General | 5/27/2025 3:15:00 PM

May 27, 2025-For the ninth straight year Emporia State Athletics finished in the top 25 of national community service. As a department the Hornets finished 15th in the nation in the final NCAA Helper Helper Report of 2024-25 with three programs earning national championships in community service.  Emporia State recorded over 7,800 total hours of service to the Emporia and surrounding communities.
 
The NCAA Helper Helper Service Challenge is a national community service competition for NCAA DI, DII and DIII athletic departments and student-athletes. Schools are ranked from a combination of total hours per student-athlete and participation rate of teams. It recognizes schools for their outstanding commitment to volunteerism and community service. Participation in the competition using the Helper Helper platform was open to all NCAA-affiliated schools.
 
A total of 364 Hornet student-athletes participated in over 30 different community engagement activities for a total of 7,844 validated hours during the school year. The activities included High Five Friday's at local elementary schools, downtown clean up with Emporia Main Street, Blood Cancer Awareness, SAAC Easter Eggstravaganza Hunt, Salvation Army Teddy Bear Toss, Special Olympics Polar Plunge, Laps for Landon, and Special Athletics Track & Field Day among others.
 
Emporia State ranked #1 in the nation among football, softball and women's soccer teams in the Helper Helper national team rankings.  The Hornet softball team ranked third among all Division II women's sports.

This is the second time Emporia State has won the Helper Helper National Championship in football after earning the honor for the first time in 2020-21. 
 
"The Emporia community is very supportive of our football program, the Emporia State Athletic Department and the University. Giving back to and supporting our community is a very important part of the culture of our football program," said Hornet football coach Garin Higgins. "I am very proud of the way our players have once again stepped up during the past year and shown how much we appreciate the Emporia community."
 
The Hornet softball team has been ranked in the top five of all Division II women's sports teams three times, but this is the first time they have come out on top in the highly competitive softball only portion of the competition.
 
"Family Over Everything is a top priority in the ESU Softball program, which includes the Emporia community. I tell the team all the time we would not be here without our surrounding community and its people, and I am beyond proud of our women for stepping up to the plate and serving those around us," said Emporia State softball coach April Rosales. "These women deserve all the credit for the time invested, without complaint, to continue making a difference. They are so much more than softball players and hopefully seeing the impact they have keeps them hungry to continue serving throughout their lives and they continue to pay it forward even when their time with our program is through.  More than wins or losses, I am proud to be associated with such great humans!"
 
This is the first community service national championship for Emporia State soccer.
 
"I'm proud of what we accomplish on the field, but even prouder of the impact we make off it," said Emporia State soccer coach Jane Grimly-Gunn. "It's the first time our program has earned this national recognition, and it speaks to how much our players prioritize setting the standard and being part of something bigger than themselves."

The Lady Hornet basketball team ranked third nationally while baseball and women's tennis each ranked fifth in the nation. The men's basketball team was seventh while volleyball finished in tenth nationally.
 
Every sport averaged at least nine hours of community service per team member during the 2024-25 school year. The softball team recorded almost 1,074 hours of service for an average of nearly 57 hours per student-athlete while women's soccer clocked over 1,130 hours for an average of 45 hours per student-athlete.  In terms of total hours Hornet football had 1,749 hours and 45 minutes of service for an average of 17 hours per team member. 
 
As a department Emporia State had a 63% participation rate among their over 400 student-athletes with the baseball, men's and women's basketball, football, softball, soccer and volleyball teams all at 100% participation from their team members

Nearly 54,000 student-athletes participated in the competition across all three NCAA Divisions, providing 610,216 hours of service to their respective communities.
 
NCAA Division II Community Service
Top 25 Overall
1. Coker
2. Southern Arkansas
3. Georgian Court
4. Georgia Southwestern State
5. Texas Woman's
6. Midwestern State
7. UC-Colorado Springs
8. Arkansas Tech
9. Menlo College
10. Delta State
11. Wayne State (Mich.)
12. Belmont Abbey
13. Alaska-Fairbanks
14. Florida Southern
15. EMPORIA STATE
16. Catawba
17. TAMU-Kingsville
18. Adelphi
19. Young Harris College
20. Augusta University
21. Metropolitan State-Denver
22. Kentucky Wesleyan
23. Regis
24. Newberry College
25. Southern Nazarene
 
Top Five Women's Teams (All Sports)
1. Southern Nazarene Volleyball
2. Georgian Court Basketball
3. EMPORIA STATE SOFTBALL
4. Southern Arkansas Volleyball
5. Georgia Southwestern Softball

Individual Sport Top Tens
Football
1. EMPORIA STATE
2. Arkansas Tech
3. Central Washington
4. Newberry College
5. Midwestern State
6. South Dakota School of Mines
7. Delta State
8. Catawba
9. Winona State
10. Southern Nazarene
 
Women's Soccer
1. EMPORIA STATE
2. Georgian Court
3. Georgia Southwestern
4. Florida Southern
5. Delta State
6. Belmont Abbey
7. Auburn – Montgomery
8. Kentucky Wesleyan
9. Adelhi
10. Newberry

Softball
1. EMPORIA STATE  
2. Georgia Southwestern
3. Metro State of Denver
4. Coker
5. Augusta
6. Missouri Southern
7. Adelphi
8. Auburn – Montgomery
9. Delta State
10. Southern Arkansas
 
Baseball
1. Coker
2. Regis
3. Florida Southern
4. Catawba
5. EMPORIA STATE
6. UC-Colorado Springs
7. Arkansas Tech
8. Kentucky Wesleyan
9. Southern Arkansas
10. Florida Southern (JV)
 
Women's Tennis
1. Midwestern State
2. Georgia Southwestern
3. Metro State of Denver
4. TAMU-Kingsville
5. EMPORIA STATE
6. Florida Southern
7. Post University
8. Young Harris College
9. Augusta
10. Belmont Abbey
 
Men's Basketball
1. Southern Arkansas
2. Adelphi
3. Arkansas Tech
4. Georgian Court
5. Florida Tech
6. Fort Lewis
7. EMPORIA STATE
8. Metro State of Denver
9. Coker
10. Angelo State
 
Volleyball
1. Southern Nazarene
2. Southern Arkansas
3. Coker
4. Fort Lewis
5. Metro State of Denver
6. Missouri Southern
7. Angelo State
8. Adelphi
9. Regis       
10. EMPORIA STATE
 
Emporia State Athletics Overall Year by Year

Year	Overall	Team Champions
2024-25	15th	Softball, Women's Soccer, Football
2023-24	25th
2022-23	11th	Baseball, Men's Basketball
2021-22	6th	Men's Basketball
2020-21	4th	Football
2019-20	9th
2018-19	7th
2017-18	15th
2016-17	16th