What a year to be a Falcon! The 2023-2024 historic athletic season has officially come to a close. This year, 7 of our teams participated in their respective NCAA championship, winning two Lone Star Conference Championships! 

 Before we close the book and get ready for the 2024-2025 athletic season, let's take a moment and look back at some of the record-breaking accomplishments that happened during the year.   

  

September 2023 

• UT Permian Basin football team picked up a school record 96-0 victory against Texas College. 

• Men's tennis players Takumi Katsuda and Jonas Krahofer named ITA Regional doubles champions. 
   

October 2023 

• Sangha Park had a school record 18-hole low score of 63 in the first round of the Ryan Palmar Foundation Invite and went on to tie his school record for wins in a single season 

• While competing in Hawaii, the men's golf team picked up the programs first ever tournament victory at the HPU Sharks Shootout and went on to win the Dennis Rose Intercollegiate a few days later.

• The men's golf team also broke their own 18-hole record set at the HPU Sharks Shootout (-12), recording a -15 on the first day of the Dennis Rose Intercollegiate tournament. 

• Park reset the 18-hole school record to 62 during the Dennis Rose Intercollegiate and picked up a school record third win of the season. 

• The soccer team picked up the programs first ever victory against West Texas A&M, defeating the Buffs 5-1 at home. 

• Football ranked in the AFCA and D2 Football coaches poll for the first time in program history. 

• Men's tennis players Katsuda and Krahofer became the first ever doubles team to compete at the ITA Cup and went on to finish 2-1, while taking down the No. 1 seed. 

November 2023 

• The football team won their first ever Lone Star Conference championship, defeating Central Washington 42-14 at home. 

• Women's Soccer player Kristel Chaves broke the school record for points (17), goals (6) and tied the school record with Tatiana Leggiero for assists (5) in a single season. 

• The football team finished the regular season with a 10-2 overall record, 6-0 record at home and a perfect 8-0 conference record and hosted the first round of the NCAA Division II football playoffs as the No. 3 seed against Bemidji State. 

• Multiple football players broke school records: Kenny Hrncir (Passing TDs: 30, Passing Yards: 2,725, Total Offensive Plays: 442, Total Offensive Yards: 3,335) Kory Harris (Rushing yards: 843), Nemier Herod (Rushing TDs: 11, Total TDs 12), and Rafael Vargas (Extra Points: 65, Points: 86). 

• The Falcons also broke 6 team records: Passing Yards: 2,845, Points: 505, Rushing TDs: 33, Rushing Yards: 2,601, Total Offensive yards: 5,446 and Touchdowns: 69. 

• Volleyball player April Egwu recorded a school record seven solo blocks against UT Tyler. 

• Egwu finished the season with a school record 1.35 blocks per set and tied the school record with 27 solo blocks in a season. 

• Men's golf ranked fifth in the region and 11th nationally, the first time the team cracked the top-15 in the region and nationally.

• Park was ranked the No. 1 golfer in the country, the highest ranking a men's golfer has been in program history. 

December 2023 

• Women's diver Delaney Murphy took first place on the 3-meter board against Colorado College, with a school record score of 458.39 points. 

January 2024 

• Men's swimmer Szymon Gilzynski broke a pool record, which stood for 21 years at Schlessman Natatorium, at the Colorado College Classic by recording a time of 49.75 in the 100 fly. 

• Kathe Hepfer became the first women's diver to earn Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women's Diver of the Week honors, for her first and second place performance on the 3-meter board and 1-meter board at the Colorado College Classic.

• The women's basketball team beat St. Mary's 76-36 which earned Head Women's Basketball Coach Rae Boothe her 64th victory at UTPB, making her the winning-est coach in program history. 

February 2024 

• Women's tennis player Brooke Runyan beat Maryjoe Crisologo (Abilene Christian) 7-5, 1-6, 6-0 at Number One Singles, earning the Falcons the highest rated singles win for a UTPB women's tennis player in program history. 

• The women's basketball team picked up a milestone victory – defeating Lubbock Christian 57-52 at home, which was a first for the program. 

• Women's basketball player Holly Hemmeline became the all-time leader in three pointers sinking her 239th career three-pointer, she finished her career with 250 three-pointers made. 

• Women's basketball player Morgan Helgesen broke a record of her own, going 7-of-8 (87.5%) from the three-point line, while scoring 30-points in the win against Angelo State.  

• Men's swimmer Evan Siegrist broke a school record at the RMAC championships in the 400-yard IM, touching the wall with an impressive time of 3:59.28. 

• Siegrist broke another school record in the 1650-free, coming in with a time of 15:42.65.  

March 2024 

• The women's basketball team made it to the Lone Star Conference championship tournament for the first time in program history – making it all the way to the championship game. 

• Women's basketball player Alexus Quaadman grabbed her 1,000th career rebound and becomes the first basketball player in UTPB history to achieve, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 points. 

• Women's basketball earned themselves the No. 4 seed in the NCAA South Central Regional tournament and finished their season with a school record 24 wins. 

• Diver Matthew Lenzo qualified for the NCAA Championships and earned Honorable Mention All-American honors on the 1-meter and 3-meter boards. 

April 2024 

• The baseball team picked up their ninth straight victory, the longest in program history, in the 34-2 victory over Sul Ross State.  

• Baseball team shatters previous record for most runs in a game, scoring 34 against Sul Ross State.

• Women's golfer Arnie Taguines earned the highest finish for a UTPB women's golfer at the Lone Star Conference Championships, finishing in fifth place and earning a spot on the All-Tournament team. 

• Men's golfer Park earned another historical achievement, becoming the first UTPB men's golfer to be named LSC men's golfer of the year. 

• Men's golf team and Taguines both qualified for the NCAA tournament. 

• Men's tennis team became the second team at UTPB to win a LSC title during the school year, defeating St. Mary's 5-2, the first LSC title in program history. 

May 2024

• Baseball hosted the first round of the LSC playoffs, another first for the program. 

• The Baseball team makes it all the way to the LSC Championship game. 

• Baseball earns the No. 5 seed in the NCAA South Central Regional tournament, which made them the seventh sport at UTPB to make it to the NCAA tournament.  

• Men's tennis team qualified for the round of 32 in the NCAA DII Men's Tennis Championship. 

• Men's tennis team accomplished two historical achievements in the NCAA Championship tournament: beating Midwestern State for the first time in program history and advancing to the Sweet 16. 

• Men's tennis finishes their season with a program best 20-4 overall record.  

Even better, UTPB student-athletes succeeded in the classroom as well finishing the 2023-2024 academic year with 13 of 14 teams achieving a 3.0 or higher for the year.  

We can't wait to see what our student-athletes achieve next year, there's never been a better time to be a Falcon!