The U.S. women’s hockey team routs Russia 13-0 on February 16. (Courtesy of Trisha Wolf)

Standing in line to pick up tickets to the USA-Russia women’s hockey game last week in Vancouver, I met a guy who made me feel like I was currently living in an urban metropolis. He was from Yellowknife, the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories. Though Yellowknife is bigger than Sidney, Mont., the town in which I am working, it is more than 900 miles from a major urban center. I live only 200 miles from one.

Though this encounter had very little to do with sports, it shows a few different sides of the Vancouver Olympic experience. First, there were lines everywhere, and they were long. Second, he encouraged me to visit the Canada North House, a part of the Game’s Cultural Olympiad, which highlighted the culture of Canada’s provinces and territories. My family enjoyed the art and performances at the North House the next day. Third, he gave me an awesome Northwest Territories Olympic pin. Pin trading is a huge part of any Olympiad, and I was very excited to have a pin with a dog sled on it.

My father, sister and I spent four days at the Olympics. I had wanted to go to the Olympics since I was 5 and watched Shannon Miller compete in 1992, and I was very excited to make that dream a reality. In addition to the hockey game, my family and I saw the final two runs of the men’s luge competition, a men’s curling session and the victory ceremony in which Alexandre Bilodeau was awarded Canada’s first Olympic gold medal on home soil.

Television does not do luge justice. Standing at the track’s fastest point between curves 15 and 16, you see the sleds whiz by. I did a double take as the first forerunner (lugers who go down the track before the race begins) flew by. They are really, really fast. For the fourth run, my family hiked up the track and saw the race at different points. The speed difference between the top and the bottom is incredible.

My family was unfortunately not immune to the chaos caused by the weather. We had tickets to the women’s super-combined. Originally scheduled for Feb. 14, it was postponed until Feb. 18, two days after we would be leaving Vancouver. Unfortunately, refunds will not be issued until April. We were also among the thousands who had Class B tickets that were disappointingly canceled for the women’s snowboard cross.

Curling was surprisingly enthralling. The United States played Norway, Canada played Germany, and France played China simultaneously. I learned that there are time clocks in curling, learned how points are scored and learned what constitutes a great shot. The crowd went crazy as Canada easily beat Germany. The U.S. heartbreakingly lost to Norway in overtime on the final shot. France defeated China on a brilliant curving shot, clearing two stones to gain position with time running out.

As we walked home on our last night in town, we ran into the French curling team. My sister and I congratulated them on their win, and they thanked us.

Trisha Wolf was a managing editor for Student Life in the 2008-2009 school year.

Senior Alli Alberts competes at the Washington University Invitational on April 4. Alberts took first in four UAA events. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

Washington University’s men’s and women’s track teams both won UAA conference titles Sunday. The women accrued 231.5 points, topping second-place Emory University by 62 points while the men totaled 221 to Carnegie Mellon University’s 152. This was the women’s 10th title in a row and the men’s first since 2006.

“I was completely excited. It wasn’t in my mind that we’d win by 65 points. It was just an amazing feeling,” sophomore Scott Pettit said. “A lot of the credit went to how hard everyone worked as a team.”

The team started out the meet with four wins on Saturday before racking up 14 titles Sunday. “It started early on Saturday and continued,” junior Keith England said of the team’s momentum.

Alli Alberts was the star of the meet, bringing home four UAA titles. She won the 400-meter hurdles in 1:03.98 and the javelin with a 38.74 meter effort. Both of these marks provisionally qualified her for the NCAA championship meet. She teamed with freshman Elisabeth Stocking, sophomore Kelli Blake and junior Molly Schlamb to win the 4×800-meter relay in 9:27.31. Finally, running with fellow seniors Erika Wade, Krystyn Stowe and Danielle Wadlington, she helped to win the 4×400-meter relay in an NCAA provisional time of 3:55.99.

Wadlington was also a multi-event winner for the Bears. In addition to the 4×400 win, she won the triple jump, leaping 11.65 meters and the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 14.58, both of which topped the provisional standard.

Freshman Katie Hered won the pole vault title, clearing 3.37 meters while classmate Erica Jackey took the 1,500-meter run in 4:40.40.

On the men’s side, senior Pierre Hoppenot brought home three titles of his own. He swept the sprints, winning the 100-meter dash in 10.97 and the 200 meter dash in 22.05. He, along with fellow senior Todd Mowry, junior Iboro Umana and sophomore Tom Gulyas, won the 4×100-meter relay in 41.93 seconds, setting a school record.

Umana brought home multiple titles of his own as did sophomore Ben Harmon and senior Tanner Coghill. Umana also won the 400-meter dash in 49.68 seconds. Coghill took the 400-meter hurdles, running them in 52.90 seconds to provisionally qualify for the NCAA championships and the triple jump, leaping 14.03 meters. Harmon completed the pole vault sweep, clearing 4.44 meters and also won the long jump, leaping 7.12 meters, another provisional mark.

England completed the javelin sweep, tossing it 60.48 meters to set a UAA record and provisionally qualify for the NCAA championships. Freshman Tyler Jackson also won the 110-meter hudles in 15.03 seconds.

Two Bears also recorded provisional marks in events they did not win. Wadlington provisionally qualified in the long jump after finishing second with a leap of 5.63 meters. Classmate Aubrey Edwards finished third in the hammer throw with a toss of 49.52 meters, good enough to top Delaina Martin’s school record.

“It was really exciting,” Edwards said. “I didn’t know at the time. I totally look up to her. It was great to be on the same level.”

In the women’s meet, sophomore Taryn Surtees and freshman Jessica Londeree took second and third respectively in the 10,000 meters. Junior Hope Rathnam took third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as did the women’s 4×100-meter relay, composed of junior Caitlin Hartsell and seniors Wadlington, Trudi Pugatch and Molloy. Molloy also finished second in the 100-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles as did Wade in the 400-meter dash. Jackey took third in the 800-meter run while Wadlington finished in the same spot in the 200-meter dash.

On the field, seniors Jessica Lane and Colleen Moreland cemented Wash. U. dominance in the pole vault, taking second and third. Edwards also finished third in the shot put.

In the men’s meet, sophomore David Spandorfer finished second in the 10,000-meters. The men’s 4×400-meter relay, composed of Umana, Coghill, Harmon and junior Chris Malaya also took second. Junior Alden Black took third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Freshman Dan Davis also took third in the 110-meter hurdles as did Mowry in the 200-meter dash.

In the field events, senior Brent Sensenich finished second in the discus and third in the shot put. Classmate Danny Luce took third in the discus.

Overall, the team was very excited about the results. “This is one of the only meets where [the team] actually matters,” Alberts said. “We’re a team at conference. It matters if you beat the team next to you.”

The team will compete next at the Pacesetter Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind. on May 2 in continued preparation for the NCAA championships. The team is hoping to carry this success throughout the rest of the season.

“I think all of us are really excited about the momentum,” Edwards said. “We’re all starting to think that if we can continue on this swing of energy there’s a nice chance of doing well at nationals.”

On Saturday, the Red and Green beat local rival Principia College 3-0 to advance. Junior Caryn Rosoff scored the game winner in the 16th minute. Senior back Shirey Lane hit a cross to Rosoff in front of the net. Rosoff found herself in a one-on-one situation with Principia goalie Mel Stein and one-timed the ball into the net.

Principia nearly tied the score 10 minutes later when freshman Alicia Girbes-Pierce broke away and was one-on-one with Wash. U. keeper Amanda Boe. Girbes-Pierce’s shot ricocheted off of the post.

The Bears broke away in the second half. Senior Caitlin Malone shot a ball into the corner of the net off of a Rosoff pass 10 minutes into the half. She added another insurance goal in the 63rd minute when she took a pass from senior midfielder Lauren Mehner and put the ball into the net from 20 yards out. Boe and sophomore Katy Southworth combined in the net for the shutout. With the loss, Principia ends its season with a 19-2 record with both losses coming against Wash. U.

“We knew we could beat them. We had done it before. They had nothing to lose, so it was harder in that regard,” Malone said.

The first half of the second round game against Illinois Wesleyan University was very evenly matched. The Titans had just come off of a 4-3 penalty kick victory over Rhodes College but showed no signs of weariness. Illinois Wesleyan had a great scoring opportunity in the 20th minute when sophomore Alyssa Feulner got off a powerful shot. Boe made a diving save to preserve the tie. Wash. U. answered in the 31st minute with a scramble in front of the net. The Bears, however, could not capitalize on the open net.

Boe played brilliantly in the second half as well, knocking two shots over the crossbar to keep the Titans off the board.

“It was the best save I have ever seen,” Head Coach Jim Conlon said of one of Boe’s punches.

The Bears looked like they might have put the game away in the 84th minute as freshman Lee Ann Felder took a free kick right outside the box before the wall was set. Illinois Wesleyan keeper Alli Novack made a solid diving save. Regulation ended in a 0-0 tie.

After one overtime, the game remained tied at 0-0. No one could find the net in the second overtime either, meaning the game would be decided on penalty kicks. Boe saved her best soccer for the end of the game, saving three of the four penalty kicks she faced. The Bears made three of theirs, enough to win the game and move on. Marulli nailed the winning kick. Mehner and junior Becca Heymann also made penalty kicks.

“I knew where they were going before the shot. I knew we were going to win,” Boe said.

The Bears will now face Wheaton College in the Sweet Sixteen. Wheaton will host the next two rounds of play. The Bears are excited to face their longtime rival for the first time this season.

“We will start to put together a game plan for the Wheaton match so that we can advance,” Conlon said.

With its third-place finish, the women received an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships on Nov. 22.

The women came into the meet with high expectations after placing first in the past three regional meets. However, the Lady Bears fell short by only nine points to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and runner-up University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Placing for the Lady Bears were sophomore Taryn Surtees, freshman Elizabeth Phillips and junior Molly Schlamb, who placed fifth, 12th and 20th respectively. All three runners received NCAA All-Midwest Region recognition Saturday.

Schlamb described this season as “incredible…because having graduated those awesome seniors, we’ve been given a challenge. We’ve gotten the chance to show that while we are young, we are tough, and that our expectations for success haven’t changed.”

Junior Hope Rathnam and graduate student Angela Hartman placed 32nd and 48th respectively.

“We have been through a lot of health issues, but we will be standing at the start line next Saturday with a healthy and prepared team. I really think we can finish anywhere from 2-12,” Head Coach Jeff Stiles said.

The men fell short to No. 2 ranked North Central College, who won the meet with 51 points. Sophomore Dave Spandorfer anchored the team, placing 41st with a time of 25:49.6.

“While we weren’t thrilled with our results, I think we can use this as a motivation to get better for indoor, outdoor and ultimately next cross country season,” Spandorfer said.

Also scoring for the bears were senior Nick Silverman, junior Alex Bearden, freshman Tucker Hartley and junior Matt Kruger, who placed 54th, 58th, 62nd and 77th, respectively.

“The season for the men was one of maturation. We return six of the seven guys who competed at Regionals. We have had some key members injured, but the ingredients are on campus to be a great team. I couldn’t have been more proud of our effort at regionals,” Stiles said.

“We ran hard. Some guys ran better than they expected, and some guys weren’t as far up as they had hoped, but we competed…we went out there and gave it our all,” Silverman said after racing in his final cross country race at Wash. U.

The women will continue their season next weekend after receiving an at-large berth to the Division III Cross Country Championship meet. The race will begin at noon on Saturday in Hanover, Ind.

“We were in a very difficult situation,” senior captain Shirey Lane said. “We knew that we had already won the conference. We didn’t give our best that we can give and didn’t play to win.”

“We put together a good game. They capitalized on an opportunity. We had some early opportunities that we couldn’t capitalize on. Maybe the refs had one or two slightly off calls,” Head Coach Jim Conlon said.

The team celebrated Senior Day Saturday, honoring its nine seniors before the game. Former Head Coach Wendy Dillinger made a return to St. Louis for the recognition ceremony. All nine seniors also started Saturday’s game.

Wash. U. came out on fire Saturday, dominating the first half. Senior captain Caitlin Malone narrowly missed a goal in the 16th minute, stumbling as she finished her shot. Junior Elyse Hanly took a shot on an open net in the 23rd minute, but a Chicago defender blocked the shot. Classmate Lib-by Held nearly buried a free kick later in the 23rd minute, but Maroon keeper Polly Kline made a diving save to keep the game tied at 0-0. Questionable offsides calls also broke up a few more opportunities. Overall, the Bears outshot the Maroons 8-3, including another impressive free kick on Held’s part in the half, but the half ended in a 0-0 tie.

“We were lucky to get out of the first half,” Chicago Head Coach Amy Reifert said. “They outplayed us and were clearly the better team.”

It was Chicago that stole the show in the second half. Realizing that they had to win this game to have a shot at the postseason, the Maroons upped the tempo and controlled the half. Senior Sigrid Nachtergaele scored the game-winning goal in the 85th minute as a ball deflected off of several players and bounced over senior keeper Amanda Boe’s head.

“I’m a little bit in disbelief,” Nachtergaele said. “Wash. U. came out strong. I’m so proud of our team. It was a big turn-around.”

“It was pretty unfortunate that we lost. We didn’t play to our full potential. It was a close game and we got unlucky,” Held said.

Even with the loss, Wash. U. is ready for the postseason. “Our players are very focused, very determined,” Conlon said. “We have played six Top 25 opponents this season and have gone 6-0-1 against them. We’re ready to make a deep run in the tournament.”

The Red and Green will learn of their postseason fate at 11 a.m. this morning when the draw is announced.

“The next time this happens, the season is over,” Lane said. “The way [Saturday] ended will help us refocus and bring us back to the gravity of the situation.”

Junior John Watts and seniors Chris Hoeland and Charlie Cutler finished in third place in the singles and doubles competitions respectively at the 2008 Wilson/ITA National Small College Championships held this past weekend in Mobile, Ala.

“We were disappointed not to win the tournament,” Cutler said, “but we definitely had a good fall season and can’t be too upset with our results.” Watts, the top seed and defending champion of the event, fell in the semifinals 6-4, 6-3 to eventual champion John Kauss of Gustavus Adolphus College.

Watts had defeated the University of California-Santa Cruz’s Max Liberty-Point 6-2, 6-2 in the first round of play to advance to the semifinals. In the third-place match, he topped Conrad Olson of Middlebury College 6-4, 6-4. Kauss defeated Emory University freshman Chris Goodwin 6-2, 6-3 to win the title.

Hoeland and Cutler, also the top seeds in the doubles draw, finished third at the event for the second year in a row. They beat Bobby Cocanaugher and Cory Kowal of Trinity University 6-4, 6-4 before falling to Kauss and Mike Burdakin 5-7, 7-6 (5), 10-5 in a semifinal match that lasted nearly three hours. The team rebounded to beat Amrit Rupasinghe and Ben Stein of Bates College 7-6 (2), 6-4 for third place. Kauss and Burdakin fell to Goodwin and his older brother Michael in the championship match 7-6 (3), 6-1.

The conclusion of this tournament effectively ends the fall season for the Bears. They will play next on February 14 against Drury University, currently ranked third in Division II tennis, in Springfield, Mo. Official practices will begin again in January.

If the fall season serves as an indicator, Wash. U. seems poised to make a run at defending its national title. No one graduated from last year’s team, and three singles players made it to the quarterfinals of the fall regional championships, as did four doubles teams. There were also seven seeded singles players and four seeded doubles teams in the same tournament for the Red and Green. The doubles regional championship match was an all-Wash. U. affair with Cutler and Hoeland defeating teammates Isaac Stein and Max Woods, both sophomores, 6-1, 7-5 for the title.

“We had a really good fall,” Cutler said. “We dominated the region across the board.”

“We have a very good team from top to bottom,” Watts added.

Perhaps winning the team’s first-ever UAA title will be just as difficult of a feat as defending their national title. Emory again looks to be among the toughest competition for the Bears at both levels.

“[The conference title] is one of the things we really want to win,” Hoeland said. “We were really close the last two years, and Emory has won it 20 years running.”

During the off season, the Bears will continue to focus on the more important spring season, highlighted by their goals of winning the elusive UAA title and another national title. “For me, it feels like I have much more to accomplish this year,” Watts said.

“From last weekend and regionals, I definitely feel like we can realistically go after other not yet reached goals like an Indoor National Championship in late February…and/or conference title this April,” Head Coach Roger Follmer said.

“We played a lot of tennis in 36 hours, close to 42 matches in two day,” Head Coach Kelly Stahlhuth said. “The competition was really tough. We did not have a lot of free passes and did well.”

Three Lady Bears advanced to the round of 16 in the championship singles draw, though none advanced beyond that mark.

Senior Erin Swaller fell in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3 to Kenyon College’s Prita Kidder while sophomore Jaclyn Bild lost 6-1, 7-5 to University of Chicago rival Carmen Vaca Guzman. Sophomore Karina Kocemba had the closest match of the day, battling Chicago’s Chrissy Hu for three sets before falling 2-6, 6-3, 6-1. “It’s good to go as we can see new players, especially the University of Chicago, before our actual season,” sophomore Elise Sambol said.

Sophomore Kristin Fleming and Tingir also experienced success in the main draw, advancing to the second round.

In the singles consolation bracket, sophomore Alex Cassady reached the semifinals before being forced to withdraw. “Academics comes first,” Fleming said. According to Fleming, Cassady had a chemistry class on Monday afternoon that she could not skip and was forced to default to catch the flight home. Tchergueiko and Sambol also played singles for the Red and Green.

Doubles proved to be a tournament highlight for Wash. U. In addition to Tchergueiko and Tingir’s win, Swaller and Cassady advanced to the quarterfinals before losing 8-6 to Greer Mackie and Kayla Smith from DePauw University. Kocemba suffered another tough defeat in the round of 16 to Hu, as she and partner Fleming fell 9-8 (7-5) to Hu and Tiffany Nguyen.

Bild and Sambol also played championship doubles, losing in the first round in a 9-8 (7-3) heartbreaker to Kenyon’s Anna Becker and Julia Diskint. They advanced to the consolation semifinals before losing 8-4 to Sarah Short and Courtney Steiner of Denison University.

“Doubles is turning a good corner now. We knew that we had the singles last year, and the doubles have improved a ton in four weeks,” Stahlhuth said.

Wash. U. has some downtime before taking on Wartburg College on Saturday, Feb. 21 in Belleville, Ill. The team is no longer allowed to practice formally until January. “We have a firm understanding and idea of what to work on,” Swaller said. The team plans on having informal practices without Stahlhuth.

“We have the men as inspiration and want to follow in their footsteps,” Fleming said.

—With additional reporting by Johann Qua Hiansen

The men’s team, coming off the disappointment of not qualifying for the NCAA meet last season, was paced by junior Matt Kruger, who finished 15th overall in the field of 185 runners. The team finished very tightly bunched with remaining scorers freshman Kyle Short, junior Zach Griffen, sophomore Dave Spandorfer and sophomore Erik Hinrichsen finishing in 17th, 18th, 21st and 22nd places, respectively. The last two runners on the team, freshman Tucker Hartley and sophomore Kwin Keuter, also stayed close and nabbed 23rd and 25th places. All seven runners recorded personal records (PRs) at the not often run 6K distance.

“I was thrilled with the men’s race,” head coach Jeff Stiles said. “We put our fifth runner in front of where our second runner was two years ago when we qualified for NCAAs. We really demonstrated that qualifying for the NCAAs on the men’s side is very realistic.”

The women’s team opened its season on a very different note from the men. Coming off a third-place finish at the NCAA meet last year where three runners received All-American Citations, the team lost four of its top runners, while several of the remaining top underclassmen opened the season plagued with injuries. 2007 UAA Rookie of the Year Taryn Surtees sat out the race, as did junior Molly Schlamb, who also ran at NCAAs last year, junior Colleen Davis, sophomore Kelli Blake, who received an All-American citation in the distance medley relay at last year’s NCAA indoor track championships meet and top recruit Liz Phillips.

Different runners stepped up and took the place of those missing from the lineup. Graduate student Angela Hartman led the team with a 24th place finish while senior Hillary Superak, junior Hope Rathnam, a member of the NCAA team last year, and freshman Hannah Fox finished right on Hartman’s tail in 25th, 26th and 27th places, respectively. Freshman Erica Jackey rounded out the rest of the scorers in 29th place. Four out of the Bears’ top five recorded PRs at the also unstandard 4K distance.

A highlight of the meet for all of the Red and Green competitors was that several alumni put together teams on both the men’s and women’s sides. Both teams placed second overall. All-American Greg Reindl (2006), paced the men’s team, finishing third overall, while Jesse McDaniel (2008) was seventh. Tyler Small (1998) finished 13th while Joe Guinness (2008) and Matt Hoelle (2004), an Academic All-American, finished 26th and 28th.

Three-time All-American Beth Herndon (2007) and four-time All-American Maggie Grabow (2005), both two-time UAA Cross Country Runners of the Year, were the stars on the women’s team, taking first and second overall in the women’s race. Erica Schoeller, a friend of several of the Wash. U. runners, finished 15th, and Lisa Sudmeier (2008) finished 18th while Abbey Hartmann (2008) finished 23rd to round out the scorers.

“Our alumni were simply awesome,” Stiles said. “They reinforce that we are a family and that once you are a part of the family, you are always an important thought. The alumni are the ones that have laid the foundation of hard work, traditions and success.”

The Bears return to action Saturday, September 13 at the Les Duke Invitational in Grinnell, Iowa where they hope to return on their opening performances.

“We are really just now starting to train hard,” Hartley said. “The point is to get through September healthy and test our fitness. We are getting to work now.”

“He wants to take care of his players,” senior Shirey Lane said. “He knows soccer and is a good guy. He wants to know us and is big on communication. He wants to make sure everyone understands things from all angles.”

Conlon’s coaching strategy should work well at his new job as he tries to create families out of all of his teams. This spirit is unifying the team after it faced cuts for the first time in several years. The 28-player roster is still considered to be large at any level, but will, according to Conlon, allow for much more effective practices than would have been possible on the original team of 37 players.

The team returns much of its strength from last year. Led by tri-captains Lane, Becca Heymann and Caitlin Malone, the team is poised to defend its UAA title. Junior Caryn Rosoff, an All-American last season, will again lead the offense. After notching 10 goals and 28 points last season, she now sits in eighth place on the all-time leaders lists for both goals scored and total points after just two seasons played at the Danforth Campus. Malone, a senior, and Heymann, a junior, finished second and third in last year’s points standings with 22 and 20 points, respectively. Malone also notched five game-winning goals last season, bringing her career total to nine, which ties her for fourth in the all-time standings and second in the single season standings. Freshman Lee Ann Felder has also come on strong during preseason and is a strong candidate to make an impact upfront.

The core defensive line-up, composed of Lane and juniors Libby Held and Cassie Scaman, also looks to make an impact as they play together for the third straight season. Three freshmen also look to add depth to the defensive rotation. Senior Amanda Boe will anchor the team in goal, after serving as Carrie Sear’s back-up for two seasons.

Sear proves to be the biggest loss from last season’s roster, after posting a 0.55 goals against average over the course of her career. The graduation of Kim O’Keefe also left big shoes to fill leadership-wise, though the team was forced to replace her on the field a year early when she missed her entire senior season with a torn ACL. Both of last year’s starting outside midfielders Abbey Hartmann and Marin McCarthy also graduated, as did key defensive sub Jessica Deneweth. Therese Fox, a starting forward last season, has also opted not to play this fall.

“We have a really deep team and a lot of girls are fighting for those positions,” Heymann said.

Overall, the freshman class looks very strong this fall, as do several of the returning players. Three other players who saw starting time last year also return, highlighted by all-UAA selection and senior Carly Anderson.

“I have to give a lot of credit to our seniors and captain,” Conlon said. “They have been great leaders. The freshmen are also showing good ability, though they have not handled the pressure of being student athletes.”

“We have several freshmen that play more than one position. Their versatility helps us in the long run,” Malone added.

For the first time in several years, the team will have the opportunity to start the season at home. The Washington University Classic is scheduled for this weekend at Francis Field, with the Red and Green facing Calvin College at 8 p.m. on Friday and Hope College at the same time Saturday.

As always, the team has lofty goals for the season. “We want to win a national championship,” Malone said. “We really want to establish Wash. U. as a power in soccer.”