With a 2-1 victory over Calvin College Nov. 22, the No. 17-ranked women’s soccer team advanced to its second final four in school history.
The team travels to San Antonio Friday, Dec. 4, to play No. 21 Lynchburg College (17-3-4) at 1:30 p.m. The winner of that will take on the winner of the match between No. 9 College of New Jersey (16-2-1) and No. 1 Messiah College (19-0-1) for the NCAA Division III title.
The championship game is slated for 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, in San Antonio.
In the victory over Calvin, sophomore Lee Ann Felder scored the game-winning goal in the 57th minute, as she one-timed a cross from senior Caryn Rosoff for her sixth goal of the year.
Freshman goalkeeper Clara Jaques picked up her 16th win of the season in goal by making seven saves. The victory for Jaques moves her into eighth place on the all-time WUSTL list in her first season on the Danforth Campus.
The Bears’ overall record of 17-3-2 ties the school record for victories in a season. WUSTL also won 17 games in 1997, ’98, 2004, ’06 and ’07.
Cross country teams finish in top 10
Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams qualified to compete in the NCAA Division III championships in Cleveland Nov. 21, and each squad turned in a top 10 finish.
Sophomore Michael Burnstein paced the WUSTL men to a surprising seventh-place finish at the national meet. With a time of 25:56.4, Burnstein finished 20th and earned All-America honors for the first time in his career.
In a matter of seven days, the men’s team vaulted from being unranked nationally to posting the best national finish for any men’s cross country team in school history. The men’s squad was appearing in the NCAA championships for just the fifth time in school history and the first since 2006.
Junior Taryn Surtees helped the women to a 10th-place overall finish, an improvement over last year’s 12th-place finish. Surtees garnered All-America honors for the second time, as she placed 20th overall with a time of 22:36.0.
“This is probably the greatest day in school history for the Wash-ington University cross country program,” head coach Jeff Stiles said after the competition. “I would gladly give up a national championship to have both teams come to the national meet and compete and do well.
“Our women’s team has had national success recently, but without the men qualifying, too, so this means a lot to have them both here and do well,” Stiles said.
Their appearance at the meet also was the first time since 2006 WUSTL had both its cross country teams compete in the national championship meet in the same year.
Women win McWilliams Classic
The women’s basketball team captured the Ninth Annual McWilliams Classic tournament title with an 82-62 win over Rhodes College Nov. 29 at the WU Field House.
Junior point guard Alex Hoover, who scored 17 points in the tournament championship game, earned the Jacqueline Bickel Schapp Most Valuable Player award.
Joining Hoover on the all-tournament team was graduate student Jaimie McFarlin and senior Zoe Unruh.
McFarlin had eight points with eight rebounds against Rhodes, while Unruh tallied 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists in the championship game.
The Bears advanced to the McWilliams final with a 75-37 win over Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Nov. 28.
WUSTL set a tournament record with 22 steals in the win over Rose-Hulman.
The Bears (4-1) return to action at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, at Elmhurst College in Chicago.
Men’s basketball captures Titan Tip-Off
The men’s basketball team posted victories over Ohio Wesleyan University (85-68) and Illinois Wesleyan University (67-61) to capture the 2009 Titan Tip-Off Tournament championship in Bloomington, Ill.
Senior guard Aaron Thompson tied his career-high with 31 points in the championship game over Illinois Wesleyan.
Thompson, who was joined on the all-tournament team by graduate student Sean Wallis, was 12-of-20 from the field and hit 5-of-6 from the foul line in the win.
Thompson averaged 29.5 points per game in the tournament, while Wallis averaged 12 points and 9.5 assists per game.