Up until the second or last week of the season, all fall sports teams had a chance at post-season in the Empire 8 conference. However, only men’s soccer, seeded third and women’s soccer, seeded fourth, have qualified to compete in the Empire 8 playoffs. Today, the men’s soccer team will play Stevens Institute of Technology at Ithaca and the women’s soccer team plays Stevens at Stevens. Last weekend, Houghton hosted the Empire 8 Championships for cross country where 17 of the 21 Highlanders who competed ran their fastest races. Head Cross Country Coach Patrick Hager said, “They did all they could do. They performed their best and the results take care of themselves.”
Unfortunately, women’s field hockey, women’s volleyball, and women’s tennis didn’t make it to the playoff round, which cut their successful seasons short. Women’s tennis were 6-7 overall and had started their season undefeated. Field Hockey finished 8-9 overall, better than last year, and were in contention until the last weekend. They needed to win their game against Washington Jefferson College and for Utica College to lose in order to get seeded fourth in their conference. Reflecting on the season, junior Kelsie Ashley said, “We had a really great season” and that “[She’s] excited to see what next year holds.” Volleyball (20-11 overall) lost a couple keys matches against Elmira and Stevens. Although they had the same conference record (5-3) as Elmira and Stevens, they were unable to make it into the playoffs. Senior Captain Hattie Burgher said, “Our team has finished in the top four of the conference for the past three years and this year we beat rivals that haven’t been beat for four or five years.” Burgher said, “Although we aren’t continuing on, I am still extremely proud of what our team has accomplished this year and years past.”
The only team that qualified for the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) championship is men’s and women’s cross country. Houghton will be hosting the national championships in two weeks where both the men’s and women’s team will each have seven runners competing.
The NCCAA has put several new qualifications in place to determine whether a team can make it to the National Christian Tournament for their sport. Previously, a team had to have a .500 record, meaning they had the same number of wins and losses to qualify. Executive director of athletics, Harold “Skip” Lord, said, “Part of the reason for applying to NCCAA was to have post season opportunities for our teams.”
Essentially, if a team finishes in first place for Empire 8 or makes it to Empire 8 playoffs and wins it, then they qualify for the NCCAA. However, if a team doesn’t satisfy any of these requirements, Houghton decided that they will determine a team’s “national caliber” through other criteria. Some of these criteria include if the team has a 55% win loss record, if they make it to the finals of the Empire 8 conference tournament, or if the team was in the top 10 final National Christian college pool. If a team has a strong season, but doesn’t qualify for Empire 8 playoffs, they are still able to continue their season if they satisfy two of the three previous guidelines.
This is the second year Houghton has been able to compete in the Empire 8 playoffs. Athletic Director “Skip” Lord said, “This was the best overall start for the year since we made the move to NCAA.” Houghton is in its fourth year of provisional status from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) to the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) and is hoping to have full membership in NCAA next year.