by ROB JENKINS
Sports Reporter

The following are the top 10 sports stories of the year, as voted on by the sports desk of The Appalachian.

10. Record crowd watches Davidson beat Mountaineers

Davidson College took out Appalachian State University 70-52 Jan. 12 in front of a record-setting crowd of 8,350 at the Holmes Convocation Center.

Davidson standout Stephen Curry saw limited action in the game because of foul trouble, scoring only 16 points in 18 minutes.

Last season the Mountaineer softball team finished with a record of 11-37.

With one game remaining in the regular season, this year’s squad owns a record of 25-25.

The softball team has not had a record this close to .500 since 2006, when the team finished 29-30 on the year.

Katie Boyd and Kayla Richardson are responsible for much of the success.

Boyd is hitting .393 with 16 homers and Richardson is 13-14 with a 2.47 ERA.

8. Jerry Moore wins 200th game

The ASU football team defeated Furman University Oct. 25 to give Moore his 200th win as a head coach.

Moore is the 28th coach in Division I history to reach the milestone.

Moore has amassed 178 wins as the head coach of the Mountaineers.

7. Appalachian dismantles Wofford

A week after Moore collected his 200th win, the Mountaineers throttled the Terriers of Wofford College 70-24 at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

This game was notable for two reasons.

First, ASU was ranked No. 2 in the country with Wofford right behind at No. 3.

Also, the game was broadcast nationally on ESPN2.

6. Men’s track and field squad misses shot at Triple Crown

The men’s track and field team lost the SoCon Outdoor Championship by the slimmest of margins, losing to champion Western Carolina University by half a point.

The Catamounts amassed 254 points for the competition and the Mountaineers finished with 253.5.

Appalachian had won the first two legs of the Triple Crown by winning the SoCon cross country and indoor championships.

5. AHO loses in final four, comes up just short of nationals

The team rolled through their spring schedule undefeated en route to making the regional final four in Birmingham, Ala.

At one point in the season, AHO was ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation.

AHO’s run ended when they lost to the University of South Florida 19-14.

4. Club cycling team wins national championships

Appalachian’s club cycling team has had a lot of success over the past few years.

The team continued that tradition this season by capturing the mountain bike and cyclocross national championships in the fall.

The Mountaineers will go for three national titles in one year May 8 in Fort Collins, Colo. when they compete in the Collegiate Road National Championships. 

3. Men’s cross country wins conference championship

The title was the cross country team’s fourth conference championship in a row.

Head coach Mike Curcio won his seventh SoCon Coach of the Year award.

2. Fancher resigns as head coach

Following his ninth season as ASU men’s basketball coach, Houston Fancher resigned.

Fancher posted a 137-136 career record, including 13-18 in 2008-09.

Under his guidance, the Mountaineers won three Southern Conference North Division titles and won 25 games in 2006-07.
Appalachian has yet to name a successor.

1. Football team fails to win forth consecutive national title

For the first time since 2004, the Appalachian football team did not win the NCAA Division I Football Championship.

Appalachian’s run of three consecutive national championships was unprecedented in the FCS, and was only accomplished once in the FBS, by Army in the 1940s.

The Mountaineers were plagued by seven turnovers in the quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Richmond.

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