I've mentioned here and there on the Maverick Rambler that certain sports don't get the same coverage that others do, particularly the individual sports. It's usually because either they are result driven sports like cross country and the best I could usually offer is the result (no better than UTAMavs.com) or it's not a sport I have a decent knowledge base in to comment on the team, such as tennis or golf. I understand the basics, but offering anything else would expose that knowledge deficiency.
So today, I'm going to kind of rapid fire a little about the results with a smidge of commentary about the spring sports. It's at least enough to give them a spotlight, while also setting up the next entry later this month or early June. I'll go in chronological order.
-Men's tennis had their season canceled on March 20. Official reason given was "injury issues that have plagued the men's tennis program throughout the spring." They were set to be affiliate members of the Atlantic Sun this year. At the time of cancelation, UTA was 0-9 on the year. I know the portal has hit this team particularly hard the last two years and it may just have caught up to them. Otherwise, I have other insight into this season.
-Meanwhile, another typical high performing team struggled this year as the women's tennis team went 6-14 on the year. They were seeded fourth out of four in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament and was swept by Tarleton to end the year. The Texans went on to make their first postseason appearance.
-A few days later, one of the bright spots of the year came from the women's golf team. In their highest conference finish yet, the ladies shot a combined 904 over three rounds for their first top three finish in eight completed seasons. It was the first top half conference tournament end
Senior Nitisha Manikandesh was the only Maverick to shoot under par for the tourney and finished fourth. Sophomore Tarini Bhoga was the other Mav to place in the top ten at seventh.
-The other real program highlight came a few days after the ladies as the men's golf team had their best showing since 2018 when they finished one stroke behind Tarleton for second place in their WAC Tournament. I'm sure there was a lot of what-ifs among members of the team finishing that close. UTA beat Tarleton by six strokes in the first round and one in the third. But an eight-stroke deficit in the second could not be overcome.
However, for the first time in over a decade, UTA had a golfer win the individual title. Freshman Arth Sinha shot a seven under, beating second place by five strokes. That sent Sinha to the Bryan Regional and was the first Maverick to participate in a non-WAC postseason event. He finished in a tie for 51st. In order for him to advance to the national tournament, he would have had to finish as the highest individual performer who was not on a team in the top five. Those top five teams earn a trip to the national tournament. He finished second among individuals not on one of those top five teams, making him the first one out of the Bryan Regional. Overall, it was a great season for the freshman.
- I mentioned in the last post about softball that they had their best season in several years when they ended the regular season three games above .500. It guaranteed the first above .500 campaign
They needed every margin of error of those three games as the team went o-fer in the WAC tourney, despite earning the third seed. They lost to the final qualifier to make the field in Utah Tech, 7-4, before fourth seed Utah Valley eliminated the Mavs 5-1.
I mentioned that UTA needed their offense to show up and it just didn't happen. five runs in two games won't cut it with the rough pitching performance UTA had all year. 12 runs in 14 innings doesn't work well in the postseason. California Baptist had the best pitching and won the whole thing.
Pitching has been an issue for years now. I'm not sure how recruiting for softball works in the modern portal era, but that has to improve for the UTA softball team to break the Universities longest NCAA Tournament drought among the team sports. The offense was good. However, too often the team had to win a slugfest.
- Unlike tennis or golf, which has separate events for the different genders, track and field happens at the same time at the same place, which just happened to be Maverick Stadium this year. It also marked the last event in the long, illustrious career of John Sauerhage, more in just a moment.
According to the WAC, both teams finished in third place. All seven teams field a women's program and Utah Tech is the lone WAC University without a men's team. I say according to the WAC because their website shows Utah Valley only one point ahead of UTA in second place. However, on UTAMavs.com, the headline says the men finished second and offers no scoring mention either way. I'm inclined to believe the WAC site. I checked the Commish Cup standings and there is no ranking either way.
There were a smaller number of schools, so the point totals were going to be massive. Usually, 177 for the men and 159 for the women would be enough to win a meet, but not in a smaller meet. It also means a lot of athletes garnered points and makes it difficult to give credit without it becoming a list.
I will say junior Eliza Lemberga earned a first place in the heptathlon and sophomore Emilia Mandi did the same in the 800 meters for the women. Men's first place finishers included freshman Jayden Haynes in the men's 400 meters, freshman Lucas Cano in the discus and senior Alex Kalmar in the 800 meters.
Lemberga earned the most outstanding field performer after earning a total of 25 points: placing second in the high jump, third in the javelin and fifth in the 4x400 meter relay.
There are a number of NCAA qualifiers for the West Regional which starts Wednesday. Two ladies are going to Fayetteville, Arkansas: junior Alexis Cain goes in the 400 and freshman Arieanna McPeak qualified in the long jump. For the guys, Kalmar will run the 800, Cano will throw the shot put, Haynes will sprint the 400 and freshman Abisayo Gbakinro will compete in the triple jump.
But back to Sauerhage, he may well be the most decorated, tenured coach in all of UTA history. He's a Maverick through and through as he was a student athlete in the early 1980's. To put it in perspective, he shared Maverick Stadium with the football players. He earned points for the track team in the Southland Conference. He came back as an assistant coach in 1989 under Monte Stratton. Those two set the foundation of what UTA track is lasting to today. Stratton won coach of the year in 1989, '90, '91 (shared), '92 and '94. When Stratton left for TCU, Sauerhage became the head coach and immediately made his mark.
He earned his first coach of the year in 1996 and would accumulate 33 total across three sports and both genders. Coach of the year awards are generally given to the meet winner and that means for Sauerhage, he claimed 33 conference titles in his 31 years leading the track program. Twice he won a triple crown for the men, meaning first in cross country, indoor and outdoor. Three more times he won two of the three. He also had two triple crown claims on the women's side with another three times claiming two of three.
In 2022, his men's outdoor team finished in a tie for 25th at the national meet, the equivalent of a national ranking. In 1996, three athletes also made the podium at the national meet, though I don't know how many points they totaled and the national finish.
Associate Head Coach Brandon Berger, who was a UTA student track star from 1996-99. He was a student coach in 2000 and assistant manager of Maverick Stadium from 2001-'07. He was assistant coach after that before gaining his current title in 2012.
You have to be past your mid-40's to be alive when Coach Sauerhage was not a member of the UTA community. You have to be past your mid-30's to be alive when he wasn't a coach in Arlington. That combo of longevity and success is highly unlikely to be replicated again. What a career and thank you from the fan. There have been many years where the track program was the only bright spot for the Athletic Department. In most years, they were the bellwether regardless of how well any other program did. Coach Sauerhage brough respect and attention to UTA. He will be missed.
- That leaves baseball. They had the opposite team dynamic of softball in that their pitching was decent, but the offense was anemic. I talked about the end of the regular season here. The team would add two more losses in the final WAC sponsored event. I mentioned against Utah Tech that UTA would need to get to the starter who had a 5.40 ERA. They did not. In fact, they didn't at all as they were shut out, 4-0.
In the elimination game, which had the ability to give the Mavericks a chance to avenge a series loss to Abilene Christian, they dropped the final game of the year 5-3. Senior second baseman Xavier Melendez hit two home runs to account for all three runs. It was a similar story all year. UTA needed more than just one player in the lineup.
Baseball's outcome, when combined with the last few seasons, hit me the hardest. As a student broadcaster, I covered several seasons as play-by-play. In that was the 2001 season, where I called the most successful season in program history. It was capped off with a win over the Houston Cougars that I had the pleasure of calling at Rice's stadium. Five postseason appearances, in a sport where there is only one avenue, is one of the better within the Athletic Department. The COVID-cancelled year could have been special as that start saw two ranked wins and a 12-4 record. It was looking like the best within UTA's tenure in the Sun Belt and had at-large potential.
Since then, there has been no winning seasons, one .500 year and a combined 64 games below .500. Twice they did not win 20 games while there have been no 30-game winners. The conference mark from 2021 until now is 71-85. The best conference finish was a tie for fifth in 2023.
My hope was high, but expectations were not as they entered the WAC Tournament. Somehow they weren't even met. Now, there is another offseason of wondering what will happen to the roster. There are so many paths and what-ifs, but in today's era, there's too many variables for a fan of a school like UTA to even care until we know a roster. It just leaves a sad feeling of meh all summer.
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