The KCAC is a widely respected conference which governs intercollegiate athletics in cooperation with the NAIA.

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2 KANSAS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY - HOME OF THE COY OTES Kansas Wesleyan University is a liberal arts institution located in Salina, Kansas. Founded in 1886, it maintains a covenant relationship with the United Methodist Church and is supported by the Kansas West Conference. The school s accreditation was reaffirmed in 1997 by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, 30 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 2400, Chicago, IL , Website address: Telephone: (800) or (312) , Fax: (312) Kansas Wesleyan University provides an education program characterized by excellence within a caring community, rooted in the liberal arts tradition. The call of the University is to develop both intellect and character, to stimulate creativity and discovery, to nurture the whole person body, mind, and spirit. Diversity is encouraged in curriculum, faculty, and students. Kansas Wesleyan University prepares students not only for careers and professions, but also for lifelong learning. The University equips its students for responsible leadership in their communities, for useful service in and to the world, and for stewardship of the Earth. Kansas Wesleyan University provides a setting in which faith and learning are integrated; encounter with the Christian proclamation is an integral part of the life of the University. The University fosters the lively discussion of faith and values, encouraging students to develop a thoughtful, personal world view informed by Christian tradition. Kansas Wesleyan University serves the church, community, and the world by providing a variety of resources for educational, cultural, and spiritual enrichment. The aim of the University is to discover, to build, and to share a higher quality of life and a broader vision of the world. The University is divided academically into six divisions and eighteen departments. Courses are offered for more than 30 undergraduate majors and one graduate program, the MBA. Salina is the seventhlargest city in the state. It is at the hub of two major interstate highways and is serviced by regular airline transportation. The city is a major arts and cultural center for Kansas. THE KANSAS COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, commonly called The Kansas Conference, is a prominent intercollegiate athletics conference comprised of ten outstanding independent or private institutions of higher education in the state. The origins of the KCAC are traced to February 15, 1890, when the Kansas Intercollegiate Athletic Association became the result of the first successful attempt at organization among Kansas colleges, to promote and regulate amateur intercollegiate athletics. At that time the association or conference included not only private universities and colleges but also Kansas Agriculture College (now KSU), Kansas University, and Washburn University. Football seems to have been the major sponsored sport, and Baker University won the championship for the first three or four years. In about 1902 this early association became allied with the Kansas College Athletic Conference, a group which was the first to adopt a definite set of rules and regulations. It also promoted an annual track and field meet which has continued yearly since, except for World War years. Basketball has been sponsored since Football was revived in Tennis began as early as Golf was added in By this time the name of the conference had been altered to the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference; it had grown to 17 college members and two allied members: Baker, Bethany, Bethel, College of Emporia, Fairmount (now WSU), Friends, Kansas Wesleyan, KSTC of Emporia (now ESU), KSTC of Hays (now FHSU), KSTC of Pittsburg (now PSU), McPherson, Ottawa, St.Benedict s (now Benedictine), St.Mary s, Sterling (formerly Cooper), Southwestern, and Washburn, and with St.John s and Kansas City University (Kansas) as allied members. Kansas University and Kansas Aggies had dropped out earlier to join other conferences. In 1923 the College of Emporia, KSTC of Emporia, KSTC of Hays, KSTC of Pittsburg, Wichita (formerly Fairmount), Southwestern, and Washburn withdrew to form the Central Conference. The present legal entity comes from a reorganization of the conference when the predecessor Kansas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference formally disbanded on December 1, 1928, and a new conference was formed which again was called the Kansas College Athletic Conference. The members were Baker, Bethany, Kansas Wesleyan, McPherson, Ottawa, and St.Mary s colleges. At that time sportswriters quickly gave the KCAC league a nickname: the Little Six, in contrast to the Big Six (which became Big Eight, now Big 12) which also was organized in St.Mary s College was discontinued in The College of Emporia returned to the fold in 1933, and Bethel was readmitted in Friends, a former member of the KIAC, was admitted in Sterling and Southwestern were approved for membership in In 1968 Tabor College and St. Mary of the Plains College were admitted to make twelve members in the conference, and the conference was organized into Southern and Northern divisions until 1970 when Baker, College of Emporia, and Ottawa withdrew to join two separate Missouri-based conferences. In the mid-1970s the formal name was changed again to Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. In 1975 women s intercollegiate athletics were incorporated into programs of the KCAC. Ottawa was readmitted in 1981, bringing the conference membership to 10. In 1992 St.Mary of the Plains College in Dodge City left the conference and eventually closed. In 1999, Saint Mary College (now University of Saint Mary) joined to return the KCAC membership to ten institutions. The Kansas Conference (KCAC) continues to be an all-kansas conference. The KCAC is an affiliated conference of the National Association of intercollegiate Athletics with headquarters in Kansas City, Mo.. Today the KCAC sponsors conference intercollegiate athletics in football, volleyball, men s cross country, women s cross country, men s soccer, women s soccer, men s basketball, women s basketball, men s indoor track and field, women s indoor track and field, men s outdoor track and field, women s outdoor track and field, baseball, softball, golf, women s tennis, men s tennis. The KCAC is a widely respected conference which governs intercollegiate athletics in cooperation with the NAIA. 60

3 THE NATIONAL ASSOCIA SOCIATION OF INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS The first general session of the `Organizing Convention of the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) was held in the Phillips Hotel, Kansas City, Missouri, at 10 a.m., Sunday, March 10, But the seed from which the NAIB sprouted was planted two blocks away at Municipal Auditorium. It was there in 1937 that a men s basketball tournament tipped off which has become the longest continuous national collegiate tournament in any sport. The tournament was the brainchild of Emil S. Liston, Dr. James Naismith, Frank Cramer, and a group of Kansas City business leaders who wanted to provide Kansas City-area fans with exciting amateur competition and to provide a framework for small colleges and universities to determine a national basketball champion. In 1948, the NAIB affirmed its commitment to equality by becoming the first national organization to offer intercollegiate postseason opportunities to black student-athletes. Unprecedented action was taken in 1953 when historically black institutions were voted into membership. One year previous to the inclusion of historically black institutions, another form of expansion occurred. In 1952, as a result of the expressed desires of the member institutions, appropriate steps were taken by which the NAIB was transformed into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the first all-encompassing set of rules and standards was adopted. Recommendations to take this important action were made by the National Executive Committee at the annual meeting after determining the move was desirable and feasible. The recommendation was later approved by a mail vote of the entire membership. With the Association s new name came the addition of national championships in golf, tennis and outdoor track and field. Football, cross country, baseball and swimming and diving were added to the championships calendar in Wrestling (1958), soccer (1959), bowling ( ), gymnastics ( ), indoor track and field (1966) and men s volleyball ( ) were later additions. Two major changes were made during the 1970s. An extensive study was completed in 1970 which paved the way for two divisions of football. Four teams qualified for the playoffs in each division at the outset and, later, 16 teams were selected for postseason play. In 1997, football was consolidated to one division again as the Football Coaches Association cited a narrowing gap between enrollment size and philosophy of the two divisions. As the NAIA moved into its second half-century in the 1980s, it revolutionized national collegiate athletics with the establishment of athletics programs for women on August 1, Official notice on that date followed a mail vote by the membership on May 1 that supported becoming the first organization to offer collegiate athletics to both men and women. The championship calendar for women began that year with basketball, cross country, gymnastics, indoor and outdoor track and field, softball, tennis and volleyball. Soccer was added in 1984, and golf was included in Gymnastics was discontinued after the 1988 championship. Another important chapter in the history of the NAIA unfolded in 1992 when the Association voted to move its headquarters from Kansas City to Tulsa. Moving with the national office was the Division I Men s Basketball National Championship which had been held in Kansas City for 56 years. In 1993, the waves of change once again washed over the Association. The membership voted to discontinue the use of district play as a means of qualification for national championships, marking the first time since the NAIA s creation that district competition would not be used. In 1999, the NAIA restructured to include 14 regions to better serve its membership. Each region is governed by a regional management committee comprised of various conference and independent representatives. In 2000, the NAIA reaffirmed its purpose to enhance the character-building aspects of sport. Through Champions of Character, the NAIA seeks to create an environment in which every student-athlete, coach, official and spectator is committed to the true spirit of competition through five tenets: respect, integrity, responsibility, servant leadership and sportsmanship. This program will educate and create awareness of the positive character-building traits afforded by sports and return integrity to competition at the collegiate and youth levels while impacting all of society. Everything has come full circle. The NAIA relocated its National Office in July of 2001 to Olathe, Kansas, just miles from Gardner where the idea for the small-college basketball tournament gave rise to the NAIA. Now, nearly 65 years after that initial tournament, the NAIA Division I Men s Basketball National Championship is returning to Municipal Auditorium, the arena that was home to so many memories from In Summer 2007, the NAIA relocated its National Office to downtown Kansas City, Mo. The NAIA has 50,000 student-athletes participating at nearly 300 member colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada. Divided into 14 regions, the NAIA offers 23 championships in 13 sports. Since 1937, the NAIA has continued a long tradition of pushing the envelope and making a positive difference in the lives of students, coaches and parents. The Champions of Character program is the latest cutting-edge addition to the NAIA s proud history of innovation. Through Champions of Character, the NAIA seeks to create an environment in which every student-athlete, coach, official and spectator are committed to the true spirit of competition through the five core values: respect, integrity, responsibility, servant leadership and sportsmanship. 61

4 Matthew Williams begins his third season as Director of Athletic Programs at Kansas Wesleyan. In his first year, the Coyotes saw a resurgence of prominence in all athletic programs, as the athletic department finished the season with an overall winning percentage of 48%, and a 55% winning percentage against KCAC teams. Last season, the Coyotes continued their ascent to the top of the KCAC ranks, finishing with a conference best (.731) record in regular season KCAC play and a KCAC best (.689) overall record. Williams, a member of the KWU family since 1999, came to KWU after three years as Athletic Trainer at West Hills Community College in Coalinga, Calif. He took over the Athletic Training program at KWU, and transformed it from an internship program into a full-fledged academic major, and into the KCAC s first nationally accredited Athletic Training Education Program by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs. He also has been an integral part of the development of KWU s Master of Business Administration Degree with emphasis in Sports Management and most recently the undergraduate Sports Management degree. Before taking the reigns of the KWU Athletic Department, Williams spent two seasons as the Associate Athletic Director at KWU, in charge of Game Day Operations for all Coyote athletic events. Williams has a Doctor of Sports Management degree with emphasis in Sports Marketing from the United States Sports Academy, a Master of Business Administration degree from Kansas Wesleyan University, a Master of Science Degree in Athletic Administration from Idaho State University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education from Boise State University. He resides in Salina with his wife, Tonda, and daughter, Victoria. David Toelle begins his seventh year as Sports Information Director at Kansas Wesleyan. He is also the University s Webmaster. His responsibilities as SID include publication of media guides for media day events, publication of game day programs, keeping statistics at football, basketball, and baseball games, press box and table management at football and basketball games, writing press releases, and updating the Athletic Department website. He came to Kansas Wesleyan in the Fall of 1996, and graduated from Wesleyan in 2001 with a bachelors degree in Computer Information Systems. In addition to his duties at KWU, this will be his third year as KCAC Conference Statistician, where he is responsible for compiling and distributing the weekly statistics for the KCAC in football, volleyball, soccer, basketball, baseball and softball. He resides in Salina with his wife, Jennifer, and son, Trae. Toelle also is involved in the community, especially during the basketball season, when he donates his time at the Salina Bicentennial Center doing basketball statistics for the basketball tournaments held there in March. He also is involved with the Kansas Cagerz, a USBL Professional Basketball team that plays its game from April to June. Joyce Kelley begins her ninth year as Faculty Athletics Representative at Kansas Wesleyan University. Kelley, also Associate Professor in Accounting, came to Kansas Wesleyan in Kelley earned her Bachelor of Science in Accounting degree from Kansas State University in 1975 and her M.B.A. in Accounting from KSU in After college, Joyce worked as a staff accountant for Arthur Young and Company in Kansas City, Missouri. Kelley taught at Kansas State University, the University of Nebraska, and Marymount College before coming to Kansas Wesleyan. She resides in Salina with her husband Dan. They have two sons, Justin and Jeff. 62

5 Chad Shriver begins his sixth year as Athletic Trainer at Kansas Wesleyan University. Before coming to Kansas Wesleyan, Chad received his Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education with Emphasis in Sports Medicine from Charleston Southern University (S.C.) in 1999, and his Master of Liberal Arts degree from Southern Methodist University (Texas) in Shriver did his Graduate Assistantship at Southern Methodist from Chad is a native of the Salina area, as he attended Ell-Saline High School, graduating in He resides in Salina with his wife Mollie and son Gage. Eric Gillberg is in his second season as Assistant Athletic Trainer at Kansas Wesleyan University. Gillberg came to KWU last year after spending two years as Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer at Bethel College in North Newton. Gillberg completed his undergraduate degree in Athletic Training and Movement Science from Texas Christian University in He then completed his Master of Education degree in Sports Administration at Wichita State University in Gillberg, a Salina native, is a 2000 graduate of Salina Central High School. He and his wife, Regina, reside in Salina. Elisha Shriver begins her third year at Kansas Wesleyan University as Athletic Training Intern. Elisha came to KWU from Butler Community College where she was assistant trainer in Elisha is familiar with the Salina area, graduating from Ell-Saline High School in She then attended Butler CC, where she earned her Associate of Science degree in After Butler, she attended Wichita State University where she earned her Bachelor of Exercise Science degree. Shriver resides in Salina. TOM RUPP S FLOOR PERFECT Educational & Healthcare Floor Coverings by Collins & Aikman 522 N. Ninth Salina, Kansas

6 MEET THE MEDIA COVERING COY OTE ATHLETIC THLETICS Dave Riggert Sports Director,, Salina Media Group Dave is the Sports Director at Salina Media Group. He s been with the company since graduating from the University of Nebraska in After serving as the Assistant Sports Director for four years, Dave took over the Sports Director position in April, This will be his fifth year of broadcasting Kansas Wesleyan Football and Basketball games. Mike McKenna Assistant Sports Director,, Salina Media Group Mike is the Assistant Sports Director at Salina Media Group. He's held that position with the company since May of Prior to that, Mike worked in Hays for three years and in McCook, Nebraska, for two years. He is a 2000 graduated of Fort Hays State University and a native of Russell. This is Mike's second season covering Kansas Wesleyan sports. Bob Davidson Sports Editor,, Salina Journal Bob Davidson has been the Sports editor at the Salina Journal for the past 11 years. Before coming to the Journal, he was sports editor at the Hutchinson News for seven years. He also has worked for newspapers in Leavenworth, Hays, Kansas City, Vicksburg, Miss., and Clarksville, Tenn. Bob was born and raised in Parsons, Kan. He graduated from Wichita State in