Dec. 31, 2007

The athletic season of 2007 will go down as one of the best in McNeese State history.

Championships were won, all-Americans were named, national rankings were received and facilities were up graded or designated to be upgraded.

It was a year when the football team went undefeated in the regular season. One athlete gained national attention for the university when he won a NCAA track and field championship and another was named on every all-American football team selected.

There was a changing of the guard at the top of the athletic department structure, Sonny Watkins retiring after a 10 year run as athletic director and Tommy McClelland taking over as the interim director, bringing in new ideals and programs.

Construction began on the new women's athletic facility - the Hodges Street complex - as well as on a new stadium for the baseball team. Also, local businessman Robert Noland donated funds for the artificial turfing of Cowboy Stadium, the field to be named after longtime sports information director Louis Bonnette.

Funds were also obtained for the remodeling and reconstruction of the Jack Doland athletic complex.

The new track was completed and the Cowboys and Cowgirls held their first meet since the 2001 season.

Football closed out an undefeated chapter, only the fourth in school history. In his second season as head coach Matt Viator led the Cowboys to an 11-0 regular season record and to their second straight Southland Conference title.

The team ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation and Viator and defensive end Bryan Smith were, respectively, named coach of the year and player of the year in the conference.

Smith went on to be named to four all-America teams and receive an invitation to play in the post season Hula Bowl classic.

Players including Smith who were first team all-Southland Conference picks were wide receiver Carlese Franklin, offensive guard Eman Naghavi, defensive tackle Vaalyn Jackson, linebackers Trey Bennett and Allen Nelson and defensive back Jonathan Walker.

Smith, Franklin and Nelson were also first team all-Louisiana picks.

Bryan Smith was named to four all-America teams.

And, the Cowboys marked their 13th time in 17 years that they were invited to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs (formerly 1-AA).

Defensive back Brant Linde was an academic all-America selection by the College Sports Information Directors Association and he and teammate David Ballard were named to the district VI academic team.

The Cowboys also played and defeated Louisiana-Lafayette in their first game since the 1986 season and it was announced during the year that the Cowboys will play in upcoming seasons the University of North Carolina (2008) and Missouri (2010).

Brad Gebauer produced a national title for the Cowboy track and field team as he won the NCAA pole vault indoor championship. His performance as well as that of Jon Fagan who won the SLC's hepthalon title carried McNeese to its first national track and field ranking.

In the outdoor season the Cowboys would get a national fifth place showing and a world junior javelin record from Chris Hill as well as conference medals from Marcus Brown and Freddie Hannie.

Gebauer would be named the team's MVP and would also be designated the university's athlete of the year.

Brad Gebauer won the NCAA indoor pole vault title.

Track also made a coaching change during the summer as head coach Ty Sevin would be tabbed to join the USA's Olympic coaching staff as the pole vault coach and former McNeese distance runner and assistant coach Brendon Gilroy would take over.

McNeese's new track was also made ready for use and the Cowboys and Cowgirls held two events, their first home meets since the 2001 season.

In men's basketball, Dave Simmons led his Cowboys to six victories in their last eight games to make the conference tournament in his first season, Jarvis Bradley earning team MVP honors and John Ford being designated the team's outstanding player.

At the start of the 2007-08 year, with four of five starters returning - the Cowboys had defeated Louisiana-Lafayette and Southern Mississippi both on the road and were making ready for the opening of their conference schedule in the new year.

A coaching change was made in women's basketball after a 4-25 season and Carol Sensley had resigned. Jennings native Brooks Donald Williams took over, bringing in new energy and direction.

In baseball, the season wasn't two weeks old before Chad Clement had resigned and his post had been taken over by assistant Chris Fackler on an interim basis.

The Cowboys, who had won the league title the year before, put on a late season rush to finish 17-12 in SLC play and enter the post season tournament.

Charlie Kingrey would win his second straight team MVP award after winning the Cowboy triple crown. He and Bryan Cartie were first team all-conference picks and those two along with pitchers Derek Blacksher and Chris Denton would sign professional contracts.

At the end of the season the Cowboys would name former McNeese pitching ace Terry Burrows as head coach.

In softball, the Cowgirls also made the post season conference tournament and finished with a 30-32 won-lost record. Second baseman Brooke Brodhead was a first team all-SLC and all-Louisiana pick while Jenny Clay was named the SLC's utility player of the year.

Shortstop Liz Morvant led the conference in stolen bases.

In volleyball, the Cowgirls drew in their largest attendance ever and rewarded the home fans with a 10-1 record in Memorial Gym. Overall they were 19-11 and 11-5 in league play.

Senior Jessica Strama was an all-conference pick and the team MVP.

Scooter Savoie led the Cowgirl soccer team to the SLC title.

Scooter Savoie coached the Cowgirls soccer team to another Southland Conference title and into the finals of the league's post season tournament. They posted a 12-5-4 overall record and became the first McNeese team to go undefeated at home, compiling an 8-0-2 record on the home field.

Savoie was named the league's coach of the year while Kamryn Koch was tabbed the Louisiana player of the year and Alana Clark the state's freshman of the year.

For the third year in a row, Renee Landers was named the team's MVP.

The women's tennis team posted a 7-13 won-lost record and senior Urska Dobersek was named the squad's MVP.

Pat McCain retired after 13 years as head coach and former Cowgirl player Magali Risoleo was named as interim coach.

In women's golf, Tinna Johannsdottir was the leader in the spring with a 76.8 average and she also placed sixth at the conference tournament and earned all-conference recognition.

Maggie Welch became the leader in the fall with a 76.7 average and won the Arkansas State tournament. She was also named the Cowgirl MVP for the 2007 season.

Sigmundur Masson was the leader on the men's golf team both during the spring and the fall seasons. He was also the team MVP for the year and posted averages of 74.27 in the spring and 73.7 in the spring.

Academics played a big part for the student-athlete at McNeese State during the past year and for the fall semester alone, 130 athletes or 43 percent were named to the honor roll. Nine of the athletes produced perfect 4.00 grade point averages.

Also during the year, soccer's Koch was named the Southland Conference soccer student athlete of the year and Gebauer was named the national indoor track scholar athlete of the year by the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Inducted into the university's Hall of Fame during the year were Zack Bronson and John Miller from football, Ben Broussard from baseball and Leonard Chisholm and Keri Ange Gilroy from track and field.

Besides the coaching changes, former Cowboy quarterback Scott Pendarvis signed on as an assistant athletic director in charge of business and finance and Ryan Ivey as assistant athletic director for internal affairs within the athletic department.