The 2024 season has officially come to a close for all fall athletic programs at California Lutheran University.
Among Cal Lutheran’s 23 athletic programs, the teams whose seasons occur specifically during the fall consist of women’s and men’s soccer, women’s and men’s cross-country, women’s volleyball, men’s water polo, and football.
Kingsmen football finished the year 2-8 overall and 2-6 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, according to CLU Sports. Director of Athletics Howard Davis said that while the team did not have a winning record, the team has potential for improvement.
“Football in some respects was very promising, in other respects it was disappointing, but you know, we feel like we have a good nucleus of young talent to build on,” Davis said.
Cal Lutheran’s women’s soccer team, the 2023 national champions, earned an at-large bid into the National Collegiate Athletics Association Tournament for the second consecutive season.
“Women’s soccer qualifying for the NCAA playoffs, that’s always a bonus and they had a great season,” Davis said.
While the Regals were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by the Trinity University Tigers, Davis said that making it to the NCAA Tournament is an impressive team accomplishment in and of itself.
“Anytime you qualify for an NCAA Tournament is amazing, I mean it’s just phenomenal, when you think about it, there’s 441 Division III schools and you can be one of 64. It’s very difficult to do, so any time you do that is a major accomplishment,” Davis said.
Cal Lutheran men’s soccer made it to the SCIAC tournament for its program-record-breaking fourth straight year, according to Head Men’s Soccer Coach Miguel Ruiz.
“We were able to make the conference tournament four years in a row. That’s a program record, the program’s never been in the conference tournament four years in a row. I think that’s always that we set out every year is to get there so I think we accomplished that goal,” Ruiz said.
In the first round of the SCIAC tournament, the Kingsmen (4th in the SCIAC at the time) lost 2-1 to the Chapman Panthers (5th in the SCIAC at the time). The Kingsmen held a 1-0 lead in that game going into halftime, but then allowed two goals in the first 11 minutes of the second half and were unable to score after that, according to CLU Sports.
“Going into that game, we felt good, we were up 1-0 and unfortunately we had, like, a meltdown over like 10-15 minutes that cost us and unfortunately, in soccer, once you give up goals and you can’t score, it just kinda, you’re just hoping for things,” Ruiz said.
The Kingsmen finished the 2024 year 6-9-5 overall and 4-5-3 in the SCIAC, according to CLU Sports. Ruiz said that the team’s record is not representative of the success they had throughout the season, including their victory over the #14 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags on Sept. 18.
“I think our record doesn’t show that we had a very good season but I think getting to the tournament is always what we want to do every year to give ourselves a chance to get into the NCAA,” Ruiz said.
Cal Lutheran women’s volleyball finished the 2024 season 12-13 overall and 7-9 in the SCIAC according to CLU Sports. Head Women’s Volleyball Coach Kellee Roesel said a big part of the team’s record not being higher came down to her figuring out how to instill consistency among on-court performances in all of her players.
“The record’s disappointing and a lot of that is on me as far as trying to figure out a way to get the six kids on the court all playing well at the same time consistently,” Roesel said.
However, Roesel said the culture and spirits of the team were always high and the team never stopped believing in one another through the highs and lows this season.
“I think the culture of the team was better than it’s ever been, having 23 kids, largest roster we’ve ever had, and only six kids see the court at any given time,” Roesel said. “We didn’t win a whole lot, so the fact that the culture was so good and we, literally we’ve been talking about it all week, had zero drama is a tribute to what we’re doing here and the types of kids that we’re recruiting and the sisterhood that we have.”
The Regals won their senior night match against the Chapman Panthers in four sets, which was the team’s final match of the year, according to CLU Sports. Roesel said the team was very emotional in light of it being senior night but also by virtue of how strong the team’s love and bond were.
“I’m watching those kids in the huddle before just bawling because they loved each other so much, and then after the game just watching them be hysterical and crying and having parents come up to me and the seniors and they didn’t have to do that,” Roesel said. “Yeah, we made an impact on those kids and they made a big impact on me so that last game was pretty rewarding for me to see how much they just loved each other.”
Additionally, fifth-year middle blocker Kira Mortensen won the honor of American Volleyball Coaches Association First Team All-Region, according to CLU Sports. Mortensen also led the NCAA in blocks per set, according to NCAA Women’s Volleyball.
“To watch that kid as a skinny, lanky 6-foot-3 kid turn into the best blocker in the nation was super rewarding but that’s a tribute to her work ethic, the kid works really hard and wanted it,” Roesel said.
Davis said he feels optimistic that Regals volleyball’s team culture and talent will produce more wins throughout future seasons for the team.
“Volleyball again man, what a culture, what a team, a family that’s been built,” Davis said. “That’s another one where it’s a building process and Coach Roesel has brought in some really good young talent and we feel like that’s gonna translate much better to wins and losses next year.”
According to CLU Sports, Cal Lutheran men’s water polo finished the season 14-14 overall and 7-5 in the SCIAC. The Kingsmen secured their SCIAC Tournament slot with a 15-10 victory over the Occidental Tigers in their last home game of the season. The Kingsmen dropped the SCIAC tournament first-round match to the CMS Stags in a 12-7 loss.
“A lot of ebbs and flows, obviously the season didn’t end the way we had hoped but to see the progress that the team made over the course of the year was fantastic,” Head Water Polo Coach Tim Settem said.
Settem said he is proud not only of how his team played and worked hard throughout the entire season but also of how his players have developed themselves as better people.
“I was really proud of the way we came together and proud of the way we competed and I think their character and how we competed stood above everything that we did, you know, inside and outside of the pool,” Settem said.
Cal Lutheran cross-country’s women’s and men’s teams ran at the SCIAC Championship meet in Brea, California, and the NCAA West Regional meet in Portland, Oregon.
“I think it was a strong season for us, we wrapped up this past weekend at the NCAA Division III Regional meet, up in Oregon so that was a really cool experience for us to get to travel out of state for a meet, but overall I think our team’s improved throughout the whole season,” Head Cross Country Coach Brett Halvaks said.
At the SCIAC Championships, the Kingsmen and Regals both finished eighth as teams. Halvaks said seniors Eric Talbert and Logan Bury finished among the top 10 Cal Lutheran runners in program history for that particular course.
“Eric Talbert and Logan Bury each ran top-10 marks for that course all-time in Cal Lutheran history. I believe Eric was third for the course all-time out of Cal Lutheran runners that have run that course and Logan was eighth,” Halvaks said.
In addition to earning First Team All-SCIAC at the SCIAC Championship meet, junior Regal Summer Gelman finished 20th in the NCAA West Regional meet, earning her All-Regional team honors.
“She was our first Regal since 2019 to be named to the All-Regional team which is really cool,” Halvaks said. “A little bittersweet cause she just barely missed making it to Nationals, which would’ve been this upcoming weekend, but overall like I said, executing running a PR (personal best) to end your season is, you can’t ask more than that.”
Halvaks said that both cross country teams, combined, had the largest number of runners they have had “in a few years.”
“We had 23 student-athletes on our roster this year for men’s and women’s cross-country, combined, and 12 of them are new to our program, 10 first-years and two transfers,” Halvaks said.
Davis said that while the way some fall seasons ended at Cal Lutheran this year was sad, he and the athletics department are excited about continuing into the winter season with women’s and men’s basketball.
“Two sides of the same coin in athletics is when one season ends, another one is beginning,” Davis said. “It’s always new life and there’s always a new season coming.”
