Our winning momentum is continuing, and it has been an exciting spring! Our men's basketball team won the Conference USA Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013, Hank Plona is our new men's basketball coach, Luke Fuller won the CUSA Men's Golf Championship, Catie Craig was selected for her second straight NCAA Women's Golf Regional, and Baseball is having its best season since 2009!
Commencement week is always a special time on The Hill, and this week 66 student-athletes graduate from Western Kentucky University – 51 as undergraduates and 15 with graduate degrees. Another 15 will graduate this summer.
Last week we celebrated our 2023-24 athletics season with our seventh annual TOPSY Awards. It was a great night of celebration inside Diddle Arena. Paige Briggs (Volleyball) and Don McHenry (Men's Basketball) were named our John O. Oldham Award winners, while Malachi Corley (Football) and Katie Isenbarger (Track & Field) were named our Mr. and Ms. Hilltopper recipients. The full list of award winners can be found here.
Speaking of Malachi, last Friday night he became the second highest drafted player in WKU football history after being selected with the first pick in the third round (65th overall) by the New York Jets.
Men's and Women's Golf finished very strong spring seasons at the CUSA Championships. The women finished third and Catie Craig will compete next week (May 6-8) at the NCAA East Lansing Regional. The only individual in women's program history to qualify for an NCAA Regional, this now marks the second consecutive year Catie has earned this opportunity. On the men's side, graduate student Luke Fuller became our first Conference Champion since 2006 and will compete at the NCAA West Lafayette Regional (May 13-15).
Prior to last season, a Hilltopper golfer had qualified for NCAA Regionals just three times in the two programs' combined histories. With Catie's back-to-back appearances, and Luke winning the CUSA championship, WKU has doubled its total number of golfers to make NCAA Regionals in the last 13 months alone.
Our other spring sports have also enjoyed much success! Baseball (31-14) remains in first place and head coach Mark Rardin currently has 998 career wins. We need each and every one of you at Nick Denes Field for the last four home baseball games this season beginning next Tuesday against Bellarmine at 5 p.m. and concluding with a CUSA series vs. New Mexico State (May 16-18).
Softball wraps up the regular season this weekend at home vs. UTEP. Please make plans to be there to cheer on the Tops as they look to wrap up the No. 2 seed and a bye in next week's Conference USA Tournament in Las Cruces. We will celebrate softball's eight-person senior class before Sunday's game.
Tennis had another successful spring, winning 14 matches and earning the No. 5 seed in the CUSA Tournament. The 14 wins are the fourth-most in program history. Sophia Blanco led the Tops with an 18-2 record in singles matches, Rachel Hermanova set the program record for career singles wins (49), and Samantha Martinez set the program record for career doubles wins (56).
Track & Field has broken several records, including Katie Isenbarger beating her previous school record in the high jump at 1.88 meters. We honored nine seniors at the Hilltopper Relays in late March, and the team heads to El Paso next weekend for the CUSA Championships.
Following this weekend's Commencement ceremonies on the field at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium, we will be replacing the turf with a brand-new FieldTurf surface with a couple unique additions. Keep your eyes peeled next week to see the new design unveiled.
April 23 was WKU's Day of Giving, and we are so appreciative of everyone who stepped up to support the Tops on this important day. Your gifts truly make an impact in the lives of our student-athletes.
In the next month, Conference USA will announce game times for our first few games, as well as our University's date for Homecoming! And, the new press box above the Harbaugh Club at Houchens-Smith Stadium will be ready for our football home opener on Sept. 6 vs. EKU.
The Bowling Green Convention and Visitors Bureau recently announced its findings for our Winter sports economic impact. Throughout basketball season, WKU Athletics contributed to a $2.25 million economic impact on the local economy. We are extremely proud of the $5.75M economic impact we have made from August through March, and I expect that number to climb even higher when the spring sports study is completed.
There are so many exciting things happening on The Hill and within WKU Athletics! As we wrap up the 2023-24 season and look ahead to 2024-25, I am very appreciative of our student-athletes, coaches and staff who work so hard every day to represent Western Kentucky University the right way, both in the classroom and in competition. There is much to celebrate, and we look forward to Softball, Baseball, Track & Field and our Golf student-athletes finishing the year strong to give us even more reason to Stand Up And Cheer!
Go Tops!
Todd Stewart
Director of Athletics
