No. 10: Resurfacing Buxton Stadium

Kicking off the countdown isn't a team, a player or a coach, but Buxton Stadium. Earlier this spring, the athletic department got the go-ahead to resurface the track and turf for the home of Storm football, men's and women's soccer and men's and women's track & field teams.

The end result will be state-of-the-art FieldTurf Revolution on the field, the newest product from FieldTurf and the first of its kind installed in the Midwest. The track will be a full-pour, 10 millimeter track from Beynon, the same company which installed a new track at the University of Iowa in 2010.

To view photos and videos of the project throughout the summer, click here.

No. 9: Huyser, Svehla make their mark on the diamond

The Simpson baseball team saw a number of great individual performances in 2011, including those by senior starting pitcher Mike Huyser and senior left fielder Trent Svehla. Huyser achieved a feat not seen at Simpson in over 10 years while Svehla made a splash on the national scene.

In the Iowa Conference opener on March 27, Huyser handcuffed the Dubuque lineup with Simpson's first no-hitter since 1999. The right-hander had his best stuff on the 37 degree day, striking out six and walking two in the Storm's 10-0, eight-inning win. Click here to read the game recap.

Fueled by a perfect 9-for-9 performance at the plate in a three-game sweep of Loras, Svehla earned NCAA Division III National Hitter of the Week honors for the week of March 28-April 3, 2011, as voted on by a panel of D-III members of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. He had a double, a walk, a 1.111 slugging percentage and a 1.000 on base percentage, while scoring two runs and driving in four. Click here to read more.

No. 8: Ryan Edwardson breaks distance drought at IIAC Championships

Not since 1996 had the Simpson track and field team took home a championship in a distance event at the Iowa Conference Track & Field Championships. That changed Friday, May 13.

Junior Ryan Edwardson ran away from the field in the 10,000 meters at Cornell's Ash Park Stadium in Mount Vernon, giving the Storm their first conference champion in a distance event since Matt Chance 15 years earlier. Edwardson finished the race in 31.42.82, more than 17 seconds in front of second-place finisher Chase Nowak of Cornell. Read the recap here. 

Edwardson came back the next day and ran a personal best time of 15:13.65 in the 5,000 meters, placing fourth.

His performance at the Iowa Conference Championships capped a breakout year for the Spencer, Iowa native. In the fall, Edwardson qualified for the 2010 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Along with senior Catie Ellingson, the duo became the first male and female runners from Simpson to compete at the national championships in the same year since 1989. Read the recap here.

No. 7: Dave Johnson closes record-setting career on the diamond

A presence in the Simpson baseball lineup for four seasons and 150 games, Dave Johnson closed his career as the program's all-time leader in four categories this spring. His name is littered throughout Simpson's recordbook in numerous categories, giving him the No. 7 top performance of 2010-11.

Johnson, a native of West Des Moines, Iowa and graduate of West Des Moines Valley High School started in 142 games during his stint in Indianola. At the end of the 2011 season, he etched his name in Simpson history as the career leader in hits (182), total bases (299), triples (15) and assists (337). He also compiled the second-most doubles (39), runs batted in (112), times hit by pitch (18), at-bats (532) and games started. He was a career .342 hitter, his 126 runs rank third all-time and 16 home runs are tied for fifth.

Along the way, Johnson put together some of the finest single-season and single-game performances Simpson has seen. His 52 runs scored in 2010 are the most by a player in single-season history while his 126 assists in 2010 also rank No. 1. He came within a triple of tying the school record with seven in 2011 and his 10 home runs in 2010 were the most by a Simpson player since 2004. Johnson holds the record for hits in a game with five, a feat he achieved twice. He also holds single-game records for runs scored (5) and total bases (12). He hit two home runs in a game twice and three times drove in five runs.

In the last two seasons, Johnson earned Iowa Conference Position Player of the Week honors three times.

No. 6: Potratz puts up record-setting power numbers

A sophomore slump is a common phrase used in sports to describe a second effort which fails to live up to the standards of the first effort.

Simpson sophomore shortstop Tieryn Potratz knows nothing of this phenomenon. 

The Fort Dodge, Iowa native assaulted the Simpson record books this spring, setting single season records with 16 home runs, 45 runs batted in, 111 total bases and a .793 slugging percentage.

She needed only 66 games to become Simpson’s all-time home run leader, setting the mark with a solo shot against Carthage at the Rebel Spring Games on March 13. After two seasons, she has 24 long balls.

Potratz did all of this after tying Simpson’s single-season home run mark with eight during her freshman campaign. That year, the Storm set the program record for home runs in a season with 27. The record stood for only one year, as Potratz’s power sparked the team to 29 homers in 2011.

Throughout the season, Potratz put together a string of memorable single-game performances. In Simpson’s 16-1 win over Rutgers-Camden on March 15, she set program single game records for home runs (3) and total bases (13). Potratz had three multi-home run games during the season, the last of which came in an 8-4 upset of No. 5 Central in the IIAC Tournament.

At season’s end, Potratz earned a spot on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Midwest Region First Team as an at-large selection, becoming the program’s first, first-teamer in three years. She earned Iowa Conference Player of the Week honors for the period ending March 13 and took home Simpson’s Student-Athlete of the Month award in March.

No. 5: Schutjer joins 1,000-point, 500-rebound club

Stacey Schutjer joined an elite group of Simpson women’s basketball players in 2010-11 when she surpassed 1,000 career points and 500 rebounds.

The 6-foot-2 center from Titonka, Iowa, led the Storm in scoring and rebounding for the second straight season as Simpson won a share of its fourth-consecutive Iowa Conference championship and advanced to the NCAA Championship for the seventh year in a row.

Schutjer averaged 13.3 points per game and grabbed 6.7 rebounds per game for the Storm, who went 22-7. She led the IIAC in field goal percentage (56.0), ranked fifth in scoring and third in blocked shots (61). She earned First Team All-Iowa Conference and WBCA Honorable Mention All-America honors for the second season in a row and landed a spot on the D3hoops.com Second Team All-West Region team. She was also named Simpson's Student-Athlete of the Month in December.

Schutjer entered the elite 1,000-500 club in style, putting together one of the greatest single-game performances in program history as part of a 59-56 win over Concordia-Moorhead in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 4. In that game, Schutjer scored a game-high 16 points and pulled down a school-record 20 rebounds. Of her 20 boards, nine were offensive, helping Simpson secure a 34-16 edge in paint scoring.

Schutjer joins former Simpson greats Laurie Sankey (1981-85), Janel Yilek (1986-90), Katelyn Whiton (2004-08) and Michelle stover (1998-02) as the only players to surpass 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in their careers.

Simpson's 1,000-point, 500-rebound club

No. 4: Kinsey Bak adds All-American certificates, IIAC Championships

Kinsey Bak continued her dominance in the high jump in 2011, adding a pair of conference championships and All-American performances to her resume in addition to a conference MVP accolade.

The junior from Hinton, Iowa, won both the indoor and outdoor high jump competitions at the Iowa Conference Championships and was named the Most Valuable Field Performer at the Iowa Conference Outdoor Championships after scoring 28 of the Storm's 56 points at the meet. She also took second in the long jump, fourth in the 100-meter hurdles, sixth in the triple jump and seventh in the javelin throw.

Bak's championship in the outdoor high jump gave her three-straight titles.

The sports administration and integrated marketing communications major also fared well on the national stage, placing fourth in the high jump at the 2011 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships and sixth in the outdoor competition.

Along the way, Bak tied the school record in the indoor high jump, clearing 5-6 at the Iowa State NCAA Qualifier on March 5.

To re-live Bak's MVP performance at the IIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, click HERE.

No. 3: Ellingson excels through adversity

The world’s greatest athletes are often remembered by their performances amid adversity.

Kirk Gibson’s pinch-hit home run in the 1988 World Series despite two injured legs. Michael Jordan’s 38 points with the flu in game five of the 1997 NBA Finals. Brett Favre’s 399-yard, four-touchdown performance a day after losing his father in 2003.

Simpson distance runner Catie Ellingson overcame her own personal turmoil in 2010.

Only two days after her mother, Kristi, lost a long battle with cancer, Ellingson traveled to the Iowa Conference Cross Country Championships in Dubuque, finishing second. Two weeks later she ran to a second-place finish at the Central Region Championships, earning a spot in the National Championships. There, she placed 34^th, becoming Simpson’s first All-American since 1991 and the first athlete in school history to earn All-America honors in cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field.

Ellingson continued her record-setting senior year during the indoor track and field season. Throughout the year she set school records in the 800, Mile and 1,000 meters, won the 800 and Mile at the Iowa Conference Championships for the second year in a row en-route to Most Valuable Track Performer honors and placed fifth in the Mile at the NCAA Division III Championships.

Due to a knee injury Ellingson was unable to compete during the outdoor track season, but plans to return to Simpson for the 2011 season.

To re-live Ellingson's All-America performance cross country, HERE.

No. 2: Women's basketball wins fourth-straight title

INDIANOLA, Iowa – On paper the 2010-11 season was business as usual for head coach Brian Niemuth and the Simpson women’s basketball team.

Simpson went 21-6 during the regular season, going 14-2 in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) while earning a share of the program’s fourth-straight conference title. Simpson advanced to the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship for the seventh straight year and the 11^th time in program history.

Just another day at the office.

But this year’s squad did more than just add to the growing legacy of the Simpson women’s basketball program. They did it in style - averaging the nation’s second highest scoring output at 82.2 points per game. They did it as a team – only one player averaged double-figures in scoring. And they did it with perseverance – Simpson lost three of its first four games before rattling off 16 consecutive wins and needed an at-large bid to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

Simpson broke some records and reached some milestones along the way as well. The Storm set program records for points scored in a game (130 against Crown on Dec. 10) and 3-pointers made in a game (15 against Luther on Jan. 22). Niemuth reached career victory No. 450, senior Amy Hamilton and junior Stacey Schutjer became the 13^th and 14^th members, respectively, of Simpson’s 1,000-point club and Hamilton became the program’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made with 241.

After falling in the IIAC Tournament Championship game to Coe, Simpson found itself on the bubble of an NCAA Tournament bid. On Monday, Feb. 28 the team learned it would travel to Stevens Point, Wis. to face Minnesota Intercollegiate Conference champion, Concorida-Moorhead. Once there, the Storm eliminated the Cobbers 59-56 before falling to third-ranked UW-Stevens Point 82-75 in a hard-fought, tightly-contested second-round matchup.

At season’s end three players earned All-IIAC honors, with Schutjer landing a first-team nod, Hamilton appearing on the second team and senior Mindy Hutchcroft earning an honorable mention selection. Schutjer added D3hoops.com Second Team All-West Region and WBCA Honorable Mention All-America honors.

Niemuth’s crew flexed its muscle off the court as well, earning a national top-10 ranking in the WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll, released in July. The team achieved a grade-point average of 3.519 during the academic year, tops in the IIAC and tied for ninth in the nation. The Storm have held a top-10 national ranking and posted the top GPA in the conference in each of the last four seasons.

To re-live Simpson’s first-round win over Concordia-Moorhead with video and photos, click HERE.

No. 1: Henry Christowski earns 500th win

Two national championships. Four NCAA regional championships. Five Iowa Conference championships. Eight NCAA Tournament appearances. Three Iowa Conference Coach of the Year awards. One national coach of the year selection. An induction into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

And now, 500 career victories.

Most coaches can only dream of reaching the level of success Henry Christowski has experienced in 16 seasons as Simpson's head softball coach. Already owning an impressive list of achievements attained throughout his Hall of Fame career, Christowski added to his already impressive resume on April 2, 2011. That day, the Storm swept Dubuque in an IIAC double-header, making Christowski only the 28th coach in NCAA Division III history with 500 career wins.

With the win, Christowski improved to 500-149, an amazing winning percentage of .770. Entering the 2011 season, Christowski ranked fourth in Division III history and seventh among active coaches in winning percentage. His win total (484 at the time) ranked 30th all time and 23rd among active coaches. His winning percentage ranked 11th in the history of college softball in all divisions and he is the only coach in NCAA softball history to win at least 200 games in his first five years as head coach. He is also the fastest coach in Division III to reach the 300-win plateau, needing only 362 games to attain the mark.

At season's end, the Storm went 24-18 while going 8-8 in the IIAC, finishing fourth. Christowski closed the season with a record of 508-159 and is only two wins shy of his 200th carrer IIAC victory.

For more on Christowski's career, click HERE.