Chiefs' Athletics grabs ISCC's top trophy for 7th time
Waubonsee Community College captured the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference’s (ISCC) All-Sports Trophy for the 2016-17 school year in convincing fashion. Six Chiefs’ teams earned ISCC titles, while no other sports squad finished lower than third in the eight-team league. Waubonsee compiled 61.5 points, six and a half points better than Moraine Valley Community College (55 points) and well ahead of third-place College of Lake County (42 points). The Chiefs were ISCC Champions in men’s soccer, women’s tennis, men’s golf, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and softball, to go along with second-place finishes in baseball, women’s soccer and men’s cross country.
Overall it is the seventh time Waubonsee has garnered the ISCC’s prestigious trophy since the inception of the award in 1980. The Chiefs’ Athletic Department has perennially finished near the top of the standings for this annual award, which is a measure of the overall quality of each college’s sports programs. The conference’s eight schools compete in twelve sports with six each for men and women. A point system, awarded in descending order of each school’s conference finish, is tallied in each sport. Each school is allowed to drop their four lowest scores, with the overall winner being the program that garners the most total points with their eight remaining tallies.
Men’s Soccer went undefeated (7-0) to win the ISCC title for the third time in school history. Coach Brett Suhayda’s crew finished the regular season unbeaten (16-0-1) and ran off a school record 19-game winning streak en route to the Region IV Division I crown. Ranked 17th nationally, the Chiefs fell in the District B title match to third-ranked Iowa Western. Men’s Golf grabbed the ISCC title for the second straight year, went on to finish second at the Region IV Tournament and placed 20th at the National Tournament in Mesa, Arizona. Men’s Basketball tied with Elgin for the ISCC title and went on to win the Region IV Division II championship over fourth-ranked Triton College. Coach Dave Heiss’ unranked Chiefs then secured a top-12 finish at the National Tournament.
Women’s Tennis won the ISCC crown for the 17th time in school history, then won the Region IV Tournament before placing 24th nationally at the National Tournament in Tucson, Arizona. Women’s Basketball garnered the ISCC title before bowing out of the Region IV Tournament with a loss to eventual champion Moraine Valley. Softball grabbed the ISCC crown for an unprecedented seventh consecutive year, going undefeated (10-0) in league action and improving to 80-8 in ISCC play the last seven years. Coach Perry Clark’s team then captured the Region IV Division II Championship for the first time ever and went 1-2 at the National Tournament in Clinton, Mississippi.
The Baseball team finished the season with 30 wins and was ranked as high as eighth nationally during the season. Women’s Soccer reached the Region IV Division I title match for the eighth time in the last nine years. Men’s Cross Country came in second at both the ISCC Meet and the Region IV Meet, before finishing 25th at the National Meet.