Women’s basketball feam in first-place tie
The No. 13 women’s basketball team picked up two conference road wins to jump back into a first-place tie in the University Athletic Assoociation race.
On Feb. 11, WUSTL notched a 73-49 win at Emory University in Atlanta. Senior Hallie Hutchens scored a game-high 20 points and pulled down six boards in the win. The Bears pounded the ball into the post early in the first half, scoring 16 points in the paint during a spree that left them ahead 25-8. Junior Katie Benson contributed 10 points off the bench for the Bears in the first half, as WUSTL took a 47-16 lead into the locker room and never looked back.
WUSTL then knocked off Case Western Reserve University, 76-62, in Cleveland on Feb. 13. Hutchens again highlighted WUSTL’s day, as she recorded her 1,000th career point. Hutchens, with 1,013 career points, is just one of eight players in Bears history to achieve the milestone.
Swimmers, divers take 2nd at championships
The women’s swimming and diving team finished second (639 points) Feb. 10-12 at the UAA Championships, behind first-place Emory (1,098.5).
The WUSTL men (482) finished fourth, while Emory (882.5) also won the men’s field.
Freshman Meredith Nordbrock won two of her five individual titles on the final day of competition. She clocked a 2:05.45 in the 200-yard backstroke. The time — an NCAA “A” cut and a school record by more than two seconds — gave Nordbrock a total of four individual titles on the weekend. She also won the 100 back, 200 individual medley and helped the Bears to the 400-medley relay title.
Nordbrock picked up her fifth title of the weekend in the 400-free relay. She anchored the squad that included junior Jenny Scott, freshman Katie Hodges and senior Brianna Krull that posted a team season-best time of 3:36.23. For her efforts, Nordbrock garnered UAA Women’s Swimmer of the Meet and UAA Women’s Rookie of the Year accolades.
Junior Michael Slavik highlighted the Bears men’s squad. Slavik placed second in the 200 free (1:41.88). Freshman Ross Vimr placed third in the 500 free, clocking a time of 4:39.87. The Bears’ UAA Championship week totals include seven individual titles, two school records and four NCAA “A” cuts.
Men’s tennis squad upends Eastern Illinois
The No. 13 men’s tennis team opened the 2005 season with a 6-1 win over Division I Eastern Illinois Feb. 11 at the Sport Vetta Hampshire Tennis Club. The Bears captured the doubles point by winning two of the three doubles matches. Juniors Eric Borden and Zack Fayne teamed up to post a 8-6 win at No. 2 doubles, while junior William McMahan and freshman Charlie Howard netted an 8-4 win at No. 3 doubles.
In singles, WUSTL won five of six matches in singles as Fayne, McMahan, Borden, Howard and sophomore Chris Kuppler each netted victories.
Track & field wins Illinois College Invite
The men’s and women’s track and field teams won the Illinois College Invitational Feb. 12 in Jacksonville, Ill. The men recorded 125 points; the women notched 144 points.
Sophomore Delaina Martin, who again broke the school record in the weight throw, led the women. Martin recorded a throw of 15.48 meters (50-9 1/2), good for an NCAA “B” cut.
The women’s 1,600-meter relay squad also shattered the WUSTL record, clocking a 3:57.33 to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships. Among the other women’s winners, junior Julie McDermitt won the 200-meter dash in a time of 26.79. Junior Laura Ehret took first place in the 800, recording a time of 2:20.85 — a little more than a second shy of the school record. Junior Leah Sabin also won the long jump with a leap of 5.25 meters (16-8), while freshman Cristina Garmendia took first in the triple jump (10.70m, 34-1).
On the men’s side, Lance Moen won the 400 (50.30) and the 1,600-relay squad (3:23.28) finished first.
Juniors Karl Zelik and Drew Martin highlighted the Bears’ field events competitors. Zelik won the long jump with a team season-best mark of 6.71 meters (22-1/4), while Martin took first in the shot put with a throw of 15.13 meters (49-7 3/4).
Men’s basketball splits league road contests
The men’s basketball team moved its overall record to 14-8 as the Bears posted a 1-1 mark last weekend. On Feb. 11, the Bears could not recover from an early 15-0 deficit in suffering an 80-64 loss at Emory.
Junior Scott Stone led the Bears with 11 points, while sophomore Brandon York and freshman Troy Ruths added 10 points off the bench.
Two days later, the Bears posted an 83-63 win at Case Western Reserve. Washington U. finished 10-of-37 from 3-point range, breaking the school record of 35 attempts, set in 1995-96 against Hamilton College. The 37 at-tempts also broke a UAA record. Senior Rob Keller led the Bears with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Stone and Ruths added 11 points apiece.
Women’s tennis loses to D-I Eastern Illinois
The No. 16 women’s tennis team dropped a 5-4 decision to Division I foe Eastern Illinois University Feb. 11 at Sport Vetta Hampshire. The Bears won four of the six singles matches, but could not manage to win a doubles match.
Softball team ranked preseason No. 9
The softball team is ranked No. 9 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Preseason Top 25. Last season, the Bears won their second UAA championship in school history and finished 33-5 and a No. 16 national ranking.
The Bears return 12 letter winners and seven starters from last season, including first-team All-American Liz Swary and third-team All-American Laurel Sagartz.
The Bears open March 5.
Basketball games on Charter Channel 3
The men’s and women’s basketball teams will be broadcast for the second time this season on Charter TV Cable Channel 3 on a tape-delay basis.
Today’s doubleheader against UAA rival Carnegie Mellon will be filmed and re-broadcast Feb. 19. The men’s game will be aired at 1:30 p.m.; the women will be broadcast at 10 p.m.
The men’s contest will be re-aired at 10 a.m. Feb. 21 and the women’s can be seen a second time at 10 p.m. that same day.