Tasha Rodgers Named
WBCA National Player of the Year
Senior power forward Tasha Rodgers was named the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association National Player of the Year yesterday, making it the fourth consecutive year the Bears tout the top player in the land.
The 5-10 East St. Louis native is second all-time at Washington University with 1,583 points, 391 points behind the all-time leader, Alia Fischer, who grabbed the last three consecutive Player of the Year Awards.
Rodgers, known for her all-around play, is averaging nearly eight boards per game and broke the school record for both steals in a season, with 112 and counting, and steals in a career, with 284. Rodgers also ranks in the top-10 in WU history in rebounds, free throw percentage and field goal percentage.
Rodgers is known for play in big games. In eight tourney games over the last two seasons, she is averaging 21.1 points per game, while shooting 63 percent from the field.
Individual Swimmers Finish Strong at NCAA Championships
Washington University women’s swimming team finished in 15th place at the 2001 Division III Swimming and Diving Championnships, the highest ever finish for a Bears squad in school history. Swimmers Elisa Annelin, Rachel Feldman, Lindsay Wilkinson and Lindsay Wells are earned NCAA Championship invites, garnering 76 teams points, just eight points out of a tie for 12th place.
The Bears performed well in the relays, making the finals in the 200 medley relay and the 400 free relay. The 200 relay team finished in eighth place, with a time of 1:50.21, while the 400 free squad finished in 16th.
Individually, Annelin and Wilkinson performed well in two events each. Annelin finished 12th in the 100 breast with a time of 1:06.96, and 13th in the 200 breast, touching up in 2:27.07. Wilkinson cracked the top-10 in the 100 free, coming home in :52.70, while finishing 11th in the 100 back in :59.12.
Denison won the 2001 women’s NCAA Division III women’s championship with 588 points. The Bears finished just two points behind Hope for 14th place, and just eight points out of a tie for 12th place with Middlebury and Carleton.
For the men’s swimming team, Matt Johnson, Joe McDowell and Matt Greives all competeted in the NCAA Championships, although none of the three advanced to Saturday night’s finals.
Both McDowell and Greives finished just out of a spot in the finals as they came in 17th and 18th in the 200 breast. The top 16 advance to the finals. McDowell clocked a 2:08.17, while Greives touched in 2:08.19. Johnson was 32nd in the 100 free with a time of 47.38.
WU also had several other good swims on the weekend. McDowell and Greives each earned honorable mention All-American honors Friday. McDowell was 12th in the 400 IM in a school-record time of 4:06.17, while Greives was 15th in the 100 breast in 59.16. Johnson was close to qualifying in the 200 free with an 18th place finish in a time of 1:43.41.
On Thursday, Greives was 18th in the 200 IM in 1:56.02, McDowell was 21st in the 200 IM in 1:56.37 and Johnson was 26th in the 50 free in 21.66.
Three Bears Compete at NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships
Three Bears, Suzi Ramsey, Elizabeth Stoll and Todd Bjerkaas, all participated in the 2001 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championship this weekend.
Bjerkaas, competing in the the long jump event, missed qualifying for the finals by just four inches, leaping 22′ 7 1/4″.
For the women, Ramsey, a senior from Cincinnati, Ohio, finished in seventh in the first heat of qualifiers of the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.59 seconds. Ramsey was just .23 seconds from qualifying for the finals.
Finally, Stoll, the University Athletic Association record-holder in the high jump, was the Bears top finisher. She leaped 5′ 5 1/4″ (1.66 meters) to finish in seventh place.