June 21, 2023: Highlighting the multi-sport athletes in D3 WBB + UWL hires Central's Lonning to lead program
It’s about time that I delivered another post here as the summer continues rolling along! I will say that I’ve been putting together my Way-Too-Early Top 25 in the meantime, and looking forward to releasing that soon. It might be one of the toughest things I’ve done since becoming a Top 25 voter, in large part because it is difficult to know who all is coming back for each program. But thankfully, I’ve been able to confirm some of the rosters as well as quite a few of the key newcomers, especially at Scranton and Illinois Wesleyan. Have a feeling that Scranton and IWU are in for big seasons!
Coaching News released yesterday! UW-La Crosse announced that Central head coach Moran Lonning will be heading back home as the program’s next head coach, following the departure of Karen Middleton to Duke. I’m looking forward to seeing what Lonning brings to UWL, as she grew up in the area with her father serving as the men’s wrestling coach at UWL from ‘92-’98.
Though this will be her first coaching gig in the WIAC, she’s been part of the A-R-C for quite some time now, playing at Luther, assistant coaching at Simpson, and head coaching at Central in 2022-23. A-R-C programs regularly battle WIAC programs in non-conference play, so she is likely somewhat familiar with a good amount of the opponents UWL will face in WIAC play this winter.
“Moran has a unique understanding of what a special place UWL is and she brings a special level of respect for what it means to be here," said UWL Director of Athletics Kim Blum in a press release. "Her positive energy is contagious and translates to the court in terms of success. She is all-in on what she is doing to develop a championship program and using basketball to develop women as players and people.”
I also thought that I would finally start highlighting some of the two-sport (and three-sport) D3 WBB student-athletes I came across in my research back in the spring. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: multi-sport collegiate athletes are super impressive because balancing one sport with academics is challenging, but doing two or three sports requires some serious versatility and time management skills. It’s also a reason for why the D3 level is incredibly special. Being a multi-sport athlete at the D3 level is somewhat more manageable and in a lot of cases, encouraged, as opposed to the way schedules are set up within D1 programs.
Anyway, here’s the first four and I plan to have a few editions of this throughout the next several months. I think it’s cool to highlight some of the student-athletes who are contributing to multiple athletic programs on campus and doing it at a pretty high level, too!
Cassie Nash—Simpson College: Soccer and Basketball
As a senior for the Storm, Nash starred on both the pitch and the court, and ended up earning SC’s Female Athlete of the Year award for the second time in her career. In fact, she may have been the nation’s best two-sport athlete in 2022-23.
After scoring 24 goals—eight of which were game-winners—Nash became the first All-America selection in program history. She led SC to its first ARC championship game appearance in the last 13 seasons.
On the court, the A-R-C Defensive Player of the Year guided SC to a 16-11 record, ranking in the Top 10 nationally in field goal percentage (58.6%), steals (104), and steals per game (4.3). She led the ARC in assists, and assist-to-turnover ratio. Nash scored 10+ points in 18 games, joining SC’s 1,000-point club during this past season. On top of that, she averaged 20.1 PPG in the month of February, keeping SC in the title hunt in a league that also included Wartburg and Loras.
Samantha Barrett—Aurora: Cross Country, Track, Basketball
Barrett successfully competed for Aurora in a fall sport, winter sport, and spring sport, running cross country and track, and playing basketball. She placed 28th at the NACC XC Championships, helping the Spartans to a third-place finish in late October. A senior guard on the court, Barrett saw action in 26 games this past winter, starting seven of them. An exceptional floor general, Barrett dished out a team-high 85 assists and added 28 steals. She also averaged 4.6 points per game. On the track, Barrett posted four Top-10 finishes in the 3000-meter steeplechase and earned a podium spot at the NACC Championships in the 400-meter hurdles, placing third with a time of 1:08.75.
Aleah Rafat—Brooklyn College: Volleyball, Basketball, Softball
Rafat was only a sophomore this past year, but was tremendously important to Brooklyn athletics all year long across three different sports. The San Martin, California native made an immediate impact for the Bulldogs, earning the CUNYAC Rookie of the Year award in volleyball as a freshman in 2021. She followed that up by earning Second Team All-CUNYAC honors this past fall on the volleyball court, with 228 kills (ranking 2nd on the team in that category), 51 service aces (2nd on the team), and 204 digs.
Then on the basketball court, for a squad that raced through the CUNYAC schedule with a flawless 14-0 record and reached the NCAA Tournament, Rafat saw action in 26 games, starting 14. She averaged 5.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game as a 5’11 forward in 21.0 minutes per game.
Then as a first baseman for the softball team, Rafat started 23 games. She hit just .176 at the plate, but posted a near-perfect .973 fielding percentage. Talk about having a full schedule! She finished volleyball season on Nov. 12 in the ECAC Tournament against Kean and four days later, began her basketball season against (coincidentally) Kean, playing 24 minutes. She had just 13 days between Brooklyn’s NCAA Tournament loss to CNU on March 3 and her softball season debut on March 16.
RyAnn Rohrer—Calvin: Track & Field and Basketball
Rohrer, a freshman at Calvin, had a strong spring, concluding the basketball season averaging 5.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game before winning the MIAA shot put title in track & field.
An acclaimed two-sport athlete at Ludington High School, Rohrer made her presence known early, posting a six-point, five-rebound, four-assist performance in her collegiate basketball debut against Wisconsin Lutheran. She did the same for the track & field team, tallying her first No. 1 collegiate finish in her second meet of the spring, winning the shot put at the Jack Shaw Invitational in April. After winning the MIAA Shot Put title and placing second in the Discus Throw, Rohrer tallied three more Top-2 finishes leading up to the National Championships. She came away from Rochester with a new PR of 13.79 meters in the shot put, finishing 14th in the nation. And she still has three years of eligibility left!
I’ll have another schedule analysis article coming out on tomorrow morning, so stay tuned! I’ll be looking at the newly released 2023-24 slates from Tufts, Rochester, and a few others still to be named. In the meantime, hope everyone is enjoying the summer. And if you’re somewhere where it isn’t 100+ degrees outside, be thankful! Texas is such a great place to live, but this heat isn’t a selling point for the state…especially because July and August are generally warmer than June…haha. But anyway, have a great day, and I’ll check back in soon!