The Bears did not waver during the first weekend of fall weather. Let’s take a look at how WashU fared last weekend.

No. 4 golf

No. 4 golf played in the two-day NCAA Fall Preview this past weekend — their final tournament of the semester. At the end of day one, the Bears were tied for first out of fifteen teams with 299 points. However, the Bears had a difficult day two, ultimately dropping to fourth overall to close out the weekend. No. 1 Emory University took first, No. 3 New York University followed in second, and No. 2 Carnegie Mellon University finished in third.

Three Bears sit in the individual top 20. Senior Amy Beanblossom finished tied for fourth overall, followed by junior Nicole McGuire who tied for seventh. First-year Eliza Meltzer tied for 16th overall. With a top-four team finish, as well as top-20 finishes from three different graduating classes, the Bears are closing out an impressive fall season and looking ahead to a bright spring season.

No. 7 women’s and No. 9 men’s cross country

The No. 7 women’s and No. 9 men’s teams headed to Rock Island, Illinois, last weekend for the Augustana Interregional Invitational, placing third out of 35 teams and fourth out of 37 teams, respectively.

Junior Lucinda Laughlin crossed the finish line first for the women’s team in the 6K Gold Race, finishing seventh overall with the time 21:21.3. First-year Lucy Luetkemeyer was the second Bear to finish with a time of 21:52.4. Luetkemeyer was 29th overall.

The first four Bears for the men’s team to finish the 8K Gold Race completed the competition within eleven seconds of each other. Sophomore Max Sudrzynski finished 18th overall with a time of 24:39.9. Junior Sean Green was hot on his tail with a 23rd place finish and a time of 24:43.2.

Both the women’s and men’s teams look to carry this momentum into United Athletic Association (UAA) Championships on Halloween in Warrensville, Illinois. 

No. 8 football

The No. 8 WashU football team continued their historic season by improving to 6-0 after a 65-0 victory over Kenyon College. This is the Bears’ third shutout this season, scoring over 60 points in each of those games. They also remain undefeated against their North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) opponents since joining the conference this past year.

On Oct. 17, the Bears started their road game off hot, forcing the Kenyon Owls to punt, then scoring off a touchdown and safety. WashU added two more touchdowns before the end of the first quarter, leading 23-0.

The scoring barrage continued in the second quarter, when the Bears scored three touchdowns while holding the Owls to just one first down. WashU went into the locker room at halftime with a comfortable 44-0 advantage. 

With the large lead, most of the second string players got playing time in the second half. The defense continued to hold strong, holding Kenyon to 67 total yards in the game. The Bears’ offense remained strong, capping off the day with three touchdowns in the third quarter. After a scoreless fourth quarter, the Bears ended up winning 65-0. WashU’s offense shined, producing 457 yards of total offense. Senior quarterback Levi Moore scored three total touchdowns, two rushing and one passing, and claimed the WashU football all-time scoring record in the process. Junior alternate quarterback Alexander Singh contributed with two touchdown passes, and on the ground, sophomore running backs Brayden Lewis and Karsten Cornell scored two and one touchdowns, respectively.

This upcoming week, on Oct. 24, the Bears will travel to face their sixth conference opponent, Wabash College. WashU hopes to preserve its undefeated record and top-10 ranking by picking up another win on the road.

Women’s tennis

The WashU tennis team ended their fall season competing in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Cup in Rome, Georgia, featuring some of the best teams in Division III, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and Junior Colleges. Junior Caitlin Bui played in both the singles and doubles tournament with her partner senior Eleanor Archer. Bui had an impressive weekend, winning the D-III Women’s Singles Championship.

In the doubles bracket, the duo came in as the number one seed, winning both their first and second match. Their second game went to a tiebreaker against Gustavus Adolphus College, where the Bears narrowly moved on after a score of 6-3, 5-7 (10-7). In the third round, WashU took on Emory University, a UAA conference opponent. After splitting sets 7-5, 1-6, Emory came out on top 10-7 in the tiebreaker, ending WashU’s run.

In the D-III women’s singles, Bui was given the fourth seed. She had an easy first-round win and then moved on to face Trinity University where she pulled off a come-from-behind victory 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. In the tournament semifinals, Bui went against an opponent from Gustavus Adolphus College. She earned a spot in the finals with a straight set win 6-4, 6-3. With a tournament championship on the line, Bui had to take on the third-ranked seed from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Bui lost the first set 2-6 before taking the next two sets 6-1, 6-2 to become the ITA D-III Women’s Single Champion. 

Next, the Bears prepare for their spring season, when they hope to earn their second national title after winning the championship in 2025 and being the runners-up in 2026.