SOFTBALL: Swary, Kressel recognized
First baseman Liz Swary earned Academic All-American honors for the second consecutive year. She was named to the first-team of the 2004 College Sports Information Directors of America’s Academic All-America College Division Softball Team.
Also, third baseman Jamie Kressel was named to the 2004 Jewish Sports Review College Softball All-America Team.
Swary, who will be a senior this coming academic year and who also earned first-team all-America academic honors as a sophomore, has a 3.95 grade-point average in economics in Arts & Sciences.
A first-team 2004 Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III All-American, Swary led the Bears in hits (44), runs scored (29), walks (22), doubles (7), home runs (6), RBIs (32), total bases (73), slugging percentage (.640) and on-base percentage (.489) this past season.
She was named the University Athletic Association Athlete of the Week in March and was named first-team Verizon Academic All-District VII for the second consecutive year.
A first-team all-Midwest Region and second-team all-UAA selection in 2004, Swary ranks in the top three in the Bears record book in almost every offensive category. She is first in home runs (19), doubles (35), RBIs (117), hits (152), total bases (252) and walks (44). She also ranks second in batting average (.412) and runs scored (80) and third in games played (118).
Kressel, who will be a sophomore in this upcoming academic year, started 27 games for the Bears at third base this spring and hit .315 with one home run and 17 RBIs. She also recorded 11 runs scored, two doubles, a triple and an outstanding .976 fielding percentage.
A first-team all-UAA selection, Kressel posted a .350 batting average in UAA contests. She led the team with 20 assists while not making an error as the Bears took first place at the UAA Championships, posting an 8-0 record.
The 16th-ranked Washington University softball team finished the season with a school-record 33-5 overall record and placed third in the Midwest Regional. The Bears began the season with a school-record 22-game winning streak and posted 21 shutouts in 2004, which ranks 10th on the all-time Division III list.
BASEBALL: Corning and Schmidt honored
Ryan Corning and Steve Schmidt were named to the American Baseball Coaches Association Division III All-Central Region Team. Corning garnered first-team honors while Schmidt was named to the second team.
Corning, a second baseman who will be a junior this coming academic year, ended last year as the team leader in nine categories: batting average (.431), home runs (9), hits (53), doubles (16), RBIs (42), total bases (98), slugging percentage (.797), walks (21) and on-base percentage (.520).
He also led the Bears with a .500 batting average (10 for 20) and eight runs in UAA play en route to earning second-team all-conference honors.
Schmidt started 32 games in his senior season. One of the team’s most versatile players, he batted .408 and posted 51 hits — both good for second on the team — and posted a 4.41 ERA in 13 mound appearances.
He pitched a team-high 67 1/3 innings and registered a WUSTL-best seven complete games. A first-team all-UAA recipient, Schmidt twice garnered conference Athlete of the Week honors.
The Bears were 18-17 in 2004, the sixth straight year the team finished above .500.
FOOTBALL: Bears to start season No. 23
The WUSTL football team is ranked 23rd in the Street & Smith’s Division III College Football Preseason Top 25.
The 2003 Bears finished with a 6-4 overall record and won their third consecutive UAA championship. WUSTL won its last four games and recorded a school-record 11th consecutive winning season.
Washington U. returns nine starters on offense and eight on defense.
WUSTL will be led on offense by junior wide receiver Brad Duesing, who was recently named to the third team of the 2004 Football Gazette NCAA Division III Pre-Season All-American Football Team.
Duesing set the school single-season record for receptions with 74 as a sophomore and finished the season with 1,029 receiving yards. He became the third player in Division III history to have back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons in his first two years.
The Bears will open their season at 1 p.m. Sept. 4 at Francis Field, taking on top-ranked Mount Union College.