Winning a national championship is hard and certainly no day at the beach.
I stand corrected. For a group of ladies from TCU it is actually the latter.
The Lady Frogs were a highlight of the school’s 2024-25 sports year as they recently captured the first national championship in program history and the ninth national title ever for TCU athletics.
They defeated Loyola Marymount, out of Los Angeles, 3-2 in the championship match. It capped a 32-5 season that saw them win the final dozen matches
The team featured Olympians Anhelina Khmil and Tania Moreno. Also, Daniela Alvarez was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association Beach Player of the Year.
While the Big 12 had no champions in what most folks deem as “major” sports, they did come close, with Houston reaching the title game in men’s basketball and Texas Tech advancing to the softball championship series.
Across the board looking at all sports, however, it’s hard to argue with the success the TCU programs enjoyed since the start of last fall.
The Lady Frogs, led by All-Americans Hailey Van Lith and Sedona Price, made school history by advancing to the Elite Eight. Van Lith was taken in the first round of the WNBA Draft by the Chicago Sky and Madison Connor followed in the third round, going to the Seattle Storm.
Finishing 34-4 overall and 16-2 in the Big 12, they set a team record for victories, along with winning the conference regular season and tournament for the first time ever. And this came on the heels of almost shutting down the season in the 2023-24 campaign because illness and injury created a lack of healthy players to complete a roster.
Individually, in women’s indoor track and field, Indya Mayberry became the program’s first indoor national champion since 2016, clocking a 22.30 in the 200-meter dash. It is the second fastest time in U.S. history and seventh fastest indoor time ever in the world.
Here’s a recap of highlights from other TCU programs this past school year:
Men
*Baseball – 39-20 overall, 19-11 in Big 12, advanced to NCAA regionals. Pitcher Tommy LaPour was named All-American, while Strawyer Strosnider was named the National Freshman of the Year and joined Noah Franco, Mason Brassfield and Nolan Traeger as Freshmen All-Americans.
*Cross country – Led by Graydon Morris’ top-25 (23rd) individual finish, the Horned Frogs had their best team finish since 1998 (sixth).
*Football – 9-4 overall, 6-3 in Big 12. Ended season with a four-game winning streak, defeating Louisiana 34-3 in the New Mexico Bowl. Sent 11 players to the NFL, including two draft picks, wide receiver Jack Beck in the second round to the Las Vegas Raiders and wide receiver Savion Williams in the third round to the Green Bay Packers.
*Indoor track and field – All-American Kashie Crockett finished 11th in the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Championships. His time of 20.55 was the second fastest time in school history.
*Outdoor track and field – Crockett again led the way, garnering second-team All-American honors with a 12th-place finish in the 200. Numerous other Horned Frogs received honorable mention All-American accolades, including the 4×100 relay of Crockett, Coulaj Eans, Jorden
Parker and Sanjay Solomon, Lloyd Frilot in the 800, Jayden Douglas in the 400 hurdles, Preston Kuznof in the javelin and the 4×400 relay of Douglas, Frilot, Ronnie Kendrick and Destin Drummond.
*Swimming and diving – David Ekdall advanced to the NCAA Diving Championships and Filip Suchanski competed in the 400 individual medley and 200 backstroke at the NCAA Finals. Ekdahl will compete for Sweden at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore July 27-Aug. 1.
*Tennis – National runners-up, falling 4-2 to Wake Forest in the title match, falling one win short of repeating as national champs. Set a season record for wins at 28-4. Lui Maxted and Pedro Vives being named All-National Tournament. They also finished second to Wake Forest at the indoor national championships.
Women
*Equestrian – Advanced to the quarterfinals of national postseason. Shea Graham was named National College Equestrian Association Reining Rider of the Year.
*Golf – Sofia Barros Sa competed individually in the NCAA Championships. Camille Min-Gautier named Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American, only ninth player in program history.
*Indoor track and field – Tabitha Ngao also qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 800.
*Outdoor track and field – Irene Jepkemboi paced the Lady Frogs, who had their best national showing since 2007, by placing third and capturing a bronze medal in the javelin with a throw of 197 feet, 10 inches. She was named first team All-American, as were the fourth place 4×100 relay (Teanna Harlin, Iyana Gray, London Tucker, Mayberry) and Amelliah Birdow in the 400 hurdles (seventh). Second team All-American honors went to Gray (12th in the 100), Mayberry in both the 100 (16th) and 200 (13th, defending national champion) and Maria Bienvenu in the javelin (14th). Garnering honorable mention All-American accolades were Tucker (100), Tia Williams (400 hurdles), Amari Kiluvia (100 hurdles) and the 4×400 relay of Williams, Birdow, Gray and Samarra Monrroy.
*Rifle – Finished sixth at the national championships, their 19th consecutive postseason berth. Katie Zaun was named the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association Athlete of the Year, while Mikole Hogan and Christina Hillinger were chosen as All-Americans.
*Soccer – 17-4-2 overall, 9-0-2 in Big 12, advanced to second round of NCAA Tournament. Carolyne Kelly signed with Brooklyn of the United Soccer League, goalkeeper Megan Plaschko signed with Athlone Town AFC of the Women’s Premier Division in Ireland, and Camryn Lancaster signed with Dallas Trinity FC of the USL Super League. Head coach Eric Bell was honored as the United Soccer Coaches Black Soccer Coaches Community Group 2025 Soccer Coach of the Year. Seven Castain and Bella Diorio selected as All-Americans.
*Swimming and diving – Anna Kwong advanced to the NCAA Championships in 1-meter and 3-meter diving, along with winning the 1-meter individual and 3-meter synchronized events at the USA Diving National Championships, qualifying for the World Championships as an alternate. Eszti Kovacs competed in the European Championships in 3-meter individual diving.
*Triathlon – Fourth at nationals. Kira Gupta Baltazar named Collegiate Triathlon Coaches Association All-American.
*Volleyball – 22-8 overall, 13-5 in Big 12, advanced to the second round of NCAA Tournament. Melanie Parra was named the first American Volleyball Coaches Association first team All-American.
