Posts Tagged ‘UAA’

Happy new decade

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 | Johann Qua Hiansen

The naughts (2000s) were quite a decade for Washington University Athletics. Eight of the school’s 17 NCAA Division III national championships and 76 of 135 University Athletic Association titles were captured in this span of ten years. The national titles include the first men’s titles of any sort with Men’s Basketball (2008 and 2009) and Men’s Tennis (2009).

Women’s basketball added two (2000 and 2001) while volleyball added three (2003, 2007, and 2009). Other programs have been to the national championship game for the first time in their history this decade including the softball team (2007) and women’s soccer (2009). Women’s basketball has also fallen in two national championship games including

Several individual NCAA national titles were also won in the 2000s. Michael Slavik won the 50 yard freestyle while teammate Eric Triebe captured the 200 freestyle in 2006. Alex Beyer took the 400 individual medley title in 2009 with an NCAA record breaking time of 3:51.45. In the indoor track and field NCAA championship meet of 2008, Morgen Leonard-Fleckman brought Wash. U. the first pole vaulting title in school history.

What’s ahead in the 2010s?

Washington University athletic programs have seen unparalleled success and continue to grow. The women’s golf program started in 2008 has already climbed to the fifth spot in the latest national rankings. Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams were ranked first in preseason polls. The men’s tennis team currently holds the number three ranking while their female counterparts are ranked 15th. The men’s swimming team is eighth while the women rank 12th. This is just in 2010.

For those out there who aren’t fans of rankings, Wash. U. has given plenty of food for thought. The women’s soccer team was ranked number 17 when they faced top ranked Messiah College in the NCAA Division III National Championship game a month ago.  The Bears were number four in the country when they took down #1 Juniata College to win the national championship.

The men’s cross country team was unranked and defeated several ranked squads in NCAA Regionals before racing to their best ever finish (seventh) at the NCAA National Championship Meet. As the women’s team came in tenth, this was the first time in school history that both squads finished in the top ten of the national championship meet in the same year.

We can’t wait to see what happens next. Student Life will be covering all the varsity sports action.  Here are the New Year resolutions for this blog and the sports section as a whole.

  1. Blog a minimum of once a week.
  2. Have at least two other contributors by the end of February.
  3. Continue working with other UAA schools to create a central sports news site.
  4. Expand coverage of Washington University club sports.
  5. Utilize more multimedia where appropriate.

It’s Been Awhile

Monday, September 28th, 2009 | Johann Qua Hiansen

Last weekend was fairly quiet for Wash. U. sports. There was only one varsity game on Friday night with the women’s soccer team triumphing over Division I Southeast Missouri State University 4-1. Senior Caryn Rosoff  continued her offensive tear with yet another hat trick, her second in just as many games. UAA conference play will be interesting starting this weekend against Emory University. The forwards including sophomores Emma Brown, Lee Ann Felder and Rosoff seem to be a cohesive offensive unit now.

Volleyball took a complete break from practice after last Wednesday’s victory over Fontbonne University. They resume practice today so I look forward to seeing how they do at the first UAA Round Robin at Rochester this weekend.

Men’s soccer bounced back from their first loss of the season with a 1-0 win over Greenville. I’ve been seeing a lot of players scoring their first goals recently. It just shows how each player is a threat.

Men’s tennis continued their dominance of the ITA Central Regionals. Senior John Watts picked up his fourth individual title while juniors Isaac Stein and Max Woods captured the doubles title.

Women’s golf ended a very successful fall season with a second place finish at the Millikin University Fall Classic. The Lady Bears pulled off a two stroke victory over regional rival Illinois Wesleyan.

Football will have a season defining game this weekend against Rhodes College at home.After the 46-0 rout at the hands of Wittenberg University a few weeks ago, the football team needs to make a statement in order to salvage the season.

W.I.L.D., the semi annual concert is also this Saturday so it’ll be curious to see what the fan dynamic is like.

Ahead in Student Life coverage:

  • Interviewing the Bear mascot
  • More alternative story formats
  • Columns
  • And a lot more

Stay tuned for more exciting news