UNI student-athletes broke several records and knocked off top-ranked teams. Another year is upon us, and your Panthers expect even more in the year to come.
JANUARY
Jan. 13 - Senior linebacker Jake Farley was named one of 50 winners of the 17th annual Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association Academic All-Star Team.
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Jan. 24: Sophomore sprinter Brandon Carnes set a school record and best time in the Missouri Valley Conference in the 60-meter dash in 6.69. Senior Alex Wilson followed it up with her second school record of the season, running the mile in 4:49.56. Â
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Jan. 31: Â Men's basketball snapped No. 12 Wichita State's 27-game regular
conference winning streak, loosening the grip on the Shockers' stranglehold
on first place. Seth Tuttle scored a career-high 29 points, and No. 18 UNI
trounced WSU 70-54. Reserve Wes Washpun had 16 points for the Panthers
(20-2, 9-1 MVC). They pulled into a tie with the Shockers for first in the league.
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Jan. 31: At the UNI Team Invitational, senior hurdler Sebastian Barth broke
the school record (7.72) in the 60-meter hurdles and tied for the best mark
in NCAA Division I track and field that season. Libby Torresani set a
school record in the pole vault. She beat her previous record last season
clearing 13-5.25.
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FEBRUARY
Feb. 5 – Senior women's basketball guard Brooke Brown was named to the 2014-15 Capital One Academic All-District 6 first team. Brown majored in biology with a 3.97 cumulative GPA, the second highest GPA in District 6.
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Feb. 6 - Swimmers Rachel Siebenaller broke the 200 freestyle record, and Miki Freese broke the UNI 100 IM school record.
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Feb. 7 – Senior Alex Wilson broke her own record in the women's mile. Her time, 4:44.32, put her at the top of the MVC rankings and 25th in the country.
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Feb. 9 – NCAA recognizes UNI football for leading the nation in two statistical categories – field goals made per game and kickoff returns. Junior placekicker Michael Schmadeke finished the season ranked first in FCS football in field goals made per game. The Panthers finished the season with 40 kickoff returns for 1,194 yards and one touchdown. They averaged an FCS leading 26.3 yards per return, including a season-long 98-yard touchdown return from David Johnson's in UNI win over Illinois State.
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Feb. 14 – Track athlete Alex Wilson broke the women's 3,000-meter run by five seconds in track with a time of 9:29.52. Her time was also the fastest in the Missouri Valley Conference by more than eight seconds.
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Feb. 18 – The tennis team extended its home-court win streak to 16 by beating in-state rival Iowa State, 4-2. The win for the Panthers was the first time in 10 years since they last beat ISU. Drake snapped UNI's home streak after 17 wins.
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Feb. 18-21 – Swimming set 13 records at the MVC tourney:
Feb. 20 - Wrestling took down its first top-25 team of the season
with an 18-16 win over No. 21 Old Dominion on Senior Night.
Blaize Cabell finished the season perfect in duals, cracking
the top 10 for most dual victories of any Panther.
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Feb. 21 – In track, the distance medley team of Darian Samuelson, Brette Correy, Amber Clock and Alex Wilson shattered the UNI record by 12 seconds. Their combined time of 11:17.50 also marked the fastest time in Missouri Valley Conference history. Â
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Feb. 24 – Swimming and diving team was recognized by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA). Under the guidance of head coach Doug Humphrey and diving coach Lori Meierbachtol the UNI swimming and diving team produced a 3.50 grade point average in the fall 2014 semester. The Panthers 3.50 grade point average landed them 19th on a list of 139 Division-I universities.Â
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Feb. 28 - Sophomore Brandon Carnes won the men's 200-meter dash
Brandon Carnes
for the second consecutive season at the 2015 MVC Indoor Track and Field Championships.
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Feb. 28 - The No. 11-ranked Wichita State Shockers ended No. 10-ranked men's basketball's school-record 16-game win streak with a 74-60 triumph over the Panthers at a sold out Koch Arena. The Shockers (27-3 overall, 17-1 MVC) claimed the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title with the win. UNI fell to 27-3 overall and 16-2 in league action and grabbed the No. 2 seed for the MVC tourney.
MARCH
March 1 - Alex Wilson notched her first MVC title in the women's mile. She finished with a time of 4:48.35, becoming the first UNI woman to win the mile at the conference meet.
Brandon Carnes won the men's 60-meter dash in 6.72, repeating his championship for the second year in a row.
Brette Correy won her first-career MVC title with her personal-best time of 2:09.49 in the 800 to rank herself fourth all-time at UNI.
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March 3-5 – Men's basketball's ninth-year head coach Ben Jacobson was named the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year for the third time in his tenure with UNI. The 2015 MVC Larry Bird Player of the Year was senior Seth Tuttle. Tuttle was the MVC's active leader in scoring and rebounding. Junior guard Wes Washpun earned the Sixth Man Award. The honor is presented to the league's top reserve player (one who has started fewer than 25 percent of his team's games). UNI's Marvin Singleton was named to the MVC's Most Improved Team, while his teammates Nate Buss and Wes Washpun were named to the MVC's All-Bench team following a vote of the league's beat writers. Nate Buss was named the league's Scholar-Athlete of the Year, marking the second time in the 15-year history of the award that a UNI student-athlete has been so honored (Adam Koch of UNI was honored as the recipient in 2010).
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March 8 - The men's basketball team captured the
2015 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship
with a 69-60 victory over the Illinois State Redbirds.
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March 10 – Four women's basketball student-athletes landed on Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete teams. Brooke Brown nabbed first-team honors for the second year in a row. Madison Weekly also earned first-team honors. Stephanie Davison and Alyssa Johnson made the honorable mention team.
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March 11 - Sophomore women's basketball guard Madison Weekly became the fifth student-athlete under Tanya Warren to be named to the Missouri Valley All-Conference first-team. Alyssa Johnson was named to the All-Defensive team, and Ellie Herzberg was selected for the All-Freshman team.
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March 12 – Junior women's basketball Stephanie Davison was named the Missouri Valley Conference Sixth Player of the Year. It marked the first year that the Valley has named a Sixth Player of the Year on the women's side, a distinction that is designed to honor an impact player who has started in fewer than half of its conference games.
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March 19 – The women's basketball team fell to the Missouri Tigers in the first round of the WNIT, 69-61. UNI finished the season with an overall record of 17-15, its sixth winning season in a row. UNI has played in the postseason in five of the last six seasons, all under the direction of head coach Tanya Warren. The Panthers saw two consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons along with a trip to the Women's Basketball Invitational championship game during the 2011-12 season. The Panthers also picked up their first WNIT win in school history during the 2012-13 season, defeating Marquette in the first round.
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March 22 - The fifth-seeded men's basketball team (31-4) fell to Louisville (66-53) in the second round of the NCAA tourney.
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APRIL
April 2 - Head men's basketball coach Ben Jacobson signed a contract extension through the 2024-25 season.
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April 14 - The men's golf team won its first meet championship since Sept. 25, 2006, when it won the DePaul Invitational at the Prairie Landing Golf Club in West Chicago, Illinois. The Panthers came from five strokes back to win the Oral Roberts University Shootout. Entering the day in fifth place after shooting a team score of 316, the Panthers had an absurd 32-stroke turnaround, shooting 284 to take the championship. UNI got a strong round from top to bottom, with all five guys placing in the top 35, and two top-10 finishes from Jacob Bermel and Glenn Walls. The Panthers defeated second-place Missouri State by three strokes.
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April 22 – Women's basketball head coach Tanya Warren and swimming and diving head coach Doug Humphrey
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signed contract extensions. Warren agreed to a three-year extension through the 2020-2021 season. Humphrey signed a new four-year deal through the 2018-2019 season.
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April 23 – Tennis player Erica Medlin was selected as the women's Valley Player of the Year after registering a 7-0 conference record at No. 1 singles. It marked the second time that a UNI player has been named the MVC Player of the Year (Phoebe Walker - 2013). UNI sophomore Jieke Stroobant was named to the MVC All-Select squad. Stroobant posted a team-best 24 singles victories, including a 6-1 mark in MVC dual action.
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April 24 - The tennis team scored its first victory in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament since 2011 with a 5-1 victory over the Bradley Braves on Friday. The Panthers improved to 16-6 on the season but lost to No. 2-seeded Drake Bulldogs in the semifinals.
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April 28 - The men's golf team tied for second place at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at The Club at Porto Cima in Lake of the Ozarks. The Panthers shot a three-round total of 901 (298-296-307) strokes, tying Southern Illinois. The second-place finish is the best team finish for UNI since 2002.
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May 1 - Running back David Johnson drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2015 National Football League Draft. Johnson was picked 86th overall in the third round. Teammate Xavier Williams also signed with the team.
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May 6 - Four softball players made Missouri Valley Conference teams. Chelsea Ross received first-team all-conference accolades, Caitlin Wnek and Rikki Alcaraz were named second-team all-conference while Anna Varriano was named to the all-defensive squad.
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May 7 – Golfer Glenn Walls was named to the Honorable Mention MVC Scholar-Athlete team.Â
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JUNE
June 10 – Standout women's basketball guard Brooke Brown was
Brooke Brown
chosen as one of four student-athletes in the Missouri Valley Conference as a postgraduate scholarship winner. The MVC Faculty Athletics Representatives Committee voted to award postgraduate scholarships to the four student-athletes, due to their exemplary academic and athletic performances. Each received a $5,000 postgraduate scholarship.Â
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JULY
July 1 – Volleyball players Kayla Haneline and Amie Held suited up for the U.S. Collegiate National Team.
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July 7 – The swimming and diving program produced a 3.48 cumulative grade point average and earned a spot on the 2015 College Swimming Coaches Association of America's Scholar All-America team.
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July 15 – The Panthers were named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll for the 2014-15 season. UNI earned the 12th highest GPA in NCAA Division I women's basketball. They were named to the honor roll for the fourth consecutive season, posting a combined GPA of 3.519 during the 2014-15 season.
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July 17 – Women's basketball coach Tanya Warren and the USA Basketball Women's World University Games Team won the gold medal while participating in the World University Games. Warren was chosen as an assistant coach for Team USA and has been traveling overseas with the team during the month of July.
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July 29 – Men's basketball earns National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team Academic Excellence Awards to recognize outstanding academic achievement by a team with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better for the 2014-15 season. The NABC counts the grade point averages of all student-athletes who competed during the 2014-15 season.
Max Martino and Kasey Semler were honored individually with a spot on the NABC Honors Court. Martino majored in economics and psychology, while Semler is majoring in sport management.
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July 29 – Volleyball earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2014-15 season. The team compiled a 3.385 cumulative GPA during the 2014-15 season. It marked the fourth consecutive season that the Panthers have earned the AVCA Team Academic Award.
SEPTEMBER
Sept. 12 - Football tops No. 7 ranked Eastern Washington Eagles in home opener, 38-35.
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Sept. 19 – Football knocks off No. 17 Cal Poly 34-20, earning its second straight win over a ranked FCS opponent in as many weeks.
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Sept. 22 – Female golfer junior Allison Rolinger won the 2015 Coyote Classic with a final round 74. It was the first win for a UNI women's golfer since Sarah Boss won the Braun Intercollegiate on Oct. 29, 2013.
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Sept. 29 – Volleyball coach Bobbi Petersen earned her 400th career victory as the Panthers scored a 3-0 win over the Bradley Braves at the Renaissance Coliseum. Petersen became only the fourth Missouri Valley Conference volleyball coach to earn 400 victories. She joins Linda Dollar (758 wins - Missouri State), Iradge Ahrabi-Fard (503 wins - UNI) and Melissa Stokes (425 wins - Missouri State) in the MVC's 400 victory club.
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Oct. 6 – The men's golf team secured the team title at the 2015 Zach Johnson Invitational held at Glen Oaks Country Club. The Panthers held off MVC foe Bradley by seven strokes down the stretch to score the crown. UNI posted a team score of 874, while Bradley finished with a score of 881. Oral Roberts finished third, a stroke behind Bradley, at 882.
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Oct. 22 – Dave Paulsen named Panther Cross Country/Track and Field head coach. Paulsen agreed to a four-year deal through the 2018-19 season to be the head coach of the UNI cross country/track and field program.
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Oct. 24 – Football beat No. 6 South Dakota 10-7 on the road, improving its overall record to 3-4.Â
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Oct. 25 – Soccer wrapped up its regular season home schedule setting a school record for the most shutouts in a season. The 3-0 win over St. Ambrose was the Panthers' eighth shutout of the season.
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Oct. 29 - Senior defensive back Jordan Webb received
the State Farm MVC Good Neighbor Award for good
academic standing, demonstrating good citizenship
through good sportsmanship and significant community
service and participating in a fall sport. He joinsÂ
Jack Rummells (2014-15), David Johnson (2013-14),
Ben Boothby (2011-12) and Ben Schmidt (2008-09)
of Panthers that have received the prestigious award.
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NOVEMBER
Nov. 1 – The women's soccer team earned a spot in the MVC Women's Soccer Tournament semifinal for the third time in program history with a 2-1 win over Missouri State. The Panthers (7-8-5, 2-3-2 MVC) advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2011.
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Nov. 5 – Six members of the women's soccer team were
honored at the Missouri Valley Conference banquet. Goalie Whitney Blunt was named second-team all-conference after setting UNI program records for most shutouts in a season with seven. Blunt led the MVC in save percentage (.846) and goals allowed average. Katie Witt, Sarah McHugh and Maddie Welch were named All-MVC honorable mentions.  Brynell Yount and Hannah McDevitt were named to the MVC All-Freshman team.
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Nov. 14 – Swimmer
Molly Lembezeder
 broke her school record in the 50 freestyle (23.63).  Â
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Nov. 20-22 – Swimmers broke multiple records at the Big Challenge in Kansas.
Nov. 21 – Men's basketball's Wes Washpun scored 21 points,
and Northern Iowa stunned top-ranked North Carolina 71-67.
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Nov. 21 - Football gets 200th win in the UNI-Dome, topping the Southern Illinois Salukis, 49-28. UNI improved to 7-4 overall and 5-3 in league play.
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Nov. 24 – Soccer players Whitney Blunt and Sarah McHugh made Missouri Valley Conference all-academic teams. Blunt, a biology major with a 3.74 GPA made first team. McHugh, majoring in health promotion, posted a 3.85 GPA to make the honorable mention team.
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Nov. 24 – Volleyball players Kayla Haneline (Plattsmouth, Neb.) and Amie Held (Festus, Mo.) each earned a spot on the MVC's Volleyball Scholar-Athlete First Team.Â
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Nov. 25 – Men's basketball head coach Ben Jacobson earned his 200th career victory with a 83-63 triumph over the Dubuque Spartans.
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Nov. 26 – Volleyball middle hitter Piper Thomas earned a slot on the 2015 Missouri Valley Conference's All-Freshman Team. Juniors Kayla Haneline and Amie Held were named First-Team All-MVC performers in helping UNI earn the No. 4 seed for the conference tournament.Â
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Nov. 29 – The volleyball team earned its 19th trip to the NCAA tournament. UNI (19-14 overall, 12-6 Missouri Valley Conference) went on to lose to Marquette (21-11 overall).
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DECEMBER
Dec. 3 – Three football players named to 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-America football team. Senior Jacob Rathmacher and junior Karter Schult earned first-team selections while Isaac Ales earned second-team recognition. The Panthers' three student-athletes named to the Academic All-America ties for most in the Missouri Valley this season and in NCAA Division I football (FCS and FBS).
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Dec. 5 – Football won their first-round FCS playoff game, 29-17, over No. 5 Portland State, advancing to the quarterfinals.
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Dec. 6 – Swimmers broke seven records at the Iowa Invite.
200 medley relay: Lembezeder, Florman, Roepsch and Madison Rinaldi (1:44.87)
400 freestyle relay: Phyfe, Florman, Roepsch and Lembezeder (3:36.48)
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Dec. 8 – UNI volleyball middle hitter Kayla Haneline earned
Kayla Haneline
Honorable Mention All-Region honors for the second consecutive season from the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
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Dec. 12 – After seven straight wins, football fell to North Dakota State in the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs, 23-13. UNI finished the season 9-5 overall.
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Dec. 19 - The unranked men's basketball team beat a second top-5 team, handing fifth-ranked Iowa State its first loss of the season. Wes Washpun set career highs with 28 points and 11 assists as Northern Iowa upset the Cyclones 81-79. Paul Jesperson added a career-high 21 points on seven 3-pointers for the Panthers (7-3).
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Dec. 21 – Football's Deiondre Hall earned six all-American honors.
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Dec. 29 -Â Men's basketball recorded its largest margin of victory (36 points) in Missouri Valley Conference play with its 80-44 triumph over the Bradley Braves.
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Dec. 29 - Wrestler Josh Alber takes second
Josh Alber
at the prestigious Midlands Championships. It was the highest finish of any redshirt freshman in UNI's history at Midlands.Â
since Sept. 25, 2006, when it won the DePaul Invitational at the Prairie Landing Golf Club in West Chicago, Illinois. The Panthers came from five strokes back to win the Oral Roberts University Shootout. Entering the day in fifth place after shooting a team score of 316, the Panthers had an absurd 32-stroke turnaround, shooting 284 to take the championship. UNI got a strong round from top to bottom, with all five guys placing in the top 35, and two top-10 finishes from Jacob Bermel and Glenn Walls. The Panthers defeated second-place Missouri State by three strokes.
