With 2022 coming to a close, we looked back on all the great accomplishments of the year. LR student-athletes and teams accomplished so much in the calendar year and her are the top 10 stories. Without further ado, let's get into the countdown. 

#10 Dareke Young Drafted
For the second time in three years, Lenoir-Rhyne boasted an NFL draft pick as WR Dareke Young was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Young joins LR teammate Kyle Dugger who was taken in the second round by the New England Patriots in the 2020 draft and made Lenoir-Rhyne the only Division II program to produce two draft picks in the past three years. Young was a playmaker since stepping foot on campus in 2017. In 43 career games, Young had 24 career touchdowns. Young tied a program record with three receiving touchdowns against Mars Hill in the fall and has caught 16 TD passes to go with eight rushing touchdowns. Young's 24 TDs came on just 161 touches. Young was named Second Team All-South Atlantic Conference despite playing just five games due to injury. In those five games, Young finished the year with 25 catches for 303 yards and four touchdowns. Young became the 10th NFL draft pick in the history of Lenoir-Rhyne. 

#9 Hot Starts for Men's and Women' s Basketball
It doesn't get more memorable than the men's basketball team marching into ACC opponent and storied basketball program Louisville and hand the Cardinals a 10-point defeat on the ACC Network in exhibition play. The game was a homecoming for head coach Everick Sullivan who played for the Cardinals and was a teammate of new Louisville coach Kenny Payne. The Bears led for the majority of the game and held Louisville to under 30 percent shooting and became the talk of the college basketball world on Sunday, October 30.

The women's program had a Division I victory of their own. On November 7, the Bears went to UNC Wilimington and came away with a 57-46 win. While that win doesn't count in the official record since it was an exhibition game, the Bears never looked back. As of this writing, the Bears are a perfect 13-0 and are two wins shy of tying the program record for longest winning streak which was set in the 1979-80 season. The Bears are ranked No. 4 in the D2SIDA national rankings, by far their highest ranking in program history, and have won 11 straight at home. 

#8 Community Service
For the fourth straight year, the Lenoir-Rhyne University Athletics Department reached new heights when giving back to the community. After finishing 15^th out of 316 NCAA Division II athletic programs in 2020-21, the Bears set a program-record with a 9th place finish in community service this past year as determined by Helper Helper, the official partner of NCAA Team Works. The LR men's swimming team finished second out of all Division II men's programs in the nation and the women's swimming team had the fourth-best finish amongst all women's DII programs. 

The Bears set a new school record with 7,291 total hours contributed among LR student-athletes at 51 different organizations. 16 teams had a perfect 100% participation amongst their roster. As a whole, Division II student-athletes volunteered over 34,000 hours and had an economic impact of $988,226 according to Helper Helper. 

#7 Learfield Ranking / All-Americans
Lenoir-Rhyne shattered its previous record finish in the final Learfield Directors' Cup standings, coming in 33rd in all of Division II. The previous high mark was a 65th place finish the 2011-12 season. The Learfield Directors' Cup measures overall intercollegiate athletics excellence across the nation and points are awarded based on each institution's finish in NCAA Championships. 

Presented since the 1995-96 athletic season, the Bears accumulated 223 total points after the fall championships with the women's soccer team leading the way with 83 points thanks to their Final Four appearance. LR added 177 points in spring championships with men's lacrosse garnering 60 points, baseball grabbing 50 and softball  adding 38. Men's track and field added 29.5 points for the Bears. 

LR also destroyed a program record with 26 All-Americans in the academic year. In the entire history of LR Athletics, the Bears had just a shade over 115 All-Americans but the Bears put up 26 in a single year. 

#6 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Implementation
Lenoir-Rhyne kicked off its "United We Roar" campaign during Black History Month as a show of unity. Throughout the month, student-athletes warmed up in "United We Roar" t-shirts for games and Black History Month wristbands were also given out. In order to receive a t-shirt, LR student-athletes had to first sign a pledge which read: "The Lenoir-Rhyne student-athletes pledge to treat everyone with respect and dignity. We will not tolerate discrimination of any kind. We will stand up and speak out, to create an inclusive environment for all. We see the need for improvement, and we will use our platform to be influencers of change. Together, we can foster a culture of kindness and respect for all. We invite you to support our effort."

#5 SAC Championships
In total, Lenoir-Rhyne brought home five SAC Championships in the 2022 calendar year. It started with a strong spring and championships from men's lacrosse, baseball and women's outdoor track and field. The men's lax team took home championships in regular season and in the conference tournament while the baseball team brought home the third SAC Tournament title in program history. Women's Outdoor Track & Field won its second championship in three years. The success transferred to the fall as men's and women's soccer brought home titles with the men capturing a SAC Tournament championship and the women won the regular season title.

#4 NCAA Bids
Lenoir-Rhyne had unprecedented postseason success. Nine LR teams or individuals earned postseason bids led by a National Championship from Triathlon in its third year of exisistence. Men's soccer and softball hosted NCAA Tournaments in Hickory and women's soccer moved to the Second Round thanks to a win over Limestone. Men's Lacrosse gave national champion Tampa all it could handle in the Sweet 16 round and baseball concluded its historic season with a pair of NCAA Tournament wins before falling in a final elimination game against eventual national champ North Greenville. Men's and women's swimming were represented in the NCAA's for the third straight year and outdoor men's track and field took home multiple All-Americans. 

#3 Facility Improvements
Once again, Lenoir-Rhyne saw incredible facility growth in the 2022 calendar year. In the largest project, the Bears announced and re-built Moretz Stadium in less than nine months. An amazing upgrade saw LR build a brand new press box, add two video boards, add new lights, build eight press box suites and two end zone suites, add a new concourse and a new stadium entrance while also enhancing the sound system and building new locker rooms for men's and women's lacrosse. In total, the upgrade was about $18M and is one of the finest football/lacrosse facilities in the nation. Additionally, Shuford Arena finalized its second phase of upgrades with the addition of two video boards, seat-back seating and new bleachers that went with last year's enhancements of new lights, paint on the walls, a new court and a new sound system. Work has recently began on the grandstand at Durham Field. We look forward to continuing to upgrade facilities when the calendar turns to 2023. 

#2 Pair of National Championships
2023 saw Lenoir-Rhyne add two national championships to their ledger. In the spring, weightlifting successfully went back-to-back with a second national championship run behind head coach Travis Mash. Just a little over a month ago, the Triathlon team brought home a natty in just their third year as a program with six being named All-Region and Harley Mason winning national coach of the year honors. The Bears came in third place at last season's National Championship race. 

#1 Off the Field Excellence
Lenoir-Rhyne student-athletes have consistently excelled in the classroom and 2022 proved to be no different. The Bears had a school record seven SAC Scholar-Athletes of the Year and six players went on to be named CoSIDA Academic All-Americans. As a department, Lenoir-Rhyne teams had an average team GPA of 3.33 and 22 out of 24 athletic teams had a GPA of 3.00 or higher.  Myles Moffat (men's lacrosse) earned the SAC Presidents' Award which is the highest individual honor presented annually by the SAC. Additionally, Carles Montoliu Lobo (men's soccer) and Savannah Moorefield (softball) were named the SAC Man and Woman of the Year. Rashad Yelding (football) and Kiara Moore (track and field) earned the SAC Postgraduate Minority Scholarship as well and Yelding would go on to be a First Team Academic All-American.