Five Washington University Athletes Receive UAA Athlete of the Week Honors
St. Louis, Mo., March 13, 2012 – Washington University in St. Louis had five student-athletes earn University Athletic Association (UAA) Athlete of the week honors, as announced Tuesday by the Association.
Junior pitcher Stephen Bonser and senior outfielder Brandon Rogalski of the baseball team, seniors Erica Jackey and Tyler Jackson of the indoor track & field teams and sophomore pitcher/infielder Kelsey Neal of the softball team each received the honor.
Bonser picked up his first win of the season and helped Washington U. extend its winning streak to seven games. He pitched six innings, allowing just one run while striking out three in the Bears’ 10-1 win over Fontbonne University on March 6. In 17.2 innings of work this season, Bonser has recorded a team-high 13 strikeouts.
Jackey earned All-America honors and set school records in two events to lead the Washington University women to a third-place team finish at the 2012 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships on Friday and Saturday. She ran the opening leg of Washington U.’s distance medley relay that finished as the runner-up in 11:41.55. The time broke the WU school record by nearly five seconds and was the fourth-fastest time in Division III history. The next day, Jackey eclipsed the school record in the women’s mile by more than two seconds to finish as the runner-up with a time of 4:51.99.
Jackson became the first men’s track & field athlete in Washington University history to win an indoor national title as he sprinted to a championship in the 60-meter hurdles on Saturday at the 2012 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships. He broke the school record during Friday’s prelims with a time of 8.07 seconds, but shattered that record in Saturday’s finals with a winning time of 7.93, which was .08 of a second faster than the runner-up.
Neal hit .556 (5-for-9) with one home run and four RBIs as Washington U. posted a 2-1 record last week in Florida. She tossed a complete-game on the mound and went 2-for-3 with a home run and two runs scored in a 4-1 win over Rensselear Polytechnic Institute on Saturday. Beal allowed 10 hits and one earned run while striking out five in her third-career start. She also went 2-for-3 in a 1-0 loss to John Carroll University on Saturday, and 1-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored in a 17-0 win over Manhattanville College on Sunday.
Rogalski batted a team-best .667 in a pair of wins for Washington University last week. He went 6-for-9 at the plate with four RBIs and four runs scored, while slugging .889 on the week. Rogalski was also 3-for-3 in stolen bases in the Bears’ wins over Fontbonne and Westminster College. With his performances in the wins, Rogalski moved into sixth on Washington University’s all-time list for career stolen bases (37), a tie for eighth for career hits (157), and ties for ninth for career triples (9) and RBIs (112).