Men’s and women’s cross-country, men’s and women’s soccer, and volleyball all ended the season with record-breaking accomplishments.
The success started on the Women’s Cross-Country Team, which ranked No. 7 in the region. Mercy Chelangat won two races and finished fourth at the WAC Championships, earning her First Team honors. She was then ranked as the No. 7 freshman in the nation. Senior Jennifer Zapata earned All-WAC Second Team.
On the men’s side, senior Omer Almog and freshman Abraham Chirchir led the team to a historic season. Almog achieved a second-place finish at the WAC Championships, earning All-WAC First Team.
Chirchir brought home a third-place finish at the WAC Championships and earned All-WAC First Team. He then advanced to the NCAA South Central Regional, where he obtained second. Chirchir became the first UTRGV runner to advance to the NCAA Championships in 13 years. Chirchir finished the season ranked No. 9 in the NCAA and earned WAC Freshman of the Year.
On the field, the Men’s Soccer Team accomplished a historic season. The Vaqueros won 14 matches, the most wins in Division I program history. UTRGV finished second in the WAC, qualifying the team to the WAC Tournament. At the tournament, the Vaqueros won their first WAC Tournament match 4-1 over the University of Nevada Las Vegas. They advanced to the semifinal match but fell 1-0 to San Jose State University.
UTRGV earned nine All-WAC awards. Junior forward Kyle Edwards and senior defender Antone Jarvis were named to the All-WAC First Team. Junior forward William Akio earned All-WAC Second Team while sophomores Bryce Box (midfielder) and Guillermo Martinez (defender), juniors Andy Rios (goalie) and Arthur Rogers (midfielder), and senior midfielder Isidro Martinez earned All-WAC Honorable Mention.
Senior forward Rooby Dalusma and Edwards went on to be named to the 2018 WAC Men’s Soccer All-Tournament Team.
Head Coach Paul Leese was named WAC Coach of the Year.
UTRGV was not done making history. The Vaqueros earned a fourth-place standing in the regional ranking of the United Soccer Coaches Far West Region.
Edwards was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region First Team and Jarvis earned Second Team honors. Akio earned NCAA All-Canadian Second Team by First Touch Football, a digital marketing company focused on creating opportunities for soccer players.
The Women’s Soccer Team set a new program record of 12 victories.
Freshman forward Emily Zapata earned All-WAC First Team, as she led the team in goals, shots, shots on goal and game-winning goals. Top Drawer Soccer, which provides coverage of college and high school soccer, also named Zapata No. 91 on the list of the Top 100 Freshmen in the country.
Junior goalie Kinga Szemik obtained All-WAC First Team and was called to play with the Polish Women’s National Soccer Team. She also earned WAC All-Tournament Team and was named to the United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-West Region Third Team.
On the All-WAC Second Team list were junior forward Sarah Bonney and senior defender Tuva Rolstad Nilsen.
UTRGV finished No. 2 in WAC standings and went on to compete at the WAC tournament. The team made history by obtaining the program’s first-ever win in the WAC tournament and advancing to the semifinal round but lost 2-0 to Seattle University.
Closing off the success in UTRGV Athletics was the volleyball team. UTRGV broke seven NCAA Division I program records, which included RPI, wins, winning percentage, road wins, conference wins, conference winning percentage and conference road wins.
The Vaqueras were crowned the WAC Champions and advanced to the WAC Tournament, where they fell 3-0 to Utah Valley University in the semifinal match.
Senior outside hitter Ragni Steen Knudsen was named WAC Player of the Year, while senior middle blocker Alexandra Ecker and junior right side hitter Barbara Silva earned All-WAC Second Team.
Spring 2019 may bring the same success to basketball, tennis, golf, indoor and outdoor track & field and baseball.
Men’s and women’s basketball are under WAC play and hold a conference record of 2-3 and 3-2, respectively.
Both men’s and women’s tennis have begun the spring season. On the men’s side, the Vaqueros picked up their first win of the season by defeating Alabama State University 4-1.
The women’s team will vie for a back-to-back WAC regular season championship.
Women’s golf will be back in action Feb. 11 at the Texas State Invitational in San Marcos. The men will begin the spring season Feb. 18 at the LaTour Intercollegiate in Mathews, La.
Indoor Track & Field will compete at the WAC Indoor Championships Feb. 12 in Boise, Idaho, and will open the outdoor season March 15 at the UTSA Invitational in San Antonio.
Baseball is set to begin the season Feb. 15 against Oklahoma State University.
