College Fall Sports in Review

Winter weather and winter sports have arrived on campus. This year’s fall teams, however, have left some pretty big shoes to fill, walking away with numerous individual, team, and coaching awards. Three fall coaches were named St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Coach of the Year, women’s soccer went to the first round of NCAA DIII Nationals, and men’s cross country raced their way to a SLIAC Championship, but that’s not all. Read on for details about 2011’s outstanding fall athletic season!

Women’s Soccer: The women’s soccer team was 8–0 in conference play again this year and became conference champions for the fifth consecutive year. They won the SLIAC tournament and went on to the first round of NCAA DIII Nationals, where they lost to Wartburg College 0–2. New head coach Jess Semnacher was awarded the SLIAC Coach of the Year award for the first time and took his team to an overall record of 16–4–1. Three women’s soccer players were selected for SLIAC’s First Team All-Conference: Alicia Girbes-Pierce, Rachel Publicover, and Lauren Wienecke. Cristina Post was selected for the Second Team All-Conference, and Hayley MacWilliams and Carlie Sanderude received Honorable Mention. Alicia Girbes-Pierce was also selected for the SLIAC All-Sportsmanship Team. The SLIAC All-Tournament Team included Nadine Marczi (MVP), Lauren Wienecke, Kelly DeWindt, and Carlie Sanderude. Our women’s soccer team also received the SLIAC Team Sportsmanship Award and the NSCAA Team Academic Award.

Men’s Soccer: Men’s soccer ended its season with a 5–10–2 overall record and a 3–4–1 record in conference play. Although finishing sixth in the conference, the men’s team kept us hanging on until the final game to determine if they would make it to the conference tournament, which they barely missed. Two players were selected for the SLIAC First Team All-Conference: Alan Cheatham and Samuel Thomas. Paul Sanderude and Patrick Harber were selected for the Second Team All-Conference, and Garrett Bourcier was selected for the All-Sportsmanship Team. The men’s soccer team also earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award.

Volleyball: The volleyball team was exciting to watch as they climbed their way to fourth in the conference after being ranked much lower in the pre-season poll. The team finished with a 19–19 overall record and a conference record of 11–5, making it to the SLIAC Championship Tournament, where they lost to Greenville College in a five-game battle that could have gone either way. Head coach Mary Ann Sprague was named SLIAC Coach of the Year for the third time. Freshman Tess Rountree stood out this year as a prominent threat on offense and defense. She was ranked eighth in the nation for total points and kills per game. She also claimed three All-Tournament Team awards and was selected for SLIAC’s First Team All-Conference. Kiersten Andersen and Tara Edwards were selected for the Second Team All-Conference, and Savanna Sprague was selected for the All-Sportsmanship Team. Junior Kiersten Andersen was selected for the SLIAC All-Tournament Team as well as the Rhodes Invitational All-Tournament Team.

Cross Country: This year’s cross-country teams had a successful, exciting season under head coach Chuck Wilcoxen, who was awarded SLIAC Coach of the Year for men’s cross country. The men’s team claimed the title of SLIAC Champions, and the women’s team came in as runner-up. Three athletes were selected to the NCAA All-Midwest Region Team: Drew Clark, Wylie Mangelsdorf, and Casey Powell. Junior Casey Powell was also chosen for the SLIAC Runner of the Year award, which was not surprising after she claimed five Runner of the Week awards during the season. Men’s and women’s cross country claimed both SLIAC Newcomer of the Year awards, which went to Adam Rolph and Sarah Litwiller. Players selected to the SLIAC First Team All-Conference included Casey Powell, Sarah Litwiller, Drew Clark, Derrick Fleming, and Wylie Mangelsdorf. Emily Osborne and Jeff Strickland were selected to the Second Team All-Conference, and Maegan Brewer and Andy Crump made the SLIAC All-Sportsmanship Team. The men’s team also earned the SLIAC Sportsmanship Award. Sophomore Wylie Mangelsdorf attended the NCAA DIII Cross Country National Championship in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He ran a PR in the 8000-meter, finishing 89^th out of 279 participants with a time of 25:15.12.

Rugby: Although rugby is not a varsity sport here at Principia and doesn’t have a governing body such as the NCAA or SLIAC, the Principia Thunder Chickens had quite a season of growth and excitement. Under new head coach Ward Patterson, the team earned plenty of respect among those they played. The Thunder Chickens ended their season with a record of 3–6, which is impressive since most of the players have never played outside of Principia and several of the players were beginning their first year of training. No formal awards were received due to the lack of a governing body, but the Thunder Chickens handed out their own team awards. The Most Improved award went to Naveed Hosseinmardi; Kendall Shoemake was Rookie of the Year; Max Russell earned the designation of Best Tackler; and Trevor Marunde was named Most Valuable Player.

Congratulations to all of our fall athletes and coaches!