The Washington University in St. Louis Department of Athletics finished second in the 2011-12 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup Division III standings, as announced by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).
The second-place finish ties for the highest in school history and is the Bears’ 10th consecutive top-10 appearance — 2010-11 (third), 2009-10 (third), 2008-09 (fourth), 2007-08 (second), 2006-07 (fifth), 2005-06 (seventh), 2004-05 (third), 2003-04 (ninth), 2002-03 (fifth).
WUSTL, which was first after the fall and the winter standings, accumulated a school record 980.25 points. The Bears’ previous high was 964 points after a third-place finish in 2010-11.
Middlebury College captured its first Directors’ Cup with 1040.75 points after scoring in the maximum 18 sports. Washington University (980.25) was second and Williams College was third with 964.50 points.
Amherst College finished fourth with 950.75 points, while the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater rounded out the top five with 815.50 points.
WUSTL was one of five University Athletic Association (UAA) members within the top 100 in Division III: Emory University (sixth, 727 points), University of Chicago (38th, 405 points), Case Western Reserve University (73rd, 264 points) and New York University (88th, 221.50 points).
WUSTL had 17 of 19 teams compete in NCAA tournament action, and recorded seven top-10 finishes. WUSTL also won eight UAA titles and posted a combined sports record of 203-69-1 (.745). The Bears had four teams make Final Four appearances in 2011-12, led by the national championship women’s cross country team.
WUSTL also placed third in men’s cross country and women’s indoor track and field, fourth in men’s tennis, fifth in women’s soccer and sixth in women’s outdoor track and field.
Rogalski picks up All-America honors
Senior baseball player Brandon Rogalski added 2012 All-America honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings and D3Baseball.com to his career accomplishments.
Rogalski received second-team All-America honors from D3Baseball.com, while earning third-team All-America accolades from ABCA/Rawlings. A 2011 first-team All-American, he became just the second player in WUSTL history to earn back-to-back All-America honors. Rogalski joins Marc Gluckman who was a first-team All-American in 1983 and a second-team selection in 1984.
Rogalski, an outfielder and a pitcher, was also the only student-athlete from the University Athletic Association (UAA) to receive All-America honors this season. The 2012 UAA Player of the Year, Rogalski broke his own single-season school records with 77 hits and 178 at bats in 2012.
On April 24, he became WUSTL’s all-time hits leader, finishing his career with 216 hits. Overall, he finished his career ranked in the top 10 all-time in eight offensive categories.
Rogalski’s 77 hits led the UAA and ranked 10th in NCAA Division III this season, and he also led the conference with 40 RBIs and 105 total bases. He finished with a .433 batting average, which ranked 18th in Division III.
Rogalski also posted a 2-0 record with one save and a 1.84 ERA in nine appearances on the mound for the Bears. He received UAA Athlete of the Week honors three times during the season, and was named to the D3Baseball.com Team of the Week March 28.
WUSTL ended its season with a 28-14 record and finished as the UAA runner-up. The Bears also advanced to the postseason for the eighth time in school history.
WUSTL lands three on all-America tennis teams
Washington University had three student-athletes named to the 2012 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-America Teams for NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Tennis.
Junior Adam Putterman and freshman Ross Putterman each earned All-America accolades for the men’s team, while senior Natalie Tingir picked up the lone honor for the women’s team.
Adam Putterman garnered All-America honors in both singles and doubles, becoming just the third player (Charlie Cutler, Ari Rosenthal) in school history to achieve the feat. He also picked up academic all-America honors earlier in the month, being selected to the 2012 Capital One
Academic All-America Division III men’s at-large second team.
Ross Putterman earned All-America honors with Adam Putterman in doubles, while Tingir capped her career with All-America accolades in singles. Tingir is the seventh women’s tennis player to earn All-America honors, and the first since Carrie Preston in 2006.
Take the Jon Block Challenge for WUSTL athletics
Jon Block, Class of 1982 and men’s tennis letterwinner, is
challenging his fellow alumni letterwinners to support WUSTL athletics.
Block will make a gift of $10,000 to the Department of Athletics if 350 more donors join the W Club by June 30.
The W Club gives current student athletes access to coaching, new equipment and uniforms and travel to competitions.
Contributions can be made in four ways:
Online at gifts.wustl.edu/GiftForm.aspx?brd=Athletics; by phone at
(314) 935-3911; by fax at (314) 935-9161; or by mail to The W Club,
Campus Box 1202, 7425 Forsyth Blvd., Suite 2300, St. Louis, Mo., 63105.