As Valpo Athletics kicks off the 2013 calendar year with a home men's basketball game this evening, ValpoAthletics.com takes a look back at the highlights from the 2012 calendar year - a year filled with loads of stellar accomplishments and honors, both from teams and individuals.

January
Jan. 6 - Men's Basketball - The Crusaders earn a buzzer-beating win in their first game of 2012, as Erik Buggs draws a charge with 4.6 seconds left and then takes the ball coast-to-coast for a layup at the horn for a 73-71 win at Detroit.
Jan. 13 - Bowling - Valpo takes to the lanes for the first time since being ranked #1 in the nation, competing at the Mid-Winter Invitational in Jonesboro, Ark.
Jan. 17 - Men's Soccer - Stefan Antonijevic becomes the first player in Valpo history to be drafted into Major League Soccer, as he was chosen in the third round of the Supplemental Draft by Sporting Kansas City.
Jan. 28 - Men's Basketball - Valpo overcomes an 11-point second-half deficit for a key Horizon League win on the road, limiting Milwaukee to just 11 points in the final 17:30 in a 55-52 victory.
Jan. 28 - Men's Swimming - The Crusaders win their senior day meet 57-36 over Monmouth (Ill.), with Kyle Braun and Trevor Trimpe each winning a pair of events.

February
Feb. 2 - Men's Basketball - Ryan Broekhoff goes 6-for-6 from 3-point range, matching a school record, as the Crusaders overcome a 10-point second-half deficit in a 78-73 home win over Detroit.
Feb. 4 - Athletics - Katie (Bova) Hoffmann, Dr. Homer Drew, Dr. James Malayter, Lauren (Moulton) Marshall, Tom Smith and Russ Steinbeck are inducted into the Valparaiso University Athletics Hall of Fame, the 15th class in HoF history.
Feb. 4 - Men's Track and Field - Julian Smith lowers his own school records in both the 60m and 200m dashes at Notre Dame.
Feb. 4 - Women's Basketball - Ashley Varner (26 points) and Ieva Jansone (12 points) both set career highs as the Crusaders roll to a 66-48 road win at Cleveland State.
Feb. 9 - Men's Basketball - The Crusaders start the game on a 17-1 run en route to a 59-41 win over Cleveland State to move atop the Horizon League standings, a position they would not relinquish the rest of the way.
Feb. 11 - Women's Basketball - Valpo earns its first win at Hinkle Fieldhouse since 1983, defeating Butler 71-58 in Indianapolis.
Feb. 21 - Men's Basketball - It took five extra minutes, but Valpo clinched its first Horizon League title with a 66-62 overtime victory over Loyola at the ARC.
Feb. 22-23 - Women's Swimming - Flavia Segatto sets new school records in the 1000 free and 500 free on consecutive days to open the Horizon League Championships.
Feb. 24 - Men's Basketball - Before a sellout crowd, the Crusaders closed out the regular season in emphatic fashion, leading wire-to-wire in a 71-59 victory against Butler.
Feb. 25 - Women's Tennis - The Crusaders drop just six games total in a 7-0 sweep of Western Illinois.
Feb. 26 - Baseball - Will Hagel singles in Tanner Vavra in the top of the 10th as Valpo wins 10-9 at #4 Arkansas, the highest-ranked team the Crusaders have beaten in the last 11 years.
Feb. 26 - Men's Track and Field - Ricky Laskowski sets a new school record in the heptathlon, while Julian Smith lowered his own record in the 200m dash in winning the event at the Horizon League Indoor Championships.
Feb. 27 - Men's Basketball - Ryan Broekhoff is named the Horizon League Player of the Year - Valpo's first league PoY since 2001-2002 - and Bryce Drew is tabbed the league's Coach of the Year.

March
Mar. 3 - Men's Basketball - Valpo downed Butler 65-46 in a Horizon League semifinal at the ARC as the Crusaders hosted the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game of the league tournament for the first time.
Mar. 3 - Softball - The Crusaders extended their best start in program history (10-2) with a pair of wins, while Jordan Rutkowski broke the program's career home runs record.
Mar. 5 - Women's Basketball - Junior Laura Richards is named to the Horizon League's All-Defensive Team.
Mar. 5 - Women's Basketball - The Crusaders hold Milwaukee to just 27.6% shooting in a 47-39 win in Milwaukee in the first round of the Horizon League Championship.
Mar. 14 - Men's Basketball - The Crusaders appear in the postseason NIT for the second time in program history and make their 11th postseason appearance in the last 17 years, falling in the first round at Miami.
Mar. 24 - Baseball - Kevin Wild throws nine innings of no-hit ball before losing the no-no in the 10th as the Crusaders earned a 1-0 victory in 10 innings over Milwaukee.
Mar. 26 - Men's Basketball - Ryan Broekhoff is named an Honorable Mention All-American by the Associated Press, just the fourth Crusader in Valpo's Division I era to earn All-American honors.
Mar. 28 - Bowling - In just their third year of program existence, the Crusaders learned they were one of eight programs to earn a berth into the 2012 NCAA Bowling Championship.
Mar. 31 - Softball - One of the most dominating doubleheaders in Crusader history (8-0 and 17-0 wins over Green Bay) is capped by a record 12-run performance in the fourth inning of the nightcap. Jordan Rutkowski breaks Valpo's single-season RBIs record as well.

April
Apr. 7 - Women's Track and Field - Kelley Freeman smashed the Crusaders' outdoor record in the pole vault by six inches, clearing 11'9 3/4" at the DePauw Invitational.
Apr. 11 - Bowling - Natalie Cortese is named an Honorable Mention All-American for the second straight year by the NTCA.
Apr. 11 - Softball - Jordan Rutkowski is named one of 25 finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, and later that same day, breaks Valpo's single-season home run record with a grand slam at Wright State.
Apr. 12 - Bowling - Valpo earns its first win in the NCAA Championship in program history by defeating Sacred Heart, while Natalie Cortese led all bowlers in average to eventually earn All-Tournament honors.
Apr. 13 - Bowling - A win over Sacred Heart helped the Crusaders to a top-six finish in their first appearance at the NCAA Championship.
Apr. 14 - Softball - Trailing by 12 runs through two innings wasn't enough to stop Valpo's winning streak, as the Crusaders mounted a record comeback, eventually walking off in the bottom of the 7th with a 13-12 win over Youngstown State.
Apr. 15 - Softball - Sam McGee breaks the Crusader career wins record as Valpo won its 11th straight game and improved to a perfect 12-0 in league play. The Crusaders would win 13 straight to start Horizon League action, the second-best start ever to league play by a Horizon League squad.
Apr. 16 - Athletics - 113 student-athletes were awarded with Presidential Academic Honors at Valpo's annual Student-Athletes Academic Honors Banquet.
Apr. 18 - Men's Tennis - Eric Honert matches the Crusader record for singles wins in a season with his 20th victory as Valpo defeated Aquinas.
Apr. 21 - Men's Track and Field - Julian Smith breaks a 26-year-old school record in the 100m dash at the Al Owens Classic in winning the event, one of six straight wins by Smith in the 100m dash to open the outdoor season.
Apr. 23 - Women's Basketball - Tracey Dorow is introduced as the seventh head coach in Crusader women's basketball history.
Apr. 27 - Men's Tennis - Adam Whitmer is named the Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award winner by the Horizon League.
Apr. 29 - Softball - Senior Alex Lagesse set a career high for strikeouts, while senior Sara Strickland drove in both runs in a 2-0 Senior Day win over Loyola which guaranteed the Crusaders at least a share of the Horizon League title.

May
May 2 - Baseball - The Crusaders win against Notre Dame for the first time since 2001, downing the Irish 7-4.
May 3 - Men's Basketball - Ryan Broekhoff was named to the Australia Boomers squad, eventually debuting at the senior international level in a series against China and making it to the final cuts for the 2012 Olympic squad.
May 4 - Baseball - Valpo scored five times in the top of the 8th to rally from a four-run deficit to win at Wright State, 12-11, for their ninth consecutive victory.
May 4 - Softball - Valpo clinches the outright Horizon League regular season title with a 7-0 shutout at Cleveland State.
May 5 - Softball - The Crusaders surpass the program's single-season wins record with a doubleheader sweep of the Vikings by scores of 6-4 and 13-1.
May 6 - Men's Track and Field - Julian Smith and Nick Kowaleski both break the Horizon League Outdoor Championship record in the 100m dash in running to a 1-2 finish in the event.
May 8 - Softball - Brittany Duncan is named the Horizon League Newcomer of the Year, while the Crusaders place four players on the All-League First Team, the most by any team since 2007.
May 12 - Softball - Hosting the Horizon League Championship, the Crusaders had to win three straight elimination games to even advance to Championship Saturday. Once there, Valpo earned a pair of walk-off wins over Loyola by 2-1 scores to capture the tournament title and earn the league's NCAA Tournament automatic bid.
May 15 - Men's Track and Field - Julian Smith is named the Most Outstanding Male Track Performer of the Horizon League Outdoor Championship and eventually competes in the NCAA East Regional.
May 17 - Softball - The Crusaders had a program-record three players earn All-Region honors, as Jessie Marinec, Jordan Rutkowski and Brittany Duncan were all honored.
May 18 - Softball - Valpo makes its NCAA Tournament debut in front of a national TV audience and looks poised for the upset at #9/7 Louisville, leading until the final Cardinal batter hits a three-run walk-off homer as the Crusaders fall 6-4. Valpo would again play well the next day, dropping a 5-4 decision to Kentucky.
May 18-19 - Baseball - An 8-7 (11 inning) win over Youngstown State clinched at least a share of the Horizon League regular season crown, and the next day the Crusaders cruised to a 13-2 win over the Penguins for the outright title - Valpo's first in 35 years.
May 22 - Baseball - Tracy Woodson was tabbed the Horizon League Coach of the Year, Kevin Wild was named Pitcher of the Year and Kyle Wormington shared Newcomer of the Year honors.
May 27 - Baseball - In their second chance to claim the Horizon League tournament title, the Crusaders posted an 8-spot in the bottom of the 7th inning to defeat UIC 14-5 and earn the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
May 30 - Athletics - Valparaiso earned the Horizon League's Men's Sports Award for the 2011-2012 school year, earning three men's regular season titles and one tournament title for 21 points, two more than Milwaukee and Cleveland State.

June
June 1-2 - Baseball - Valpo takes on Purdue in the Crusaders' first appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament in 44 years, playing just down the road in Gary. First pitch is delayed until 10:37 p.m. thanks to a 21-inning game immediately before.
June 6 - Baseball - Spencer Mahoney is named to the 2012 Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-American Team.
June 20 - Athletics - Six Crusader programs receive the NCAA Public Recognition Award for outstanding academic performance. Softball, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, women’s golf, and women’s indoor and outdoor track teams each received the honor.
June 21 - Men's Basketball - Vashil Fernandez becomes the second Crusader in the off-season to make his senior international debut, playing for his native Jamaica at the 2012 FIBA Centrobasket tournament.

July
July 3 - Men's Soccer - Kyle Zobeck is named a Tau Beta Pi Laureate, the highest distinction for a senior engineering student in the United States. Zobeck is one of just 83 Laureates in the last 30 years.
July 10 - Baseball - Kevin Wild is named an Honorable Mention All-American by College Baseball Insider.
July 23 - Men's Soccer - Alvaro Betancourt served as captain for the Puerto Rico U20 side as it qualified for the 2013 CONCACAF U20 Championship.
July 25 - Men's Golf - Kyle Henning qualifed for the U.S. Amateur by tying for medalist honors at the regional qualifier, while Matt Ward earned a spot in the Junior PGA Championship by virtue of winning the Illinois Junior PGA Championship.

August
Aug. 21 - Baseball - Tanner Vavra is named one of five winners of the Tom Walter College Baseball Inspiration Award, established to recognize examples of inspiration in college baseball.

September
Sept. 3-4 - Men's Golf - The Crusaders kicked off the 2012-2013 season in style at the Battle at the Tetons, setting new program records for best single round and best tournament in relation to par, while Austin Gaugert became the first Valpo golfer to finish a 54-hole tournament under par.
Sept. 9 - Women's Soccer - Valpo scores three second-half goals for a 3-0 win over Bowling Green at Eastgate Field, giving the Crusaders their longest home unbeaten streak (4-0-1) to start a season in program history.
Sept. 14 - Volleyball - The Crusaders earn their first victory over a Big Ten program all-time, storming back from a two-set deficit to defeat Indiana 3-2 in Bloomington.
Sept. 15 - Volleyball - Led by the play of tournament MVP Kelsey Victor, Valpo claims the crown at the Hoosier Classic with sweeps of Miami (Ohio) and UT-Chattanooga - its first in-season tournament title in two years.
Sept. 16 - Men's Golf - Valpo won a multi-team event for the first time in program history, capturing the Purdue Midwest Shootout with its lowest 36-hole tournament score of all time.
Sept. 18 - Women's Golf - Kelly Voigt smashed the Crusaders' single-round and 36-hole tournament records en route to winning the CSU Cougar Classic.
Sept. 26 - Volleyball - Taylor Root breaks the Valparaiso career digs record midway through the first set of a loss to South Dakota State.
Sept. 28 - Women's Cross Country - Jessica Richardson runs the fourth-fastest 5K time in Valpo history at the Notre Dame Invitational, a performance for which she earned HL Runner of the Week honors.
Sept. 28 - Women's Soccer - Rachel Hoaglin scores the eventual game-winning goal one second before halftime as Valpo opens the Horizon League slate with a 2-1 win at Cleveland State.
Sept. 28-29 - Men's Tennis - The Crusaders were not gracious hosts as they hosted the Valparaiso Invitational, capturing 18 of their 20 matches on day one and eventually winning five of the six brackets.

October
Oct. 5 - Volleyball - Taylor Root matches a program record for digs in a five-set match, tallying 39 digs in the Crusaders' loss to Cleveland State.
Oct. 7 - Men's Golf - Kyle Henning finished atop an 81-man field to claim medalist honors at the John Dallio Memorial, hosted by DePaul.
Oct. 9 - Men's Basketball - The Crusaders are tabbed preseason Horizon League favorites for the first time since joining the league prior to the 2007-2008 season.
Oct. 12 - Volleyball - Taylor Root enters the top-10 in NCAA history in career digs with a 34-dig effort in a sweep at Green Bay, the most digs in a three-set match by a single Division I player in 2012. Ellen Vanden Berg hit .615 (16 kills, 0 errors, 26 attacks) as well, as both would go on to be named HL Players of the Week.
Oct. 17 - Men's Soccer - Kyle Zobeck is named one of ten finalists nationwide for the Senior CLASS Award for achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.
Oct. 17 - Men's Swimming - Freshman Gonzalo Castro Diaz is named the Horizon League Swimmer of the Week following just his second career meet, in which he earned three event victories.
Oct. 19 - Volleyball - Valpo enjoys one of the best blocking matches in program history, totaling 20 blocks against Loyola, one shy of the program single-match record and the most by a Crusader team in seven seasons.
Oct. 21 - Men's Soccer - The Crusaders earn a key 2-0 Horizon League win at Detroit despite playing a man down the entire second half, scoring both of their goals within the final 10 minutes.
Oct. 22 - Women's Soccer - A scoreless draw against Loyola marked the 21st shutout of junior Kristen Manski's career in goal, setting a new Crusader career record in the category.
Oct. 22-23 - Women's Golf - The Crusaders set a myriad of team records in a second-place finish, while Kelly Voigt broke a pair of her own records en route to claiming medalist honors at the Dayton Invitational.
Oct. 24 - Men's Soccer - Valpo downs Wright State 2-1 for its third straight victory, extending its unbeaten streak to six straight matches to tie a program record for longest unbeaten streak.
Oct. 27 - Women's Cross Country - Jessica Richardson earns All-League honors after finishing in fourth place at the Horizon League Championships, her fifth straight top-10 finish.
Oct. 27 - Women's Soccer - Valpo closes out the regular season with a 1-0 win at Green Bay, finishing in third place in the league standings and surrendering just three goals total in seven Horizon League games.
Oct. 29 - Volleyball - Taylor Root is named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week for the league-record 11th time of her career.

November
Nov. 3 - Football - Valpo scores 34 unanswered points to win at Campbell 41-21, led by Jake Hutson, who rushed for 248 yards, the second-highest single-game total in program history.
Nov. 5 - Football - Jake Hutson is named the FCS National Freshman of the Week and Greg Wood is named FCS Punter of the Week for their performances against Campbell. Hutson is also named to the Jerry Rice Award watch list later in the week, which honors the FCS National Freshman of the Year.
Nov. 5 - Men's Soccer - Kyle Zobeck becomes the first goalkeeper in league history to earn consecutive Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year honors.
Nov. 6 - Men's Soccer - A Jaymie Bullard header just 22 seconds before halftime was enough for the Crusaders to defeat Milwaukee, 1-0, in Horizon League quarterfinal action.
Nov. 9 - Women's Basketball - Tracey Dorow gets her Crusader coaching career started with a bang, as Valpo defeats Indiana at the ARC, 64-52, in the season opener. It was just the second win over the Hoosiers in program history.
Nov. 9 - Women's Cross Country - Jessica Richardson runs the second-fastest 6K all-time at Valpo at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional.
Nov. 11 - Volleyball - Valpo closes the regular season with a sweep of Milwaukee for its 20th win of the year, making the Crusaders one of just 11 programs to win at least 20 matches in each of the last 11 seasons.
Nov. 12 - Volleyball - Taylor Root becomes the first three-time Defensive Player of the Year in Horizon League history, as Valpo places three players on the All-League squad for the second straight year.
Nov. 13 - Men's Basketball - The Crusaders host Northern Illinois at 7 a.m. at the ARC, the earliest home tip-off in program history, live on ESPN as part of the network's annual Tip-Off Marathon.
Nov. 17 - Volleyball - Taylor Root closes her Crusader career fourth in NCAA history in digs, while fellow senior Mary Dent is named to the All-Tournament Team as Valpo falls to UIC in the Horizon League semifinals.
Nov. 18 - Men's Basketball - A Kevin Van Wijk putback of a missed free throw at the buzzer sends Valpo to overtime at Kent State, a game the Crusaders would eventually win 88-83.
Nov. 29 - Men's Soccer - Todd Vervynckt is named to the 2012 CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-America Division I Men’s Soccer Third Team, the second Crusader men's soccer player in the last three years to earn the national academic honor.
Nov. 30 - Men's Swimming - Gonzalo Castro Diaz (400 individual medley) and Frederick Jenny (100 breaststroke) both set new Crusader program records at the Calvin Winter Invitational.
Nov. 30 - Women's Swimming - Flavia Segatto breaks her own school record in the 1650 free by over a second at the Calvin Winter Invitational.

December
Dec. 1 - Bowling - The Crusaders set a new team record for highest-scoring traditional match in a win over Sam Houston State at the Track Kat Klash, while Alyssa Alvarez and Ashley Busiel both posted all-time top-five single-game scores. Alvarez earned All-Tournament honors after finishing fourth in average in the tournament field.
Dec. 10 - Football - Jake Hutson is named the Pioneer Football League Offensive Freshman of the Year, the first Crusader player in program history to earn a major award from the PFL. The next day, Greg Wood is named to the First Team All-PFL squad for the second time.
Dec. 13 - Volleyball - Taylor Root earns Honorable Mention All-American honors for the third consecutive year, becoming the first player in Crusader history to earn the honor three times.

Dec. 29 - Women's Basketball - Trailing 27-8 15 minutes into the game, the Crusaders out-score Ball State 50-26 the rest of the way for a 58-53 victory over the Cardinals at the ARC, led by career highs of 28 points and 17 rebounds from Tabitha Gerardot.
Dec. 29 - Men's Basketball - In the last athletic event of the 2012 calendar year, Valparaiso takes the lead for good with six minutes to play in a big 66-64 road win at Murray State, which advanced to the Third Round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament.