When his team suffered back-to-back losses to open the season, Flagler soccer Coach John Lynch knew some changes were in order, especially after a 6-1 loss in their second game.

“In the second game of the season we played dreadful. We lost 6-1,” Lynch said. “We had to do something dramatic and we did that weekend in trying to wake the group up. We made massive changes in personnel and we made a big change in tactics.”

The changes prompted a new beginning for Flagler, and the Saints went on to reel off wins in 11 of their final 14 regular-season games. Their mid-season surge included six wins in seven conference games, and they secured the Peach Belt Conference regular-season championship on Halloween with a 3-1 win over conference power Francis Marion on Flagler Field.

“Everyone was so excited that we finally made it into a conference and had something to play for. Being able to win it the first year was an amazing feeling,” said junior goaltender Matt Gilman, who finished his first season at Flagler with 14 victories and six shutouts.

Entering the season, Flagler’s coaches and players knew very little about their Peach Belt Conference foes. But when preseason rankings were released and the Saints saw themselves ranked seventh in a nine-team conference, they were both excited and motivated.

For Lynch, the year also brought an important milestone — he notched his 100th win as Flagler’s coach against North Georgia and was named Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year.

Flagler moved into the NCAA Division II National Tournament ranked fifth in their region, but fell 4-0 to Wingate in the regional quarterfinals.

“We did a lot of good things,” Lynch said about the season. “We faced a lot of unknowns and to come out as champions and do it in the style we did, it was really, really satisfying.”

It was only fitting that such a magical run ended with the team in St. Paul, Minn., site of the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship, making angels in the snow.

“The experience in itself was unbelievable,” Flagler volleyball coach Taylor Mott said. “That was one of the things that we tried to remind the girls to just enjoy every second of the experience. Whatever happens when we get there, enjoy every moment.”

Snow blanketed the ground outside the national quarterfinals site before the Saints were scheduled to play their Elite Eight matchup with Dowling University. Just as their coach had advised, the players, many of whom were born and raised in Florida, decided to soak it all in.

“That made the trip 10 times better to even have that experience,” senior Katie Beale said. The significance of such a milestone wasn’t lost on their coach.

“The surreal experience was just another chapter in what easily became the most memorable season, not in just Flagler College Volleyball history, but possibly in the history of Flagler College Athletics,” Mott said.

In just its second year competing in the NCAA, the Saints beat out many teams who have been in Division II for a long time without any of their teams advancing to or winning a regional.

“I definitely think we put Flagler on the map, and that’s a good thing for all of our teams,” she said.

To get to Minnesota, Flagler volleyball won both the Peach Belt Conference regular season and conference tournament titles in their first Peach Belt season, an unprecedented feat in itself. Then they bulldozed through the regional tournament, dropping just four sets in three matches and knocking off host Wingate in the final to advance to the quarterfinals.

“When we won regionals, it didn’t click for a lot of us for a while,” senior outside hitter Justine Burkhardt said. “On the bus ride back I remember just asking ‘Did that really just happen?’ It seemed like it all happened pretty fast and it just seemed so surreal.”

The win sent them to the national tournament, and after their adventures in the snow, Flagler dispatched Dowling in one of their best matches of the year, with a 3-0 sweep.

“We had a lot to prove,” Burkhardt said. “We were never ranked during the season, and we had played and beaten teams that were ranked, too. To beat Dowling once we were there, we all just played incredible. … That’s probably one of the best games we played all season. Everyone was doing their job so well that it made everyone else’s job that much easier.”

The victory sent Flagler to the final four, where they went on to lose their matchup with West Texas A&M, snapping a 29-match winning streak that began on Sept. 19 in Greenwood, S.C., with a victory over PBC rival Lander. The streak broke the Flagler record of 22, spanned 76 days and also tied a Peach Belt Conference record.

The team was motivated purely by the ability to play for a championship. Since joining NCAA Division II three years ago and before joining the Peach Belt, Flagler was ineligible for post-season play no matter how successful their season had been.

Our drive to make it as far as we could in our senior year really motivated the younger girls to help us,” Beale said. “We had so much fun playing together. That’s what kept our winning streak going. That’s what kept us going into the final four. I can’t imagine my senior year going any better.”

On top of the team accomplishments, the Saints received plenty of individual accolades as well. Mott was named Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year. Beale was named to the NCAA Division II All-Southeast Region first team while Burkhardt and junior Meg Weathersby received second team honors.

Burkhardt also made the PBC All-Academic second team and shattered the Flagler College career records for sets played (545), kills (1881), attempts (5,573) and digs (1,676). It proved to be a truly unforgettable senior season for the St. Augustine native.

“Throughout the entire season — every practice, every game — I was just trying to soak it up as much as possible,” Burkhardt said. “It couldn’t have worked out any better. I guess you could say it was bittersweet. All of the games up to that we had all played so well and I don’t know that we all really clicked that last game. … But I’m not disappointed with how it ended. For us to get that far was absolutely incredible in itself.”

For Mott it was fulfilling to see her team’s constant drive reap the rewards they deserved.

“I don’t know that this season could have been any more rewarding and not so much because of the winning and all of that. That is a byproduct,” she said. “The most rewarding thing is seeing all the hard work pay off for a group of girls that didn’t know if we would ever be in a conference or even when we would be active Division II.”

The boosters club was created in 2004 while Flagler athletic teams were still qualifying for NAIA Tournaments and the NCAA was but a murmur going around the administration.

“The expenditure of teams would go up with the move to Division II, and that was a reason why we started talking about the boosters club,” said club President Alan Bratic, ‘97. “It wasn’t the main reason, but it was kind of like, ‘Hey, we are going to being moving within a year or two, and we want to have this availability for the athletic programs to be able to raise money.’ ”

Bratic, who attended Flagler as a scholarship soccer player, took over as booster club president in 2005. He said the thought from the outset was to have the booster club going strong by the time a decision came on Division II.

“The main thing that we are proud of is working with the coaches and helping them fundraise,” Bratic said. “Really raising the money and the ability to go out into the community and get corporate sponsors, that has made a big difference versus previously. In turn, we use that money to help the sports get what they need.”

Corporate sponsorships have been crucial to the fundraising of the boosters. Previously, Flagler Athletics had minimal funding coming from area businesses.

“We’ve made great progress,” Assistant Athletic Director and Women’s Basketball Coach Sherri Abbey Nowatzki said. “We’ve got 15-20 corporate sponsorships. That’s huge because those are more of your major donors that are giving to athletics, and that goes directly into the overall athletic budget.”

Nowatzki believes that corporate sponsorship has great potential to help Flagler Athletics.

“We’re just skimming the surface,” she said. “Corporate sponsors, in my opinion, that’s going to be the wave of the future to tap into. Those are going to help with facilities as well: new bleachers, new major facilities that we need as we go Division II and into the Peach Belt Conference.”

The booster club has set up a variety of ways that students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni and members of the community can help.

Joining the boosters is one way. The rates are minimal for students faculty and staff, and in 2009, the rate for alumni will drop from $75 to $50, making the commitment more affordable for those that want to help support their Saints.

“Especially for younger alumni, its not easy to put down $200 or even $75, so $50 just felt like it was a good level to get some more alumni involved in it,” Bratic said.

A booster club golf outing was also established this year. The first incarnation over freshmen weekend raised nearly $5,000. The boosters also hold Red Zone functions at Flagler home athletic events at least once per team per season. A silent auction is also planned once the economy turns around.

“The goal would be to get where we can provide $100,000 and above in annual support to athletics,” Bratic said. “The good thing about the booster club is that a lot of people are excited about it, but the tough side is we need more volunteers.”

Bratic believes alumni are crucial to the club’s success.

“Good alumni giving helps the college succeed,” he said. “It’s absolutely imperative for that to happen. Most of the alumni have been to a game or two at Flagler. I wouldn’t say all, but most. With us going Division II, their support is absolutely necessary.”

Lechner runs what are called ultra-marathons — distances of 50 kilometers, 50 miles and even 100 miles.

“I just caught the bug and I really, really enjoy it,” he said. “It’s a sport that is exploding now because, at one time, the marathon was a challenge. But when you have 30,000 or 40,000 people running New York and Boston, people want more than that.”

Before he started running “ultras,” Lechner ran cross country at Flagler and was part of the college’s only men’s cross country team to win a conference championship. After he graduated, Lechner served a year as women’s cross country coach and led the team to a conference championship of their own.

“I felt very honored with the fact that I got to run at nationals and I got to coach at nationals at Flagler,” Lechner said. “That’s something I’m still really proud of.”

Lechner still coaches cross country at Reading High School in Reading, Pa., and it was his own high school coach that got him into ultra-marathons.

“I went from running half marathons right up to doing a 50-miler, which I don’t recommend,” Lechner said.

Lechner’s first ultra-marathon was the 50-mile Bull Run in Virginia. Now, he’s completed Bull Run eight times.

According to Lechner, the training method for an ultra doesn’t entail any 30-mile training runs.

“I believe in the less-is-more approach,” he said. “Your longest run is two or three hours and if you’re in shape, you can do an ultra. You’re not going to go out and do seven-hour training runs because all that will do is beat you up.”

Overall, Lechner has run more than 30 ultras – some 50-kilometer and some 50-mile – but his biggest accomplishment was completing the 2007 Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 in 29 hours and 10 minutes. In his first attempt in 2006, he had to stop at mile 76.

“It was the first race I ever quit,” he said. “So last year I went back and finished it. It’s one of the hardest ones in the United States. It’s the hardest one east of the Mississippi. Everybody there is good, and they only have about 60 percent finish. I would say ultra running is about 80 percent mental. Your body can do it, but if you let yourself get depressed or let yourself get really hurt … you’re doomed.”

Lechner completed the Massanutten a second time on May 18 and thrives on the accomplishment.

“The thing about cross country in general, when I went to Flagler, and even now, is you have to do it for you first and foremost,” he said. “There’s the boring nine-to-five job, there’s a million 5K and 10K runs. I wanted to do something different. It doesn’t matter where you finish … with a 100-miler, no one cares if you came in first or last. You ran 100 miles.”

The decision to add softball has been on the agenda since Flagler made the move to NCAA Div. II. Most teams in the region have softball teams in place, and Flagler needed to make the
addition to its roster of sports.

To get the program rolling, Flagler named Kristen Atkinson head coach. Atkinson, a 2004 graduate of the University of North Florida, where she lettered in softball all four years, was the assistant coach at Nova Southeastern University last season.

“It’s not an opportunity that happens,” Atkinson said of heading the beginning of a collegiate softball program. “The way that softball is in this country right now, it’s a very popular thing. Not many people have that opportunity. Granted we did have slow-pitch softball, but that was 20 years ago.”

Though the slow-pitch program was successful, its legacy has faded and it will be 20 years in Flagler’s past when the first pitch of the fast-pitch era flies in spring 2009. So Atkinson is tasked with building the program completely from scratch.

And it’s no easy task.

“My first priority was to start recruiting,” she said. “My focus was going to be to get kids familiar with Flagler College. When it comes to the softball world and girls that want to play college softball, when they do their research, Flagler is not one of the schools that they research because we didn’t have it.”

Atkinson has tapped into a network of high school and college coaches in Florida that she established while at Nova Southeastern and Indian River Community College, to get the word out about Flagler’s new program.

“It was really mainly about networking and getting the recruits in,” she said. “I haven’t even ordered equipment yet. I haven’t ordered uniforms. We’re working on the field.”

Flagler is converting a baseball practice field into its softball field, a task that will be completed this summer.

Atkinson already has eight players committed to her first team and is using a unique pitch to get recruits excited about Flagler softball.

“Being a first-year program, we’re starting a tradition,” she said. “You’ve got to want to start this program. You can’t be afraid of not having any history here. It’s a new legacy. You’ve got to be able to come in and start this on the right foot and be very competitive from the first year because that’s the way I am.”

For more on Flagler’s softball program, visit http://athletics.flagler.edu.