Athletics History 1 of 2

Laredo Morning Times | lmtonline.com | Sunday, April 12, 2020 | E3 50th Anniversary ers. Baseball, softball, cross country, golf and soccer have their longest tenured leaders in their respective programs’ histories, while men’s and women’s basketball, wom- en’s soccer and volleyball all have coaches that are either one year on the job or newly hired. “We have made numerous strides and improvements that I am extremely proud of,” TAMIU athletic direc- tor Griz Zimmermann said. “The four primary pillars of any athletics program – op- erations, salaries, facilities and scholarships – will de- termine the level of success for the department. We have been blessed with building quality in all four. “The most important one, athletic scholarships, pro- vides each coach the ability to build a competitive team to challenge the other mem- bers of the Lone Star Con- ference. We have been able to fully fund each team with the maximum scholarships to put their teams together. This was done in the past few years, and we are al- ready seeing the benefits in numerous sports, it will be only a matter of time before all our sports will be com- peting in the upper echelon of the conference standings. I’m very proud of the effort of all our coaches and staff as we continue to build and guide our department and programs for the future.” MEN’S SOCCER TAMIU got its start in ath- letics in 2002 with fantastic results. In the school’s first ever game, the men’s soccer team hosted Wiley College at home on Aug. 30, 2002 and rolled to a 7-1 victory in front of 340 fans. That team put together an impres- sive first season, posting an above .500 record at 9-8-2, and it set the stage for the most successful program in the school’s history to show what it was capable of. The very next season, TAMIU rolled to a 17-5 re- cord while winning all eight league games and finishing as regional semi-finalists. The school also won its first two titles, claiming the reg- ular-season and tournament championships in the Red River Athletic Conference. The program was cap- tained by Lance Noble (26- 13-2) in the opening two years, but he left to pursue his Master of Science in Sports Management at the United States Sports Acad- emy. In his place stepped Claudio Arias, who has be- come the longest-tenured and most successful coach in the school’s history. Arias kept things rolling his first season capturing the RRAC regular-season and tournament titles in 2004, and he’s been with the team ever since. Overall, Arias has led the Dustdevils for 16 seasons, compiling a .561 winning percentage (148- 113-26) and leading the program to five of its seven overall championships. The sport’s .573 overall win percentage is better than any other TAMIU athletic program, with no other one even above .400. Arias won the regular- season title in the Heartland Conference in 2010, 2011 and 2013, and he was the league’s Coach of the Year twice. Arias also finished runner up for a tournament title three times. That includ- ed 2019, as Arias guided TA- MIU to a 12-7-1 record be- fore losing in the Lone Star Conference championship game in the school’s first season in the conference. While the 2019 team came up a game short, they did reach new heights as the program received an NCAA tournament bid for the first time. “I have been here with my family 16 years,” Arias said. “At the end of the day, you are left with the stories of the people you coach, the people that you stay in touch with and the lives you change Courtesy of Andrea Arias TAMIU head coach Claudio Arias has led the men’s soccer team since 2004 and has been a part of five of the program’s seven league titles.