Elizabeth Phillips Named 2009 UAA Indoor Rookie of the Year

INDOOR AWARDS

St. Louis, Mo., March 11, 2009 – Washington University freshman Elizabeth Phillips was named the 2009 University Athletic Association (UAA) indoor track and field Women’s Rookie of the Year and Washington University head coach Jeff Stiles and his staff were name UAA Indoor Women’s Coaching Staff of the Year, as announced Wednesday by the league office.

The Washington U. women’s indoor track and field team won the 2009 UAA Championship on Saturday, March 7, its ninth indoor conference title over the past 10 seasons. The Bears tallied 138 team points to defeat second-place Emory by 24.5 points.

Phillips earned a pair of all-UAA finishes at the conference championships last week. She won the mile run with a time of 5:15.18, and was the Bears’ top finisher in the 3,000-meter run, grabbing a third-place finish with a time of 10:15.71.

For Stiles, it was his first UAA Championship as the Washington University head track and field coach. He also has served seven seasons as the head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach. Stiles has earned five UAA women’s cross country and two men’s cross country coaching staff of the year awards over his eight years on the Danforth Campus. He shares the 2009 indoor honor with his staff of Lane Lohr, Doug Beattie, Jamie Burmeister, Belfred Clark, Seth Kelly, Ryan McDonald, Justin McKnight, Gena Melick and Brian Miller.

Phillips will be one of seven student-athletes representing Washington University at the 2009 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships, held Friday-Saturday, March 13-14, at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind., where she qualified to compete as a member of the Bears’ distance medley relay team.