2008: ESPN the Magazine Third Team Academic All-America… Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award finalist… Honorable Mention All-MVC… MVC All-Tournament Team… ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District… First Team MVC Scholar-Athlete… Gartner started all 18 games he played in… sat out the Butler game due to a yellow card accumulation suspension, ending his consecutive games started streak at 57 dating back to Nov. 2005… became the first MVC soccer play – male or female – and first Panther to become a finalist (one of 10 nationally) for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award… headlined the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team as the league’s lone Academic All-America honoree this fall… earned Academic All-District honors for the third year in a row… received All-MVC recognition for the third time in his career… accounted for EIU’s first goal of the season, scoring against Valparaiso for the third time in the last four years… also scored EIU’s final goal in the win at IPFW… recorded three assists, setting up: Jim Adee’s goal against in the win against UMKC, Chris Pearson’s score in the draw at Northern Illinois and Alex Harrison’s second goal in the loss to second-ranked Creighton… went the distance in every game he played in except the UMKC match, ranking second on the team in minutes (1,666)… played every minute of the MVC season… among the program leaders in the Valley era, ranks second in assists, eighth in points and 10th in goals… Eastern was 7-1 when he scored during his career… EIU All-Time Rankings: ninth in assists.
2007: NSCAA Second Team Scholar All-American… NSCAA First Team All-Region Scholar… NSCAA Third Team All-Midwest Region… Second Team All-MVC… ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District… First Team MVC Scholar-Athlete… MVC Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 24)… Soccer America and TopDrawerSoccer.com National Teams of the Week (Sept. 24)… Gartner started all 21 games, extending his consecutive games started streak to 43 dating back to the end of the 2005 season… recorded a career-high nine assists, ranking second in the MVC to only teammate Mick Galeski… Galeski and Gartner became the first set of EIU teammates to combine for 20 assists since 1988… ranked third on the team in minutes played, going the distance 13 times… ended the year having played 562 consecutive minutes… garnered MVC Defensive Player of the Week honors and national recognition from Soccer America and TopDrawerSoccer.com after registering an assist on both goals in the home-opening win against IUPUI and playing the entire game in the overtime win at Kentucky… recorded an assist in each of the first three games of October… also had an assist in both games at the season-opening Bradley City Centre Classic… four of his nine assists set up game-winning goals, including Alex Harrison’s overtime score in the season opener… one of three players to log at least 1,000 minutes and not be issued a yellow card… began the year as a midfielder before moving to the back four… helped EIU post a shutout streak of 436 minutes early in the season and eight shutouts total, a new program record in the Valley era… ranks third in assists and eighth in points among the program leaders in the Valley era… MVC Rankings: second in assists… National Rankings: 31st in assists… EIU Single-Season Rankings: fourth in assists.
2006: ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District… First Team MVC Scholar-Athlete… he started all 20 games, one of four Panthers to do so… ranked second on the team with six assists… scored three goals for the second year in a row… scored his first goal of the season and tallied two assists in the win over Georgia State… also scored and registered an assist in the Valley win over Evansville… scored the game-winner against Valparaiso for the second consecutive year… posted four assists during EIU’s 3-0 week in September, opening the week with a helper on Brad Earl’s overtime goal at Western Illinois… assisted on Chris Pearson’s early goal in the MVC Tournament win over Missouri State… MVC Rankings: fourth in assists, eighth in shots and 10th in points.
2005: Honorable Mention All-MVC… MVC All-Freshman Team… WKU Invitational All-Tournament Team… He played in 16 games and started 15… started six of the seven MVC contests and the MVC Tournament game against Vanderbilt… finished tied for third on the team with three goals… scored the game-winner against Valpo… also found the back of the net versus Longwood and at Evansville.
HIGH SCHOOL: He was a four-year letter-winner for coach Rick Larew... also lettered four times in basketball... named First Team All-State and to the State All-Tournament Team while leading RHS to a third-place finish in Iowa state playoffs... second team all-state as a sophomore and junior... scored a school-record 39 goals as a junior... three-time first team all-conference while leading his team to multiple conference championships... team captain as a senior... scored 102 career goals... 2005 NSCAA Academic All-American... National Honor Society... also played for Iowa Soccer Club for eight years.
PERSONAL: No. 1 sports highlight was “scoring the lone goal to upset a top-ranked, undefeated team in the Iowa State Tournament”... his parents have had a major influence on his sports career because “they always encouraged me to pursue my soccer career, reminded me of my goals and supported me”... most admires his club soccer coach Homer Screws because “his philosophies have held me to higher standards on and off the field”... son of Bruce and Bev Gartner... MAJOR: Finance.
