May 13, 2009

River Forest, IL - The Dominican University Department of Athletics announced on Wednesday that the 2008-2009 season was the most successful year for the department in terms of winning percentage as the department's 11 intercollegiate varsity sports posted a .549 winning percentage with a 126-103-3 combined record and four of the nine team sports at the University logging .500 or better seasons.

The women's sports led the charge with three female teams posting winning records paced by the softball team that logged its best season in the history of the program dating back to 1998. The Stars' softball squad posted a .682 winning percentage in 2009, recording a 30-14 overall mark and doubling their 14 wins from a year ago. The women's volleyball team climbed above .500 for the first time since the 2004 season, posting a 16-15 overall record in 2008.

The women's soccer program continued to grow under fourth-year head coach Jeff Halsema, posting the program's third straight .500 season as the team logged a 13-6-2 mark as Halsema became the program's all-time winningest coach with a career mark of 46-29-5.

The men's soccer team remains the department's top-dog, earning their seventh consecutive trip the NCAA Division III National Tournament, logging a 19-3-1 overall record and claiming their third straight Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) championship with an unblemished 11-0-0 record in conference play.

Baseball and women's basketball just missed out on .500 seasons with the baseball team posting an 18-20 overall record and the women's basketball program finishing the 2008-2009 campaign with a 12-13 overall mark.

In addition to the team success the department experienced, the Stars also saw junior Megan Vaccaro (Oswego, IL) claim the first individual conference championship for the Stars in cross country. Vaccaro raced away from the competition at the NAC Championship, covering the six-kilometer course in a time of 22:39.26, more than thirty seconds faster than the second place finisher. Vacarro narrowly missed becoming the first Dominican University cross country runner to qualify for the NCAA Division III National Championship race as she placed 17th at the Midwest Regional hosted by Augustana College.