball. Hufford, a Circleville, Kan., native, finished the 2006 volleyball season with 338 kills and 57 service aces in regular season play and earned first team Heart of America Athletic Conference honors and first team Region V honors. She finished the season ranked seventh in the conference in kills, and sixth in service aces. She also finished fourth in the HAAC in total digs with 568. Kyli was named to the All-Tournament Teams at the Baker and Lindenwood tournaments, respectively. Hufford was also part of Jewell’s second-ever HAAC Championship. Kyli Hufford Allan Nekuda Nekuda, a Liberty, Mo., native, was a vital part of the historic 2006 men’s soccer season for William Jewell. The Cardinals became the first team in Heart of America Conference history to go undefeated in the conference without any ties. They also won the HAAC Championship for the first time in over 20 years. The men’s team finished the 2006 campaign with a record of 18-3-2. Nekuda was named to the HAAC first team, and also was awarded the title of MVP of the Conference. He was also named to the Region V All-Region team and was the Region Player of the Year. Nekuda was also named as an NAIA first team All-American performer. In addition, he was drafted in the second round by the Detroit Ignition in the 2007 Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) college draft. Brackman, an Olathe, Kan., native, was named to the HAAC first team in baseball, and also earned HAAC pitcher of the year by going 12-0 with an ERA of 2.27. Brackman was also named Region V Pitcher of the Year and was a NAIA first team All-American. In addition, Brackman has become the latest member of the Cardinal baseball team to be drafted in the Major Leagues. He was drafted in the 16th round by the Detroit Tigers in the 2007 Major League Baseball draft. He was assigned to Detroit’s Single A Affiliate Oneonta Tigers in Oneonta, N.Y. Mark Brackman Men’s teams receives honor from Heart of America Conference Stephen Bader For the fifth consecutive year, the William Jewell College men’s athletic teams have earned the honor of winning the Heart of America Athletic Conference Commissioners’ Scholarship Award. Jewell’s men’s athletic teams had the highest GPA in the conference with a 2.98. In addition, the 2006-2007 HAAC Commissioners Male Scholarship winner for the second consecutive year is senior football player Stephen Bader with a GPA of 3.81. Stephen is the starting kicker for the Cardinals and is a Physics major. Tennis duo places 6th at national tournament The tennis doubles team of senior Allison Cobb and first-year player Nikki Chambers finished sixth at the International Tennis Association Small College National Championships which were played October 11-14 in Mobile, Ala. Chambers and Cobb lost their first-round match to the eventual national champions from Fresno Pacific 6-0, 6-3. They then rebounded and beat a doubles tandem from Indiana Wesleyan 6-2, 6-4 before falling to Oklahoma Christian 7-6 (7-3), and 7-5 in the fifth-place match. Nikki Chambers and Allison Cobb "They played great and got better as the tournament went along," Jewell head coach Paul Worstell said. "We actually had a lot of chances to win games in our first-round match against Fresno Pacific. The match was much closer than the score indicates. Nikki and Allison put forth a great effort and we are very proud of them." The ITA National Small College Championships began in 1986 and annually crowns men’s and women’s singles and doubles national champions in each of the ITA’s four small college divisions (NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College). These championships are the only national tournaments for singles and doubles at the NCAA Division II and NAIA level, and the only tournaments that combine the levels of Junior/Community Colleges (NJCAA Divisions I-III and the California schools). Participants are determined through the Wilson/ITA Regional Championships, which serve as qualifying tournaments. The national champions from each division square off in the "Super Bowl" of Small College Tennis to determine the overall ITA National Small College Champions, who then earn berths into the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, a Division I event, in November.