Bear Sports Fall 2012

It’s another year for the record books for Washington University’s athletic teams. This fall, track champion Elizabeth Phillips, BSBME ’12, continued to rake in the accolades for her academic and athletic prowess, adding both 2012 NCAA Woman of the Year and the NCAA Today’s Top 10 Award honors to her impressive résumé. She is the third NCAA Division III student-athlete to win the Woman of the Year award, and the first from Washington University.

Phillips, who graduated in May with a degree in biomedical engineering and a 4.0 GPA, completed her career as one of the most decorated student-athletes in school history. She is now in her first year of medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, where she also serves as a volunteer assistant cross country coach.

Bears sports teams claimed the University Athletic Association (UAA) Conference Championships in men’s cross country, women’s soccer, football and men’s soccer. Read on for more about this season’s victories.

• Football: On Nov. 10, the Bears defended possession of the Founders Cup and won their ninth UAA Championship, beating rival University of Chicago 23–7. The football team ended the regular season on a four-game winning streak, with a 5-5 overall record (3-0 in conference play). Twenty-four Bears were named to the All-UAA Football Team.

• Men’s Cross Country: The men’s cross country team won the UAA Championships for the third straight year on Oct. 27. The team went on to place third at the NCAA Midwest Regionals, earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships. There, the team placed fifth out of 32 teams, with junior Kevin Sparks placing fifth in the men’s 8,000 meters. Sparks was also named UAA Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Year.

• Women’s Cross Country: The women’s cross country team took fourth place at the UAA Championships in October, where sophomore Lucy Cheadle won the 6,000 meters by more than 30 seconds. At the NCAA Midwest Regionals, she placed second and earned an individual qualification to the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships. Cheadle was named the UAA Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Year.

• Men’s Soccer: The men’s soccer team finished the regular season with a record of 10-5-2. In their final game, the team posted a 0–0 double-overtime draw against University of Chicago to finish in a four-way tie for first place in the UAA standings with Brandeis, Carnegie Mellon and Emory. The UAA title is the eighth in school history. They lost in the first round of the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championships in November. Junior Jonathan Jebson and senior Brian Wright were named to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-District Five First Team.

• Women’s Soccer: The women’s soccer team ended the regular season with a best-ever record of 19-2-1 (6-0-1 in conference play), winning their eighth UAA Championship. The team succeeded to the NCAA Division III Championship playoffs for the sixth time in school history, but, playing without UAA co-player of the year Anna Zambricki, went on to lose in the third round to Wheaton College, the opponent responsible for all of the team’s losses this season.

• Volleyball: At the UAA Championship, the team earned wins over University of Rochester and the University of Chicago and then fell to Emory University in the title match. It was the 26th time the team qualified for the championship, and the 14th time Washington University and Emory have squared off for the UAA title. In the chase for the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championships, the team advanced to regionals before losing to Elmhurst College. WUSTL finished the regular season with a 31-4 overall record and an 8-2 mark in the UAA.

Visit bearsports.wustl.edu for more information.