May 12, 2008

Head Baseball Coach Mark Danker has been selected by his peers as the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Coach of the Year. The Peacocks finished the regular season in second place behind Wayne State. The Peacocks were tied in the win column, but had two more losses than the Wildcats.

Danker is in his 9th season as the Peacocks' Head Baseball Coach and his 18th season as part of the baseball program at Upper Iowa. The Marengo, Iowa native spent the first ten years at UIU as the assistant coach under Rick Heller, the current Head Baseball Coach for the University of Northern Iowa.

Under Danker, the baseball team has posted a 212-203-2 record including the three year transition between the NCAA Division III Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Division II Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. While Danker has been a part of the baseball program at Upper Iowa, the team's record is 460-330.

The team has made the transition to the Division II level very well posting winning records in each of the three seasons of active membership; 26-24 in 2006, 29-21 in 2007, and 30-25 currently. The 2008 Peacocks are currently ranked 6th in the Central Region for the second straight week. The 2007 team was ranked as high as 5th in the Central Region in early May.

Danker's underlying philosophy and foundation for the Upper Iowa Baseball program is to "Respect the Game." Danker and his assistant Kevin Post stress the importance of "preparing to succeed" in all aspects of their players' lives as well as passing on their enthusiasm for baseball and its lifelong enjoyment.

The Peacock baseball coach has become the fourth Upper Iowa head coach to be named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference this year. He joins Heath Grimm, Wrestling, Chad Markuson, Women's Golf, and Chad Fenwick, Women's Tennis.