Another week, another track record falls
The men’s and women’s indoor track & field teams each picked up first place finishes at the Illinois College Snowbird Open Jan. 22 in Jacksonville, Ill.
Junior Dan Davis highlighted the day’s performances by becoming the second runner in as many weeks to set a school record in the 60-meter hurdles. Davis submitted a time of 8.32 in Saturday’s 60-hurdle preliminaries, matching the school record set just last week by classmate Tyler Jackson. The record-breaking time is also a 2011 NCAA Division III Indoor Championship provisional qualifier.
The men’s team placed first in four events. Senior Ben Harmon won the pole vault by clearing a height of 4.57 meters and senior Chris Malaya won the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.29.
For the women’s team, senior Sangeeta Hardy won the 800-meter run in 2:24.33 and freshman Anna Etherington cleared 3.05 meters in the pole vault to grab another event win. Freshman Shannon Howell turned in an impressive second-place time of 9.65 in the 60-meter hurdle finals and freshman Lizzy Handschy was the runner-up in the mile, finishing in 5:39.30.
Both teams will be back in action Saturday, Jan. 29, for the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Engineer Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind.
Women’s basketball wins pair on the road
The No. 9 women’s basketball team picked up a pair of wins against University Athletic Association (UAA) foes during an East coast road trip last weekend.
Sophomore Kristin Anda scored a team-high 14 points in the Bears’ 80-54 win at New York Jan. 21, while freshman Jordan Rettig (11 points) and senior Kathryn Berger (10 points) also scored in double figures.
WUSTL went on to defeat Brandeis University 66-36 Jan. 23. The Bears opened the game on a 21-1 run, with Berger scoring 14 of her team-high 16 points during that opening stretch. Berger hit four three-pointers against Brandeis while Anda scored 10 points and senior Alex Hoover chipped in with eight points and three assists.
The Bears (13-3, 4-1 UAA) return to action at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28, hosting Carnegie Mellon University at the Field House.
Men’s basketball ends skid
The men’s basketball team had lost six straight road games heading into last weekend but won two key University Athletic Association (UAA) games at New York University, 80-76, and at Brandeis University, 70-36, to stop the skid.
Senior forward Spencer Gay averaged 22.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game for the Bears. Gay tied his career-high with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 8-of-8 shooting from the foul line in the win at NYU Jan. 21. He followed that up with a career-best 23 points and six rebounds on 10-of-15 shooting Jan. 23 at Brandeis.
WUSTL (8-8, 2-3 UAA) returns to action at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28, when it welcomes Carnegie Mellon to the WU Field House.
Swimming & diving sweeps dual meet
The men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams swept a dual meet at Principia College Jan. 21 in Elsah, Ill.
The men’s team picked up a 106-86 victory while the women’s team won 119-56. The dual meet was the final competition for both squads before the 2011 University Athletic Association (UAA) championships Feb. 16-19 in Rochester, N.Y.
WUSTL swept the top spot in multiple events against Principia. In the 200-medley relay, the women’s team of sophomore Veronica Tse, senior Claire Henderson, freshman Shelby Tarkenton and senior Micki Duncan took first (2:00.13), as did the men’s team composed of junior Chris Valach, freshman Tyler Perez, freshman Alex Cox and sophomore Brendan Morin (1:40.28).
Tse added a first-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle (56.86) while Perez also won the 200-yard freestyle (1:50.32). In the 1,000-yard freestyle, freshman Katie Bush (11:27.91) and freshman Brian Carpenter (11:19.73) each picked up a win. The Bears also saw junior Amy Vanlishout (26.03) and freshman Jason Wan (22.86) sweep the 50-yard freestyle.