September 2012 Archives
Men's Water Polo
- Daniel
Tyner totaled 12 points (six goals, six assists) and Ridvan Pehlivan added five
goals and four ejections drawn as the GW Men's Water Polo team split its first
two home matches of the season. The Colonials narrowly fell to #15
- Cameron Illes earned CWPA Southern Division Defensive Player of the Week honors on Tuesday after registering 37 saves last weekend. It is the second time this season Illes has earned the honor and fourth time in his career.
Men's Tennis
- Freshman Nikita Fomin won four matches over three days to claim the Gold Singles championship at the UVA Ranked +1 Invitational. His weekend included two victories over ranked opponents.
- Sophomore
Francisco Dias, the 89th-ranked player in the country, upset 68th-ranked
Nelson Vick of
Women's Tennis
- Junior
Leah Pascarella won three matches in three days to clinch the Georgetown Classic singles championship at district rival
- The
doubles pair of senior Mimi Hamling and freshman Lana Robins won three matches,
including victories over pairs from UMBC and
Women's Soccer
- The Colonials remained unbeaten at home as Kristi Abbate and Taylor Katz each found the back of the net in a 2-0 victory over Howard on Friday.
- Freshman goalkeeper Shannon Murphy turned away three shots to post her first career shutout in her first career start for the Buff and Blue.
Sailing
- The
duo of freshman skipper Hannah McNomee and sophomore Meagan Murphy finished third in the B Division out of seven teams at the Princeton Women's Fall Open
in
- McNomee skippered her boat to victory in her first collegiate race on Saturday. McNomee and Murphy finished with 40 points, one behind second-place Cornell and 14 shy of overall winner Fordham.
Volleyball
- The Colonials opened Atlantic 10 play with a 3-0 sweep of Charlotte on Friday night. Senior Lauren Whyte was one of five players to post at least five kills, leading the way with 13 winners.
- On Saturday, VCU defeated the Colonials, 3-0.
Men' Soccer
- Senior Seth Rudolph scored his third goal of the season and 25th his career, but it was not enough as the Colonials fell, 2-1, to visiting UMBC on Saturday at the GW Soccer Field on the Mount Vernon Campus.
WHITE HOUSE TOUR PHOTO GALLERY
It was an "Only at GW" kind of morning on Tuesday.
A group of about 100 student-athletes, coaches and staff walked the six blocks from the Charles E. Smith Center
to the most famous address in the world - 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, or the White
House - for a self-guided tour.
"It was a great learning experience for our student-athletes
to see our nation's most storied residence with all of the history and
artifacts," said GW Lifeskills coordinator Ted Costigan, who organized the trip
with the help of the White House's Office of Public Engagement.
"It was a privilege to be able to tour the White House this
morning," said gymnastics head coach Margie Foster-Cunningham. "To be able to
walk there from campus and get a behind-the-scenes look at the most famous
house in the world is such a unique opportunity that can only be afforded to GW
students."
While President Obama did not make an appearance, the group
was able to see a number of rooms in the East Wing of the White House,
including the East Room, which was the site of the President's press conference
following the death of Osama Bin Laden; the Green Room, which once served as
Thomas Jefferson's dining room; the Blue Room, which is often used by the
President to receive guests; the Red Room, where the First Lady hosts small
receptions; and the State Dining Room.
GW women's basketball alumna Jessica Adair was part of one
of the most recent groups to eat in the State Dining Room along with her WNBA
champion Minnesota Lynx teammates on their visit to the White House.
Secret Service agents were stationed in each room to answer
any of the group's questions, and when the tour was over, the student-athletes
found themselves on the White House front steps, usually only seen from the
other side of the black fence along Pennsylvania
Avenue.
"Almost every one of my friends back home in Germany has
heard of the White House, but nobody has ever had a chance to see it from the
inside," said men's swimming senior Phillip Graeter. "I was so honored to have
the opportunity to tour the White House with my fellow student-athletes today.
This experience completes my overall experience as a GW student-athlete in one
of the most exciting cities in the world."
"It was amazing and humbling to have gone to the White House
this morning," said women's soccer senior Molly Bruh. "It was incredible to
walk through the same rooms in which such historically great and influential
people have lived and interacted. This morning, we had practice at 7 a.m., took a
tour of the White House and made it back in time for our first class of the
day. Only at GW!"
The Grassroot Colonials are part of a larger group under the Grassroot Project name, which seeks to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS by using collegiate student-athletes and an interactive, engaging curriculum to educate local middle school students at over 30 different sites in the district. The Grassroot Project intends to change the way these young adults make choices so Washington can have a more responsible population in the years to come.
"Being involved with Grassroots has influenced me more than I would have ever thought when I signed up freshman year," said Resource Coordinator and GW lacrosse sophomore Mackenzie Jones. "Looking back on college I think being involved with the Grassroot Project will be one of the most memorable and rewarding experiences I have."
GW's Atlantic 10 Champion golf team begins its fall action while their fellow Colonials continued the fall season with a weekend packed with competition. Here's a look at how the Colonials fared:
Women's Soccer
-Freshman goalkeeper Nicole Fasano made seven saves, five of them in the second half in a narrow 1-0 loss at Liberty on Friday.
-The Colonials will return home on Tuesday to host American to begin a five-match homestand.
Men's Soccer
-Tyler Ranalli scored his third goal of the season in GW's 2-1 loss at Bryant in the Colonials' lone match of the weekend.
-Redshirt freshman Jean-Pierre van der Merwe recorded a career-high seven saves in Sunday afternoon's contest.
Golf
-GW's golf team begins its fall season today at the 19th annual Adams Cup of Newport/Cleveland Golf Classic at the Newport Country Club in Newport, R.I., and the Carnegie Abbey Club in Portsmouth, R.I.
Men's Water Polo
-GW finished Day 1 at the CWPA North/South Tournament at Harvard with a 15-6 win over Iona after dropping an earlier match, 18-7, against No. 19 Brown.
-Sophomore Ridvan Pehlivan matched a career-high six goals against the Gaels on Saturday.
-Senior goalkeeper Cameron Illes recorded a season-high 18 saves in the Colonials' win over Iona and is now just 56 saves shy of GW's all-time program record.
-Junior Daniel Tyner and sophomore Ridvan Pehlivan each recorded a hat trick in GW's 15-13 loss to host Harvard on Sunday to finish the tournament in sixth place.
Men's & Women's Cross Country
-The men's and women's teams both brought home sixth-place finishes at their respective Navy and Salty Dog Invitationals in Annapolis, Md., on Saturday.
-The men's team finished ahead of regionally ranked Loyola for the second straight week and was led by senior Alex Dadds, who finished 29th and improved his 8,000-meter time by nearly a minute over his performance at the season opener.
-The women's team finished just two points behind Loyola (Md.), which is ranked No. 15 in the latest USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region poll.
-The GW women were paced by senior Julia Weir, who finished 19th out of 123 runners with a time of 23:28. Weir was closely followed by fellow senior Heather Stevens, who took 30th place with a time of 23:53.
Sailing
-GW battled strong currents to finish eighth out of 16 total teams in its second weekend of varsity action at the SUNY Maritime Fall Open in Throggs Neck, N.Y.
-The Colonials' A Division team of seniors Ian Conners, Skye Kussmann and Rebecca Engel posted a weekend-best performance of second place in Race 5 on Sunday.
-The B Division crew of freshman Jay Spector and sophomore Meagan Murphy recorded four top 5 finishes, including a trio of third-place finishes.
-GW also finished fifth at the Edward Teach Memorial in Hampton, Va., with a pair of fourth-place efforts by the team of senior Richard Sant and junior Sarah McCormack in the A Division.
-Freshman Benjamin Helfand and junior Erin McCormack took first in Saturday's eighth race. The duo finished with a fourth-place showing in the B Division.
Volleyball
-Sophomore Landon Garvik posted the first double-double of her career with 11 kills and 10 digs in a 3-0 loss to Princeton in GW's first match of the GW/NIKE Invitational at the Charles E. Smith Center.
-Senior Christie Graf recorded career highs with two assists and six digs against Princeton on Friday.
-The Colonials came back strong on Day 2 of the GW/NIKE invitational with a 3-1 win over New Hampshire before dropping their final match of the tournament to No. 15 BYU in straight sets.
-Senior Lauren Whyte had a match-high 27 kills while hitting .328 with six digs, two block assists and one ace in GW's 3-1 win over UNH on Saturday.
-Senior Candace Silva-Martin earned All-Tournament honors.
While many other Colonials spent their weekends competing or training for the Buff and Blue, junior men's squash player Christopher Bell completed a 1.5k swim, 40k bike, and 10k run in the Nation's Triathlon on Sunday morning.
Bell had never participated in an event of this kind prior to Sunday. "I knew I wanted to do some kind of long distance athletic event, but I didn't settle on the Nation's Triathlon until early August," he noted.
Bell utilized his location and student-athlete network when training for the triathlon. "I spent most of my summer biking and running in Arlington and Virginia, Bell stated. "For the swim, I asked a friend of mine on the women's water polo team, Katherine Berry, to help me out."
Berry's tutelage and Bell's hard work paid off. Bell's time of 3:05:38 was good enough to earn him a 1,744 place finish in an event with over 3,000 finishers and many more entrants according to the Nation's Triathlon's website.
After completing his first ever triathlon, Bell was most pleased with his bike performance. "The bike was definitely my strongest event as I finished only 10 minutes behind most of the professionals," he reflected.
A strong day for the Buff and Blue on the nation's capital's roadways and waterways indeed.
In a weekend marked with giving back to the community, members of the GW men's and women's swim teams dedicated their time to assisting fellow athletes in the Nation's Triathlon to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. A total of 21 swimming student-athletes volunteered throughout the weekend of Sept. 8, helping triathletes literally from start to finish.
Taking advantage of the Athletics Department's emphasis on having a student-athlete presence within the community, members of the men's and women's swimming teams became privy to the opportunity to lend a hand at the Seventh Annual Nation's Triathlon through Athletics' Life Skills program.
"Our Athletics Director, Patrick Nero, makes it clear that one of GW Athletics' foremost priorities is strengthening our community by giving back through our collective volunteer efforts," said senior co-captain Stephan Nelson. "When presented with the opportunity to volunteer for a worthwhile cause and support fellow athletes, we took advantage."
Although the race commenced on Sunday, the Colonials began their work on Saturday by greeting and checking in athletes at the Washington Hilton on Connecticut Ave. As the race began at 7 a.m. on Sunday, GW student-athletes ensured that participants followed the course correctly and monitored the safety of the course throughout the day. At the finish line, GW swimmers provided post-race food and water to the exhausted triathletes. At the conclusion of the day, the volunteers assisted with the course break down and clean up.
Out of all of the duties tasked to the student-athletes, the finish line was the most rewarding position.
"As athletes ourselves, we share an understanding for the commitment training requires and the sense of achievement gained by completing such a grueling event," Nelson said. "Working at the finish line and sharing in the participant's immediate joy was inspirational."
This past weekend, the Matthew J. Grossman Squash Courts at Lerner Health & Wellness Center hosted the Washington Gold Junior Squash Tournament.
The GW Squash facility played host to the top 204 U17 and U19 players, which in total represented 15 states and Canada. Other venues around the city, including Bethesda Health & Racquet Club, Results Gym, Sports Club LA and the University Club, hosted additional divisions.
The tournament, which was a nationally-sanctioned junior event affiliated with U.S. Squash, was a big success as hundreds of fans turned out to view the action on the six glass-backed international courts inside Lerner Health & Wellness Center.
"It was the first time we have hosted a nationally-sanctioned tournament here," said GW Squash Head Coach Wendy Lawrence. "It was a great opportunity for junior players who are starting the college application process to be able to see what a Division I squash facility looks like. Our facility has never hosted an open tournament like this before. The feedback we have been getting has been so great and supportive so we are certainly looking for this to be an annual event.
Full tournament results are available at the official site of US Squash. Click on the "Tournament Results" link on the right side of the page.
GW Women's Squash players enjoying the action.
Women's Soccer
-First-year head coach Sara Barnes earned her first two victories of the season as the Colonials defeated Columbia (1-0) and Cornell (3-2) at the D.C. Invitational.
-Junior Alex Neal was named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week after scoring two goals, including the game-winner against the Lions.
-Freshman goalkeeper Nicole Fasano posted her first career shutout in the win over Columbia.
Men's Water Polo
-The Colonials outscored their opponents, 66-30, to start the season 4-0 for the first time since 2006. GW picked up wins over Penn State Behrend (21-6), Iona (11-10), Notre Dame (Ohio) (16-9) and Gannon (18-6).
-Junior Nate Little, sophomore Brian Mojica and freshman Bogdan Petkovic each scored 10 goals, while senior goalkeeper Cameron Illes recorded 32 saves and allowed just 23 goals. Illes moved into second place all-time at GW with 817 career saves.
-Petkovic and Illes earned CWPA Southern Division Rookie and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, for their performances.
-Newcomers certainly made a splash in their inaugural weekend in the Buff and Blue. In addition to Petkovic, who scored four goals apiece against NDC and Gannon, freshman Jonah Dowd tallied six points (4g, 2a) in his collegiate debut against PSB, while grad student Milos Purkovic, a transfer from Pepperdine, scored five times against Iona.
Men's Soccer
-The Colonials bounced back from their first loss of the season to defeat District rival Howard, 2-1, at the 12th annual D.C. College Cup.
-Juniors Bailey Hinners and Tyler Ranalli were named to the All-Tournament Team.
-Hinners' first career goal proved to be the game-winner against the Bison.
Volleyball
-The Colonials defeated Bethune-Cookman, 3-0, at the UniWyo Cowgirl Classic for their first victory of the season.
-Sophomore Kelsey Newman paced GW in the win with 18 kills, while senior Lauren Whyte posted her first double-double of the season and 33rd of her career with 11 kills and 11 digs.
-Freshman Maddy Doyle earned All-Tournament honors after totaling 31 digs (2.21/set) and 17 assists in 14 sets.
Women's Cross Country
The Colonials opened the season with a second-place showing and registered three top-10 finishes at the Seagull Opener.
-Senior Heather Stevens finished in a career-best third place out of 146 runners, while senior Juliana Stern and freshman Caroline Wolfe took sixth and seventh, respectively.
Men's Cross Country
-The Colonialsfinished third at the Seagull Opener in their 2012 debut with four top-20 individual finishers.
-Sophomore John-Louis Pane led GW with a 14th-place showing out of 116 runners.
In conjunction with the GW Student Association, GW Club Sports and GW Colonial Army, GW Athletics will be out in full force at Sports & Spirit Day at Square 80 (you know, the plaza behind Guthridge Hall, between 21st & 22nd Streets AND F & G Streets) from 5-7 p.m.
GW men's basketball coach Mike Lonergan and women's basketball coach Jonathan Tsipis are slated to attend and speak at the event, which will conclude with a short walk over to the Smith Center for GW Volleyball's home opener against UMBC at 7 p.m.
If you're interested in any athletics option GW has to offer - varsity, club or recreation - come out to Sports & Spirit Day on Wednesday!
Raise High!
MOST RECENT POSTS
- GW Athletic National Advisory Council Meets for the First Time
- Colonials Athletics Weekend Roundup - Sept. 21-23
- GW Student-Athletes Tour White House, Make it Back in Time for Class
- Four GW Athletes Selected for Grassroots Leadership Team
- GW Lacrosse Redoes Psy's Gangnam Style
- Colonials Athletics Weekend Roundup - Sept. 14-16
- Men's Squash's Chris Bell Competes in Nation's Triathlon
- From One Athlete to Another: GW Swimming Teams Volunteer at Nation's Triathlon
- GW Women's Tennis' Mimi Hamling Provides Medical Care to Hondurans
