As the fall sports season officially concludes and the campus makes its shift to the winter season, it is important to recognize the hard work and milestones of the student-athletes who have been working hard since the hot and humid days of August.
It was a season that saw many great victories, postseason berths and even records broken.
To first start out on the gridiron, the Quakers football team finished the season with a 4-6 (1-6) season following a loss at Emory & Henry College. It was a rough ending to the season for the Quakers, but the 20-member senior class was able to notch 27 wins in their college tenure.
Following a season-ending injury to junior running back De’Eric Bell, junior Hunter Causey stepped in for the Quakers and was able to keep the running game at an elite level. Causey finished the year with 1,047 running yards, the fourth-best in the College’s history.
The Quakers do have great experience returning going into the offseason and will be excited to get things rolling again in August.
The men’s soccer team was able to make a postseason Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament berth under head coach Cory Speed, who is in his first year as head coach, as the Quakers finished the season 7-9-3 (2-4-3) and got some big wins at the end of the season to qualify for postseason play.
First-year midfielder Ricky Aguilar earned Third Team All-ODAC honors, leading the Quakers with 17 points on seven goals and three assists. Along with Aguilar, the Quakers may return up to 19 letterwinners in the upcoming season, as the program continues to make great strides under Speed.
The women’s soccer team closed the year out with a 6-9-1 (3-6-1) season with a postseason berth as well, qualifying for the ODAC Tournament for the first time since 2011 and continuing the great improving trend within the program.
Sophomore Juliana Evans-Anfom earned Third Team All-ODAC honors despite having to miss three games late in the year due to injury. In those 13 games, Evans-Anfom lead the team in points with 17, and tallied seven goals on the season. Along with Evans-Anfom, an experienced bunch of 17 letterwinners are expected back next season, as the program continues its improvement each year.
The volleyball team ended its season with a 12-14 (6-5) record with a narrow loss in five sets against Bridgewater College in the ODAC Tournament, capping off a season that saw a huge improvement from last season and the first postseason berth since 2012.
Junior Casey Davis earned Second Team All-ODAC honors on the court, as Davis lead the team in kills with 283, kills per set with 2.98, points with 328.5 and points per set with 3.46. Through conference tournament matches, Davis was also top 10 in many categories in the ODAC. Along with Davis, the Quakers expect 16 letterwinners to return next season to continue the climb towards the top of the ODAC.
The men’s cross country team closed the season out at the ODAC Championships and the National Collegiate Athletic Association South/Southeast Regionals. Sophomore Caleb Amstutz had a team-best finish at both events, whereas junior Caleb Anderson had the second-fastest time in Regionals.
The women’s cross country team also closed the season with good performances at the ODAC Championships and the NCAA South/Southeast Regionals. Junior Sommer Fanney was a top performer at both, earning a top 10 finish at the ODAC Championships and earning Second Team All-ODAC honors. Fanney also posted the College’s 15th fastest six-kilometer time at Regionals. Another top performer for the Quakers at the ODAC Championships was senior Kate Jenkins-Sullivan.
The men’s golf team wrapped up their fall season with a second place finish in the O’Briant-Jensen Memorial Tournament, which was held at Sedgefield Golf Club here in Greensboro.
In the most recent Golf Coaches Association of America coaches’ poll, the Quakers sit at No. 12. They hope to carry this momentum into the upcoming spring season, which tees off in March.
As the fall season wraps up, please check the Guilford College Athletics’ website (http://www.guilfordquakers.com/) for winter sports schedules as those teams’ seasons have begun.
