AND THAT’S A WRAP

While this fall has been incredibly challenging and not as anyone would have scripted thanks to COVID-19, the Foresters still have plenty of positives to take away from the first portion of this school year.

Although plenty of schools and programs were not gifted a fall season of athletics, Huntington was grateful to have the opportunity to compete. So now, sit back, enjoy a cup of cocoa and read how the fall of 2020 has wrapped up for Forester nation.

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
The Foresters made history this fall as the first team in program history to climb to the top spot in the NAIA National Polls after capturing the program’s sixth conference championship which included beating then-ranked #1 Taylor. Five Foresters in Adrien Gentie (3rd), Elijah Chesterman (6th), Kent Yoder (9th), Reece Gibson (10th) and Haile Stutzman (12th) were All-Conference selections. As the CL champs, Huntington earned an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championships slated for April 9. Gentie was voted NAIA Runner of the Week and twice named CL Runner of the Week. Stutzman was also tabbed the CL Runner of the Week.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
Sophomore transfer Emma Wilson had an epic season to establish herself as the nation’s best. The Greencastle native posted the fastest women’s 5K time across all college divisions nationally at the NAIA Seminole Valley Stampede where she clocked in at 16:24. She went undefeated this season, was a five-time CL Runner of the Week and two-time NAIA Runner of the Week, established new course records at every meet and capped off the fall as the Crossroads League individual champion. She along with Hannah Stoffel (2nd) and Sydney Lambert (7th) were deemed All-Conference honorees. As a team, the Foresters finished second at the CL Championships and were most recently ranked third among their NAIA peers in the National Polls.

MEN’S & WOMEN’S GOLF
With their main season in the spring, the Forester golf program was able to get a handful of matches in this fall. The HU women played in six invitationals while the HU men competed in five.

MEN’S SOCCER
Coach Russ Lawson and crew faced only Crossroads League opponents this fall to rack up a 6-4-2 record by playing several CL foes twice which including sweeping Taylor. HU finished fifth in the league standings. The Forester JV program enjoyed five wins against just one loss and a tie.

WOMEN’S SOCCER
With the exception of playing Trine midseason, Huntington’s schedule was exclusively conference games which included a dominate 4-0 win over Bethel and a 3-1 victory over Saint Francis. The quality of soccer for Coach David Lewis’ squad was impressive as the season wore on. Senior Jordan Adam came on strong in the last half of the season to log four goals and an assist. Katie Sell finished with three goals while Ashtyn Patrick and Courtney McKown each found back netting once and shared team-best assist honors with three apiece.  

MEN’S TENNIS
It was a whirlwind fall condensed into just over three weeks for the Foresters. During their shortened season, HU posted a 6-4 record, had a strong outing at ITA Regionals and finished fourth in the Crossroads League standings with a 5-3 record.

As Huntington’s #1 player, junior transfer Alejo Bagnera headlined first-year head coach Ignacio Poncio’s crew by earning All-Conference honors and ranking 23rd on the list of the  top NAIA players around the country as announced by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) at season’s end.

WOMEN’S TENNIS
Like the men, the HU women also packed a lot into a shortened season to finish 5-5 this fall which included a 4-4 CL record for the fifth spot in the standings. Senior Lanae Singleton and junior Morgan Fitzpatrick represented Huntington at ITA Regionals where they paired up to win the consolation bracket in doubles action. Fitzpatrick was one of 15 players in the league to earn All-Conference accolades, the second CL badge of her Forester career.

VOLLEYBALL
COVID-19 was least kind to Herber and crew as their season consisted of just 17 matches with only one non-conference outing. The Foresters saved some of their best for last, winning three of their last four matches which included registering a sweep over Goshen. Seniors Ariene Butler and Jennings Tacosik wrapped up their stellar careers by earning Second Team All-Conference honors while Nicole Flickinger, Brea Metz and Abby Robinson were tabbed Honorable Mention.