DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – You know you've had a good year when it's tough to get the end of the year review down to just 10 top stories.
 
Luckily, we're still early enough in the century to go 17 for 17, like we did for this. We'll probably get around to rethinking this in the 2020s, but for now…enjoy the article as much as we enjoyed telling the stories of BCU student-athletes.
 

1. The NCAA Baseball Regional Run: In a span of 36 hours, the Wildcats won more regional games than they had in the previous 36 years, including two on the same day against nationally ranked USF and Florida, the program's first-ever victory against the host Gators. The victories forced an elimination game against Florida, and for five innings, a depleted pitching staff kept the Gators scoreless. Florida would win that game…and eventually go on to win the national championship. BCU ended the year with a 36-25 record that included its 18th MEAC championship and quality wins over Boston College, Florida Gulf Coast, Tennessee Tech and Miami.

 

2. Football Posts Its Seventh Straight Win Over FAMU: Down 24-10 entering the fourth quarter, the Wildcats pulled off a, ahem, CLASSIC and kept the winning streak over Florida A&M at the Florida Blue Florida Classic alive. Larry Brihm's two-yard naked bootleg with 1:15 remaining allowed Bethune-Cookman to rally for a 29-24 come-from-behind victory. Brihm finished with 280 yards and one touchdown passing in addition to the two rushing touchdowns to deliver the Wildcats' seventh consecutive victory in the series and conclude Bethune-Cookman's 2017 campaign at 7-4 (6-2 MEAC).

 

3. Michael Tiller Wins NCAA Regional Championship, Sweeps MEAC Indoor and Outdoor Title: Senior Michael Tiller's domination of the triple jump led to him sweeping the MEAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships, giving him five out of a possible eight. At the NCAA regionals, Tiller stunned the meet with his final leap of 53 feet, 7 inches to break the BCU record of 53 feet, 1 inch set by Louis Brown at the 2006 Penn Relays to win the event and qualifying him for the NCAA National Championship. He finished 12th at the NCAA's and would later finish eighth at the USATF national meet.

 

4. BCU Alum Eric Weems Plays in Super Bowl: Eric Weems became the fourth Bethune-Cookman alum to play in football's biggest game in January for the Atlanta Falcons, who, well, you know what happened in the fourth quarter against the New England Patriots. So instead, we focus on Weems returning three punts, greeting former President George H. W. Bush during the coin toss, and seeing another BCU alum, Larry Little, honored during pre-game ceremonies.

 

5. Women's Basketball Repeats as MEAC Regular Season Champs: Bethune-Cookman Women's Basketball remained at the top of the MEAC, compiling a 15-1 record in league play to take their second straight championship. At the MEAC Tournament, victories over Savannah State and Florida A&M advanced them to their first championship game appearance since 1992. Hampton ended the BCU run, but the Wildcats would make their second WNIT appearance the next week at Wake Forest.

 

6. Ryan Ridder and Steve Ridder Father-Son Debut: Ryan Ridder became the BCU Men's Basketball head coach in March. He and his father, Embry-Riddle Coach Steve Ridder, made their NCAA debuts at the same time two miles apart on November 10.

 

7. Hurricane Irma Wrecks Fall Sports: For the second straight year, a hurricane did havoc to the BCU fall sports schedule. Hurricane Irma resulted in the volleyball team losing 17 percent of its schedule; cross country lost two meets; and kept the football team in Louisiana after its victory at Southeastern Louisiana for two extra days.

 

8. Golf sweeps PGA Minority Championships Again: For an extraordinary 14th time overall and the sixth straight year, the women of Bethune-Cookman University left Port St. Lucie as victors of the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship. The Bethune-Cookman women enjoyed their sixth consecutive Women's Division victory with a three-day total of 889, defeating second place University of the Incarnate Word (919) by 30 strokes. The Wildcats were led by Mackenzie Butzer (215), whose final round, 1-under-par 71 solidified her position as the division's medalist, finishing 1-under-par for the Championship and nine strokes ahead of teammate Alejandra Sanchez and Incarnate Word's Madison Frerking. Not to be outdone by their fellow Wildcats, the men of Bethune-Cookman (875) claimed their fourth Men's Division I victory in five years with a 16-stroke margin over Incarnate Word (891). Samuel Sloman's steady play and three-day total of 217 earned him the Division I medalist by a two-shot margin over teammate Christian Hovstadius.

 

9. Beverlin Gets Call to Show: After spending just over six years at the helm of the Bethune-Cookman Baseball program, Jason Beverlin stepped down as head coach of the Wildcats program to become a regional scout for the Toronto Blue Jays in Major League Baseball (MLB). In his new job, Beverlin will scout the areas of North Carolina and South Carolina, respectfully. Beverlin, the 2014 recipient of the National Consortium for Academics and Sports (NCAS) Giant Steps Award, compiled a record of 179-176 in six seasons with the Maroon and Gold.

 

10. Kailyn Williams Finishes Fifth On NCAA All-Time Blocks List: Kailyn Williams concluded her Bethune-Cookman career with her second MEAC Defensive Player of the Year award, an HBCU All-America nod and the national blocked shots season leader title. Her legacy included 455 blocked shots – the fifth-highest in Division I history and ahead of legends such as Briana Stewart and Rebecca Lobo.

 

11. Alumni Making Their Mark as Coach: Enter to Learn, Depart to Serve" carries over to the playing field as well as several BCU alumni making their mark as coaches in the Daytona Beach area. Most notable was Travis Roland as head coach at Flagler Palm Coast High School with Matt Johnson as his offensive coordinator, posting an undefeated regular season. Also, David Howard led Atlantic High School on a deep postseason run, and Joe Giddens returning to Mainland High School.

    12. Juan Varon Wildcat Invitational Tournament Relaunch: After a one-year hiatus, Bethune-Cookman Tennis reinstated the Juan Varon Wildcat Invitational as part of its fall schedule. The 15-team event honors the former team captain who lost his life in a 2014 traffic accident and provides a unique opportunity to play on a clay surface. Varon's parents attended the weekend tournament, which saw Alejandra Vidal and Phatsimo Ruele win individual flight titles.
 

13. Ryan Jackson Garners National Attention: Softball's Ryan Jackson was selected as a finalist for the 2017 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year award. The Chino Hills, California product led the MEAC in batting average (.409) slugging percentage (.766), on base percentage (.484), runs batted in (44) and total bases (105) throughout the regular season en route to being named both Rookie and Player of The Year within the league.

 

14. NASCAR internships: Former women's basketball and softball standouts Kendra Cooper and Sophia Ortega were selected to participate in the National Pit Crew Combine for the NASCAR Diversity Pit Crew program after a tryout held on campus.

 

15. Volleyball at the Net: Bethune-Cookman Volleyball got off to a strong start with wins over Charlotte and Georgia Southern at an early season tournament, then finished 9-1 on the conference slate with a win over Florida A&M to earn a number one seed for the conference tournament.

 

16. Mina Matsuba All-Time Tennis Records: Mina Matsuba concluded her Bethune-Cookman Women's Tennis career as the program's all-time victory leader with 139 combined singles and doubles wins. She also went 4-4 as an All-MEAC First Team selection, even though her string of three MEAC Player of the Year awards ended. Matsuba was on the 2015 championship team.

 

17. Social Media Success: The Office of Athletic Communications had its share of success – thanks to the on-field triumphs during 2017. Ryan Ridder's hiring created an unprecedented Twitter surge, that was topped by Isiah Bailey's dunk video during Maroon and Gold Madness and coverage of opening night. Baseball had over 250K twitter impressions during the NCAA Regional. Football, of course, drew its usual numbers, but the "Hail" Mary McLeod Bethune touchdown at North Carolina Central video went viral after its SportsCenter airing. Even volleyball delivered a national impact when Rakaya Neely was featured on the NCAA's Volleyball Instagram after hitting .800 at Howard.

 
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