Women’s golf eighth in NCAA tournament
The women’s golf team placed eighth at the 2011 NCAA Division III Championship May 10-13 at the Mission Inn Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
The final round was cancelled May 13 due to a massive band of lightning storms. WUSTL finished the three-day event with a score of 1,014 (344-343-327), tying Williams College for eighth place.
Methodist University won its 14-straight NCAA Division III Championship with a three-day score of 966 (318-319-329), while Gustavus Adolphus College, Illinois Wesleyan University, St. Mary’s College and DePauw University rounded out the top five.
Methodist’s Paige Caldwell won the individual championship with a three-day total of 231 (77-76-78) to give the Monarchs their sixth individual crown in the last seven years. Emily Bachert of Centre College 235 (80-79-76) finished second in the individual standings, while WUSTL sophomore Hannah Buck (239, 79-80-80) and Gustavus Adolphus’ Katie Schenfeld (23-9, 80-83-76) finished in a tie for third place.
Freshman Andrea Hibbert just missed earning All-America honors after finishing in a tie for 12th place with a three-day total of 246 (81-85-80). Freshman Marcy Koonce’s final round of 82 moved her into the top-50, finishing the three-day event in a five-way tie for 49th place with a 259 (89-88-82). Freshman Allyson Chee finished in 83rd place with a three-day score of 271 (95-91-85), while sophomore Melanie Walsh was 97th with a 291 (107-90-94).
Men’s tennis wins regional championship
The No. 5 men’s tennis team defeated Luther College 5-0 and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 5-1 last weekend to capture its fifth-straight NCAA Division III regional championship and advance to the NCAA quarterfinals.
The Bears swept doubles against Luther in the regional semifinals May 14, with seniors Isaac Stein and Max Woods winning 8-4 at No. 1 doubles, sophomore Kareem Farah and Cameron Chiang picking up an 8-5 win at second doubles, and sophomore Gary Parizher and Adam Putterman winning 8-4 at third doubles.
Sophomore Bryan Haywood delivered a three-set come-from-behind 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, win at No. 5 singles and Putterman completed the sweep with a 6-2, 6-3 win at third singles.
Against Whitewater, the Bears led 2-1 through doubles competition. Stein and Woods were 8-5 winners at No. 1, while Parizher and Putterman erased a 5-2 deficit to win 8-6 in the No. 3 match. Stein won his No. 1 singles match 6-0, 6-1, and Farah earned a straight-set 6-3, 6-0 win at fifth singles to clinch the win.
The Bears advanced to the NCAA Division III quarterfinals May 24-26 in Claremont, Calif. Up next for WUSTL will be No. 6 Kenyon College, who won their regional with a 5-2 victory over the University of Mary Washington.
Track & field teams combine to break three school records
The men’s and women’s outdoor track & field teams combined to break three school records and set nine NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship qualifying marks at the North Central College Dr. Keeler Invitational May 12-13 in Naperville, Ill.
A majority of the impressive NCAA qualifying times and school records came in the distance and middle distance events. The WUSTL men’s team was responsible for breaking two of those school records, with senior Alden Black doing so in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and senior Dave Spandorfer in the 5,000-meter.
Black’s first-place 3,000-steeple time of 8:57.10 shattered the old school record of 9:08.32, which he set just last season, and was an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Championships. He ranks second in Division III in the event through the last weekend of competition.
Spandorfer finished second in the 5,000, posting a record-breaking mark of 14:27.76. A provisional qualifier, he ranks 11th in Division III heading into the final week of regular season competition.
Junior Liz Phillips represented the Bears’ third school record of the meet, winning the 1,500-meter run with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 4:28.10. Her impressive time currently ranks fourth in Division III.
Both teams have one more week of competition before the 2011 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship field is announced. The Bears will return to North Central College to run in the Gregory Invitational Thurday and Friday, May 19 and 20, in Naperville, Ill.
Women’s tennis upset in NCAA tournament
The No. 13 women’s tennis team was upset by No. 18 Sewanee University in the second round of the 2011 NCAA Division III Tournament May 13 in Sewanee, Tenn.
Washington U. was making its fourth-straight appearance in the NCAA tournament and fifth overall under head coach Kelly Stahlhuth. The Bears had won eight of their final 10 matches of the regular season and entered the postseason on a hot streak as the No. 2 seed in their regional pod.
Sewanee grabbed a 1-0 lead as Laura Szperski and Lindsay Wilburn took an 8-4 decision over sophomore Paige Madara and freshman Corinne Rauck at No. 3 doubles. In the No. 1 match junior Natalie Tingir and freshman Evelyn Qin dropped a tight contest 8-6, giving Sewanee a 2-0 lead. The second doubles match was the closest of the day, but the Tigers prevailed once again with Michelle Flume and Anne Garland outlasting WUSTL senior Elise Sambol and freshman Theresa Petraskova 9-8 (7-4) to complete the sweep.
Only No. 1 and No. 2 singles were played to completion, with Sewanee winning both matches. Kate Stanford earned a 7-6, 6-2, win over Tingir in the No. 1 match, while Qin fell 6-2, 6-0, to Jenny Liles in the second slot. Flume led WUSTL sophomore Kate Klein 6-3, 3-3, at No. 3 singles, which was the only other contest underway when the match was decided.
The Bears concluded the 2010-11 campaign with a 16-6 overall mark and a third-place finish in the University Athletic Association (UAA). It was the 12th appearance in the NCAA tournament in program history for WUSTL, which falls to 7-12 all-time in postseason play.
Softball loses at regionals
The softball team posted a 1-2 record at the 2011 NCAA Division III Midwest Regional held at Central College in Pella, Iowa.
Freshman Maggie Mullen drove in the game-winning run with a double in the sixth inning as the Bears rallied from a two-run deficit for a 3-2 victory over local rival Fontbonne University in the opening game May 12. Following a 17-0 loss to top-ranked and eventual regional champion Linfield College May 13, WUSTL saw its season come to an end with a 2-1, 14-inning loss to No. 16 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater May 15.
The Bears stranded an NCAA Division III-record 20 runners in the defeat.
WUSTL ends its 2011 season with a 32-12-1 overall record, the sixth 30-win season in school history. The Bears placed second in the University Athletic Association (UAA) and qualified for the NCAA tournament for the 10th straight season.
The May 15 loss marked the final game in the Red and Green for seniors Ally Berenter, Antonia Ferguson and Claire Voris. As a group, the three leave the Danforth Campus compiling an overall record of 117-49-2, good for a winning percentage of 70.2. The three seniors were part of two UAA Championships and four NCAA tournament appearances.
Voris (16-5) ends her four-year career ranked 21st in NCAA Division III history with 818 strikeouts.