The Observer, April 25, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 26
The top 10 Case sports stories of '07-'08
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1. Football's undefeated regular season
The Spartans came into 2007 with only one winning season in the last 15 years. With each Saturday came another win, and before you knew it, they were a perfect 10-0 and secured themselves the first playoff spot in the program's history. Those 10 wins, which were sometimes dramatic, significantly raised the profile of athletics on campus.
2. Rahn 'resigns'
A few months after her entire team quit, save one person on the men's team, coach Nancy Rahn ended her 16-year reign as tennis coach by resigning. In a letter sent to athletics director Dave Diles, Rahn cited a shoulder surgery and extensive rehab as reasons for her resignation. The letter mentioned nothing about the controversy surrounding the tennis team.
Her players claimed that Rahn lied on her biography posted on the Case athletics website, that she lacked the knowledge to coach a college tennis program, that she was hostile toward players, failed to recruit, and was generally unapproachable. In the beginning of the fall, The Observer received a letter from a tennis alum echoing the concerns put forth by current tennis players.
After her resignation, many of the players who had quit, especially on the men's team, returned under the direction of Greg Debeljak, who is coaching the men, and Dan Palmer, who is coaching the women.
Results don't lie. Under Rahn, the men's team went 5-5 last year, but this year they boast an 11-3 record. The women's team of only six players continues to improve, however and most schools have double their roster, which is the primary reason for their sub-par record.
3. Football defeats Widener for first round playoff win
Down 20-15 to Widener with only 87 seconds to save their season, coach Greg Debeljak's Spartans got the job done, moving down the field on a 14-play, 73-yard drive that was topped off by Jeff Mayer's 7-yard touchdown catch on fourth down. The ball was just inches beyond the plane of the goal line and there were only two seconds left on the clock. It was the third fourth-down Case converted during the drive.
Widener led for the first 52 minutes of the game. Part of the reason that the Spartans' last-second victory was so surprising was that during the regular season, Widener was 5-0 when leading after the third quarter and outscored their opponents 89-57 in the second half.
"It came down to us not executing in the final three minutes," said Widener's coach, David Wood. "I give them [Case] all the credit. They don't quit."
4. Women take sixth at XC nationals
A season ago, the Women's cross country team finished 10th in the country, leaving high 
hopes for 2007. Led by senior Esther Erb, who finished in first place at every meet this 
season save one where she finished second, and junior Kristen Bowhers, the women 
headed to Northfield, Minn. looking to become the best team in school history. After a 
sixth-place finish that is exactly what they did.
5. Men's soccer second, for a bit
After sprinting their way to an 8-0 start, the men's soccer team was rewarded as they were ranked the second team in the nation by the NSCAA/Adidas poll. While the ranking was somewhat short-lived, the Spartans remained in the top 10 until the last week of the regular season. Unfortunately, the Spartans fell short of the playoffs due to a saturated UAA conference. The team would end the season with a 12-5-1 record and as the 22nd ranked team in the nation.
6. Esther Erb, triple threat
Erb qualified for nationals in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track this year. At the cross country nationals, she earned All-American status, and did the same this winter at the indoor track nationals when she finished fourth in the 5000-meter run. She has an excellent chance of becoming an All-American at the NCAA outdoor championships in late May; she did it last year and automatically qualified in the 10,000-meter run in the first meet of the outdoor season this year.
In a few weeks, she could go from triple threat to triple crown.
7. Hockey's playoff run
Fifth-seeded and undermanned, the Case Hockey Club forestalled the end of their season by refusing to lose until the championship against last-year's winner. Club president Jim Lowe caught the playoff fever, scoring the game-winning goal in the first two rounds, one with 10 seconds of play left, and the other in the second period of overtime. With only 10 skaters, the eight periods in two days wore on the Spartans, who fell to Hilbert College 8-5 in the final Feb. 24.
8. WoBask's back-to-back wins over NYU
After losing to a tough Brandeis team, Case women's basketball dominated a 21st-ranked New York University Violets team twice in a week on Feb. 3 and 8, once at home, once in New York. Sophomore guard Ashleigh Tondo led the charge with 18 and 19 points respectively, controlling the tempo of the game and dishing out the assists. Out-rebounding, out-scoring, out-defending, and plain out-hustling the Violets, the Spartans showed they can compete with anyone in the UAA.
9. Annual wins over Emory
For a couple Case teams, getting a win in the University Athletic Association is like Christmas; it's exciting and only comes once a year.in he last two seasons, the men's basketball team has won just one of its 14 Association games; each year that win has come against Emory. Softball also won only one while in Florida, also against guess-who.
Somebody should buy Emory lunch, preferably someplace nicer than Fribley.
10. Manoogian All-American
He stands a mere 5'4" tall, so you can imagine what it was like when Dave Manoogian 
climbed onto the podium to receive his All-American award on March 8. A year ago, he fell 
just short (no pun intended) of All-American status, losing the match for eighth place. 


This year though, Manoogian had his eyes set on the honor of becoming an All-American and, 
if possible, a national champion. During a season in which shoulder injuries plagued him in the weeks prior to his biggest matches, Manoogian found a way to persevere and a 2-3 record at the national championships at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa earned him the final spot as an All-American in the 141-lb. weight class in 2008.
Honorable mentions
Horton, here's a G
On March 1, Ashley Horton scored her 1000th career point with 4.8 seconds remaining in the season finale against Emory.
Case for Community Day participation
Around 300 students from five Cleveland Municipal Schools came to Case in September to participate in a variety of sports activities.
The Coach Bill Sudeck Track
On Saturday, the outdoor track will officially be named "The Coach Bill Sudeck Track." Sudeck was a legendary cross country, track, and basketball coach at CWRU and CIT. He passed away in 2000 and truly deserves the honor.
