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JUNE 5, 2025 | composed by STEVE ULRICH

What administrators, coaches, parents and fans are reading. #whyD3
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🥎  Championship Thursday

🗓️ What’s Happening Today. The softball season comes to a close and brings down the curtain on the 2024-25 athletic year.

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TOP STORY
1. Warhawks Capture National Baseball Championship in Dominating Fashion

The most apt word is dominating.

Wisconsin-Whitewater captured its third DIII national baseball championship with a 21-3 victory over Messiah on Wednesday in Eastlake, Ohio. It concluded a five-game stretch at the World Series where the Warhawks scored 74 runs - a DIII record.

Andy Thies opened the scoring with a three-run blast in the top of the first and the rout was on. UWW scored twice in the second, six times in the fourth and five runs in the fifth to take a 16-0 lead. And when the ‘Hawks scored three more times in the sixth, the lead became 19.

Aaron Holland, Matt Scolan and Adam Cootway each had three hits, while Thies drove in five and scored four on his own. Cade Hansen was the recipient of all the runs and allowed three hits and two runs in 5 1/3 innings on the mound. Three other pitchers closed out the contest with Logan Eisenbarth getting the final out.

» Outstanding Player. Cootway was honored as the tourney’s MOP after hitting .615 (16-26) and a 1.963 OPS. He hit four home runs, drove in 10 runs and scored 12 in the five wins.

» Recap, Box Score

BASEBALL
2. Rain, Rain Go Away. Let Trine and Virginia Wesleyan Play Today

Game two of the best-of-3 NCAA Division III softball championship series between Trine and Virginia Wesleyan was postponed due to inclement weather on Tuesday in Bloomington, Ill.

The Thunder and the Marlins hope to resume the series today with first pitch at noon and an “if neccssary” game-three following.

Catch all the action on NCAA.com or the NCAA Championships Pass on most streaming devices.

FACULTY
3. A FAR Cry: College Faculty Athletics Reps Cling to Waning Policy Influence

by Daniel Libit, Sportico

“For years, the NCAA-mandated position of the Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) has struggled to assert its authority within a college athletics landscape driven by commercial interests. Critics have long contended that the position amounted to little more than a fig leaf, albeit one that still managed to occupy a few seats at the national policy-making table. But as college sports hurtles toward revenue-sharing and a new era of athlete compensation, the faculty’s traditionally modest foothold is all but gone.

“Nowhere are academics in the conversation right now,” Tennessee FAR Don Bruce said. “And it’s really disappointing. It’s really frustrating because we [FARs] do show up for work to support student-athletes, to protect our institutions, and to preserve what we believe is worth preserving—and that is the collegiate model.”

» Driving the News. “Bruce joined other leaders from the Faculty Athletics Representatives Association (FARA) in drafting a public letter to the NCAA Division I Board of Directors and its newly formed decision-making working group. The letter sharply criticized the group for sidelining faculty representatives under the guise of operational efficiency.”

» Why It Matters. “The NCAA continues to sell the paramount importance of academic standards and student-athlete success… through advertisements, public statements, and congressional testimony,” the letter states. “Yet these words ring hollow with the nearly complete omission of FARs from the proposed decision-making structure.”

» History Lesson. “The importance of faculty oversight in college athletics was a central theme of the Carnegie Foundation’s 1929 report, American College Athletics, which sounded an alarm about the growing influence of competitive sports on academic values. “[T]here can be no doubt as to where lies the responsibility to correct this situation,” the report declares. “The defense of the intellectual integrity of the college and of the university lies with the president and faculty. With them lies also the authority.”

» Continue Reading

TENNIS
4. Mareedu Headlines Academic All-America Men’s Tennis Team

A standout on the courts and in the classroom, Advik Mareedu of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps highlights the 2024-25 Division III Academic All- America® men’s tennis team selected by College Sports Communicators.

The junior completed a historic year in which he won both the ITA Cup singles national title and the NCAA Division III singles title in the same season. He finished the year 41-1 overall and 35-0 against NCAA Division III competition, dropping only four sets all season to Division III opponents.

A computer science and mathematics major with a 3.82 GPA, he was named the 2025 SCIAC Athlete of the Year, the third time in as many seasons he was recognized with the honor. Mareedu is 101-13 in singles after three seasons and has posted a 67-38 mark in doubles.

The six members of the first team have an average GPA of 3.85.

First Team

Gage Gohl, Gustavus Adolphus, Jr., 3.97, Communication Studies & Sport Management
Ethan Green, Denison, Jr., 3.87, Financial Economics
Ajay Mahenthiram, Case Western, Sr., 4.00/4.00, Biology (U)/Public Health (G)
Advik Mareedu, Claremont-M-S, Jr., 3.82, Computer Science and Mathematics
Michael Melnikov, Swarthmore, Jr., 3.81, Mathematics and Computer Science
Vuk Vuksanovic, Tufts, Sr., 3.64, Architectural Studies

» Complete Team

NEWS YOU CAN USE
5. Lightning Round ⚡️ 

» Football. “The Seattle Seahawks have added one of the more intriguing and storied undrafted free agent prospects of this year's draft cycle. Former NCAA Division I track star and Division III tight end Mitch Van Vooren has signed with the Seahawks, the team announced on Wednesday.”

» Bond Ratings. Emory, which had $3.3 billion in total outstanding debt in FY24, has been assigned an Aa2 rating with a negative outlook going forward. Moody’s wrote that the University’s fiscal stability faces headwinds from evolving federal policies and a competitive Georgia healthcare environment.

» Finances. “In response to financial challenges and a dramatically reduced incoming freshman class, Clark University in Worcester school will restructure its degree tracks and layoff up to 30% of its faculty.”

TRANSACTIONS
6. Comings and Goings 

ANDERSON - Vincent Bohanon named head women’s soccer coach
CAPITAL - Taylor Stanchin named head tennis coach
CONCORDIA (Minn.) - Jacob Sobolik named assistant men’s basketball coach
HIRAM - Paige Cole named assistant volleyball coach
LaGRANGE - Announced addition of cross country and track and field as varsity sports. Cire Campbell named head coach
MARYVILLE - Jill Moore stepped down as head softball coach
NEBRASKA WESLEYAN - Robert Lynch named head women’s soccer coach
OGLETHORPE - Taylor Stewart named head tennis coach
RUTGERS-NEWARK - Tonya Smith-Jackson appointed chancellor
WESTERN NEW ENGLAND - Matt Smith named head men’s ice hockey coach
WILMINGTON - Sydney Moss stepped down as head women’s basketball coach to take an assistant’s position at a DI school
WITTENBERG - Mitchel Griffiths named head baseball coach

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