With graduation only a week away, it marks the end of another school year at Fresno State.

This year is different from other years since the school is celebrating its 100-year anniversary.

This being the case, it also means the end of another year in Fresno State athletics.

The year started off in the fall with the Fresno State football team winning their season opener against Cincinnati who was on an 18-game regular-season winning streak.

The ‘Dogs next game was against a tough Utah State team that Fresno State usually has trouble with but this game ended differently as the ‘Dogs won the game 41-24.

After this game, the ‘Dogs were a little up and down going 4-4 in their next eight games. They would win their next two games but would end on a bad note losing to Northern Illinois in the Humanitarian Bowl. They would finish the season with an 8-5 record and an 11th bowl appearance in 12 tries.

Coming off an 8-5 record and Derek Carr becoming the starting quarterback, there is a lot of promise for the football team going into next season.

The Fresno State cross country team had a strong showing in the Western Athletic Conference Championships as the men’s team finished in fourth place and the women’s team finished in fifth place. They came close to doing something special as they made it to the NCAA West Regionals. The men’s team placed 19th place and the women’s team finished in 26th place but came up short to advancing.

The Fresno State soccer team finished their season with a 9-9-5 record but that doesn’t tell the whole story as the Bulldogs won the WAC Tournament beating the No. 1 seeded San Jose State Spartans. With the win, they qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in school history. They would eventually lose to the No. 4 seed UCF 2-1.

The Fresno State men’s basketball team entered this school year as a team with a lot of uncertainty with sophomore Paul George declaring for the NBA draft and Sylvester Seay running out of eligibility. When this season started, head coach Steve Cleveland was entering his sixth season with only one appearance in a postseason tournament.

He returned a team light on experience but he had sophomore Greg Smith to take this team to the next level. They would have an up-and-down season as they went 14-18 and lost to Nevada in the first round of the WAC Tournament.

After the season, Cleveland was reassigned and Rodney Terry was hired to lead the ‘Dogs into the Mountain West Conference in 2012. Now, with Terry’s staff intact there is a lot of excitement for the men’s basketball program going forward.

The Fresno State women’s basketball team had another successful season under head coach Adrian Wiggins, going 25-7. They won the WAC title over Louisiana Tech who had their number in recent matchups. They would advance to the NCAA Tournament and would lose in the first round to the No. 5 seeded North Carolina Tar Heels.

Even though they came up short, the senior class became the winningest group in school history winning 97 games.

Fresno State men’s bowling club team ended its season on a high note winning the national championship which was their first title in program history. In the semifinals, they had to get by Wichita State, who had won the past three national championships. In the final, they played top-ranked Webber International and they overcame the odds to come home with the national championship.

The baseball team’s season isn’t over yet with the WAC Tournament starting in a couple weeks. They will finish their season off with games against New Mexico State and Cal State Bakersfield. The baseball team will look to make a return appearance in the College World Series to emulate how the 2008 season ended.

The softball team season is still going on with the WAC Tournament starting Today. They will play Louisiana Tech in the first round and look to win to make to their record 30th appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

This year as a whole has been a success with so many teams accomplishing so much. Hopefully, next year will be the same way with a couple things changing from each other program. Even at The Collegian there will be changes, I will be taking over the sports editor position and hopefully I can keep up the good work of the past sports editors and be a role model for the future.