Mount Mercy University - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Yoder welcomes big softball class to Mt. M

Fri - 14 Aug Written by Jim Ecker

Larry Yoder is extra-busy these days as the interim director of athletics at Mount Mercy University, serving as the temporary boss until a new person is hired sometime this fall.

He's also the softball coach at Mount Mercy and is anxious to begin preparations for the next season, especially with 14 brand-new freshmen in the program for the 2016 campaign.

Yoder has compiled a 161-120 record in nine years with the Mustangs. He's serving as the interim A.D. in place of Scot Reisinger, who accepted a new position at Mount Mercy this month as the dean of adult programs.

That means Yoder is juggling two full-time jobs during a busy period at the school as Mount Mercy prepares to move full-speed into the Heart of America Conference, continues with plans for the Plaster Athletic Conference and debates the merits of adding a football program.

"I've already found out in the first four days that this is really time-consuming, which I knew it would be," Yoder said this week, sitting in Reisinger's old office at the Hennessey Recreation Center.

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Last Updated on Friday, 14 August 2015 20:29

Reisinger takes new job with Mustangs

Wed - 05 Aug Written by Metro Sports Report

Mount Mercy University has announced the appointment of Scot Reisinger, current director of athletics, as dean of adult programs.

Reisinger was the successful candidate following a national search and is assuming oversight of accelerated bachelor, online and graduate programs for the university. His efforts will promote continued quality and growth of these high-demand programs.

Reisinger will assume his new responsibilities Aug. 10. Larry Yoder, head softball coach, will serve as interim director of athletics from Aug. 10 until Nov. 1.

During that time, Mount Mercy will conduct a national search for Reisinger's successor. At the conclusion of the search process, Yoder will return to his full-time duties as head softball coach.

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 05 August 2015 16:37

Van Oort excited about Mustang men's volleyball

Sat - 01 Aug Written by Jim Ecker

Mary Kay Van Oort does not consider herself a pioneer for female coaches in America, but she'll be stepping into an unusual role as the first head coach of the brand-new men's volleyball program at Mount Mercy University.

Van Oort will begin her new duties Aug. 10, building a program from scratch for the 2016-17 school year. She has no players, no team and no schedule at this point, but she's eager to get started.

Van Oort has an extensive background in women's volleyball as a player and coach, including the past two years as the head coach of the girls volleyball program at Cedar Rapids Jefferson. She's leaving the J-Hawks now for new full-time duties at Mount Mercy, where she'll also serve as an assistant coach with the women's volleyball team.

Mount Mercy decided to add men's volleyball to its list of varsity programs and needed someone with experience to tackle the job.

"I'm really excited about it," Van Oort said Saturday. "It wasn't something I was out searching for, because I really planned to coach at Jefferson again. I was very excited about that and happy about that.

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Last Updated on Saturday, 01 August 2015 21:04

Jennings signs 19 for Mount Mercy women

Fri - 03 Jul Written by Jim Ecker

Some college basketball coaches grow tired of recruiting and think it's simply a necessary evil, but Mount Mercy Coach Aaron Jennings enjoys hitting the road and finding new players.

That's good, because Mount Mercy is adding a junior varsity program for the 2015-16 season and Jennings needed to sign a big class to have enough players for the varsity and JV squads.

He's signed 19 new players for this season, including six junior college transfers and 13 high school seniors.

"Recruiting is kind of exciting," he said this week. "It's just like a game. It's challenging, and just like you have competition in a game, you have competition in recruiting.

"You're selling your program and yourself and your school to the kids, and you're competing with all the other excellent programs in the area and in the state and sometimes out of state."

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NAIA hoops tourney coming to town

Tue - 30 Jun Written by Jim Ecker

It looks like Mount Mercy University might learn to enjoy its status as an independent basketball school during the 2015-16 campaign while it waits for full membership in the Heart of America Conference.

The Association of Independent Institutions has decided to hold the 2016 A.I.I. Division II men's and women's basketball tournaments at the U.S. Cellular Center in downtown Cedar Rapids from Feb. 26-28.

Mount Mercy will serve as the host school and will receive automatic bids to the tournament for both of its teams.

There will be eight men's teams and eight women's teams in both tournaments, which will run simultaneously. The top three teams in each tournament will receive automatic berths to the NAIA Division II national tournament.

There will be wall-to-wall basketball at the U.S Cellular Center on Friday, Feb. 26 with all eight quarterfinal games -- four men's games and four women's games -- from early in the morning until late at night. The four semifinals will be staged on Saturday, Feb. 27, with the championship games and third-place games on Sunday, Feb. 28.

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 June 2015 12:34