The concordia university athletic department is pleased to announce that seniors
kole goodchild (football) and
katie laviolette (basketball) have been selected as the 2007-08 athletes of the year, as voted on by the department administration and coaches.
goodchild, a native of west bend, iowa, had the most impressive passing season at the quarterback position in school history, becoming the first player in school history to pass for 3,000 yards in a single season (3,027). He also had the most attempts (430) and completions (260) in a season. He earned national offensive player of the week honors when he broke the school records for completions (31), yards (433) and touchdown passes (5) in a dramatic win over msu moorhead.
in his career at concordia, which spanned three academic years and two athletic seasons, he passed for 5,039 yards, good for fourth in school history despite only two seasons. Goodchild was a first team all-nsic performer at the quarterback position as a junior and an all-nsic honorable mention selection as a senior. Prior to his final season, the league coaches voted goodchild as the 2007 nsic preseason offensive player of the year. He fired 34 touchdown passes in two seasons, 18 coming as a senior.
off the field, goodchild was voted onto the 2007 espn the magazine academic all-district v first team, carrying a 3.89 grade point average while double majoring in accounting and finance. He was a two-time nsic all-academic selection as well.
laviolette etched her name into the athletic department history as a senior for multiple reasons, as an individual and as a tri-captain of one of concordia's most successful teams. She led the golden bears to an 18-0 start in 2007-08 as the golden bears climbed as high as second in the nation before defending nsic regular season and tournament titles. In the process, she was named nsic co-player of the year and repeated as the nsic tournament most valuable player, becoming the first player to repeat as tournament mvp.
that's only the tip of the iceberg with laviolette, who would put together a second-straight season of national prominence in helping her teammates succeed, finishing second in the nation in assists per game, averaging 8.5 per contest while leading the nation in assist-turnover ratio at 3.32. She also ranked 15th among all division ii women's basketball players in free throw percentage, hitting 86.4% at the line, getting there often as she hit 108-125 attempts. Only five of the top-15 free throw shooters had more attempts than laviolette and only six others in the top-15 had at least 100 attempts.
laviolette wrapped-up one of the most prolific point guard careers in ncaa division ii history, finishing tied for ninth in career assists with 775 and 14th in career assist average at 6.40 assists per game. She became the seventh player in ncaa division ii history to achieve 1,000 career points (1,082), 700 assists (775) and 400 rebounds (453). She holds the nsic and concordia career assist records, the nsic and concordia single season assist record and had the fourth-most assists in a single season in ncaa division ii history with 297 as a junior when she led the nation.
off the court she was just as much of a leader, in the classroom and in the community. She was a leader at concordia in the student-athlete advisory committee (saac) and carried a 4.0 grade point average which helped her earn two-time espn the magazine academic all-america status as well as three-time nsic all-academic honors. She was a first team all-region athlete and an all-america honorable mention performer on the hardwood for concordia and carried a career record of 95-32 in her four years.
