Losing Legends
While the sports of baseball and soccer lost two legends of the game in the past year, ÐßÐßÊÓƵ lost two of its most beloved coaches and co-workers. Head baseball coach Denney Crabaugh passed away July 13, six months before longtime men’s and women’s soccer coach Brian Harvey’s death on January 13. Both men shaped their programs, not only on the ÐßÐßÊÓƵ campus, but also in the state and region. Beyond their success in competition, the outpouring of condolences from alumni, faculty and staff were proof of their impact on thousands who played or worked for and with them.
ÐßÐßÊÓƵ Runners Finish 1-2 in NAIA Cross Country
OCU University boasts both the individual national championship and the individual runner-up for the third consecutive year in the NAIA men's cross country championships in November.
Abraham Chelangam crossed the finish line in first place, while Shimales Abebe took the second spot in the national meet. Chelangam gave ÐßÐßÊÓƵ the individual champion for the fourth year running and fifth time in six years.
Todorovic Runs to NAIA Championship
Senior Milan Todorovic highlighted OCU University's effort in the NAIA men's indoor track & field championships by taking the 800-meter national title. Todorovic posted the winning time of 1 minute, 52.03 seconds to nab his second all-American honor of the meet and sixth all-American accolade of his career. Todorovic, from Belgrade, Serbia, majoring in computer science, reached the finals with a preliminary mark of 1:54.08.
New Faces in Head Coaching Roles
• With the passing of Crabaugh, longtime assistant coach Keith Lytle was named head coach of the baseball program in August. Crabaugh and Lytle worked side-by-side for 34 years, producing collegiate baseball’s winningest program since 1991. During his tenure, Lytle has contributed to ÐßÐßÊÓƵ accumulating 14 50-win seasons, 14 NAIA World Series appearances, three national runner-up finishes (2002, 2003, 2004) and the 2005 national championship. The Stars have the single-season NAIA record for wins with 73 in 2004.
• Josh Gorzney was named head women’s golf coach in November. Gorzney came to ÐßÐßÊÓƵ from Central Arkansas University, where he was an assistant to former Stars coach M.J. Desbiens Shaw, who led the ÐßÐßÊÓƵ program to two national championships.
• After a national search, Kris Seigenthaler was tabbed as head women’s basketball coach in June. Seigenthaler was previously an assistant at Loyola where her teams swept the Southern States Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships for two consecutive years. Loyola advanced to the NAIA Championship Tournament and posted 20-win seasons all four years. The Wolf Pack went 91-22 (.805 winning percentage) with her contributions.
Men’s and Women’s Golf Set Pace in Fall Seasons
The women’s team remained ranked number one in the NAIA throughout the fall season, and are coming off an NAIA national runner-up finish in 2022. The squad won three tournaments in the fall season, including the Missouri State/Payne Stewart Memorial, which was an NCAA division one field. Individually, sophomore Paige Wood won the Grace Shin Invitational, sophomore Maddi Kamas finished atop the leaderboard at the Missouri State/Payne Stewart, and ÐßÐßÊÓƵ golfers occupied spots 1-4 at the Southwestern Christian Invitational.
The men won the U.C. Ferguson Classic in record-setting fashion, then won the Southwestern Christian Invitational to kick off their fall season. In the U.C. Ferguson tournament, their second-round total scores of 261 and 23-under-par are the best ever produced by an ÐßÐßÊÓƵ team. Senior Will Fore was the individual winner at the event, while sophomore Tres Hill and freshman Leandro Milhach tied for second in the Southwestern Christian tournament.
