Southwestern Moundbuilders

Southwestern College Moundbuilders
University	Southwestern College
Conference(s)	Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference
NAIA	Region IV
Athletics director	Dave Denly
Location	Winfield, KS
Varsity teams	13
Football stadium	Richard L. Jantz Stadium (4,000)
Basketball arena	Stewart Field House (1,000)
Mascot	Jinx
Nickname	Moundbuilders
Fight song
Colors	Purple and White
Homepage	Southwestern College Moundbuilders

Southwestern College athletic teams are known as the Moundbuilders (sometimes simply called the "Builders"). They participate in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.

Men's Sports Basketball Cross Country Football Golf Soccer Tennis Track & Field

Women's Sports Basketball Cross Country Golf Soccer Softball Tennis Track & Field Volleyball

The school boasts the following accomplishments:

• 143 KCAC Championships in 10 different sports since 1960
• 15 NAIA All-America Scholar-Athletes in 2005-06
• SC finished 77th out of nearly 300 NAIA institutions in the United States Sports Academy Directors Cup for all sports in 2006.
• Seven KCAC Championships this past year in Softball, Men's Golf, Men's and Women's Track, Men's Basketball, and Men's and Women's Cross Country.
• NAIA Region IV titles in Men's Cross Country, Men's and Women's Golf to advance to NAIA National competition.
• Men's Basketball won the KCAC Post-Season tournament and advanced to the National Tournament.
• Women's Track and Men's Track each had National Champions in 2004.
• An SC student-athlete was featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" in 2006.
• Women's Tennis and Women's Cross Country were NAIA Region IV runners-up in 2005-06.
• In excess of 170 NAIA All-America Scholar Athletes since 1981, an honor requiring a 3.5 GPA.
• Women's Basketball advanced to the "Sweet 16" of the 2004 NAIA National Tournament.
• Conference champions in football in 1997, 1998, 1999.
• Men's and Women's soccer teams advanced to the semi-finals in the 2003 KCAC Post-Season tournament.^[1]

Cross Country/Track & Field

Without a doubt, Southwestern College Athletics have experienced the most success in Track & Field and Cross Country. Since current head coach Jim Helmer took over the programs in 1978, the teams have combined for 31 straight men’s KCAC fall running championships 1980-2010. Friends University stopped the streak in 2011 under head coach Brad Peterson. while the men's track and field teams have produced 29 consecutive conference crowns 1983-2010. The women's track & field teams have followed suit with 16 consecutive KCAC Championships under Mike Kirkland. Since 1978, the Moundbuilders have been awarded seven NAIA National Champions in men’s cross country and track, 81 athletes have earned NAIA All-American status a total of 188 times, and 440 separate athletes have earned All-Conference.^[2]

Basketball (Men's)

Southwestern College Men's Basketball began in 1904 with a record of 5 wins and 3 losses.^[3] Since that time, Southwestern Men's Basketball has appeared in the NAIA national tournament a total of six times with the most recent appearance in 2006 under head coach Doug Hall.^[4] The team won the national championship in 1939 and placed third in 1937.^[5]

Southwestern shows an all-time record in Men's Basketball of 1246-1019 in its first 101 seasons of play. The school currently competes in the NAIA as a Division II school at Stewart Field House (capacity: 1,000) on the Southwestern College campus^[6]

Brad Long is often called Southwestern's most famous basketball player, but not for his play on the court at Southwestern. He is best known for his role in the 1986 film Hoosiers where he played the character of team captain Buddy Walker.^[7]

Football

For more information see 2010 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football season

The Southwestern College Moundbuilder football team began in 1903 with 9 wins, 5 losses, and 1 tie under coach J. J. Thiel.^[8] Since then the Builders have posted three undefeated seasons: 1913, 1918, and 1967. There has never been a season of Southwestern College Football without at least one victory. As of the 2006 season, the program has produced 40 All-Americans, 12 conference championships, 4 national playoff appearances, and 4 bowl games.^[9]

Coaches

See also List of Southwestern College Moundbuilders head football coaches

The current head football coach is Ken Crandall, who took over the program in 2007. His teams have compiled a record of 8 wins and 22 losses in his three seasons at Southwestern.^[10] Other coaches during the program's history include Art Kahler, Harold Elliott, and Dennis Franchione.^[11]

Conference Championships

Southwestern football teams have won the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference ten times since 1929: 1964, 1967, 1968, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1997, 1998, and 1999.^[12]

Bowl games

Southwestern has participated in 4 bowl games with an overall record of 2 wins and 2 losses.

In 1982, head coach Dennis Franchione led the Moundbuilders to 9 wins and 2 losses, with a conference championship and a win in the Sunflower Bowl. Charlie Cowdrey followed up the next year with an appearance in the Sunflower bowl, and then again in 1985.

1996 saw Southwestern post its second bowl victory in the Wheat Bowl, defeating Baker University 28-20 under head coach Monty Lewis.^[13]

Date	Result	Bowl	Opponent	Score	Head Coach
1982	W	Sunflower Bowl	Oklahoma Panhandle State University	15 - 0	Dennis Franchione
1983	L	Sunflower Bowl	Missouri Valley College	21 - 51	Charlie Cowdrey
1985	L	Sunflower Bowl	Baker University	0 - 29	Charlie Cowdrey
1996	W	Wheat Bowl	Baker University	28 - 20	Monty Lewis

Mascot

Moundbuilders

Southwestern College athletic teams are known as the "Moundbuilders." Since 1927, a ceremony has been repeated every September as the student's assemble at Southwestern. Each student and faculty member, as well as clubs and organizations, place one stone. Often, the rocks are carved or painted to represent the person or organization placing the rock.^[14]

The Jinx

The mascot of Southwestern College teams is the "Jinx" -- a black cat. Typically a student is dressed in the costume of a black cat for games.

The legend of "The Jinx" began in the early 1900s. Celebrating an easy victory over arch-rival Fairmount College (now Wichita State University), the students of Southwestern placed a tombstone on Southwestern's campus. The tombstone had a picture of a black cat and the final score of that season's game: 41-3. For the next 14 years the "jinxed" stone stood in defiance as the Moundbuilders won every game against Fairmount.

The players and student body of Fairmount took action. Students made several attempts to remove the stone but each time, the stone was rescued by Southwestern faculty and students.

Finally the Fairmount players sneaked down to Southwestern's campus and stole the tombstone. They then used dynamite to blow it up in a nearby field. The next game all players for Fairmont kept a piece of the stone with them for luck. When that final measure failed to work and Southwestern once again won the game, The frustrated Fairmount players threw down their pieces of the "jinxed" stone and left the field.

According to several eyewitnesses, the Southwestern students picked up the broken pieces and hid them in various places around Southwestern's campus. Legend holds that the pieces still remain hidden throughout the campus.^[14]

Some points of the legend differ in facts. The game that began the run was under coach Fred H. Clapp and was played on November 8, 1912 and it was only two years later on October 16, 1914 when head coach Willis Bates would lead the Moudbuilders in a 20-0 home loss against Fairmont.^[15] However, the two schools played after that for nine games with Southwestern winning five times and the remaining four games ending in a tie.^[16][17] It would not be until Halloween of 1925 when Fairmont College under the leadership of Sam H. Hill would defeat Southwestern again.^[18]

Players/coaches in professional sports and/or collegiate coaching

• Vic Baltzell, linebacker for the Boston Redskins in 1935
• Jerry Kill, current head coach for University of Minnesota
• Jay Mack Love member of the National Champion 1904 Michigan Wolverines football team

References

1. ^ Southwestern College in Winfield, KS
2. ^ Southwestern College - Winfield, KS
3. ^ Southwestern College - Winfield, KS
4. ^ Southwestern College - Winfield, KS
5. ^ Baseball
6. ^ Southwestern College - Winfield, KS
7. ^ Southwestern College Brad Long
8. ^ Southwestern College - Winfield, KS
9. ^ Southwestern College - Winfield, KS
10. ^ College Football Data Warehouse Ken Crandall records by year
11. ^ DeLassus, David. "Southwestern College Coaching Records". College Football Data Warehouse. http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/naia/kcac/southwestern_ks/coaching_records.php. Retrieved November 2, 2010. 
12. ^ Kansas Collegiate Athletic Confernece "KCAC Football Championships by School since 1929"
13. ^ NAIAFOOTBALL.NET-The Nation's Home for NAIA Football
14. ^ ^{a b} Southwestern College - Winfield, KS
15. ^ College Football Data Warehouse Southwestern College Game By Game Summary (1910-1914)
16. ^ College Football Data Warehouse Southwestern College Game By Game Summary (1915-1919)
17. ^ College Football Data Warehouse Southwestern College Game By Game Summary (1920-1924)
18. ^ College Football Data Warehouse Southwestern College Game By Game Summary (1925-1929)