Big West schools produced outstanding team and individual achievements, and a number of firsts, during an exciting 2008-09 campaign that commemorated the conference's 40th anniversary.
The fall sports season witnessed a series of firsts in men's soccer. A record four squads participated in the NCAA Tournament, led by No. 14 seed UC Irvine. The Anteaters won the inaugural Big West Tournament to capture the conference's automatic bid and the program's first trip to the NCAA Tournament. Cal Poly joined UCI as another first-time invitee to the postseason dance. UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara completed the quartet of Big West representatives. UCI earned a first round bye and a second round win against Cal Poly to secure a spot in the Sweet 16, marking the sixth straight year a Big West team advanced at least that far in the postseason. The season also featured a Big West record crowd of 11,075 that showed up to Cal Poly's Spanos Stadium October 17 for a nationally televised contest.
Women's soccer delved into some uncharted territory as Long Beach State made its inaugural NCAA Tournament appearance and UC Santa Barbara won the Big West Tournament title for the first time. That gave the league two postseason representatives for only the second time in history. Both the 49ers and Gauchos bowed out in tough first round matchups, but held spots in the national top 25 for parts of the season.
In women's volleyball, Long Beach State continued a proud tradition of success in winning its league-best ninth Big West championship. The 49ers, under newly inducted Hall of Fame Coach Brian Gimmillaro, reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The season also featured UC Santa Barbara's Kathy Gregory becoming just the sixth coach in NCAA history to surpass the 800 career win plateau.
Cross country figured into the success equation as well in 2008. The Cal Poly men collected their third consecutive at-large invite to the NCAA Championships on the strength of a seventh place finish at the formidable West Regional meet. Cal Poly extended its dominance on the conference circuit, winning a Big West record sixth straight championship. On the women's side, the season was highlighed by a pair of UC Davis runners - Kim Conley and Kaitlin Gregg - performing well enough at regionals to earn at-large invitations to the NCAA Championship. The UC Riverside women accomplished a first for its program as champions at the Big West meet.
Transitioning into the winter sports season, men's basketball ushered in a fresh face to the NCAA Tournament in Cal State Northridge. The Matadors made their first NCAA appearance in their eight-year tenure as a Big West member, overcoming numerous adversities along the way. CSUN captured its first outright league regular season title and translated that success into more at the league tournament. The Matadors ousted UC Santa Barbara and Pacific in Anaheim to punch their ticket to the NCAA's. Pacific gave the Big West two postseason entries when the Tigers were invited to compete in the inaugural 16-team CollegeInsider.com Tournament. The Tigers won a pair of games to advance all the way to the semifinals.
The women's basketball season netted a pair of postseason partcipants in UC Santa Barbara and UC Riverside. The Gauchos captured both the regular season and tournament titles, earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 15 seed. UCSB extended its postseason streak (11 NCAA, 3 WNIT) to 14 straight seasons. The Highlanders made an appearance in the Women's National Invitation Tournament behind the efforts of senior center Kemie Nkele, who finished her career the Big West's sixth all-time leading scorer with 2,062 points. Cal Poly also tied the single-season program record with 21 victories.
UC Santa Barbara dominated the pool in winning the men's and women's swimming and diving championships. The Gaucho women claimed their fourth straight Big West title and the men won for the fourth time in the last six years. Records galore fell at the conference meet as the women's side saw six conference records set, while the men's races had eight new marks established. Four Big West athletes earned All-American honors at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship, including UCSB's Katy Freeman who finished eighth in the 200 breast.
The spring sports season offered more individual and team accomplishments.
Baseball programs continued to reinforce their prominence on the collegiate landscape in making the Big West one of the premier conferences in the country. Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine earned two of eight national seeds in the NCAA Tournament, while Cal Poly, giving the Big West three postseason representatives, made its initial NCAA appearance. The Titans rolled through regional and super regional action to clinch the program's 16th trip to Omaha and the College World Series. The Anteaters hosted a regional for the first time and witnessed senior Ben Orloff win the Brooks Wallace Award bestowed upon the nation's top shortstop. The Big West also had 46 players selected in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft.
Softball produced three NCAA Tournament squads in Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State. The Mustangs set school records for overall wins (41) and conference wins (18), while also accumulating their first postseason wins as a Division I member. The Titans won 25 of their last 35 games to earn a place in the postseason party and the 49ers won 35 games overall to polish their résumé. Sophomore Cal Poly pitcher Anna Cahn earned third team All-America honors by Easton.
Women's water polo announced its presence as the Big West's 18th sponsored sport with six teams vying for the inaugural championship. Three squads - Cal State Northridge, UC Davis and UC Irvine - amassed 20 victories and shared a three-way regular season title. The Anteaters emerged as champions of the first Big West Tournament and finished the season ranked No. 9 in the country. UC Santa Barbara's Gillian Morgan scored a school single-season record 83 goals to lead the Big West and Cal State Northridge Jillian Stapf's led a parade of six Big West student-athletes to earn All-America honors. The Matador goalie captured third team All-American acclaim.
In golf, the UC Davis men and Long Beach State women won their first Big West Championships to dethrone defending champion UC Irvine on both sides. The conference sent two teams to both men's and women's regional action. Long Beach State and UC Irvine, along with UC Davis individuals Alice Kim and Chelsea Stelzmiller, represented the Big West at the West Regional. The Anteaters advanced to the NCAA Championship after finishing fourth and Kim joined the UCI contingent after her eighth place showing was good enough to qualify her for the national tournament. On the men's side, UC Davis and UC Irvine finished 11th and 13th at the West Regional, respectively. Cal Poly's Geoff Gonzalez and Cal State Northridge's Nick Delio competed as individuals. The year culminated with UCI's Jane Chin garnering first team All-America honors by the National Golf Coaches Association.
The tennis season featured more dominance from the Long Beach State women, which captured their sixth straight Big West championship, and the UC Santa Barbara men, a fourth straight winner of the trophy. Pacific's Jenifer Widjaja represented the Big West at the NCAA Women’s Singles Championship.
Cal State Northridge maintained its stronghold on the Big West in track and field as the men won the championship for the fourth time and the women claimed their sixth title. The Matadors claimed five of the major Big West awards. UC Riverside's Brenda Martinez earned All-America status when she finished second at the NCAA Championships in the 1500. Cal Poly's Julie Dufresne also earned All-America status at the NCAA Championship for her sixth place showing in the shot put.
In all, 19 Big West teams and 31 individual athletes participated in NCAA postseason competition this past season.