Women’s cross country finishes third nationally
The No. 3 women’s cross country team took third place at the NCAA Championship for the second straight season, matching its program-best finish from a year ago.
The women were led by junior Beth Herndon and sophomore Tyler Mulkin, who each earned All-America honors. Washington U. totaled 132 points for third place behind Williams College (107 points) and SUNY-Geneseo (87 points).
Herndon posted a time of 22:33.5 in the 6K run to finish 11th, while Mulkin clocked a time of 22:54.0 to finish 29th.
Senior Steph Felz took 40th place (23:09.3), sophomore Kate Pentak took 76th (23:40.5) and junior Lindsay Harkema took 78th (23:43.7) to round out WUSTL’s scorers.
Senior Brennan Bonner and junior Kevin Gale represented WUSTL in the men’s 8K race. Bonner took 67th place (26:55.1), while Gale finished in 70th place (26:57.5) in a field of 211 finishers.
Women’s hoops wins two tournaments
The No. 14 women’s basketball team went 3-0 last week and won the fifth annual McWilliams Classic, a week after winning the WUSTL Tip-Off Tournament Nov. 18-19.
The Bears opened the week with an 84-54 win Nov. 22 against Webster University. Senior Danielle Beehler (12 points, 12 rebounds) and junior Rebecca Parker (21 points, 13 rebounds) led the way.
On Nov. 26, the Red and Green defeated Middlebury College, 90-52, to open the McWilliams Classic. Kelly Manning led WUSTL with 18 points and Beehler added 13 points and seven rebounds.
The next day, WUSTL claimed the Classic title with an 83-50 win against Denison University. Parker led the Red and Green with a career-best 23 points and also pulled down seven rebounds. Manning, the tournament MVP, registered 19 points, seven boards and three blocks.
The McWilliams Classic title came on the heels of the WUSTL Tip-Off crown, which the Bears won by defeating Coe College, 80-44, and No. 22 DePauw University, 72-61. Beehler posted 14 points and 15 rebounds, while Parker tallied 17 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four blocks to claim the title.
Men’s hoops wins 3, climbs above .500
The men’s basketball team (3-2) opened the week with a 83-63 win over Webster University on Nov. 22. Junior Nick Nikitas posted a career-high 17 points to lead the Red and Green to their first win of the season.
Freshman Tyler Nading finished with 13 points and six rebounds, while sophomore Troy Ruths registered 13 points and nine boards.
Ruths scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Bears to a 73-68 overtime victory over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Nov. 25 at the David Wells Classic in Claremont, Calif.
The Bears extended their winning streak to three games with a 70-60 victory over Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Nov. 26 Nading scored a career high 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field to lead the Bears.
The season didn’t start so well for the Bears, who suffered two losses at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Tip-Off Tournament.
On Nov. 18, the Bears fell to Robert Morris College, 76-73, in the season opener. Senior Scott Stone led the Bears with 21 points while Ruths added 17.
The next day, Washington U. dropped a 96-84 decision to Simpson College. Senior Mike Grunst scored a career-high 23 points, while Stone added 20 points.
Men’s swimmers win Thanksgiving invite
The men’s swimming and diving team won the 2005 WUSTL Thanksgiving Invitational at Millstone Pool.
The men tallied 841 points, well ahead of second-place Lindenwood University (800 points). The Bears women took second place at the Invitational, tallying 736 points; Lindenwood won with 819 points.
Senior Michael Slavik recorded four season-best times for the Bears, as he helped WUSTL to four of its 12 individual titles. He won the 100- and 200-yard backstrokes, anchored the winning 200-medley relay team and led off the winning 200-free relay squad.
Freshman Mike Scarpati also turned in some impressive performances. Scarpati won the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:18.98.
Senior Jenny Scott highlighted WUSTL’s women, provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 500-yard free-style. Scott also won the 100 freestyle, swam the second leg of the winning 200-free relay and anchored the 200-medley relay.
Volleyball’s run ends in quarters
The No. 3 volleyball team fell to No. 6 University of La Verne, 3-0, on Nov. 17 at the NCAA Quar-terfinals in Salem, Va. With the loss, the Bears ended the season with a 35-2 record.
La Verne picked up its first NCAA Tournament win against Washington U., which defeated ULV 3-0 in the 2003 and 2004 NCAA semifinals.
The Bears hit a season-low .109 for the match. Whitney Smith led the Bears with 13 kills, while junior libero Amy Bommarito added a team-high 16 digs. Senior setter Kara Liefer closed out her career with six kills, a .357 hitting percentage, 23 assists, 10 digs and two blocks.
Senior Rizzo named Gagliardi finalist
Senior defensive back Joe Rizzo has been named a finalist for the 13th annual Gagliardi Trophy, the award presented to the outstanding football player in NCAA Division III.
Rizzo, a three-time, first-team all-UAA selection, led the Bears with six interceptions and had 37 tackles in 2005. An accounting and finance major, Rizzo ranks fifth in Division III in passes defended and 21st in interceptions. Rizzo was a COSIDA first-team Academic All-District selection in 2005 and is a three-time Academic All-UAA selection.
Football players named all-UAA
Senior wide receiver Brad Dusing capped his four-year career by being named the UAA Offensive Player of the year, as announced by the conference office. Duesing is only the second player in conference history to repeat as UAA Player of the Year.
Duesing had a school-record 75 catches for 1,136 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2005. Duesing, who ranks first in school history in pass receptions and receiving yards, ranks third in Division III history in receptions (287) and sixth in receiving yards (4,249).
Joining Duesing on the first-team offense was sophomore tight end Jeff Howenstein, who had 10 catches and a touchdown.
The Bears defense had five first-team selections, including three-time first-team selection Rizzo. Senior linebacker Ben Schaub, junior defensive lineman Drew Wethington, sophomore linebacker Tyler McSparin and senior defensive lineman Jared Weis rounded out the first team.
Junior quarterback Nick Henry, junior running back DaRonne Jenkins, junior offensive lineman Ryan Kennon, sophomore wide receiver Joe Lubelski and sophomore offensive lineman Scott Reigle were second-team offense; senior defensive lineman Aaron Albritton, senior defensive back John Grit, senior defensive lineman Drew Martin and junior defensive back Joe Shaughnessy each earned defensive second-team honors.
Freshman punt returner Drew Makar and junior punter Chaz Moody earned all-UAA special teams honors.