Athletics News

The 2006 Swarthmore men's cross country team looks to improve upon its third place finish at the 2005 Centennial Conference championship meet.  Led by All Mid-East Region and All-Centennial senior Vernon Chaplin (Indian Springs, AL / Indian Springs), the Garnet will rely on a number of young runners to contribute to the team's success.

Chaplin, running cross country for the first time in 2005, earned second team All-Centennial Conference; finishing eleventh in the championship meet at Johns Hopkins on Oct. 29.  He then ran 26th out of 280 runners the following weekend at the Mid-East Regional meet in Carlisle, Pa. (narrowly missing a national qualifier spot), leading the Garnet to a seventh-place finish.  Chaplin was also named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District II College Division Men's Track & Field/Cross Country first team and was selected for the inaugural Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team. 

Joining Chaplin will be juniors Ross Weller (McConnellsburg, PA / Mercersburg Academy) and Jonathan Shoop (Reno, NV / Incline), both of whom finished in the top-25 at the Centennial Championships. Sophomores Erik Saka (Quincy, IL / Quincy) and Dan Hodgson (Trumbell, CT / Fairfield Prep) will also be looking to build on strong freshman campaigns.

In the annual pre-season coaches' poll, the Garnet were picked to finish second to defending champion Haverford.  Swarthmore received 53 points to rank ahead of Dickinson (49 points), Muhlenberg (48), and Johns Hopkins (34) to round out the top five.

The Garnet open up the 2006 season on Saturday, Sept. 2 vs. Chestnut Hill College at Fort Washington Park, and then will compete in the annual Garnet Alumni Meet a week later. On Sept. 22 the team travels to Haverford College for the Haverford Invitational, facing teams from Villanova, the College of New Jersey, and Elizabethtown.  On October 7, the Garnet will run in the Dickinson Long/Short Meet, getting a good look at the course at Carlisle High School, site of the 2006 Centennial Conference Championships on October 28.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Swarthmore volleyball team was one of 287 schools to earn the Game Plan/AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2005-2006 season, given by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). 

The award, initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors college and high school teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale and a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale during the school year.

Swarthmore is one of 44 Division III women's programs to earn this honor; the second time in head coach Harleigh Leach's tenure that the team has earned this distinction (the first coming in 2003-2004).  Swarthmore joined Bryn Mawr as the two schools representing the Centennial Conference on the list.

The 287 schools receiving the honor eclipses last season's mark of 276 for the second most in the 14-year history of the program; the 2003-04 season produced the record when 305 schools achieved the award. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I set a single-season record for number of collegiate schools at any division receiving the award with 54 in 05-06.

Recipients of the award range from NCAA Division I institutions to high school girls' and boys' teams. The college ranks produced 155 programs that met the requirements for the award in 2005-2006. To go along with the record number of NCAA Division I recipients, NCAA Division II (31) tied its highest division mark set in 2003-2004 and NCAA Division III (44) set its second highest division total (48 in 2003-2004).

"The Game Plan/AVCA Team Academic Award is what being a student-athlete is all about. The AVCA is privileged to once again be able to award these schools for their excellence in the classroom," AVCA Executive Director Kathy DeBoer said. "We congratulate the student-athletes, coaches and school personnel for achieving this honor and upholding the delicate balance between academics and athletics."

The Garnet finished 2005-06 with an overall record of 13-15 (6-4 in the Centennial), earning the first CC playoff berth in the school's history.

Former Swarthmore lacrosse standout Tim Chryssikos will be competing in the 2006 World Lacrosse Championships to be held July 13-22 in London, Ontario, Canada as a member of the Irish national team.

Chryssikos, a native of Ellicott City, Maryland and a 2005 Swarthmore graduate, was a two-time All-Centennial Conference selection and a USILA Scholar All-American.  He completed his collegiate career ranked tenth in school history with 137 career points.

The World Lacrosse Championship, held every four years and heralded as the premier event in the sport of lacrosse, features 21 teams from around the globe, representing 19 countries as well as Hong Kong and the Iroquois Nation of Canada.

Ireland opens play Friday, July 14 with a 12:30 game against Hong Kong.  The Irish are scheduled to play Italy on July 15, Scotland on July 17, and Wales on July 18 in the Round Robin portion of tournament play.

OFFICIAL WORLD CUP WEB SITE

Swarthmore, PA - Swarthmore College men's cross country and track & field standout Vernon Chaplin (Indian Springs, AL - Indian Springs) has been named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District II College Division Men's Track & Field/Cross Country first team, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on May 31. 

The District II College Division consists of all NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA colleges and universities in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. To be nominated for the team, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a 3.2 cumulative grade-point average and a starter or significant reserve on his or her team.

Chaplin, a junior astrophysics major, ran cross country for the first time in 2005, putting together a strong collection of races; at the DeSales University Invitational on Oct.15 he finished 11th; the Blue Jay Invitational on Oct. 7, Chaplin finished third; and the Dickinson Invitational on Oct.1, where he finished tenth.

Chaplin helped lead the team to a fifth place finish at the Dickinson Long/Short Meet on Oct.1, a first place finish at the Blue Jay Invitational, and a third place finish at DeSales.  He led Swarthmore to a third-place finish at the Centennial Conference Championships and seventh place at the NCAA Mid-East Regional in Carlisle, Pa. on Nov. 12.

Already an established star on the track, Chaplin solidified his status as one of the top runners in the Swarthmore history.  He holds three school records - the indoor mile, the indoor 800 meters, and the indoor distance medley relay - and is an eight-time Centennial Conference Championship medalist (the most recent being a silver medal in 2006 on the 4 x 800 meter relay).

Chaplin was awarded the national Barry Goldwater Scholarship given in recognition of academic merit - from a field of more than 1,000 mathematics, science, and engineering students who were nominated by colleges and universities nationwide.  He spent the summer of 2004 doing research with Dr. Perry A. Gerakines at the University of Alabama at Birmingham on interstellar dust clouds and their role in star formation.

ITA WEB SITE

Swarthmore women's tennis standout Sonya Reynolds '07 (Palmdale, CA / Quartz Hill) has been named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Player to Watch for the Atlantic South Region.

Reynolds, a 2005 All-American selection, made her second straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Individual Tennis Championships, following a 2006 season in which she posted a 15-7 record at number one singles.  She was also named to the All-Centennial singles team for the second straight year, and earned All-Centennial doubles honors for the third season in a row.

The Swarthmore women's tennis team won a second consecutive Centennial Conference Championship on April 30, finishing with an unblemished record of 10-0 in the conference.

Swarthmore, PA - Swarthmore College women's lacrosse player Cara Tigue (East Longmeadow, MA / East Longmeadow) was one of 212 student-athletes named to the 2006 Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA)/US Lacrosse All-Regional team.  Tigue was a second team selection in the Metro region.

Tigue, a senior defender, scooped up 41 ground balls and caused 18 turnovers while drawing the opposition's top offensive threat on many occasions.  In 61 games over four years, she collected 162 ground balls for an average of 2.66 per game and was named First Team All-Centennial at the end of the season.

A biology major and three-time selection for the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll, Tigue made the All-Centennial team for the third time in her career.  She was named to the second team in 2005 and was honorable mention in 2004.

Tigue is the 13th Swarthmore woman to earn All-Region honors, and the seventh to be placed on the second team, the first since 2002 when Katie Tarr '02 earned a fourth consecutive All-Region selection.

Swarthmore (14-5 overall, 5-4 Centennial) put together its best season ever in 2006; the Garnet won the Seven Sisters Lacrosse Championship, broke the school record for wins, and earned the first Centennial playoff berth in program history.

Metro Region
First Team
Kelly Cassels, A, Franklin & Marshall
Katie Ceglarski, M, Gettysburg
Lizzie Cone, M, Dickinson
Megan Duke, M, Messiah
Shannan Finch, A, Messiah
Erin Gallagher, D, Messiah
Laurie Goon, D, Gettysburg
Kate Hoy, M, Eastern
Amy Jennings, M, Dickinson
Heather Kelley, G, Gettysburg
Jenn Kelly, A, Gettysburg
Sarah Meisenberg, M, Franklin & Marshall
Lesley Oot, M, Dickinson
Jen Pritchard, A, Franklin & Marshall
Holly Rutherford, D, Franklin & Marshall
Ellie Shihadeh, A, Gettysburg

Second Team
Katie Austin, M, Dickinson
Jaclyn Girsch, M, York
Hilary Harding, D, Dickinson
Jamie Heeneke, D, Gettysburg
Eileen Keever, M, Franklin & Marshall
Kim Lowry, A, McDaniel
Lee Oliver, D, McDaniel
Kristina Peacock, G, Lycoming
Katelyn Penrose, A, Cabrini
Caitlin Schellhorn, A, McDaniel
Allyson Shicora, G, Ursinus
Shannon Summers, M, Franklin & Marshall
Cara Tigue, D, Swarthmore
Megan Wallenhorst, A, Lycoming
Erikah Weir, D, Ursinus
Connie Wuenschel, M, McDaniel

COMPLETE RESULTS

(thanks to Gustavus Adolphus SID for contributions to report) FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - #1-ranked Gustavus Adolphus (34-4) claimed the doubles' point and then earned victories at #3, #4, and #6 to defeat Swarthmore (8-11) in the 2006 NCAA Division III Tennis Team Championship on the campus of the University of Mary Washington Wednesday morning. 

Gustavus opened its match against Swarthmore by winning the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead. Loren Collins and Jesse Brauer, the #3 doubles team defeated Kevin Shaughnessy '09 and Sam Sidhu '06 , 8-2 and then Andy Bryan and Roy Bryan clinched the point by defeating Jonathan Lo '08 and Jon Reiss '07 8-2. The #1 doubles team of Adam Morgan and Brett Morse-Karzen was leading Brian Park '06  and Zac Rodd '06 7-3 when the match was stopped.

In singles play, the Gusties got convincing wins from Jesse Brauer at #3, Andy Bryan at #4, and Brett Morse-Karzen at #6 to give the team the four points necessary to clinch the victory. Brauer defeated Park 6-2, 6-4, while Andy Bryan defeated Lo 6-2, 6-2, and Brett Morse-Karzen defeated Sidhu 6-2, 6-1. Loren Collins was leading Rodd 6-0, 1-2 at the #1 spot, Adam Morgan was leading Reiss 7-5, 1-2 at the #2 spot, and Bryan was leading Adam Wallwork 6-0, 5-2 when the match was stopped as a result of Gustavus earning the four points necessary to claim the win.

Rodd will take part in the singles' portion of the Division III Individual Championships this weekend and will join classmate Park in the doubles' draw as well.

Official NCAA web site

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -  The Garnet men (8-10) have advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Team Championships (first time since 1991) and will face top-ranked Gustavus Adolphus on Wed., May 17 at 9:00 a.m. at the University of Mary Washington. To read more click here.

Senior Zac Rodd was a finalist at the 2005 Wilson ITA Southeast Regional

Swarthmore senior Zac Rodd has been selected as one of 32 participants that will compete in the 2006 NCAA Division III Individual Tennis Championships on May 20-22.  Rodd and classmate Brian Park have also been selected to participate in the doubles championship, squaring off against 15 other tandems at the NCAA Championship week hosted by the University of Mary Washington.  Click here for list of participants.

For periodic updates of the matches while in progress visit the Official Championship Web Site: http://athletics.umw.edu/ncaamtindex.htm

Junior Sonya Reynolds was All-America in 2005

SANTA CRUZ, Ca. - Swarthmore junior Sonya Reynolds will make her second straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Individual Tennis Championships on May 20-22 on the campus of UC-Santa Cruz.

Reynolds, an All-American selection in 2005, established a record of 15-7 at No. 1 singles in 2005-06, including a record of 3-1 in Centennial regular season dual matches.  Reynolds, an economics major, is currently ranked fifth in the Atlantic South region.   It is the second All-Centennial singles' honor for Reynolds and her fifth overall; she earned doubles' honors in 2004, '05, and '06.

In 2005, Reynolds was defeated by Erika Villalobos from UC-Santa Cruz 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 in Kalamazoo, Mich.

The Swarthmore women, ranked 18th in Division III, won a second consecutive (fifth overall) Centennial Conference championship on April 30, finishing 2005-06 with an overall record of 16-3 and 10-0 in the regular season conference play.  The Garnet also earned their fourth consecutive berth in the NCAA Division III Tennis Championship tournament, falling to Carnegie Mellon 5-2 on May 6. 

Head to the web site below to get up-to-date information on Reynolds' progress.

Official Championship Web Site: http://www.goslugs.com/championships/wtennis2006.html

COMPLETE RESULTS

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Four Garnet women set personal best times at the Tuppany Twilight hosted by Villanova University on Monday evening.  The event was delayed for an hour following violent storms rolling through the Delaware Valley.

Senior Carrie Ritter set the school record in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, circling the track in a time of 12:26.90.  Ritter is believed to be the first Swarthmore woman to run the event, posting a low the bar high for future entrants.

Emily Wistar '06 capped a stellar senior season by lowering her time in the 1,500 meters to 4:49.77, finishing 11th out of 24 runners.  It is the fifth-fastest time in school history and a personal best for Wistar.

Senior Emily Conlon also got a boost from the violent weather, tossing the javelin 30.94 meters (101' 6") to set a personal-best and post the third-longest throw in school history.

Freshman Caitlin Mullarkey also ran a personal-best in the 800 meters, posting a time of 2:20.91 to finish tenth out of 19 participants.

OFFICIAL NCAA RELEASE

COMPLETE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET

SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Swarthmore senior Zac Rodd has been selected as one of 32 participants that will compete in the 2006 NCAA Division III Individual Tennis Championships on May 20-22.  Rodd and classmate Brian Park have also been selected to participate in the doubles championship, squaring off against 15 other tandems at the NCAA Championship week hosted by the University of Mary Washington.

The Garnet (8-10), ranked 21st in the recent FILA Collegiate tennis rankings, have advanced to the quarterfinals of the Division III Team Championships and will face top-ranked Gustavus Adolphus on Wed., May 17 at 9:00 a.m. at the University of Mary Washington.  Swarthmore. 

Gustavus is making its seventh consecutive trip to the NCAA quarterfinals, defeating Coe (7-0) in round one and Carthage (7-0) in the second round.  The Gusties captured the 2006 ITA Indoor Championships on Feb. 26, defeating UC-Santa Cruz 6-1 in the Swanson Tennis Center.  The Gusties captured both the 1980 and 1982 national titles but have not won a title since the NCAA moved to the dual-match, single-elimination format in 1983. Gustavus has finished second twice (1984, 1990), third twice (2002-03) and fourth four times (1996-97, 2001, 2005) during that span. 

 It is the first quarterfinal appearance by the Garnet since the brackets were expanded in the early 1990s, the last coming in 1991.  Swarthmore is making its 30th appearance in the NCAA field having won titles in 1977, 1981, 1985 and 1990, while finishing second in 1989.   The teams have met twice in the NCAA Tournament with the Gusties winning both meetings - 6-3 in a 1984 semifinal match and 6-1 in a 1995 first-round match.

This is Rodd's second appearance in the NCAA Individual Championships - he fell in the first round to Washington (Mo.) University's Ari Rosenthal 6-1, 6-1 in Lewiston, Maine on May 16, 2004.  This fall, Rodd, owner of a 10-12 record knocked off three seeded opponents at the Wilson ITA Southeast Regional Men's Tennis Championships to make the finals.

It is the first doubles appeareance for Rodd and Park, ranked fifth in the Atlantic South region in the last poll, who posted a record of 9-11 this season, including wins over two of the teams in the Championship field.