Michaels And Whitfield Make History In Career Wins And Scoring
S P O R T S N E W S
23
Sports Spring Wrap-up
Lacrosse earns first NCLL play-off berth in four years while tennis and baseball also have strong seasons.
Lacrosse
The lacrosse team had one of its best seasons ever, finishing the regular season with a 6-2 record and earning the college’ s first NCLL play-off berth in four years.
During the season, they upset national power Del Tech among other key wins. Their only losses came to eventual NCLL National Champion West Chester and NJCAA national ranked CCBC- Essex.
In the play-offs, Williamson ran into a powerful St. Joe’ s squad and fell, 9-3. Despite the loss, it was a great season and the future looks bright.
Tennis The tennis team had their finest sea-
51st Sports Banquet Honors Athletes
Seniors Blake Dunston and Kevin Whitfield were named the George W. McCarty 3W7 Athletes of the Year and Steve Hixson 7W3, cross country coach, was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame at the 51st annual Sports Banquet in May.
In 2016, Blake became the second Williamson soccer player to earn US- CAA All-American honors for helping guide Williamson to a school record third straight ESSL championship. He also was named a USCAA Academic All-American for the second straight year, was the 2016 ESSL Player of the Year, and a 3-time All-ESSL selection. As a team captain in 2016, he won his second straight soccer team MVP and the Tony Wolski Memorial Award for his leadership and dedication to the soccer program.
Whitfield was a 3-year starter and son in school history, winning their second Eastern Pennsylvania Athletic Conference title in three years and advancing a school record four players into the semi-final round of the 2017 NJCAA Region XIX men’ s tournament. With four out of their top six players returning, next year could be even stronger for the Mechanics.
Baseball
The baseball team battled Mother Nature all season long, with 19 games canceled due to cold or wet weather. Despite that, the team finished with a winning record and had they not played so few games, would have been in strong consideration for a berth in the 2017 USCAA Small College World Series. With the team returning 16 of 19 players next season, 2018 could be a breakthrough season for Williamson baseball.
team captain this year. He scored over 1,000 career points, becoming just the 12th player in school history to achieve this honor and he helped guide Williamson to a 25-6 record and a # 3 national ranking in the USCAA Division II national poll. He was named a 2017 1st team USCAA All-American, finished as the team’ s leading scorer( 16.9), and in the Top 10 in the country in rebounding( 8th) and steals( 10th). He also was named a team MVP.
Hixson was recognized for his accomplishments as a runner and his 13 years as the cross country coach. The team won an NJCAA Region XIX title in 2005 and his teams won the EPAC championship in 2015 and 2016. The highlight of his coaching career came in 2015 when he guided the team to a seventh place finish at the 2015 NJCAA national championships.
Michaels And Whitfield Make History In Career Wins And Scoring
Jan. 14, 2017 proved to be a special day in the life of Williamson’ s basketball program. On that day, Head Coach Bill Michaels earned his 250th career win at Williamson, and senior forward Kevin Whitfield scored his 1,000 career point.
Williamson defeated Patrick Henry College that day to earn Michaels’ special victory. He not only earned all those wins in just 14 years, but prior to his arrival, Williamson had just two winning seasons in the previous 15 years.
Michaels, who has won two national championships and finished second twice in seven trips to the USCAA national tournament, has averaged a mind-blowing 18 wins( 17.8) per year during his tenure.
“ With Bill, I feel like we have the finest basketball coach in the country, at any level. No one could get out of his guys what he gets out of them. While we have lost some games over the years, we have never been out coached with Bill in charge of things. He is that good,” commented longtime Williamson athletic director Dale Plummer.
The 2016-17 basketball team had one of its most successful seasons in Williamson history, finishing 25-6 and qualifying for the USCAA Division II national championship tournament.
The fact that Williamson would win 25 games, the second highest single season total in school history, and get back to nationals, is something few would have foreseen happening. Despite a starting line-up with no one over 6 ' 1 ", Williamson won four tournaments and finished third in the nation in the US- CAA Division II poll.
“ Coach Bill Michaels has done some great coaching in his time with us. Winning two national championships is an amazing accomplishment. However, I’ m not so certain this wasn’ t his best coaching job yet. What he did with so little height was almost beyond comprehension,” marveled Athletic Director
Also on that day, Kevin Whitfield( Chester, Pa.) team captain and 3-year starter, scored his 1,000 career point.
At just 6 ' 1 ", he was Williamson’ s tallest starter and yet despite his size disadvantage, constantly outworked opponents to become just the 12th player in Williamson history to hit the scoring milestone. He finished his career with 1,121 total points.
At the conclusion of the season, Whitefield was named a first team U. S. Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Basketball All-American.
The heart and soul of the team, he managed to dominate play with hard work and toughness. Despite a height advantage, he managed to finish eighth in the nation in rebounding at 9.9 rebounds per game and 11th in steals at 2.5 / game.
He led the team in scoring at 16.9 points per game and averaged 2.3 assists per game in leading Williamson to a 25-6 record and berth in the 2017 USCAA Division II national championship tournament.
Basketball Finishes With 2nd Most Wins Ever
Dale Plummer.
While getting 25 wins, the Mechanics played 12 nationally ranked opponents and participated in five tournaments and their six of their losses were against nationally ranked opponents.
Williamson advanced to the quarterfinal round of the USCAA Division II Men’ s National Championship Tournament before losing to eventual national finalist, Penn State York.
Williamson received special individual honors as well. Senior Kevin Whitfield scored his 1,000th career point on Jan. 14. That same night, 14th year head coach Bill Michaels earned his 250th career win at Williamson. Whitfield then topped off a brilliant year by being named a 1st team USCAA All-American. He led the team in scoring and was in the Top 10 in the nation in rebounding and steals.
Taltoan Falls One Short At NCWA Nationals
Athletic Director Dale Plummer( far right), stands with( from left to right) seniors Blake Dunston and Kevin Whitfield, the Athletes of the Year, and the new Hall of Famer Steve Hixson 7W3( left), at the Sports Banquet.
Senior Isiah Taltoan( 235 lb.) capped off an outstanding Williamson career by qualifying for the National Collegiate Wrestling Association’ s( NCWA) national championship tournament in Allen, Texas, where he finished one win short of earning All-American status for the second straight year.
At nationals, Taltoan, who finished one win short of All-American status at the 2016 national tournament, started like a ball of fire, winning his first three matches to advance to the second day championship round. Then, things took a turn for the worse as he lost a quarterfinal match to Zak Pit from Emmanuel University, 2-1, and then was eliminated in the wrestle-back round to Khaled Abduon from RPI in a 2-0 decision.
Taltoan earned the national berth by winning the 2017 NCWA North East Conference Championship. He also finished second at the 2017 USCAA National Championships.