This is the second of a two-part series outlining how Appalachian State Athletics "Defined The Moment" in 2017 and generated some huge momentum to carry into 2018 and beyond.
Defined The Moment, Part I: Spring 2017
App State's fall 2017 season featured multiple team championships, one of the biggest announcements in school history and a surge in philanthropic giving to the athletics department. All the while, Mountaineer student-athletes continued to set the bar high academically. Let's take a look back at some of the top moments and achievements that made the second half of the 2017 calendar year so special.
Football Earns Second Straight Sun Belt Title
Behind a league-high eight All-Sun Belt first-team selections,
Scott Satterfield's Mountaineers won seven of eight league games to finish atop the Sun Belt standings for the second straight year. App State joined Clemson (ACC) and Oklahoma (Big 12) as the only FBS programs with back-to-back conference titles over the last two years.
Football Shuts Out Toledo for Third Straight Bowl Victory
App State routed MAC champion Toledo 34-0 to secure the 2017 Dollar General Bowl trophy at Mobile's Ladd-Peebles Stadium. It was the only shutout of the 2017-18 bowl season, as the Mountaineers joined Alabama and Clemson as the only schools to produce bowl shutouts since 2010. Jalin Moore was voted the overall game MVP, while Taylor Lamb took home offensive MVP honors, Anthony Flory was the defensive MVP and Kaiden Smith earned special teams MVP accolades. App is the first program in history to claim bowl victories in each of its first three years eligible after making the jump to the FBS ranks.
Men's Cross Country Nabs Sun Belt Crown
They were picked fourth in the preseason league standings, but the App State men ran their best race when it mattered most. On their home course on Oct. 28, the Mountaineers claimed their first Sun Belt men's cross country title to add to the women's league crown a year earlier. With five freshmen among its top seven runners, coach
Michael Curcio's squad is poised to be a force for years to come.
App Alum Donates Largest Outright Gift in University History
At a Holmes Center ceremony on Nov. 8, App State Chancellor Sheri Everts and Director of Athletics
Doug Gillin announced the commitment of the largest outright gift in university history, given by 1989 alumnus Mark Ricks. The $10 million gift in support of the university's A Mountaineer Impact initiative will help fund facility upgrades, support student-athlete scholarships and help to enhance the overall athletics experience of App State students and fans.
Sun Belt Football Attendance Leader … Again
With an average of 25,787 fans attending each home football game in 2017, App State led the Sun Belt in average attendance for the second consecutive year. Kidd Brewer Stadium saw 30,000+ fans on two occasions, including a stadium-record 35,126 for the Wake Forest game. The Mountaineers' season average was higher than every team in the MAC and all but one in Conference USA. The Mountaineers even out-drew one NFL team, the Los Angeles Chargers, in 2017.
New Video Boards Debut at Volleyball, Basketball and Football
State-of-the-art video boards debuted at both Holmes Convocation Center and Kidd Brewer Stadium in September, further enhancing the gameday experience for fans of App State volleyball, basketball and football. The football display is the largest of its kind among Group of Five schools.
App State Extends Contract with IMG College
App State reached an agreement with leading multimedia rights company IMG College to extend their partnership through 2027. The agreement reflects the growth in Appalachian Athletics and will further enhance the department's dealings with corporate sponsorships, signage, at-event hospitality, radio and television programming, digital advertising, gameday publications, the official athletics newspaper and merchandising opportunities.
End Zone Project Approved by Board of Governors
After being approved by the Appalachian State University Board of Trustees in early December, a Kidd Brewer Stadium north end zone project received approval to enter the design phase from the University of North Carolina system's Board of Governors a week later. The mixed-use development will replace the 45-year-old Owens Field House and will include an array of amenities that will benefit App State Athletics and the campus community as a whole.
Other highlights from the second half of 2017:
- App student-athletes combined for a fall semester GPA of 3.0+ for the 11th consecutive semester
- Men's golf wins the Patriot Intercollegiate, its first tournament victory since 2014
- Women's field hockey makes its MAC Tournament debut
- Men's tennis standout Scott Webster represents App State and the Sun Belt in the prestigious ITA Oracle Masters tournament
- Jaron Bradley (men's soccer), Taylor Drummonds (women's track & field), Katie Mathewson (softball), Makayla Roten (women's track & field) and Tristin Van Ord (women's track & field) named winners of 1A FAR Academic Excellence Awards
- Marisa Faibish hired as App State's first Director of Performance Nutrition
- A Mountaineer Impact initiative reaches $28 million toward its $60 million goal less than a year after it was publicly announced
- AppOrtho announced as official care provider for App State student-athletes
- Large collection of food items at the Dec. 2 football game vs. Louisiana, sponsored by Hunger and Health Coalition
