A new season at Avila marks an anniversary

By Max Goodwin

Students are back on campus at Avila University, and the start of a new fall sports season has already begun. This is a special season for three of Avila’s most prominent programs; the dance, cheer, and football teams were all organized 25 years ago.

Avila Athletics will celebrate its 25th Anniversary during Homecoming Weekend and hopes to have as many former alumni as possible return for the event. There will be a home football game against Saint Mary on Sept. 20 at 1 p.m. for homecoming weekend. There will be a happy hour the night before and a tailgate before the game for the alumni to celebrate the anniversary.

In the last quarter century, the Avila dance has won more than any other team on campus. This year, they have already won an NAIA National Championship in Jazz and placed third in Hip Hop. These were the seventh and eighth national titles for Avila Dance. Hall of Fame Coach Cindy Freeman has led Avila Dance for all 25 years and eight national titles.

Along with cheer and football teams starting their 25th seasons, Avila has five other teams that have either started or will start their season this month.

Football

NFL wide receiver Derrick Alexander is back for his third season as head coach after two seasons with 4-7 records. Alexander played in the NFL for nine seasons, including four with the Chiefs in the 1990s and early 2000s. He was the wide receiver coach at Wayne State before coming to Avila.

“People know who he is; he had a long NFL career,” said Athletics Director Shawn Summe. “But to me, I view him as a guy who grinded his way through the coaching ranks to get to where he is now, which is really cool.”

This season is in a dire place after just three games. There was a 52-7 loss at McPherson right out of the gates, followed up by a 62-7 drumming by Friends in the home opener, then last weekend’s 30-6 loss at Kansas Wesleyan.

Seth Myers, a junior receiver in his second season at Avila, has been one of the few bright spots, scoring two of Avila’s three touchdowns this season. Freshman defensive back Shamar Scruggs has led the team with 26 tackles.

Tennis

Last season marked a return for Avila’s tennis program, one of the first sports played at Avila before the program was discontinued years ago. Coach Jon Renberger returns as head coach of both men’s and women’s tennis teams for the second year of their return at Avila.

“The growing pains of laying a new program’s foundation are necessary,” Renberger said. “But now we must continue working hard on a daily basis to build a sustainable, successful program on that foundation.”

Both men’s and women’s teams return their top starters this year. On the men’s side, Drue Coen returns as the team’s No. 1, and so does No. 2 Caige Bjornstad. Same for the women, with No. 1 sophomore Dano Jean-Louis, and No. 2 sophomore Alaeyah Clheborad. There are four new women’s players this year and eight on the men’s team.

Soccer

The Avila women’s soccer team had an incredible 2024, finishing the season at 13-3-4 with a run to the semifinals of the KCAC tournament. That game against York came down to a penalty shootout, which York won 5-4, with the deciding penalty kick being taken.

They return this year with Katie LaForge as head coach with a younger roster overall. It’s been a rocky start at 2-3 early in the season compared to a year ago, when the Eagles didn’t lose a game in September.

The men’s team aims to improve on a 3-14 season under the leadership of John Kelly, who serves as head coach. They are 2-3 to start the year. Senior midfielder Malcolm Goswell from Raymore is one of the key returning contributors.

Women’s Volleyball

While Avila will launch its first men’s volleyball season in January, the women’s season is already fully underway. The Eagles are off to a 5-10 season heading into a homecoming weekend match against Missouri Valley on September 19.

Junior outside hitter Maddie Jones led the team in kills last season and has even improved this season from 2.77 kills per set to 2.95.