UCO finishes 2018-19 year with 18 All-Americans
The University of Central Oklahoma finished with 18 All-Americans in the 2018-19 year.
In the fall, O’Shay Harris and Noah Hammons earned the honors in football, and Kelsey Gordon, Katie Killion and Kelsie Eason in soccer.
Harris was a starting safety for the Bronchos, and finished with the 2nd most tackles on the team at 74. He also had three forced fumbles and two interceptions. Hammons anchored an offensive line at right tackle that helped the Bronchos averaged 30.3 ppg on the season, good for 4th in the MIAA conference.
UCO soccer finished with a school-best 22-2 record in 2018, and had historic seasons from multiple players. One such player was Katie Killion, who earned UCO’s first ever National Player of the Year award, as well as first team All-American honors. She scored 30 goals in her senior season at UCO, third most in school history. Gordon was detrimental to the defense during the Bronchos 16-game win streak, recording 14 shutouts on the season. Eason boasted several all-around performances on both offense and defense, including 2 game winning goals.
Volleyball’s lone All-American was Taylor Bevis, who earned the honor for the third time in her career as a Broncho. Bevis finished her senior year with 412 kills, along with 376 digs and 61 block while helping Central to a 27-7 record.
Central’s winter All-Americans were Heath Gray and Greg Wilson, who both made the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships. Gray finished 36-2 in his sophomore season, along with a third-place finish at the championships. Wilson, a senior who began his career at Oklahoma University, finished 13-6 on the year with an 8th place finish in the championships.
UCO rounded out a terrific spring campaign with 10 athletes earning All-American honors.
In tennis, Adel-Byanu Abidullina, Isabella Dunlap, and Paola Landin were all honored as All-Americans, with Abidullina and Dunlap in singles and Dunlap and Landin in doubles. Abidullina earned MIAA co-Player of the Year, as well as Freshman of the year. She finished ranked the No. 2 singles player in the country with a 22-5 record. Dunlap finished 24-9 individually, and 18-11 in doubles. She finished at No. 5 in the country. Landin finished 18-11 in doubles along with Dunlap, and the team finished 19-5 overall on the season before losing in the NCAA DII Women’s Tennis National Championship Round of 16.
With yet another historic season for UCO, softball produced three All-Americans in JoBi Heath, Bailey McKittrick, and Hazel Puempel. Heath earned just the fifth first-team honors in school history, leaving behind an incredible career as a Broncho. She finished with the school single-season records for doubles with 24, home runs with 15, and RBI’s with 77. She is also the all-time RBI and doubles leader at UCO with 70 and 226 respectively. McKittrick finished with a 26-5 record in her freshman year in the circle, and posted a 2.11 ERA to go with it. Puempel finished with a .396 batting average, and finished with 54 RBI’s.
Finally, UCO produced a record four All-Americans in rowing, along with a second straight National Championship. Madisyn Kitchell, Eileen Anderson, and Megan Dwarshuis all earned first-team, while Shelby Wackerly earned second-team. For Anderson and Dawrshuis, it was their second time to earn the honor, and the first for Kitchell and Wackerly. The second of back-to-back titles earned UCO their 20th school national championship.