NSU Horizons Fall 2010

Athletic Highlights • NSU’s women’s golf team is once again the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II National Champions, winning the title by 40 strokes in May. Sandra Changkija, a bus- iness administration major, led the Sharks by capturing the first individual title in NSU history. Changkija was named the NCAA Division II National Player of the Year for the third year in a row; Abbey Gittings, a sports management major, was honored as the National Freshman of the Year; and Kevin Marsh collected his second consecutive NCAA Division II Coach of the Year award. • Changkija also competed in the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open at the Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, in July. She qualified by finishing fifth in the U.S. Women’s Open Sectional Qualifier held at the Oaks Club in Osprey, Florida, in May. • Michael Mominey relinquished his position as the Sharks head baseball coach to focus solely on his role as athletics director. Mominey posted a record 302–226 in his 10 years as coach. He has served as athletics director since 2002. Greg Brown, a former scout for the Houston Astros and assistant coach at Broward College, replaces Mominey as head baseball coach. • Carlyle Thompson, a marketing major, placed sixth in 400-meter hurdle finals at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in May. His time of 51.66 was the fastest in the event in NSU history, and his finish earned him All-America honors. Thompson is the first NSU student-athlete to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. • Shortstop Lauren Lopez, a criminal justice major, was named the Sunshine State Conference Softball Player of the Year. She batted .415 and set the NSU record with 61 runs scored, while leading the SSC with a .746 slugging percentage, seven triples, and 12 home runs. Lopez earned Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II All-America Softball Third-Team honors. • NSU Athletics has a new Web site— NSUsharks .com . Live game stats and live game video and audio are among the new site’s features. 39 horizons The strength and conditioning program took another step forward with the opening of a new weight room in August 2010. The 5,300-square-foot facility features all new floors and equipment, and it’s the first time the Shark athletes have a weight room of their own. Student-athletes used to workout in a section of the RecPlex in the Don Taft University Center. But as new teams were added—men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are beginning competition this year—they outgrew the space. Now with a weight room specified to the needs of student-athletes, equipment emblazoned with the Sharks logo, and motivational quotes and photos on the wall, NSU’s athletes have been given another edge. “The strength and conditioning program includes the best in facilities, equipment, programming, and personnel, and that provides an advantage in recruiting,” Mominey said. The real advantage is with the student-athletes—many in a strength and conditioning program for the first time—and the results they see as their hard work turns into improved performance in their sport. “We work together, we cry together, we bleed together, it’s just so fulfilling,” Stevens said. “We work these athletes pretty hard, but it’s worth it, and they love us for it.” n Left: Coach Shelton Stevens works with members of the softball team. Below: Laura Saladrigas, 19, a member of NSU’s softball team