DAY 30 (Aug. 30): The Hardeman Heritage
The Azusa Pacific women’s basketball program picked up three recruits for the 2012-13 season. One of those three has a familiar name, a name that is known from Azusa Pacific, Westmont, Biola, and the rest of the original Golden State Athletic Conference. The name is Hardeman, and the recruit, Kelly, is the niece of the team’s current head coach T.J. Hardeman.
DAY 29 (Aug. 29): Just Keep Swimming
Most of the Azusa Pacific athletic department is preparing for a bit of the unknown in its transition to the Pacific West Conference (or Great Northwest Athletic Conference for football). The Cougar women’s swimming and diving team isn’t. Over the past four years the team has competed in the Pacific Coast Swimming Conference (PCSC), which includes programs from all levels of the NCAA and the NAIA. And amid all of the changes at Azusa Pacific it will be one of the few constants as it continues to be the conference home for the Cougars.
DAY 28 (Aug. 28): The Biola Rivalry Survives
In recent years, the opinion of a few was that one of the best college rivalries along the west coast had seen its best days and was headed for irrelevance.
A long stretch of Azusa Pacific dominance over Biola, particularly in men’s basketball – the crown jewel of Biola’s entire athletic program – had some people wondering if the rivalry would ever be the same. It was around that time that a certain article appeared on the Cougar Athletics website that impatiently proclaimed the Azusa Pacific-Biola rivalry “over,” “done,” and “finished.”
DAY 27 (Aug. 27): The Lancer Rivalry Renewed
Up until a year ago Azusa Pacific vs. California Baptist was developing into one of the best college rivalries on the West Coast. That rivalry was put on hold as California Baptist initiated its NCAA Div. II membership transition a year earlier than the Cougars. But with both schools playing in the Pacific West Conference in 2012, that once budding rivalry will have a chance to develop into what everyone saw it becoming: the new rivalry for Azusa Pacific athletics.
DAY 26 (Aug. 26): Cougar Polo’s Fearless Approach
Women’s water polo at Azusa Pacific may be new, with the program entering its fifth season in 2013, but that doesn’t mean head coach Julie Snodgrass is taking baby steps towards bringing the Cougars into national prominence. With a fearless approach in scheduling her team has had the opportunity to play some of the nation’s elite, most notably in 2012 as the Cougars squared off with half of the teams that earned a spot in the eight-team NCAA tournament, including fifth place Loyola Marymount.
DAY 25 (Aug. 25): Basketball Accepts Bigger Stage
Nothing is certain but death and taxes… and for the past two decades, 20-win seasons from Azusa Pacific men’s basketball.
Since 1993, the Cougars are one of just three four-year collegiate men’s basketball programs to post 20 consecutive 20-win seasons. The only others are Georgetown (Ky.) and Oklahoma Baptist, which both compete in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Azusa Pacific, however, is putting its streak of 20-win seasons on the line on a bigger stage — literally.
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