The San José State University Athletics' highlights for 2018 included team championships, numerous individual accolades, head coaching changes, a multitude of academic achievements, facility enhancements, all-time greats in the world of sports coming to the campus, and generous donations from loyal supporters.
To pick a top-10 or even a top-25 would be too limiting, but you can try it.
Happy New Year and Go Spartans in 2019!
JANUARY
January 9 (Men's Basketball) – Forward Ryan Welage becomes the 15th San José State men's basketball player to score 1,000 points in a career in a Mountain West game at San Diego State. He finished his Spartan career sixth on the all-time list with 1,258 points.
January 26 (Tennis) – San José State plays its first dual match at its new Spartan Tennis Complex at the South Campus and defeats Sonoma State, 7-0. The Spartans would conclude their first weekend on their brand new on-campus facility losing to #1-Stanford, 6-1.
January 30 (Alumni) – Golf great Juli Inkster is named the captain of the United States Solheim Cup team for the third consecutive competition. She led the Americans to victory over international squads in 2015 and 2017.
FEBRUARY
February 1 (Football) – Former head coach Claude Gilbert was one of three inductees into San Diego's Breitbard Hall of Fame for his successful run as San Diego State's head coach during the 1973 through 1980 seasons.
February 5 (Development) – Larry and Deidre Solari's pledge of $5-million to the new football operations center is announced at the football program's annual National Letter-of-Intent signing celebration event.
February 23 (Women's Track & Field) – Senior Cambree Harbaugh brings home a first-place award in the women's long jump at the Mountain West Indoor Track and Field Championships in Albuquerque, N.M.
February 27 (Women's Basketball) - Myzhanique Ladd became the 17th San José State women's basketball player to score 1,000 points in a career with a basket in a Mountain West game at Utah State. She finished her career in 15th place with 1,041 points.
February 28 (Men's Basketball) – San José State defeated Utah State for the first time in 22 tries over 10 years, 64-62, at The Event Center. Isaiah Nichols' only basket of the game with 53.1 seconds remaining was the difference on the scoreboard.
MARCH
March 10 (Swimming and Diving) – Senior Colleen Humel is named the Swimmer of the Meet at the CSCAA National Invitational. She won the 100 and 200 backstroke races and led off the Spartans' victorious 200 medley relay. Earlier in the season, Humel had won an unprecedented 20 consecutive races in the backstroke.
March 17 (Women's Water Polo) – After winning a four-overtime match against host and #11-ranked LMU to open the LMU Invitational, San José State knocked off #23- Marist, 6-5, in a five-overtime contest.
March 20 (Softball) – Madison Aurin was named USA Softball's National Player of the Week for leading the Spartans to a three-game sweep of San Diego State and a 4-0 win-loss record for the week. She picked up two pitching wins and a save on the mound and batted .333 at the plate with three home runs, all three-run homers, and nine RBI.
March 24 (Gymnastics) – The Spartans successfully defended their Mountain Pacific Sports Federation team championship in Colorado Springs. Chelsey Andrada won the vault and Kaitlin Won was the all-around champion.
APRIL
April 5 (Academics) – San José State is #1 nationally for the number of Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar award winners for 2018. Forty-one Spartan student-athletes of color were honored by Diverse Issues in Higher Education for academic performance, athletics excellence and noteworthy participation in community service activities.
April 14 (Beach Volleyball) – The Spartans complete a doubleheader sweep of Pacific and Sacramento State for the program's first 10-win season in its five-season history.
April 20 (Academics) – For the fourth consecutive year, more than 60 student-athletes were among the 4,000-plus student-athletes honored as Dean's or President's Scholar at the University's annual Honors Convocation.
April 27 (Softball) – The Spartans play their first game on their new on-campus field and come away with a 3-1 win over New Mexico.
MAY
May 17 (Academics) – Four San José State teams, men's cross country, women's golf, women's gymnastics and beach volleyball, earn a NCAA Public Recognition Award for a maximum 1,000 Academic Progress Rate (APR) score. The Spartans' four awards matched the most earned by a California State University NCAA Division I athletics program in 2018.
May 17 (Softball) – Madison Aurin and Cassidy Clark are first-team All-Mountain West selections. Aurin also was a first-team National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Pacific Region honoree. Aurin batted .408 and led the Spartans with 16 pitching victories.
May 24 (Baseball) – Southpaw Andrew Mitchel is named the Mountain West Co-Pitcher of the Year. He finished the season with a 6-2 win-loss record and a 3.72 earned run average. Opposing batters had a measly .219 batting average against him. Outfielder Brett Bautista, first baseman Shane Timmons and relief pitcher Fineas Bonta-Smith also were named to the All-Mountain West team.
JUNE
June 7 (Women's Track and Field) – Destiny Longmire, the 2018 Mountain West outdoor champion in the women's long jump, becomes the first San José State University women's track and field competitor to earn All-America honors with her 14th place finish in the event at the NCAA Championships.
June 12 (Baseball) – Brad Sanfilippo, who returned to San José State on January 29, has the interim tag removed from his job title and accepts a new contract to lead the Spartans. San José State closed Mountain West action winning 14 of its last 17 games to qualify for the conference tournament.
June 28 (Alumni) – Dr. Harry Edwards, a one-time San José State two-sport student-athlete in basketball and track and field and world-renowned sports sociologist, is one of four inductees into the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Academic All-America Hall of Fame. It is the second consecutive year a Spartan was named to this hall of fame.
June 28 (Women's Golf) – All-American Dana Dormann is promoted from assistant to head coach of the San José State women's golf program. She replaced four-time conference Coach of the Year John Dormann who led the Spartans to four conference championships, 11 NCAA regional championship tournaments and two appearances in the NCAA Championships.
JULY
July 17 (Academics) – A school record 60 Spartans in 15 sports were named Mountain West Scholar-Athletes for the 2018 academic year. Sixteen (16) received a similar honor from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, three from the Western Athletic Conference, and eight from the Golden Coast Conference.
July 28 (Tennis) – San José State is the new site of the Women's Tennis Association's Northern California tour stop. One of the first matches of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic is 2018 graduate Sybille Gauvain vs. Russia's Anna Blinkova. Gauvain lost the match in straight sets – the same fate for all-time tennis great Serena Williams three nights later before a packed house on the stadium court at the Spartan Tennis Complex.
July 11 (Football) – Former head coach Darryl Rogers, who led the Spartans to 22 wins during the 1973 through 1975 seasons, died at age 84.
July 24 (Administration) – Athletics director Marie Tuite is named to the Bay Area Host Committee executive Board for the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship game at Levi's Stadium.
AUGUST
August 2 (Gymnastics) – Joanne Bowers is named San José State's new women's gymnastics head coach. Bowers was the University of Washington's head coach for 10 seasons and replaced Wayne Wright who retired after 17 seasons and 25 years with the program.
August 23 (Track & Field) – Kendra Reimer-Gonzales is named the new director of track and field and cross country for the Spartans. She was a two-time conference Coach of the Year the previous two seasons at San Francisco State.
SEPTEMBER
September 25 (Women's Golf) – Senior Abegail Arevalo becomes the second Spartan in as many tournaments to earn medalist honors with her victory at the Coeur d'Alene Collegiate. Freshman Natasha Andrea Oon finished first at the Minnesota Invitational in San José State's season-opening tournament.
September 27 (Women's Golf) – 1989 NCAA champion, six-time LPGA Tour winner Pat Hurst is one of four inductees into the Northern California Golf Association Hall of Fame.
September 28 (Hall of Fame) – The 1971 men's water polo team that played for the NCAA Championship, wide receiver James Jones, three-time Olympic judo competitor Gerardo Padilla, U.S. National team women's water polo player Juliet Moss, softball outfielder Pat Martinez, distance runner the late Charlie Clark, three-time All-America golfer Lisa Walton and cheerleader Krazy George Henderson are inducted into the San José State Sports Hall of Fame.
September 29 (Football) – San José State and Hawaii play the longest game in Mountain West history. The five-overtime game goes to the Rainbow Warriors, 44-41. Tight end Josh Oliver was named the John Mackey Tight End of the Week and defensive lineman Boogie Roberts was named to the Paul Hornung Award Weekly Honor Roll.
OCTOBER
October 17 (Men's Track and Field) – 1968 Olympians Tommie Smith, the 200 meter gold medalist, and John Carlos, the bronze medalist in the same event, accept the Tower Award, the university's most prestigious honor to cap a 50th anniversary celebration of their courageous stand for human rights.
October 26 (Women's Cross Country) – Junior Jennifer Sandoval earned second-team All-Mountain West honors for the second consecutive year at the conference championship meet. She finished 11th and led San José State to a fifth-place finish in the team standings.
October 26 (Men's Cross Country) – Senior Craig Huff earns second-team All-Mountain West honors with his eighth place finish at the conference championship meet. The Spartans finished seventh in the team standings.
October 29 (Women's Soccer) – Paige Simoneau, Darriell Franklin, Kristen Amarikwa, Jada Wilson and Hannah Mathews were named All-Mountain West.
NOVEMBER
November 3 (Women's Soccer) – Haleigh Wynne scored the only goal of the match in a 1-0 for San José State giving the Spartans their second Mountain West championship in four years. Goalkeeper Paige Simoneau was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
November 7 (Men's Soccer) – The Spartans complete an unthinkable comeback with a shootout victory on Omar Lemus' successful eighth-round penalty kick after San José State overcame a 3-0 lead with less than 16 minutes remaining in regulation to defeat host Seattle University in the quarterfinal round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament. The Spartans would advance to the championship game for the second year in a row in the team's final contest.
November 8 (Men's Golf) – In a practice round at the Almaden Country Club golf course, senior Kevin Velo shattered the course record with a 14-under 58. He had two eagles on his first five holes and finished his round with five consecutive birdies.
November 13 (Men's Water Polo) – Goalkeeper Yahav Fire and field player Adam Bado, two key players in the Spartans' build for the future, were named All-Golden Coast Conference men's water polo players. Fire was a second-team and All-Freshman Team choice. Bado was an honorable mention and All-Freshman Team pick.
November 14 (Alumni) – San José State golfer Pat Hurst, pitcher Mark Langston and basketball center and track and field discus thrower Harry Edwards are inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame.
November 17 (Volleyball) – San José State finishes its best season of Mountain West play with a 3-2 victory over San Diego State. The Spartans were fourth in the conference with an 11-7 mark and 16-11 overall.
November 29 (Development) – John Hopkirk & Anne Murphy pledge a $2-million gift earmarked to the new football operations center.
DECEMBER
December 5 (Football) – Josh Oliver accepts an invitation to play in the Senior Bowl all-star game in Mobile, Alabama, January 19, 2019.
December 5 (Men's Soccer) – First-team All-Western Athletic Conference defender Andy Rios is named third-team All-Far West Region for the second consecutive season.
