Student Life Archives

“I have been looking forward to the start of our regular season since fall ball began,” softball captain Kristin Harrer said.

After practicing as early as 7:00 a.m. on both weekdays and weekends since mid-October, Harrer and her 20 teammates are justified in their excitement. The Bears are set to open their season in Florida over spring break, playing 14 games in 10 days. The team will compete in the Rebel Springs Games in Orlando starting Mar. 2, and then head to Alamonte Springs for the UAA Conference Tournament from Mar. 7-11.

The team also has high hopes as result of a breakthrough finish to the 2002 season.

“Last year was special for Bear softball,” Harrer said. “Not only was it our best season yet with an NCAA Regional berth, but our team chemistry was absolutely amazing.”

Last season, head coach Cindy Zelinsky led her 13 athletes to a 24-19 record against a difficult schedule and into their first NCAA Tournament appearance in the team’s three-year existence.

This year, the squad expects even greater success.

“The goals that will most readily deem this season as ‘successful’ are, as always, winning the UAA’s,” Harrer said, “doing well throughout the season in regional competition, making it to the NCAA regional tournament for the second time, and hopefully bringing home recognition for challenging quite a few teams during the College World Series in May.”

“When I came in as a freshman, we won the UAA tournament,” senior Elissa Beckman said. “Now, as a senior, I hope to go out with a second UAA championship, and I know that we have got what it takes to do that.”

With ten freshmen and one transfer, new depth and talent this season should help the Bears achieve their goals.

“With the 21 players that we have this year, I can say that we now have both the quality and the quantity,” Beckman said. “We honestly are 21 strong, and have so many player combinations to work with depending on what is needed in that particular game situation.”

“In the past,” said Harrer, “we have never had the number of offensive and defensive options that we will enjoy this year. Every practice has been different people switching in and out of positions and changing things up.

“It has brought out skills in my teammates that I have never gotten to see before, and neither has our competition.”

In addition to Harrer, sophomores Victoria Ramsey and Liz Swary will likely be forces to reckon with again.

As a junior last season, Harrer, an infielder, earned first team all-UAA and first team all-Midwest Regional awards.

Ramsey, then a starting pitcher, also received All-UAA and all-Midwest Regional recognition. She posted a 1.20 ERA in 2002, with a 14-7 win-loss record.

Swary hit in 29 consecutive games for the fifth longest hitting streak in the NCAA Division III history. Six home runs and 35 RBI’s contributed to her .386 batting average.

“Swary’s bat is still unbelievable,” Harrer said. “Also, freshman Monica Hanono is really fun to watch… she is one of the smoothest defenders I have ever played with, and she’s also a huge threat at the plate.

“Maggie Cousins, a transfer from Miami University (Ohio), is a major leader in the outfield, and senior pitcher Liz Smith and sophomore catcher Jackie Burgdorf have been on fire during pre-season.”

However, Harrer explained that the whole team understands that “in order to be a championship team, everyone returning has a key leadership role – on and off the field.”

Last season, the team did not win the conference title, and even if it had, the UAA Conference winner doesn’t receive an automatic bid to the national tournament. Thus, the Bears could only hope that a committee of coaches would vote them into the tournament-which they eventually did.

“We all knew that we could compete with and beat anyone who qualified, and that we deserved to be there,” said Harrer. ” This year there will be no questions. We will be going to the tournament, and there will be no, ‘if only we had beaten…'”

WU will host two tournaments of its own this season, the Marriott West Invitational on Mar. 22-23 and the WU Midwest Region Invitational on Mar. 28. The Bears will also face Webster University in a doubleheader for their last regular-season games at home May 3.

Losing sucks.

There is a certain aura to perfection, an unbeaten record. Teams cherish it. Teams try to avoid talking about “the streak”-or even thinking about it. Players like to live by the mantra, “Take it one game at a time.”

When a team is on a long winning streak, fans start assuming that they will never lose.

“They are too good to lose!” the over-zealous fan will say.

Winning becomes an afterthought to these teams, and instead, the margin of victory is analyzed.

After a while, when the winning streak reaches 10, 15 or even 20 games, a sense of accomplishment starts to set in. A healthy cockiness emerges, making a loss that much harder to stomach when it finally does happen.

“How could we lose? We were 10-0!”

When perfection is erased, when the buzzer sounds and a team loses for the first time in a season, hopes and dreams will be humbled. Expectations are lowered unconsciously. Doubt grows.

“Are we as good as we thought we were?”

Vulnerability can set in. Players begin to question their skills.

“Do I still have the touch from three point range?”

Coaches begin to second-guess their strategies.

“Does the triangle offense suit this team?”

Reporters begin to ask questions.

“Coach, why didn’t you play for the tie?”

We place teams and individuals who, through luck, skill, or a combination of both, avoid losing, on a pedestal. And we should. Teams that escape the gauntlet of an entire season unscathed deserve our admiration. Indeed, perfect seasons are mythical, magical, few and far between.

In college athletics, perfection has special meaning. We remember Wooden and Knight, Paterno and Bowden, Summit and Auriemma. At this level, perfection is attainable, but rare. Yet, somehow, for so many teams, perfection is well within their reach. It is often just a couple of wins away.

WU coach Nancy Fahey knows a little something about perfection herself. She guided the Bears to an 81 game winning streak, good for second best all-time and surpassed only by John Wooden’s 88 game winning streak at UCLA.

Over the weekend, WU basketball lost its hold on perfection in one fell swoop as two hungry Rochester teams erased the unblemished records of both the men and the women.

One afternoon, one bad bounce, one unexpected courageous performance.

Two teams, two losses, two perfect seasons gone up in smoke.

One loss is okay in the grand scheme of things, as long as it is not in the playoffs, when every move counts. Just ask the WU volleyball team about that.

They were 41-1 going into the national championship match, and they lost. Every player on the team would no doubt have traded in their near-perfect season in a heartbeat to become the best Division III team in the country.

So there will be no new additions to the short list of teams that have gone through an NCAA season undefeated.

Still, these losses are no cause for alarm. While perfection is gone, championship hopes remain. There is no shame in losing at Rochester. UAA away games are always difficult-hostile fans, jazzed players, teams looking to bump WU off its perch atop the conference.

Perfection has slipped by, but there is still time to become champions. A week remains in the regular season; then on to the tournament. Adjustments can be made. Plays can be changed. Team defense can be tightened. WU can still make history.

The Bears still have a chance to become immortalized. They still have a chance to make ESPN’s top plays and USA Today’s sports page. All they need to do is achieve perfection of a different kind.

If the WU men’s and women’s teams both capture the championship, they will become only the second program in NCAA history (Connecticut did it in 1998) to win both the men’s and women’s titles in the same year.

They have lost perfection, but they can still carve out a legacy.

On Saturday, the Bears competed at the DePauw Invitational in Greencastle, IN. The women took first place and the men took second place in what turned out to be a competition more with themselves and less with other schools.

The one athlete who has consistently been winning is junior All-American Kammie Holt. In the long jump, Holt set a new Bears indoor record with a long jump of 5.75m (18’10.5″). Her jump automatically qualified her for the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships.

In addition, her jump eclipsed the meet record by 63 cm and extended her undefeated streak in the horizontal jumps in 2003. This impressive performance was on par with her triple jump performance at the Pepsi Classic last week where she jumped an astounding 11.95m (39’2.5″), 30 cm greater than the meet record of 11.65m and 15 cm greater than the automatic NCAA qualifying jump of 11.80m.

However, Kammie Holt’s individual performances, although impressive, may have been overshadowed by the performances of her teammates. In fact, the performances of her teammates were a contributing factor to her own success.

“My body felt great and ready to go today,” Holt said. “I didn’t have to worry about any injuries I’ve had to worry about in the past, so I think that helped a lot. And I also think that the performances of the other jumpers helped a great deal as well-I mean, there were [personal records] all over the place, so they kind of got the ball rolling.”

Those jumpers were junior Lindsey Clark-Ryan, senior Adrianna Leigh, freshman Leah Sabin, and freshman Julie McDermitt. In the long jump, Clark-Ryan took third with a personal-best leap of 5.30m (17’04.75″), followed by Leigh who took fifth with a personal-best jump of 5.13m (16’10”). Sabin and McDermitt took sixth and seventh in the long jump with jumps of 5.01 m (16’05.25″) and 4.97 m (16’03.75″) respectively.

In the triple jump, Clark-Ryan won with a personal best leap of 11.32m (37’01.75″) followed by Sabin who had a personal best jump of 11.01 m (36′.01.5″). With this jump, Clark-Ryan improved her NCAA provisional qualifying mark by .06m, and she broke the previous record meet by .69m.

Leigh, who jumped for the first time this season following a stress fracture, epitomized the emotions of all the female jumpers when she said, “It was cool that we had six jumpers out there, and we were all feeding off of each other.”

In addition to the excellent performances by the women jumpers, the men’s throwers also had a very impressive day. In fact, they broke six personal records between the four of them. In the shot put, sophomore Eric Frye took sixth with a personal-best throw of 13.28m (43’06.75″), and sophomores Mike George and Kyle Wagner set personal records of 12.98m (42’07”) and 12.76m (41’10.25″) respectively. Finally, Senior Alex Konkel set a personal record in the shot put with a throw of 12.42m (40’09”). In the 35-lb weight throw both Konkel and Wagner had personal record tosses of 13.50m (44’03.5″) and 11.32m (38’01.75″).

“It was a rush to watch these guys throw personal records over and over and over,” Bears head coach Steve Rubin said. “They developed this moment within their group, and it got to the point where every time one of them stepped into the circle, you knew you were about to see another great performance.”

courtesy of washubaseball.com

It is now late February. Spring training is starting up, and basketball season is winding down. You can’t help but anticipate the upcoming baseball season.

Then you look outside and see the ground covered in white stuff.

Today was supposed to be Opening Day for the Washington University baseball team. The Bears were set to play a seven-game homestand against foes such as Webster University and Maryville College. Sunday’s snow-storm, however, has most likely eliminated any chance of the games being played. The Bears will now likely open their season Mar. 7 at the UAA tournament in Sanford, Fl.

“In this area, weather really dictates a lot how your season’s going to go,” said head coach Ric Lessmann, who’s beginning his tenth season at WU. “You have a good team, and all of a sudden, you just can’t play. Every other day it could be raining, you could be playing in mud… things kind of have to go well in the college ranks.”

Regardless of this predicament, the Bears appear poised to follow up their school-record 30-10 2002 season with another solid campaign.

Last year’s team featured several prominent seniors, such as 1B Graham McBride, CF Reggie Crume and C Greg Kriegler, who accounted for most of the Bears’ offensive production. However, Lessmann appears to have found replacements for those vital positions on this year’s squad.

“I’ve got a freshman, Jeff Ching, who will take Crume’s place in centerfield, and Ryan Argo, who’s been hurt off-and-on, will be at first-base to replace McBride and should do well,” Lessmann said.

Additionally, Steve Schmidt, a junior-college transfer student, will come in to play shortstop, filling the vacancy left by Mark Glover, the Bears’ RBI-leader last year.

As most experts agree, however, good pitching always beats good hitting. Garnering pitching depth was one of the main focuses this off-season.

“Baseball is so dependent on the pitching,” Lessmann said. “I do have some depth in the pitching, but seasons are always based on how far they can take you. Just look at the Cardinals situation… it looks pretty good on paper, but they all have bad arms, and so you never know who’s going to go down.

“If the pitching stays sound, we should be alright.”

WU should have a fairly experienced pitching rotation, with seniors Adam Cowley, Damien Janet, and Trevor Young-Hyman returning as starters, and Matt Knepper serving as the premier relief pitcher. Schmidt and sophomore left-hander Alex Curcuru will also be starters, along with freshman right-hander Lou Hutt.

“Hutt’s got pretty good stuff,” Lessmann said. “He looks like he will do very well… overall, it will be the first time, going into a tournament, where we won’t have to have one guy start multiple games, which is kind of tough. We’ll have a different starter for each game while we’re down there.”

While the team is looking forward to playing anywhere, let alone Florida, Lessmann’s intentions were to use these first seven games as a tune-up to what should be a hotly-contested tournament.

“I think you could have prognosticated much better, and just play the darn thing at the end of the year,” said Lessmann of the early dates of the tournament. “You go out there after such a long layoff, and it’s like you practically have to find third base again.”

WU’s lineup, which stifled opponents last year thanks to Crume’s lead-off ability, doesn’t look as though it will miss a beat with Ching stepping in.

“I have a lot of high hopes for the top of the lineup with Ching and [Michael] LoBosco,” Lessmann said. “They’re both good switch-hitters, and I just hope they drive the opposing teams nuts with the way they get on base.”

Indeed, if all goes to form, this year’s team will emulate Lessmann’s overall baseball philosophy.

“My philosophy always has been pitching first, and put that good defense on the field behind that pitching, and just go out there and figure out a way to score,” he said. “That’s the way I’ve always felt, and that’s the way it always should be.”

The only thing that seems to be missing from his equation now is how to melt 1,000 lbs. worth of snow off the infield tarp.

Jim Puls/The Tartan

It was a weekend of mixed emotions for the Bears. Head coach Nancy Fahey notched her 400th career victory as senior guard Laura Crowley continued her stellar performance, scoring a career-high 32 points in the Bears 62-36 win over CMU on Friday evening. The jubilation was short lived, however, as the Bears’ undefeated season, 54-game regular season winning streak, 32-game UAA winning streak and decade-long dominance of Rochester all came to a screeching halt Sunday afternoon with an 82-73 loss to the Yellowjackets.

While Sunday’s visit to Rochester did not end quite as the Bears would have liked, at first glance, the game statistics indicate WU probably should have walked away with the victory. WU shot 46 percent from the field compared to UR’s 37 percent. WU connected on 42 percent from three-point range compared to UR’s 25 percent, and WU even improved its usually dismal season average free-throw percentage by hitting 92 percent from the line.

In addition, WU dominated in points scored in the paint (38-22), bench contribution (16-6) and second chance points (18-2). However, the one crucial statistic that could help explain the Bears’ uncharacteristic loss is points off of turnovers-Rochester scored 19 points off 24 WU turnovers. The Bears’ defense, on the other hand, was only able to force the Yellowjackets into committing seven turnovers, producing only two WU points.

The victory marked the Yellowjackets’ first 20-win season since 1986-87 and snapped a 22-game losing streak to the Bears, which dated back to the 1991-92 season.

Despite holding onto a 41-35 lead at halftime, and establishing a ten-point, 47-37 lead early in the second half, WU was unable to contain Rochester’s three leading scorers in the final minutes of the game.

Sophomore Kelly Wescott contributed 23 points for the Yellowjackets, while junior Tara Carrozza and sophomore Megan Fish each added 16. All three set career scoring records for themselves and accounted for Rochester’s final 12 points of the game.

Lesley Hawley led the Bears with 18 points, while Crowley was not far behind with 17. Crowley delivered an impressive performance from behind the arc, connecting on five-of-eight three-point shots, bringing her season total to 75 and breaking her own single-season record of 72 from a year ago. In addition, with 147 career three-pointers and counting, Crowley broke the WU career record of 143 set by Stacy Leeds from 1990-94.

Fahey’s 400th career victory in Pittsburgh on Friday was arguably due to another outstanding performance from Crowley, who connected on an unprecedented 10 three-pointers (in 14 attempts), setting both WU and UAA records. Not only was she the only Bear to score in double digits, her 32 points accounted for more than half of WU’s total points for the entire game.

Both teams started out a slowly on offense. WU trailed 7-9 early in the game, but held onto a five point lead, 21-16, at the half. After connecting on only two three-pointers in the first half, Crowley caught fire down the stretch, hitting eight more, and the Bears never looked back. She single-handedly outscored the entire CMU team in the second half 26-20.

Senior forward Jen Rudis and Hawley contributed six points each. On defense, the Bears’ team effort was evident as they were able to hold the Tartans to under thirty percent shooting from the field and forced 14 turnovers.

The Bears hope to bounce back this Saturday, Mar. 1, in the final game of the regular season, when they will take on the University of Chicago Maroons at the Field House at 6 p.m.

The top-ranked Washington University men’s basketball team had its school-best 23-game winning streak fall by the wayside Sunday in Rochester when the Yellowjackets handed the Bears their first loss of the season, an 83-82 heartbreaker in overtime.

The setback was the Bears’ (23-1, 12-1 UAA) first loss in 44 regular season games and 26 UAA conference games.

Just before the buzzer at the end of regulation, senior forward Chris Jeffries converted a slam dunk to tie the score at 75-75. However, the Yellowjackets (21-3, 11-2 UAA) outscored the Bears 8-7 in the extra frame, as senior guard Matt Tabash’s last-second trey was blocked by Rochester guard Jeff Joss as time expired.

Lost amidst all the hoopla surrounding the squad’s excellent performance this season were the Bears’ rebounding woes. For the first time, WU’s most alarming weakness resulted in defeat, as Rochester racked up a glaring 22-13 offensive rebounding advantage and earned a myriad of scoring opportunities.

“Rebounding has been our main weakness all season,” head coach Mark Edwards said. “We try to tap the ball outside and get some hustle rebounds, but there is no substitute for getting good position and boxing out, which we weren’t able to do for the most part.”

Yellowjackets center Seth Hauben continued his domination of the Bears’ interior defense, scoring 25 points and pulling down a career-high 20 rebounds, ten on the offensive glass. Earlier this season, in WU’s 74-71 overtime victory over Rochester, Hauben dropped in 30 points and grabbed 19 boards.

“Seth Hauben isn’t the biggest player on the floor, but he plays like it,” Edwards said of the 6 foot 6 pivot man. “He gave his team a lot of energy and a lot of extra chances, and it can be very frustrating to have to play defense again after you denied them the first time around.”

Even more frustrating was the fact that the Bears’ vaunted outside shooters never got into a rhythm. WU shot 46 percent for the game, but just 23 percent from three-point territory.

“Rochester played good defense on us all game, and they pretty much took away our outside game,” Edwards said. “Most of the time we’ll make more of those shots, but we were able to hang in there because we were shooting so well in the paint and from medium-range.”

Jeffries once again led WU in scoring with 26 points, and he added nine rebounds, but point guard Tabash, the Bears’ acknowledged offensive catalyst, was held to 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting. He made only three of his 12 three-point shots.

“We don’t have the foot speed to handle him one-on-one,” Yellowjackets head coach Mike Neer said in an interview with WYSL radio. “We thought if we went zone we could cut down the number of touches he had.”

The weekend did have its upside, however, as WU clinched a share of the UAA title with a 98-63 rout of Carnegie Mellon University (11-13, 5-8 UAA) on Friday. The Bears started the contest on a 12-3 run and never looked back, leading by as many as 41 points in the second half. Jeffries led all scorers with 22 points, and senior guard Joel Parrott added 19 points.

Not only did the Bears shoot a stellar 51 percent from the field, but WU put the defensive clamps on Carnegie Mellon, forcing 18 turnovers and allowing the Tartans just 36 percent shooting on the day.

Although their reign atop the rankings may be over (Randolph-Macon College will likely top WU), the Bears have shown off their depth and versatility throughout the season. Performances like the one against Carnegie Mellon illustrate how balanced the Bears are when they are on top of their game.

“We realize our position as a team,” Edwards said. “When we play our game, we’re tough to beat because we pose multiple threats on offense and play tight defense. That hasn’t changed, and our confidence hasn’t changed.”

WU will attempt to hold off the University of Chicago (15-9, 11-2 UAA) in the regular season finale on Saturday at the Field House. A win would give the Bears an outright UAA championship. Chicago is fighting for a share of the title, which they would attain with a victory.

“The championship is important to us, and we don’t want to have to share it,” Edwards said. “We’d certainly like to end the season with a win, and hopefully the home crowd can make some noise and support the players.”