DOWAGIAC — While most people measure the success of high school sports teams by the number of championships its teams win, it is sometimes better to look deeper into the numbers.

Yes, wins and losses are important at the varsity level, but not every team can win a championship, especially in a conference that has a lot of quality sports teams.

“You have to look at the big picture,” said Dowagiac athletic director Brent Nate. “We are doing well athletically. When you look at that picture it shows that our kids and our programs as a whole have been successful.”

Dowagiac did not win a Wolverine Conference championship during the 2018-19 season, but that does not mean the Chieftains were unsuccessful. However, Dowagiac did win a pair of district titles (boys soccer, wrestling), a regional championship (wrestling) and had an individual regional champion — Sean Little in boys cross country.

Dowagiac competed in 537 athletic events throughout the 2018-19 season. Of those contests, 230 were at home and 307 were on the road.

As far as the Wolverine Conference goes, Dowagiac had 40 individuals earn all-league honors. At the state level, the Chieftains had four individuals earn all-state, four individuals earn academic all-state, 24 individuals earn all-district and three earn all-regional status.

Dowagiac had two state qualifiers, both in wrestling, 11 state qualifiers in powerlifting, including a state record-setter in Sierra Carpenter.

Academically, Dowagiac had six teams — competitive cheer, girls golf, volleyball, wrestling and softball — earn academic all-state honors.

Individual teams also reached some milestones.

The volleyball team had the most conference victories since joining the Wolverine. The girls basketball team had its most wins since 2006 and the boys soccer team set a new record for victories in a season with 15.

Carpenter set a new school record for home runs in a season with nine. Little set new school records in both cross country and the 3,200-meters in track.

More importantly, Dowagiac sent 11 seniors on to college in a variety of sports.

“This shows the hard work that our kids and our coaches are putting into being successful,” Nate said. “You can also see by the number of academic all-state teams that we have, that we are doing the work in the classroom as well.”

And while these numbers show the success Dowagiac achieved this past school year, Nate knows there is always room for improvement.

“It was a successful year,” he said. “Obviously, we would like more and we will continue to work hard toward that goal.”