Amidst the blur that is the spring semester, filled with midterms, summer plans and graduation aspirations, it would be easy to overlook how well Waynesburg University’s sports teams have done this school year.

Although the football team finished with a 7-4 record, including conferences losses to rivals Thomas More, Washington & Jefferson and a bowl game loss to the College at

Brockport in intense winter weather, the season was memorable because of quarterback Carter Hill’s performance.

The junior passed for 3,102 yards and 28 touchdowns and had six interceptions, earning Waynesburg’s record for single-season passing. He also set the single-game record with 483 passing yards in week two at Frostburg State. He was named to the Presidents’ Athletic Conference first-team and was a D3football.com All-South Region third teamer.

Senior defensive end Brandon Fedorka not only garnered the same awards as Hill, but was also the PAC’s Defensive Player of the Year and was an All-American.

The men’s cross country team won its first race ever this past season at the Chatham University Invitational and all season long were led by sophomore standout Ben McAuley, who broke his own 8-kilometer record earlier in the season at Waynesburg’s home Invitational.

The women’s cross country team won back-to-back races for the first time in the program’s recent history. With three more years of eligibility for second-team all-PAC freshmen sisters Katie and Emily Latimer, a first-place spot is not far off in the future for the long distance runners.

The men’s soccer team at one point in the season was ranked third in Division III in goals per game average before ending the season at 10-4-3, the best regular season finish in recent program history. In just his second year at the helm of the program, head coach Carl Griffiths was named the PAC Coach of the Year.

While the women’s tennis team had a lackluster finish at the PAC Tournament, the team did have the best overall record since before 2003, finishing 11-4.

Most important, Waynesburg led all PAC schools for the third-straight fall in honorees on the PAC Fall Academic Honor Roll with 73 student-athletes.

Transition into the winter sports season, and the Jackets were arguably just as successful as the fall sports’ teams.

After finishing eighth in the PAC last season, the men’s basketball team fulfilled its preseason expectations of finishing fourth in the conference and hosting a PAC Tournament first round game. Head coach Mark Christner recorded his first winning season with the Jacket program, finishing with five-straight regular season wins, despite having one senior on the roster. This was a program that finished 2-22 the season before Christner came here.

With no real expectations after suffering the losses of graduated seniors Brittany Spencer, Paige Pearce, Jessi Drayer and the transfer of starting point guard Gina Rievel, the Waynesburg women’s basketball team finished with the same conference record, dropped one spot in the PAC standings from 2013 and recorded a remarkable upset at home over Saint Vincent.

Much of that was due to the coaching of Sam Jones, who became the winningest coach in program history (85) after defeating the Bearcats. Like the men’s team, the women’s team has just one senior on the roster and has an up-and-coming leader in freshman Courtney Sargent.

The Waynesburg wrestling team arguably has had the best turnaround of any team in the Yellow Jacket program, after capping off its second-consecutive PAC Tournament victory and fourth in the past five years.

This was a program that won two matches in three seasons before head coach Ron Headlee arrived before the 2008-09 season. The former Waynesburg Central and Jefferson-Morgan High School head coach has now earned five PAC Coach of the Year awards and has built a nationally respected D-III program.

Waynesburg had four individual champions at the PAC Tournament, as well as a victory in the 184-pound final match by senior Cameron Fine. Three wrestlers went to nationals last season, and depending on how the team fares at York College this weekend, Waynesburg could have even more sent to nationals this season.

In the spring sports, all eyes will be on the track and the field, as 400-meter hurdler junior

Byrum Luoco and senior thrower Megan Sowers vie for even better seasons, after finishing last season as national qualifiers.

With a senior-laden line-up last season, the baseball team failed to come through with a PAC Tournament appearance. But, the Jackets did come through with the first ECAC South baseball championship in program history.

While the 2014 season is in its infancy, the Jacket programhas a large foundation of freshmen (18) to build for the future.

The women’s lacrosse team had an even more under-achieving 2013 season with a 2-9 record, but like the baseball team, has had an influx of newcomers (14) for the six-year-old program to build on.

Although Waynesburg does not have the Division I allure of living in a large college town, with state-of-the-art facilities, full-scholarships and national television exposure, Waynesburg is building a reputable athletic program and you might not have even realized it.

If you ask me, I’d say the future is glistening as bright as the floor at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse.