With every team making the playoffs, WMU celebrates historic fall sports season

KALAMAZOO, MI –– When Dan Bartholomae held his first all-staff meeting as Western Michigan University’s new athletic director nearly three years ago, he knew only one way to blaze a new trail forward for Bronco athletics.

And it was in the left lane.

That all-in, audacious mentality instilled a brand-new belief into WMU, igniting a feverish new era of Western Michigan athletics –– all culminating into an extraordinary and unprecedented 2024 sports season in Kalamazoo.

For the first time ever, all five of the Broncos’ fall sports –– football, volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer and women’s cross country –– reached the NCAA postseason, a feat accomplished by just two other institutions –– Washington and North Carolina –– in 2024.

That, naturally, is worthy of celebration.

“We believe this is unprecedented in the Group of 5 (conferences), and I’m just so proud of the belief our staff” said Bartholomae, who took over Bronco athletics on Jan. 1, 2022, after spending five years as the executive deputy athletic director at Oregon State. “I remember being at our first all-staff meeting and looking at our resources and saying that we can be great in everything here – we just had to believe we can do it. I’m just so proud of the staff, coaches and athletes who all bought in because I sat up there and told everyone that we were going to live in the left lane.

“That’s how we were going to approach every day here in athletics and if that’s not for you, and you want to be in the right lane, the right lane has exits.”

With everyone on board and punching the throttle in the fast lane, Western Michigan enjoyed an athletic-wide resurgence and marks a transformative period in history, which Bartholomae believes is a statement across Division 1 athletics.

“Absolutely, it’s definitely a statement,” he said. “We were coming in last across the MAC in the Jacoby and Reese trophy awards, which measures success across the conference by comprehensive female sport and male sport success, and that’s something I showed our staff three years ago. This wasn’t a goal that we put down on paper, but we knew we had a chance to get to the postseason in every sport.

“And so here we are.”

While all five programs have soared in their own rights, perhaps the Broncos’ volleyball team and men’s soccer team enjoyed the most fruitful success, setting the stage for an epic autumn run.

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The volleyball team won back-to-back MAC tournament titles for the first since since 1989, stamping its ticket to two straight NCAA Tournaments highlighted by last year’s upset of Auburn in the first round.

The Broncos’ recent sustained success was powered by longtime head coach Collen Munson and a strong senior core led by fifth-year libero and MAC Defensive Player of the Year Andelyn Simkins and five-time all-MAC setter Logan Case.

WMU men’s soccer is in the midst of a historic stretch –– not only have the Broncos reached three straight NCAA Tournaments, but they’ve reached the second round in three straight seasons as well.

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After a remarkable and historic 2023 season headlined by all-time leading goal scorer Charlie Sharp (43) and star forward Dylan Sing, both players that signed MLS contracts, WMU picked up where it left off and surged to being ranked No. 4 in the nation early on in 2024.

“We’ve created a new standard for the program,” WMU head coach Chad Wiseman said via WMU athletics. “As an alumnus of WMU, the success of our fall teams is a proud moment.”

Led by a pair of All-Americans in goalkeeper Colin Welsh and midfielder Carson Hodgson, the Broncos maintained a sensational 37-game unbeaten streak into November, which featured victories over then-ranked opponents Northwestern (No. 9), Vermont (No. 14) and New Hampshire (No. 9), before eventually falling to Bowling Green late in conference play.

Overall, the streak would span over 434 days and served as the longest active unbeaten run in the NCAA.

As for the women’s soccer program, the Broncos checked off their own feat of history this season by becoming the first MAC program to flex unbeaten conference records in two straight seasons.

WMU qualified for the NCAA Tournament this season, the program’s first berth since 2015, and became the only squad in program history to win both the MAC regular season and tournament title in the same season before eventually falling to Michigan State, 3-1, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

“Like every other team, our success has put us on the map,” WMU head coach Lewis Robinson said. “This starts to breed this culture of commitment and an expectation that we can do this kind of thing.”

All-MAC and all-region senior forward Jen Blitchok broke the Broncos’ single-season record for goals (18) and points (47) in 2024, as she led the nation in total points and was tied for third in goals.

Led by second-year head coach Lance Taylor and a strong senior class, the Broncos’ football team earned a trip to its first bowl game since 2021 after enjoying a 6-6 regular season record and a 5-3 record in MAC play –– the squad’s first winning conference record since 2019.

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WMU fell to South Alabama in the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl on Saturday, 30-23, but it was just the 12th bowl game in program history for the Broncos, something that showed significant signs of progress.

“In 2023, we were picked to be the last team in the FBS and to come back and be bowl eligible in Year 2 just shows the growth in what we’re doing here,” Taylor said via WMU athletics. “We found a way to win games and put ourselves in a position to be relevant in November.”

Western Michigan was built in the trenches this season, as senior guard Addison West became the first-ever first team All-American in program history, while senior center Jacob Gideon was named a Rimington Trophy finalist.

West and Gideon were two of six Broncos named to the all-MAC team, with Oklahoma State transfer running back Jaden Nixon joining the lineman on the first team.

In women’s cross country, freshman Lily Zelasko made the all-region team by finishing 21st in the NCAA Great Lakes Region, a rare accomplishment for a first-year Bronco runner.

Zelasko also received all-MAC honors, which marked three straight seasons WMU finished with an all-league runner –– the first time that’s happened since 1991.

In conclusion, WMU men’s tennis player Anton Arzhankin qualified for the NCAA men’s individual championship, the first Bronco to appear in such event since 1977.