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SAINT MARY'S GAELS
A Rising Success Story

Courtesy SMCGaels.com

The last decade has been very favorable for the Saint Mary's College athletics program.

The last decade has been very favorable for the Saint Mary's College athletics program.

Sure, the nationally prominent men's basketball team receives the lion's share of attention. But the reality is that the entire athletics program is quietly becoming one of the better success stories in Bay Area sports.

Over the last few years the school has had several of its intercollegiate athletic teams finish at or near the top of the West Coast Conference and qualify for NCAA post-season competition. The program annually finishes at or near the top of the WCC's Commissioner's Cup standings, which measure overall competitive success among the league's nine institutions. Following the conclusion of the recent basketball season, the Gaels led the league's male all-sports competition.

"This is a really exciting time for Saint Mary's athletics," said Mark Orr, the school's director of athletics. "We have great coaches, dedicated student-athletes and an administration that values the benefits that a strong athletics program brings to the college. Seeing where we are today from where we were 10 years ago is really uplifting and gives our community a sense of pride. Saint Mary's is a program that continues to be on the rise, and I'm really excited about where we can be a decade from now."

In addition to success on a conference level, several of the school's athletic teams have qualified for NCAA championship competition recently. The Saint Mary's volleyball, golf, women's tennis, men's basketball, women's basketball, and men's and women's soccer teams have all tasted postseason competition and are geared up to return.

With the emergence of several of the department's 16 athletic programs and the recent addition of men's and women's track, there is no reason to doubt that more of the school's teams will enjoy success.

"The ongoing construction of our baseball stadium, the addition of track and the new all-weather turf field all should have a major impact on our athletic teams," said Orr. "Our commitment to success goes well beyond the playing field, and the more we can invest in our infrastructure, the better positioned we will be for the future."

During the current 2011-12 athletic season, the school has enjoyed significant competitive success.

Last fall, the Saint Mary's men's soccer team won its first-ever WCC title and advanced to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals. Against the odds, the Gaels won their first three games of the NCAA tournament — all on the road against higher-seeded competition. The team defeated CSU Bakersfield, UC Irvine and Brown University before dropping a tight contest at eventual national champion North Carolina.

The volleyball team finished the season winning its final seven matches, highlighted by an epic run that included victories over San Diego, Pepperdine, San Francisco and BYU. By November the Gaels were nearly flawless, losing only two sets for the remainder of the season. The team was on the bubble for inclusion in the NCAA tournament, the difference being a few tough losses during the early portion of the season while key players missed matches due to injuries.

The women's basketball team finished the season with a 22-11 record and advanced to the women's NIT for the second-straight season. The team's win total tied for second-highest in school history, and four members of the team were recognized for individual success.

The men's basketball team won both the WCC regular-season and tournament titles and won consecutive league championships for the first time in its history. The Gaels registered a 27-6 overall record and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in the last eight seasons.

The SMC basketball program is one of only five nationally to have won 25 games in each of the last five seasons, joining only BYU, Duke, Gonzaga and Kansas on that elite list.

For more information about the Gaels, visit smcgaels.com or check out the athletic department's various social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Foursquare. Courtesy SMCGaels.com.