The Heart of America Athletic Confernece (HAAC) held its annual basketball media day on Tuesday at the NAIA Headquarters in downtown Kansas City and the Raven men’s basketball team was selected as the preseason No. 4 team.

Benedictine went 10-8 in the HAAC a year ago and finished with an overall record of 18-12 under second-year head coach Ryan Moody.

After waiting his chance to speak to the those in attendance, Coach Moody was very humbled by his fellow coaches and the athletes who represent the conference.

“When you start to look at the some of the things in the HAAC media guide, there’s a lot of humbling numbers in there,” Coach Moody said. “The first thing you see is all of the wins that some of these (coaches) have in their bios and that’s very humbling. The second thing you see is the type of players that many of these (coaches) continue to bring in, they are very talented and there are a lot of character athletes that have been brought it and that’s very humbling.”

With three teams qualifiying for the NAIA Div. I tournament routinely since making the jump from NAIA Div. II, one might expect the HAAC coaches to split their first-place votes among the three schools who qualified for nationals last year. While Evangel, the preseason favorite, earned seven first-place votes and MNU, the preseason No. 2, earned two first-place votes, the final first-place vote did not go to preseason No. 3 Culver-Stockton, it went to Benedictine.

The Ravens return all but one player from last season with 70 percent of their scoring from last year coming from players who are now sophomores and juniors.

“We return essentially our entire team,” Coach Moody said. “That leaves a lot of room for optimism and we’re excited to be back at it. We’ll be led by three seniors and we’re going to lean on those guys pretty heavily.”

Senior forward Charlie Wallrapp was a second-team All-HAAC selection a year ago and senior forward Steven O’Brien was one of the top reserves last year. Guard Herb Khangura is the third senior on the squad and is expected to push for minutes at the point this season after sitting out last year.

“Having that much scoring coming back is a positive thing,” Coach Moody said. “But we’ve talked with our guys a lot, and I they believe it, that  one year older doesn’t mean you’re one year better. We’re going to have to continue to work hard because this (conference) has too many good coaches and there are too many good players in this league.

“We’re excited to see how things are going to be, we’re movitivated and ready to compete.”

Benedictine opens their 13 game home schedule on Nov. 1 when they host Tabor College at 7 p.m.

— BC Sports Information —

Coming off its first trip to the NAIA Div. I National Championship Tournament, the Raven women’s basketball team was selected as the preseason No. 2 favorite by the HAAC coaches on Monday at the annual conference media day.

Benedictine went 28-6 last year and earned a trip to the round of 16 at the NAIA Div. I tournament and was the last of three HAAC teams who qualified for the tournament left standing.

The Ravens went 16-2 in the HAAC regular season with its only two losses coming to preseason No. 1 selection MNU.

“It was good to see our conference represented so well by three teams at the national tournament,” said Raven women’s head coach Chad Folsom. “Since we made the jump to NAIA Div. I, it’s taken four of five years for our league to get that respect back that we had when we were NAIA Div. II.”

Central Methodist, who upset the Ravens in the HAAC Tournament semifinals last season, was selected as the preseason No. 3 and garnered one first-place vote away from MNU. Baker University was selected fourth while Evangel University and Culver-Stockton College were selected in a tie for fifth.

Avila University, Missouri Valley College, Peru State College and Graceland University rounded out the preseason selections.

Benedictine returns three starters and eight letterman from last season, including All-HAAC selections Justice Payne and Erin Murphy.

“We have quite a lot of depth and experience back form last year,” Coach Folsom said. “The players came back with a different mentality this year having had a taste of the national tournament last year. They’ve been more motivated and driven and I think that taste has motivated them just a little bit more to work that much harder this year.”

Benedictine begins its run through the 2013-14 schedule on Nov. 5 with a road trip to North Newton to take on Bethel College. They open a 13-game home schedule on Nov.9 at 7 p.m. against Friends University.

— BC Sports Information —

Benedictine College Athletic Director Charlie Gartenmayer has announced the hiring of Dana Goss as the new Raven head softball coach.

Coach Goss previously served as the assistant softball coach at Rockhurst University and prior to that, she was the head softball coach at Maple Woods Community College in Kansas City, Mo.

“We are thrilled to have someone like Coach Goss join our staff at Benedictine,” Gartenmayer said. “We are confident that she will lead our softball program in a positive direction and accomplish the goals we wish for all of our programs – produce student-athletes who graduate and win championships along the way.”

As the assistant at Rockhurst, Coach Goss helped the program to its first appearance in the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament in program history during the 2008 season.

“I’m really excited for the chance to lead my own program again,” Coach Goss said. “I’ve had the chance to see how much the campus has changed and grown and I’m really excited about the commitment that the school is showing to the students and to its athletic programs.”

While at Maple Woods, Coach Goss was named the 2005 NJCAA Region XVI Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the NFCA Midwest Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2006. She recruited and coached two NJCAA All-America selections and nine All-Region XVI players.

Her Maple Woods program was twice recognized for academic achievement in 2004 and 2005 by the NFCA as they earned NFCA Academic Top 10 Team GPA honors.

It was during her time at Maple Woods when she first became familiar with Benedictine.

“I was very surprised at how much the campus had changed since I was last here in 2006,” Coach Goss said. “Things look very different and I’m excited to get to campus and be a part of Benedictine.”

When it comes to expectations on the field for this season, Coach Goss is optimistic.

“I hope to make an immediate impact on the players, through their work ethic and the passion they have for softball,” Coach Goss said. “How quickly that translates to conference championships we’ll see.

“We’re going to go out and get great players who are also great students and great people. Those are criteria that won’t change as we look to move to the top of the conference.”

Coach Goss takes over a Raven softball program that went 21-20 in 2012 and qualified for the HAAC Postseason Tournament where they lost in the opening round. She will begin her duties as head coach immediately.

— BC Sports Information —

Benedictine College Athletic Director Charlie Gartenmayer announced Friday that Tim Crowley has stepped down as the Raven head softball coach.

“Ultimately, with five daughters all under the age of 10, this was a decision that was best for my family,” Crowley said. “I am thankful for the opportunity that Benedictine has given me and I’m proud to have been part of the Benedictine family.

“I’m very proud that I had an opportunity to help provide an opportunity for my players to get a high-quality education while playing softball at Benedictine.”

The softball team went 21-20 this past spring and qualified for the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) Postseason Tournament.

Crowley took over the Raven softball program during the 2001-2002 school year after serving as an assistant coach. He guided the program to multiple 20-win season during his tenure as head coach.

“We are grateful for the many years that Tim has given to Benedictine,” Gartenmayer said. “He served not only as our softball coach but as a resident director for many years and we wish him and his family nothing but the best in the next chapter of their lives.”

With the fall semester for Benedictine beginning on Aug. 28, a national search for Crowley’s replacement with begin immediately.

— BC Sports Information —

Cumberland (Tenn.) continued the trend of No. 1 and No. 2 seed victories Friday, as the Bulldogs (32-2) defeated Benedictine (Kan.), 65-54, to advance to the 2013 NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball National Championships quarterfinals at the Frankfort Convention Center.

The Bulldogs advance will meet Lubbock Christian (Texas) in their first NAIA quarterfinal since 2007, the year Cumberland finished runner-up to Vanguard (Calif.).

Jessica Pace and Josette Campbell each scored 12 points, while Briannica Tye had 11 to lead the Bulldogs past No. 11 Benedictine, which was making its first appearance in the NAIA DI championships.

Cumberland held a small lead through the first nine minutes of the game, before Liz Stinson gave the Ravens a brief lead, 11-10. It was the first of four lead changes over a one minute span, but Cumberland posted an 11-2 run to go up by eight, its largest lead of the opening half.

Benedictine, which could hardly miss in its first NAIA DI Championships win Thursday, shot only 28.6 percent from the floor in the first half and finished slightly above 30 percent for the game.

Cumberland sank 47.6 of its shots in the second half to break the game open. A narrow, 31-27, halftime lead was cut to two, 33-31, about four and a half minutes into the second half. Cumberland used an 8-0 run to reach a double-digit lead, 43-33. The score was all in jeopardy once, as the Ravens cut it to a five-point game, 49-44, with 8:12 to play, but the Bulldogs remained steady down the stretch.

The Bulldogs received 21 points from its bench.

Benedictine was led by Liz Stinson’s 17 points.

The Ravens finish the season with a 28-6 record after recording their first win in the NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball Championships on Thursday over Bethel (Tenn.).

Cumberland, which won the Mid-South Conference regular season and tournament championships, is the only remaining MSC team of six that qualified for the tournament.

— NAIA Press Release —

Benedictine (Kan.) capped the first round of the 2013 NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship with a historic win over Bethel (Tenn.), 81-74, in the Frankfort Convention Center.

The Ravens (28-5) are now 1-0 in the NAIA Division I Championships, making their first appearance in the event since the Heart of America Athletic Conference joined Division I in 2008-09. Previously, they made five appearances in the NAIA DII Championships. Benedictine joins Faulkner (Ala.) as the only first-year teams to advance to Friday’s second round.

Benedictine went 11-deep on its bench, spreading out its offense among 10 players, including five with nine or more points. Senior post player Liz Stinson led the Ravens with 17 points, all from the floor and with only two coming off a rebound. Kelsey Anselmi followed with 15 points and eight assists, while Justice Payne had 12. The Ravens also received nine points from Erin Murphy and Jayde Reid.

Bethel scored the first three points of the game and three times in the first seven minutes, but the night cap belonged to the team from Atchison, Kan.

Benedictine shot 48.3 percent in the first half, including 60 percent from behind the arc, to take a 42-32 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Bethel managed to work the margin to five on three separate occasions after opening the half on a 7-2 run, but Benedictine responded with a 9-0 run to go up by 14 points, 58-44, with 13 minutes left. The lead dipped into single figures only once over the next nine minutes and didn’t fall below eight points until Bethel’s Lorna Hudson hit two free throws with 20 seconds left to play.

The Ravens collected 23 assists in the game, the most of any team in the first round of the tournament, one more than Lubbock Christian University’s 22 earlier in the day.

Bethel was led in scoring with four players in double figures, including two double-doubles. Junior center Perica Glenn equaled her career high in both scoring and rebounds with 21 points and 14 boards. Jasmine Taylor also had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Following Glenn’s scoring lead was Alisha Gentry with 16 points and Katie VanDyke had 11.

Bethel finishes its season with a 21-11 record.

Benedictine will meet Mid-South Conference champion Cumberland University (Tenn.) in the final game of the second round Friday at 9:45 p.m. EDT.

— NAIA Press Release —