WUSTL Presents W Club Awards at 26th Annual Student-Athlete Banquet
PHOTO GALLERY - AWARD WINNERS
St. Louis, Mo., April 30, 2012 – Washington University in St. Louis named 11 student-athletes as the top performers in their respective classes for the 2011-12 school year at the 26th annual athletic department student-athlete banquet, as announced by the WU Athletics Department.
In addition to the W Club Distinguished Senior Awards and the Lucy and Stanley Lopata Rookie Awards, the Carl and Alice Briggson Sophomore Awards, and the Art and Marge McWilliams and the Stanley and Ann Rose Junior Awards were presented.
Established in 1989-90 by the school’s athletic support group, the W Club Distinguished Senior Athlete of the Year Award is bestowed annually to a male and female athlete for their contributions to the athletic program at Washington University. Women’s cross country and track and field’s Liz Phillips, Homer Glen, Ill. (Lockport) received the honor on the women’s side, while men’s track and field’s Tyler Jackson, Silver Spring, Md. (Richard Montgomery) and baseball’s Brandon Rogalski, Mount Pleasant, S.C. (Wando) each earned the men’s accolade.
A six-time All-American in indoor and outdoor track & field, Phillips has put together an impressive resume in her career at Washington University. This fall, she became the first NCAA athlete ever to receive the Elite 89 Award for the third time in her career. Phillips has won nine UAA titles in track & field and was a four-time All-UAA honoree in cross-country. Phillips ranks in the top three in school history in five different indoor and outdoor track & field events, and is a member of the three fastest indoor distance medley relays ever run at Washington University. She was a Capital One First-Team Academic All-American as a junior. This year, Phillips has been selected to receive an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, and was one of three female NCAA student-athletes in all Divisions named a Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship finalist.
Jackson became the first NCAA Division III Indoor National Champion in Washington University history by winning the 60-meter hurdles with a school-record time of 7.93 seconds. His national championship winning time was the second-fastest in the event in Division III history. Jackson also set a conference record in winning the UAA indoor 60 hurdle title. He currently ranks third in Division III in the outdoor 110 hurdles, and won the UAA outdoor title in the event. Jackson has received UAA Athlete of the Week honors five times in 2012. In his career, Jackson has earned All-America honors three times, and he ranks in the top three in Washington University in both the indoor 60 hurdles and outdoor 110 hurdles.
Rogalski will finish his career as one of the most productive offensive players in Washington University baseball history. In 2012, he leads the Bears with 73 hits, 10 doubles, four triples, three home runs and 40 RBIs. Rogalski also has a 2-0 record with a 1.98 earned run average and one save. He currently ranks in the top 10 in seven career offensive categories at WU, and became the Bears’ all-time career hits leader (212) on April 22. Rogalski also owns single-season school records for hits (74), RBIs (60), and at bats (169), which he set in 2011. A Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and D3Baseball.com first-team All-American last season, Rogalski was named to the preseason All-America first team by D3Baseball.com this year. As a junior, he also received first-team All-Central Region honors, while being named the Rawlings/ABCA Central Region Player of the Year.
Awarded for the 13th year, the Art and Marge McWilliams Junior Award was presented to women’s golf’s Hannah Buck, Naperville, Ill. (Neuqua Valley) and volleyball’s Marilee Fisher, Mountain View, Calif. (Mountain View), while the Stanley and Ann Rosen Junior Award was presented to men’s tennis’s Adam Putterman, Houston, Texas (Memorial).
After earning All-America honors the first two years on the Danforth Campus, Buck has continued to develop her golf game into one of the best in NCAA Division III. She has competed in all 10 tournaments this season for the Bears and ranks third in Division III with a 76.85 scoring average. Buck fired a school-record 69 on day one of the Illinois Wesleyan Fall Classic on Sept. 11-12 en route to medalist honors. She also tied for the individual championship at the Washington University Spring Invitational on March 31-April 1.
Fisher continued to build on her impressive volleyball resume with an outstanding junior season, capped by earning AVCA first-team All-America honors for the second-straight season. She was selected to the AVCA All-Central Region first team for the third time in her career. Fisher recorded 1,190 set assists in 2011, moving her into fifth on the Washington University career assists leaderboard. She averaged 11.23 assists per set, which ranked third in NCAA Division III in 2011. Fisher also excelled off the court for the Bears, becoming the seventh volleyball player in school history to earn Academic All-America honors.
Putterman established himself as one of the top players in the nation following a second-place finish in singles at the 2011 ITA/USTA Division III National Championships in the fall. He also won the ITA/USTA Central Region singles title by winning seven matches in four days. Putterman is the third student-athlete in head coach Roger Follmer’s 11 seasons to win the ITA Central Region singles championship. He has posted a 47-11 overall record as a junior, including a 27-4 mark in singles. Putterman has a 102-48 (.680) overall record and became the 11th player in school history to join the 100-win club.
Also being awarded for the 13th year, the Carl and Alice Briggson Awards are presented to the top sophomore male and female student-athletes, respectively, for their achievements through the first half of their collegiate careers. Women’s track and field’s Anna Etherington, Deer Park, Ill. (Barrington) was tabbed as the women’s honoree while men’s soccer’s Jonathan Jebson, Dexter, Mich. (Dexter) earned the men’s award.
Etherington earned her first-career All-America honors by placing fourth in the women’s pole vault at the 2012 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships with the second-best indoor mark in WU history (3.85m). During the indoor season, she was named the UAA Athlete of the Week twice, and won her second-consecutive UAA Indoor pole vault title. In the first three weeks of the outdoor season, Etherington improved her career-best mark by more than 30 centimeters. She broke the WUSTL outdoor school record and ranks fifth in Division III with a clearance of 3.87m at the Washington University Select Meet. She also won the UAA Outdoor pole vault championship for the second-straight year.
Jebson established himself as the top goalkeeper in the UAA after posting a 15-3-1 record in 20 starts as a sophomore. Jebson, a first-team NSCAA All-Central Region and All-UAA selection, ranked second in the UAA in goals against average (0.60), save percentage (.844), saves (65) and shutouts (eight). Jebson also finished the season ranked 17th in NCAA Division III in goals against average. Washington U. finished the 2011 season with a 15-4-1 overall record and captured its sixth UAA Championship in school history and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Named in honor of two dedicated supporters of Washington University, the Lopata Rookie of the Year Awards were inaugurated in 1997 and are presented annually to one male and one female freshman athlete. Women’s basketball’s Melissa Gilkey, Woodlinville, Wash. (Woodlinville) and women’s golf’s Olivia Lugar, Rockledge, Fla. (Viera) were named the women’s winners and men’s swimming and diving’s Luke Dobben, Flossmoor, Ill. (Homewood-Flossmoor) was the men’s recipient.
In her first collegiate season, Gilkey developed into one of the top women’s basketball players at Washington University. Gilkey was named to the 2012 Women’s DIII News All-Freshman Team after earning D3Hoops.com All-Central Region and University Athletic Association Rookie of the Year honors. She received second-team All-UAA accolades, and was selected the UAA Women’s Basketball Athlete of the Week twice during the season. Gilkey started all 27 games for the Bears, averaging 10.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. She also led the team with 38 blocked shots, which ranks ninth in WU history for a single season, and tied a single-game record with seven blocks in the Bears’ NCAA first-round win over Ferrum College. Gilkey scored in double figures in 16 games and pulled down double-digit rebounds seven times, leading the team in rebounding 15 times in 2011-12.
Lugar has elevated the women’s golf team into a national championship contender in just her first season on the Danforth Campus. She leads NCAA Division III with a 75.15 average and has recorded 19 of 20 rounds at 80 or lower. Lugar carded a career-low round of 71 at the O’Brien National Invitational on Sept. 12 and at the Phoenix Invitational on March 16. She won four of the five tournaments she competed in the fall, including outright championships at the O’Brien National Invitational, Millikin University Fall Classic and The Pat Clouse Invitational. Lugar also had seven top-10 finishes in her rookie campaign.
Dobben became Washington University’s fourth UAA Men’s Rookie of the Year in the 11-year history of the award after earning All-UAA honors in four events at the conference swimming and diving championships. He swam to a UAA championship in the 500-yard freestyle, and added individual runner-up and third-place finishes in the 1,650 freestyle and the 200 butterfly, respectively. Dobben also swam the opening leg of Washington U.’s runner-up 800 freestyle relay team. In addition, he made his mark in the Washington University record books by setting the school record in the 1,000 freestyle at the UAA championship. Dobben was one of three NCAA Division III Championship qualifiers for the Washington U. men, with his highest finish coming in an 18th-place showing in the 200 butterfly.