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The Master's University freshman Easton Johnson poses for a photo after winning the NAIA men's golf individual national championship in May. Courtesy photo

��one of the top ����aa����ian college athletic programs in the country, recently completed one of the most memorable and successful semesters in the department’s history.��������

Entering 2023, TMU had won five national championships — all of them individual titles. But in the last few months alone, Mustang athletes have earned five more.��

TMU was also home to the NAIA runner-up in women’s golf, a men’s volleyball team that reached the national semifinals, the NAIA men’s volleyball player of the year, and a four-time All-American swimmer.��

Baseball coach earned the 800th win of his TMU career, and beach volleyball coach was inducted into the Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame.��

On the professional level, one TMU alum was a top pick in the most recent WNBA Draft. Another is excelling at the highest level of Minor League Baseball.����

TMU’s Davis Boggess won the men’s 10K at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Marion, Indiana, in May. Courtesy photo

TMU Runner Wins NAIA National Title in 10K

TMU Adds Five National Champions

TMU’s five newest national titles all came in golf and track and field:��

• �� �� (pole vault, indoor men’s track and field)
• �� �� , , , (distance medley relay, indoor men’s track and field)
• �� �� (men’s golf)
• �� �� Davis Boggess (10,000 meters, outdoor men’s track and field)
• �� �� Caleb Pouliot (pole vault, outdoor men’s track and field)

Of note, Pouliot and Boggess each joined as the only two-time NAIA national champions in school history. As a senior, Gilbertson won titles in cross country (2012) and in track and field (5K, 2013).

This year, TMU was competing in men’s indoor track and field for the first time. And Pouliot used the opportunity in Brookings, South Dakota, to become TMU’s first individual national champion since in 2016 (women’s 5K). He cleared 16 feet, 8 3/4 inches in the final to match a season high.����

On the track, Boggess, Garey, Ghiorso, and Jean teamed up to win the distance medley relay, a race that includes legs of 1,200, 400, 800, and 1,600 meters, respectively.��

“We never even dreamed this could happen — but it did,” Ghiorso said. “It’s all a testament to God’s immense goodness.”

In May, Boggess and Pouliot each earned their second national title at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Marion, Indiana. Boggess’ came when he outlasted an opponent in the final stretch of the 10K for a thrilling win.��

“Davis is distinguishing himself as one of the best NAIA distance athletes in the record books,” said TMU head coach .��

A Freshman Sensation

Less than a week earlier, Easton Johnson distinguished himself by finishing 8-under par and winning a two-hole playoff at the NAIA Men’s Golf National Championship in Mesa, Arizona. The Mustangs finished a program-best second place as a team.��

Johnson is the first TMU freshman to win a national title in any sport. He’s also the second TMU golfer to win the NAIA’s top individual prize, following who did it in 2004.��

“I’m so blessed to have people around me that have poured into me,” Johnson said in an interview with the Golden State Athletic Conference. “Without my faith in God and their dedication to teaching me I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

TMU nearly swept the NAIA men’s and women’s golf individual trophies. , a freshman, finished second overall in Silvis, Illinois, in May.����

As a freshman, TMU’s Kylee Sears, center, earned four NAIA All-American honors.

Another top performer this spring was TMU Swim & Dive’s . At the NAIA championships in Columbus, Georgia, in March, the freshman earned three individual All-American honors (500-yard freestyle, 200 free, 1,650 free) and was a member of TMU’s All-American 400 medley relay.����

A Program on the Rise

Then there was men’s volleyball.��

In just the program’s fourth season, the Mustangs earned their first-ever NAIA No. 1 ranking and advanced to the national semifinals — becoming only the fourth team in school history to advance that far. Afterward, freshman was named NAIA Player of the Year, and was the NAIA’s Coach of the Year.��

Flexen is TMU’s third-ever NAIA Player of the Year. did it in baseball in 2019, and was the NAIA Women’s Basketball Player of the Year in 2019-20 and 2021-22.��

Mustangs in the Pros

As it happens, Shackelford and Soares were both in the news this spring.��

In April, Soares (before a draft-day trade to the Dallas Wings). And in May, Shackelford hit seven home runs for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate.��

Also of note, TMU Men’s Basketball’s was named a first-team NAIA All-American in March, only the fifth time in program history a Mustang has earned that honor.��

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