35|35 #26: Footprints to Follow
Northern Kentucky's Jane Meier, Nancy Winstel, and the 2000/2008 NCAA Women's Basketball Champions
Jeff Smith, Assistant Commissioner
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35|35 Anniversary Website
This is the 26th installment of a series of 35 moments, milestones, and facts that will be featured throughout the 2013-14 academic year to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
It was once penned that “Leaders who give the best of themselves, get the best from others.” No one saying could be any more accurate when looking at the 27-year working relationship between former Northern Kentucky University athletics director Jane Meier and head women’s basketball coach Nancy Winstel.
Meier, a pioneer in NCAA Division II athletics and women’s athletics in general, never had to worry too much about her longtime women’s basketball coach because of Winstel’s passion for the game, her drive to succeed, and the professionalism she showed on and off the court.
Winstel believes a lot of her success with the Lady Norse was derived from the environment in which she worked. The legendary coach noted that Meier was one who tried to hire the right people and give them space to do their job, all while ensuring they were always held accountable for their actions.
For both of these NKU icons, trust was not something given. It had to be earned. In fact, for two extremely talented women in their respective fields,
everything had to be earned.
Northern Kentucky, a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference since 1984, resigned from the league in 2012 and reclassified as an NCAA Division I institution. That very same year, Winstel quietly exited from the spotlight and joined her longtime mentor, boss, and friend in retirement.
Two years ago, the newly-retired Winstel traveled to St. Louis for the annual GLVC Spring Awards Banquet to be there for Meier when she was inducted into the league’s Hall of Fame. This May, Meier will make the very same trip as Winstel will be one of six enshrined in the GLVC Hall of Fame’s Class of 2014.
It is the culmination of two decorated careers by two legendary leaders that will forever be linked to the success of women’s athletics in the GLVC.
When the league was formed in July 1978, six charter members vowed that it would become the nation’s powerhouse in NCAA Division II basketball. At that time, five years prior to the NCAA’s official sponsorship of women’s basketball, the primary focus was on the success of men’s basketball.
And rightfully so.
In a span of a dozen years beginning in 1987, the GLVC earned its first four NCAA Championships in conference history, all of which came from men’s basketball. Kentucky Wesleyan captured the 1987, 1990 and 1999 national titles, while Southern Indiana earned Division II royalty in 1995.
During this time, however, Winstel was on the cusp of building something special on the hardwood at Northern Kentucky under the front-office leadership of Meier. After earning regional championships in 1985 and 1987, the Winstel led her team to back to the Elite Eight in 1999 with her eyes set on the end goal – an NCAA Championship.
From a historical standpoint, a win would have earned the school its’ first-ever NCAA Championship in any sport, and would have been the first for any GLVC women’s sport. The Lady Norse, however, fell to Arkansas Tech 62-57 in the national semifinals.
The following year, the cupboard was nearly bare. Gone was the handful of seniors that fell just shy of their goal in 1999. Now, Winstel was banking on a corps of newcomers and transfers to somehow make another run.
In the annual preseason poll, NKU was ranked fifth nationally, which was almost certainly based solely on the previous year’s success. When Winstel pointed the ranking out to her captain Michelle Tuchfarber, the talented guard responded with, “Coach, are they serious? Have they seen us practice?”
Never one to back down from a challenge, Winstel pushed forward, recognizing and utilizing all the talent she could find – even the hidden stuff.
What resulted was a yearlong battle to prove to others that NKU was in fact worthy of that preseason ranking. Following a regular-season defeat at home to Bellarmine, Winstel recalls the focus of the team shifted.
“That was our wake-up call,” she said. “It helped us regain our focus and we were able to win the conference tournament.”
In fact, NKU barreled its way through the GLVC Tournament as the No. 1 seed, winning all three games by an average margin of 18.6 points. At the NCAA Regional, the Lady Norse fought off Michigan Tech 60-59, and then disposed of Northern Michigan 77-70 to reach the Elite Eight.
At that time, the Elite Eight was unseeded, so second-ranked NKU drew top-ranked and undefeated Saint Rose in the national quarterfinals. A 60-50 win advanced the Lady Norse to the semis where they defeated Western Washington, 80-74.
“We had 10 days to prepare for Saint Rose and less than 24 hours to prep for Western Washington,” Winstel recalled. “That’s a gut-check game. You are mentally and physically exhausted. I just remember all of us being spent in the locker room after the game, and I told them that if we found a way to win on Saturday, I would jump into the pool with my clothes on.”
Final score: Northern Kentucky 71, North Dakota State 62, in overtime.
Towel, please.
For both Winstel and Meier, the milestone victory for Northern Kentucky and the GLVC was the culmination of years of hard work put in by a number of different people. Winstel made it known just how much of a team effort went into the 2000 national title.
“When we are out there on the court, we are representing the team, the school, and the community,” Winstel said. “With me being a native of northern Kentucky, I felt like it was a gift we could give to the community. When we got back to campus, Jane asked me what I wanted to do to celebrate. I told her I wanted to send every woman that ever played at Northern Kentucky a championship T-shirt with a note telling them they were all a part of this. Needless to say, the response I received was so touching, but I just wanted to let them know we were all a family.”
Meier saw the national championship as a huge win not just for the school, but for the community as well.
“It was so exciting to see the community react to the championship because it was so much fun watching Nancy’s team play throughout the year,” Meier said. “For NKU, it was a defining moment. The expectations went up for everyone else. In 1999, we had three women’s teams reach the Final Four, but none of them one. This showed that a national championship was attainable at Northern Kentucky.”
Meier went on to attribute much of the team’s success to the brutal conference schedule they played in the GLVC.
“People kept talking about how tough the men’s side was, but the women’s games were so competitive,” she said. “They were absolute wars.”
Much was said about how the 2000 squad seemed to gel throughout the year, which also proved to be the blossom season for Michelle Cottrell. After being named the league’s Freshman of the Year in 1999, Cottrell shared Player of the Year honors with SIU Edwardsville’s Misi Clark in 2000 before winning the outright honor in 2001 and 2002. She is the lone three-time Player of the Year in GLVC women’s basketball history.
After Cottrell’s departure, four years would pass before NKU would taste glory once again. The depth of the league took the spotlight, thanks in large part to NKU’s 2000 national title making every other program step up. After Southern Indiana took the GLVC Championship from Northern Kentucky in 2001 and 2001, Quincy and Indianapolis met in the finals for three consecutive years.
Drury entered the league for the 2005-06 season and immediately became a force to reckon with in the west. The Lady Norse defeated the Lady Panthers 86-73 in the 2006 GLVC Tournament final, but Drury found its way back into the tournament finals in 2007 and then earned revenge on NKU in the 2008 event, defeating the Lady Norse 71-67 for the GLVC title on their home court in Springfield, Mo.
The star of that Drury ballclub was none other than Molly Carter, the 2008 GLVC Player of the Year, and Winstel’s fellow inductee in the conference Hall of Fame Class of 2014.
Despite falling in the GLVC Tournament final, Northern Kentucky had done just enough to make it into the NCAA Regional Rankings. This was a team that struggled through the majority of the regular season and was forced to make a run late in the year to bolster its resume. The Lady Norse still managed the top seed from the East Division teams in the GLVC Tournament, and got their second wind – or a new life – when they were selected to NCAA regional play.
“We lost to Drury in front of all of their home fans in the conference tournament, and knew we were going to have to turn right around and go back there for regionals,” Winstel said. “That first round game against UIndy we were down 18 points, but came back to win by one (55-54). We just became resilient. We beat Drury (84-65) in the semis in front of a packed house and then beat Missouri S&T (60-52) to get back to the Elite Eight.”
In the national quarterfinals, which were played at Nebraska-Kearney, Northern Kentucky defeated Wingate 78-65 and then won the “gut-check” semifinal 57-54 over Alaska-Anchorage to set up a national championship final against South Dakota.
“They were undefeated and the coach was retiring, so it was his last game, and I thought, ‘Oh great,’” Winstel said. “But we played our butts off and had senior leadership that played like they were a team of destiny.”
The result? Northern Kentucky 63, South Dakota 58 – NKU’s second-ever NCAA Championship in any sport.
For Meier, not only was it another milestone victory for the program and school, but she also viewed it as a milestone in Winstel’s career.
“It wasn’t a dream season by any means,” she said. “We did not win the GLVC that year and this team was not as talented as the 2000 team. But this team had their backs against the wall and Nancy kept them focused throughout. I think she did her best coaching job that year.”
Winstel went on to coach four more years before retiring with a record of 636-214. She was the 1999-2000 WBCA Division II National Coach of the Year and a six-time GLVC Coach of the Year. Sixty-four of her players earned All-Conference distinction, including 23 first-team honorees, 16 second-team selections, four third-team picks, and 21 honorable mention standouts. Winstel also mentored six GLVC Player of the Year honorees and one Freshman of the Year recipient.
She was a leader. She gave the best of herself and got the best from others.
An administrator’s dream.
“From the day she started at Northern Kentucky, she never looked back,” Meier said. “Her career is a testament to her hard work, passion for the game, and her love for the student-athletes. Her coaching was one thing, but the way in which she presented herself was so professional; she did it all right. She was so driven to be successful, but not to the point it would destroy her or anyone else.”
Meier did concede that that same drive often led to a few contentious discussions, saying when something wasn’t right, Winstel stepped up and spoke up, often times challenging the status quo.
But for Winstel, she knew she always had a loyal boss – and friend – in her corner.
“The thing I respected most about Jane was that I could disagree with something and she would not hold it against you,” Winstel said. “I remember saying, ‘Jane, this is a load of crap,’ and she would respond with, ‘I know it is, now get outta my office.’ Jane would pat you on the back and kick you in the butt, but she held us all to a higher level. She motivated me to be the best I can be, which always meant so much because in the end, I just wanted to make her and (faculty athletic representative) Dr. (Tom) Kearns proud of me. ”
She was a leader. She gave the best of herself and got the best from others.
A coach’s dream.
Meier’s 21-year tenure as NKU’s athletic director ended following the 2008-09 season. She began her stint in 1988 after serving as the head volleyball, softball and women’s basketball coach prior to Winstel. Under her direction as AD, Northern Kentucky won the two national championships in women’s basketball, as well as 20 regional titles and a combined 61 GLVC regular-season and tournament championships. The program also captured the GLVC All-Sports trophy six times. Meier was one of the nation’s first female athletic directors, and was the first woman to ever serve on the NCAA Men’s Basketball National Committee. She has been recognized on numerous occasions by her peers, as she was honored as the 2004 NCAA Division II Administrator of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA), and the recipient of the 2003-2004 Athletic Director of the Year Award by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). In 2011, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Division II Athletics Directors Association (ADA).
“We are all given opportunities to do things for the good of others, and for the good of an institution or an organization,” Meier said. “Leadership is focusing on the mission of that organization, protecting its integrity, and always making decisions that are in its best interest.”
Meier also referred to a popular quote by former Texas governor Ann Richards when stressing the importance of leadership.
“Leadership is like the Abominable Snowman. You never see it, but you know by the footprints that it's there.”
Two years have gone by since Meier and Winstel have been involved with GLVC matters, but rest assured, their footprints remain, and they are footprints to follow.
Winstel’s national titles continue to serve as proof that a GLVC women’s basketball team can win the season’s final game, which may just happen once again as Drury’s Lady Panthers are in the midst of preparing for next week’s Elite Eight.
The commitment to fairness and equity that Meier displayed in conference meetings, and the compassion shown toward others, will forever be a part of her legacy in the GLVC.
Two leaders, who gave the best of themselves, and got the best from others.
A conference’s dream.