DECEMBER 2, 2024 | written by STEVE ULRICH

News and notes on the largest and best Division in the NCAA. #whyD3
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👋 Hello, December. Hoping you enjoyed some time away from the office and are ready to go for the final week before finals (for many).

Headlines
🏈 Second-Round Football Results
🥍 Muston’s New Perspective on Life, Lacrosse
🏆️ Championships Committee Recap
⚡️ Lightning Round

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TOP STORY
1. Super-Sized Second Round Has Sizzle

by D3football.com

“Mary Hardin-Baylor made the third time the charm, while Johns Hopkins survived a last-second attempt from Grove City, Randolph-Macon rolled past W&J after a slow start, Mount Union rolled, the defending national champions survived and the WIAC was eliminated in the round of 32 for the second time in three seasons.”

• Saint John’s d. UW-La Crosse, 24-13; Susquehanna d. Hobart, 42-35

• Wartburg d. UW-Platteville, 19-14; Bethel d. Lake Forest, 48-21

• Cortland d. Endicott, 17-9; Springfield d. UMass-Dartmouth, 54-27

• Hope d. Aurora, 49-21; North Central d. Whitworth, 42-17

• Mary Hardin-Baylor d. Hardin-Simmons, 17-13; Linfield d. Texas Lutheran, 65-3

• Johns Hopkins d. Grove City, 17-14; DePauw d. Maryville, 20-16

• Randolph-Macon d. Washington & Jefferson, 38-22; Salisbury d. King’s, 33-13

• Carnegie Mellon d. Centre, 24-15; Mount Union d. John Carroll, 42-7

» Read More

LACROSSE (W)
2. Kidney Transplant Gives York’s Muston New Perspective on Life, Lacrosse

by Brian Logue, USA Lacrosse Magazine

“Jen Muston isn’t afraid of a challenge.

You can see it by glancing at the York College women’s lacrosse schedule she lines up each spring as the school’s head coach.

On-field challenges are one thing.

Invisible challenges are another.”

» Field Awareness. “A former conference player of the year at UMBC, Muston took over as the head coach at York in 2008 but commuted from her home in Maryland until relocating to Pennsylvania in 2017. Part of the transition included finding a new primary care physician. Muston brought her medical records up and her new doctor didn’t like what she saw. Routine bloodwork led to visiting a specialist and then back to Maryland to consult with doctors at Johns Hopkins. They discovered that Muston had stage four chronic kidney disease and that her kidneys were only functioning at about 30-percent capacity.”

» The Waiting Game. “Muston knew she would eventually need a transplant, but her kidneys were functioning well enough that she wasn’t eligible to receive one. Symptoms usually start when kidney function declines to 20 percent or less, at which point a person can join the national waiting list. It was a bit of an agonizing waiting game. A bout of COVID toward the end of 2022 sent Muston’s function below the 20-percent threshold and allowed her to be placed on the kidney transplant list.”

» The Call. “Basically, when you get that call, you have 15 minutes to take the kidney or not because they’re calling other people and lining other people up in case the first, second or third person doesn’t take the offering,” Muston said. “There’s a rating system where they match your kidneys and this was a six out of a six, which is like a unicorn. A six out of six on a deceased kidney match is basically like getting a living donor match.”

» Reality Check. Muston will share her wisdom with a new perspective after this experience and the support she received. “How can I be selfless to someone else?” she said. “Am I? Maybe I’m not and I need to do a better job. This was very humbling. I’m very thankful and blessed that as this was happening, I really saw the human spirit in those times. There are so many good people out there.”

» Go Deeper

NEWS
3. Champs Committee Recap

The DIII Championships Committee held a videoconference on November 19 and discussed golf, soccer, swimming and diving, wrestling among other topics.

» Golf. The committee supported a conceptual plan to expand the women’s field to 34 teams and six individuals, pending the ability to provide two courses to accommodate the increase. The 2025 championship will also be moved from the Bay Oaks CC in the Houston-area to the Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Va. which can provide the two courses necessary for this season.

» Wrestling. Averett will serve as host for the 2025 Region IV regional, while the American Rivers Conference will serve as host for the Region VI regional. Two more hosts remain to be determined.

» Championship Streaming. Division III is signing a four-year agreement with Tupelo, the current livestream partner for DIII championships, to stream the following for ESPN+ at an approximate cost of $240-$260,000 annually - Football semifinals, Volleyball (W) Elite Eight, Basketball (M/W) Final Four.

» Continue Reading

NEWS
4. Lightning Round ⚡️ 

💰️ Operations. Webster University has received a financial distress designation by the Higher Learning Commission due to a “substantial doubt about an entity’s ability to continue operating in the foreseeable future.”

🏃 Cross Country. Wilmington’s Faith Duncan and UW-La Crosse’s Christian Patzka were named the USTFCCCA National Athletes of the Year. MIT’s Riley Macon and UWL’s Derek Stanley were honored as the National Coaches of the Year.

🏀 Basketball. A pair of top-10 men’s teams fell on Saturday, as No. 8 Tufts (5-1) was upended by No. 20 WPI (7-0), 74-61, while Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (6-2) blitzed No. 9 Trinity TX (4-1), 85-67. In a women’s top-25 clash, No. 8 Illinois Wesleyan (6-0) dispatched No. 11 Washington U. (5-1), 67-59, behind 24 points from Lauren Huber.

🏒 Ice Hockey. The No. 5 Adrian women (9-1) toppled No. 8 Utica (9-2), 3-2, to win the Sunshine Turkey Classic behind a pair of goals from Riley Johnson. Nate Burke scored two goals with two assists as the Cortland men (6-2) knocked off No. 5 Curry (7-2), 8-3.

💵 Business. Teamworks has acquired Basepath, a NIL operations company that automates contracts, communication and finances for NIL stakeholders and student-athletes.

TRANSACTIONS
5. Comings and Goings

• ALFRED - Tracy Blake will step down as head men’s soccer coach

• CONCORDIA (Wis.) - Caitlin Lowry named interim head acrobatics and tumbling coach

• HIRAM - Jack Mrozinski has been released as head football coach. Tanner Niles and Haydn Warren named co-interim head coaches

• MORRISVILLE - Samantha Guillaume named head softball coach

• MOUNT SAINT MARY - Joe Dolan named head women’s soccer coach

• SOUTHERN COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE - Announced the addition of LeTourneau as an affiliate member in track and field

• YESHIVA - Melissa Mapes named associate athletic director and head softball coach

1 THING
6. Yes, That Viral LinkedIn Post You Read Was Probably AI-Generated

“AI is writing a huge chunk of what you're reading on LinkedIn.

• "Over 54 percent of longer English-language posts on LinkedIn are likely AI-generated," WIRED reports, citing an AI detection firm's analysis.

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