The 2024 fall sports season at Western Michigan University turned out to be something special.
And comparing the accomplishments of WMU's football, volleyball, men's soccer, women's soccer and women's cross country programs to schools around the country, well, it was really, really special.
For the first time in school history, Western Michigan advanced to the NCAA postseason in all five fall sports, an unprecedented accomplishment in the MAC and virtually unheard of among Group of 5 programs nationwide. In fact, there were only three schools in the nation who made the postseason in football, volleyball, men's soccer and women's soccer and which also had an All-Region women's cross country runner. They are Western Michigan University and Power 4 conference institutions North Carolina and Washington.
That's it…three schools.
''This puts Western Michigan on the national map and positions our brand in that we are serious about Division 1 athletics and being competitive in this new world,'' Dan Bartholomae, Vice President/Director of Athletics, said. ''The accomplishments of the fall teams are amazing.''
The volleyball team won back-to-back MAC tournament titles for the first time since 1989 to make the NCAA field two straight years. Last season, the Broncos upset Auburn in the first round.
The men's soccer team made the NCAA field for the third straight season, this time on its strength of schedule, having beaten ranked teams Northwestern (No. 9) and Vermont (No. 14) at home and No. 9 New Hampshire on the road. The Broncos also tied top 16 tournament seed Dayton in the regular season and tied Big East Conference champion Akron.
The women's soccer team became the first MAC program in history to go unbeaten in league play for two straight seasons. The Broncos qualified for the NCAA tournament this year when they won the league tournament.
The football team finished 6-6 overall and 5-3 in the Mid-American Conference, the first time since 2019 WMU has had a winning conference record in a full season of play. The bid to play South Alabama in the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl in Montgomery, Ala.is the 12th bowl bid in program history.
In women's cross country, freshman Lily Zelasko made the all-region team by finishing 21st in the tough NCAA Great Lakes Region. To show the high level of competition in the region, Wisconsin's women finished second in the region and fourth in the national championship meet. She was also all-MAC which gave Western Michigan three straight seasons with an all-league runner, the first time since 1991 that has happened.
Also, WMU men's tennis player Anton Arzhankin qualified for the NCAA men's individual championship, the first Bronco to appear in that tournament since 1977.
Here's what Bartholomae and the head coaches had to say:
Bartholomae: ''Our vision has been centered on comprehensive excellence – defined as the holistic preparation of our athletes for post-graduation success; high quality connections with our community; and winning championships. To accomplish this feat immediately after placing #1 in the Director's Cup last academic year for the first time in our history is a realization of a belief and buy-in of that vision from our student-athletes, coaches and staff. I recall at my first all-staff meeting as athletic director I looked at our staff and said, 'Look at this community, at these resources, at the people who support us …we can be great at everything here.' Here we are, two and a half years later and the reason that has come to fruition is because every single staff member believed we could. Now, success is a standard and ingrained in our culture. Part of that standard is ensuring that we recognize and celebrate these milestones. When our teams win championships, we celebrate with confetti cannons and police escorts while recognizing them on billboards and at on-campus celebrations. We want their peers to see that recognition and want to join in. There is no coincidence that these accomplishments came in the same year where we also broke a cumulative GPA record, a community service hours record, and received the largest named gift in our history. Our team has worked diligently towards a defined strategic plan and we take pride in the incredible work of our student-athletes, staff and coaches, as well as the support of our community.''
Lance Taylor, football: ''For the program, I'm really excited to be bowl eligible and it shows great growth in what we are doing here. In 2023, we were picked to be the last team in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), to be 133rd out of 133 teams and then to be bowl eligible in year two means a lot. We found ways to win games and we put ourselves in a position to be relevant in November. Truly, this senior class is leaving a legacy. For me, I'm so appreciative of the other coaches on this campus. The coaches of the women's teams and the men's teams have reached out to me with their support and mentorship. Colleen Munson (volleyball) has been a great mentor to me, reaching out multiple times. Pat Ferschweiler (hockey) has been a great mentor and friend and I've learned so much from him and it truly helped me being a first-time head coach.''
Collen Munson, volleyball: ''When the department is successful, we're all successful, we're all elevated. The word gets out and people start to notice on all the platforms, tournaments, social media and word of mouth we are doing something special at Western Michigan. It's definitely a win-win for the department. It's hard to make the postseason (she has done it five times). With our returning core (six seniors who led WMU to an unbeaten MAC regular season in 2023), the expectation was to get back to the NCAA, but everyone is chasing you. You are getting everyone's best and that is a good thing. This was a different team from last year, having two freshmen play significant roles and having seniors Julia Marr and Madison Merz playing significant roles they weren't in last year.''
Chad Wiseman (men's soccer): "We've created a new standard for the program, and when you set your goals and hope to achieve them, they should be very challenging to achieve. We've made the NCAA tournament three years in a row, and in two of them, we hosted teams and tasted victory in all three years. I'm extremely proud we're consistently ranked in the Top 25 nationally, not just every once in a while. Teams value playing against us now, and quite honestly, a win against us is a resume-building win. It's not easy to get all those games (against nationally ranked teams). We've been able to bring them to Kalamazoo, which has a very big soccer community, to our soccer complex and the community shows up, which is great. It's a direct correlation to our success and making the NCAA tournament. As an alumnus of Western Michigan, the success of our fall teams is a proud moment.''
Lewis Robinson (women's soccer): ''For the second straight year of success here, it means so much. The first year, you ride that high, we won the MAC Championship. You do it a second year in a row like a lot of the fall teams here have done and make the NCAA tournament, it starts to breed this culture of commitment, success and almost an expectation we can do this kind of thing and it's kind of cool. Like every other WMU team, for recruiting, it's definitely put us on the map. I'm just proud and happy to be a part of this special program. In the athletic department, we have strong leadership, strong values and to be part of a department where they value all areas of success is great. Winning is a huge part of it, but all areas of success like academics, is great to see. I enjoy the camaraderie with the other coaches, sharing texts before and after games, and sharing that success. We have a fun group of fall sports and I think we are all very similar and love to see each other succeed.''
Kevin Cataldo (women's cross country): "Going into the Great Lakes regional meet, we saw it would be muddy, rainy and the course was uphill at the end which played to an advantage for Lilly. She is such a cross country runner, that the harder the course, the better she does. With about one kilometer left in the race where the uphill started, I yelled to her she was in 26th place and the top 25 make all-region. She started chipping away and had some insurance, finishing 21st. She did a great job in her first regional meet against a very elite field. What this means for the program is you can be successful at the highest level at Western Michigan. In the past track season, we had an All-American in Kayla Schiera. We have plenty more athletes here that are capable of doing so. I feel we're starting to plant the flag where it's going to be more of a staple of WMU cross country, getting those all-region accolades and showing we can compete at a high level.''
