Baseball The Wildcats finished in last place in the Big Ten and failed to reach the conference tournament in 2006, despite having some good hitters. Senior Antonio Mule was selected to the Mideast All Region Team last season. The Cats hit well as a team, averaging 5.8 runs per game, but struggled on the mound. The pitching staff had a 6.70 ERA and opponents hit .327 against them.
Men's Basketball After a promising 10-3 start, including wins over DePaul and Miami (Fla.), last season's team hit a wall against Big Ten teams. The Cats won two conference games, but nearly upset Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament. Freshman forward Kevin Coble led NU in scoring and rebounding. He returns along with three point specialist Craig Moore and Jeff Ryan, who played well towards the end of the season. Still, the Cats don't have a player taller than 6 foot 8 inches on their roster and could struggle against the taller teams in the Big Ten.
Women's Basketball Last season's women's basketball team also had a disappointing run. NU started 6-1, its best start in 10 years. But then the team suffered a school record: a 17-game losing streak. The Cats finally broke the streak with a win over Penn State. But the Cats added top recruit Amy Jaeschke, who is playing with the USA U19 team at the World Championships this summer, to a veteran group which includes senior Sara Stutz and junior Kristin Cartwright. NU hopes adding in its strong recruiting class with its veteran players will add to more wins.
Women's Cross Country The cross country team won three meets last season, but finished last at the Big Ten meet and 17 out of 24 teams at the NCAA Regional meet. Last year's team was full of sophomores and freshman, thus carrying over most of the team to this year, under new head coach April Likhite.
Women's Fencing The 2006 fencing team finished seventh at the NCAA Championships. The Cats return their top finisher from last year's championships and dominated many of their regular season competitions. The team is traditionally one of NU's strongest finishers and should have another strong season this year.
Field Hockey The Cats faced a difficult schedule last season against some of the nation's best teams. NU struggled and was bounced from the first round of the Big Ten tournament. The team will again face a difficult schedule, but returns its top goal scorer in junior Jill Putnam and all-Big Ten second team player Amanda Care.
Football The football team faced a difficult task last season. Not only did they have to find a new quarterback, but they also faced the death of Head Coach Randy Walker. Very few teams could have survived this and still play football at a high level. The Cats won their first game, but the 2006 team struggled the rest of the season trying to replace former quarterback Brett Basanez and their coach. But new coach Pat Fitzgerald rallied the team together to get wins over Iowa and Illinois, ending the season with four wins. This year's team has more stability, with quarterback C.J. Bachér and running back Tyrell Sutton, two juniors looking to rebound from a struggling sophomore season. NU should expect to return to a bowl game.
Men's Golf The Cats came up two strokes short of reaching their second straight NCAA National Championships, finishing 13th in the regional tournament. NU lost two seniors who were named to the All-Big Ten team, but have plenty of youth on the roster. Senior Kyle Moore led the Cats at the NCAA Central Regional and sophomore Jonathan Bowers had a strong freshman year.
Women's Golf The women's golf team had a successful season last year, winning two team tournaments and finishing in the top three in three others, including the Big Ten championships. They entered the NCAA Central Regional Championships as the 12 seed and finished 12th at the tournament. The Cats lose two seniors, but still have a strong team and are hoping to make a return the NCAA Regional Championship next year. Women's Lacrosse NU won its third consecutive national championship last season behind a 21-1 record. The Cats were even nominated for an ESPY as the best women's college team. But they lose two of their best players during the three-year run in Kristin Kjellman and Aly Josephs. Last year, Meredith Frank was second on the team with 61 goals and adding 19 assists. She - along with classmate Hannah Nielsen, who led the team with 69 assists and goalkeeper Morgan Lathrop, named Inside Lacrosse National Goalie of the Year - will return for their junior seasons. The team still has plenty of talent and should be the preseason favorite again to make a national title run.
Men's Soccer Coach Tim Lenahan completed the best season in NU history last year as the team reached the round of eight, one win from a trip to the College Cup. The Cats will be moving to a new lakeside field, but they will be rebuilding after losing their top two goal scorers. Carl Pett led the team in assists last season and was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team. He along with strong defenders Drew Ratner, Matt Witt and goalkeeper Will Briley return to help the Cats reach the NCAA Tournament again.
Women's Soccer The women's soccer team returns all but one of its starters from last year's team that finished 8-10-2 under first-year coach Stephanie Erickson. Erickson transformed NU into one of the best offensive teams in the Big Ten. The Cats were eliminated in the first round of the Big Ten tournament. Senior Kelsey Hans led the team with seven goals. If NU continues to grow, they should find more success.
Softball The Cats marched to their second straight Women's College World Series, losing to Tennessee in the semifinals. They lost Eileen Canney and Garland Cooper - who rewrote the record books in pitching and hitting - to graduation, but still have a potent offense and a strong team returning next season. Junior Tammy Williams led the team in hitting last season with a .425 batting average, 16 home runs and 50 RBIs. Sophomore Nicole Pauly filled in as the clean-up hitter her freshman year and led the Big Ten in RBIs during conference play. Sophomore Lauren Delaney pitched well. She won her first 15 games and had a no-hitter. With a strong recruiting class coming in and players looking to step up and replace NU's superstars from last season, the team should expect another trip to Oklahoma City.
Men's Swimming The swimming team had a very successful season behind national championship performances at the NCAA Championship by Matt Grevers and Michael Alexandrov. The Cats finished sixth at the championship meet as a team. Seniors Kyle Bubolz and Bruno Barbic were part of NU's national championship 400 medley relay team, alongside Grevers and Alexandrov. Bubolz, Barbic and junior Eric Nilsson will anchor the men's swimming team.
Women's Swimming A young women's swimming team began rewriting NU's record books. Last year, the team placed 20 new entries on the school's top 10 performers list. Four Cats were named to the All-Big Ten team, the most since 2000, and five swimmers went to the NCAA Championships. The team had no seniors on the roster and returns with the whole bunch, trying to improve on the records the young group began making last season.
Men's Tennis NU finished 10-14 last year and coach Paul Torricelli stepped down after guiding the team for 24 years. The team loses four seniors and will rely on sophomore Alex Sanborn and junior Marc Dwyer. The pair was the top doubles team for the Cats last season, and will be the base for a young team hoping to improve on their second round loss in the Big Ten tournament.
Women's Tennis The women's tennis team won its ninth straight Big Ten championship and reached the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament with a very young team. Junior Georgia Rose played the entire year as the number one player and was named Big Ten Player of the Year. Sophomore Samantha Murray was the number two player and was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Many other young players also had success. The Cats only lose Alexis Prousis, who won the national championship in doubles in 2006. Every other starter returns on a team that has the ability to go for a tenth straight Big Ten title and a deep NCAA Tournament run.
Women's Volleyball NU faced a difficult schedule last season and came out with a 14-15 record, missing the NCAA Tournament. The Cats graduated three seniors, but had plenty of contributions from their younger players. Seniors Lindsay Anderson, Stephanie Jurvitz and Courtnie Paulus lead a promising young group that should improve on last season's mark.
Wrestling The 2006 wrestling team had a very successful season, finishing fourth at the NCAA Championships behind Jake Herbert's national championship. Herbert will miss the 2008 season to train for the upcoming Olympics. But the Cats still have plenty of firepower. Seniors Dustin Fox, Ryan Lang and Mike Tamillow were also named to the All-American team. Lang and Tamillow also won individual Big Ten titles. With its strong returning team, the wrestling team should still compete for a conference and national championship.
Reach Philip Rossman-Reich at philiprossmanreich2007@u.northwestern.edu.
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