Virginia Wesleyan College

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Fantastic fall puts Virginia Wesleyan at No. 11 in country, No. 1 in Virginia

Unparalleled success in Virginia Wesleyan College's fall athletics lifted the Marlins' intercollegiate program to an unprecedented position among the nation's leading institutions.

Virginia Wesleyan is ranked No. 11 nationally in the United States Sports Academy Directors' Cup competition, a program directed by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. It is the first top-20 ranking for Wesleyan since NACDA began recognizing the nation's most successful Division III athletic programs in 1995.

Julia Green '04, shown here in a
game against Randolp-Macon.
is the first VWC women's
soccer player to receive
All-American recognition. The Marlins' fall teams compiled 176 points, a record point total for the college. Wesleyan is the highest ranked team from Virginia.

Wesleyan catapulted in the rankings following the most successful fall in athletics in the college's history. Field hockey, men's soccer and women's soccer all advanced to the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III national championship tournament, with the women's soccer team reaching the round of Elite 8 - a first for any sports program at VWC.

Field hockey players receive national honors

A season of firsts continued recently for the Virginia Wesleyan College field hockey team with the announcement of national honors for two Marlin players.

While Jackie Griffin '04 was named a second-team All-American by STX and the National Field Hockey Coaches Association, Chrissy Clancy '07 was named to the national All-Rookie team as selected by womensfieldhockey.com.

Griffin, from Glen Gardner, NJ, is only the second Virginia Wesleyan field hockey player to attain All-American status. She is the first to receive the honor since 1995 when Monica Saltarelli '97 was named to the national third team.

Clancy, a first-year player from Oak Hill, is the first Marlin field hockey player to receive the national all-rookie award. She was one of 16 players to receive the honor.

"Both of these players are very deserving of the honors they've received," said VWC head coach Kim-Michael Mertes. "Not only is it an honor for them, it's also an honor for our program."

Chrissy Clancy '07 was named to the national All-Rookie team.

Griffin, who also received first team All-South Region and All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference accolades earlier, loomed as one of the strongest and most physical players in the south region. She finished the season scoring a career-high 11 goals and five assists, ranking second overall for the Marlins, who enjoyed their best season ever with an 18-2 record.

While one career closed, another started in impressive fashion. Clancy, one of the quickest players on the Virginia Wesleyan team, used her fleet feet to emerge as the leading scorer for the Marlins. She connected for 13 goals, eight assists and 34 points, all VWC first-year records

Virginia Wesleyan's Bowers and Mertes selected regional Coaches of the Year

Women's soccer
coach Jeff Bowers
named Coach of
the Year.Other people around the nation are beginning to realize what the Virginia Wesleyan College community already knew... the Marlins are directed by one of the most knowledgeable groups of young coaches in the nation.

That bore true significantly recently when women's soccer coach Jeff Bowers and field hockey mentor Kim-Michael Mertes earned unprecedented honors in their sports at VWC. Both men received prestigious Regional Coach of the Year accolades.

Bowers was selected as the National Soccer Coaches' Association of America/ Adidas National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III South Region Coach of the Year, and Mertes was named the DITA/National Field Hockey Coaches' Association Division III South Region Coach of the Year. While Mertes was one of only six coaches to receive the 2003 honor, Bowers was one of seven. All regional coaches are eligible to receive the National Coach of the Year award.

The coaching awards follow the most successful fall season of athletics in history for Virginia Wesleyan. Women's soccer and field hockey played major roles in that success, with a combined record of 38-4-3, two regular season championships in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament, the berths in the NCAA Division III championship tournament for the first time for both

Sports highlights from fall semester

Field hockey: 18-2 overall, 9-0 Old Dominion Athletic Conference, ODAC regular season champion, ODAC championship tournament runner-up, No. 14 final national ranking.

The Marlins advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time in the program's 13-year history, but fell 2-0 in the first round to Williams College.

The Marlins finished the regular season with a 16-0 record, another first for a team that set or tied 19 program records.

Post-season awards:

• All-ODAC - (First team) Griffin and Summer Foster '04 (Annandale); (Second team) Gayla Dalrymple-Smith '04 (Chesapeake); (Honorable mention) Chrissy Clancy '07 (Oak Hill);
• ODAC Rookie of the Year - Clancy;
• ODAC Co-Coach of the Year - Mertes;
• All-Virginia (VaSID) - (First team) Griffin, Margie Baker '05 (Chesapeake); (Honorable mention) Foster, Clancy;
• All-Virginia College Division Coach of the Year - Mertes;
• NFHCA All-South - Griffin, Foster;
• Dita/NFHCA Division III South Region Coach of the Year - Mertes;
• womensfieldhockey.com National Rookie Team - Clancy;
• Stx/NFHCA Division III All-America - (Second team) Griffin.

Women's Soccer: 20-2-3 overall, 11-0 ODAC, ODAC regular season champion, ODAC championship tournament runner-up, South Region tournament champion, NCAA quarterfinalist, No. 8 final national ranking.

Guided by fourth-year head mentor Jeff Bowers, Wesleyan qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time and defeated Hardin-Simmons University and Washington and Lee University for the South Region title. Those victories moved the Marlins into the Elite 8, facing DePauw University. The Marlins hosted the game, but saw the season end when the Tigers posted a 5-3 edge in penalty kicks to advance to the Final Four.

Post-season awards for the Marlins included All-America recognition for Julia Green '04 (Virginia Beach).

Post-season awards:

• All-ODAC - (First team) Green, Katie Barg '04 (Chesapeake), and Merrie Tobler '04 (Leesburg); (Second team) Megan Bronstein '04 (Virginia Beach), Jakki Trappler '06 (Browns Mills, NJ), Kelly Donnelly '07 (Cranford, NJ); (Honorable mention) Michelle Bolling '05 (Norfolk) and Mary Beth Shanks '06 (Richmond);
• ODAC Rookie of the Year - Donnelly;
• ODAC Player of the Year - Green;
• ODAC Coach of the Year - Jeff Bowers;
• All-Virginia (VaSID) - (First team) Barg, Green;
• (Honorable mention) Tobler, Laura Wiederwax '06 (Stafford);
• All-Virginia College Division Co-Player of the Year - Green;
• All-Virginia College Division Coach of the Year - Bowers;
• NSCAA All-South - (First team) Green, Barg; (Second team) Tobler;
• NSCAA Division III South Region Coach of the Year - Bowers;
• NSCAA All-America - (Second team) Green;
• CoSIDA Academic All-District III - (First team) Tobler, (Second team) Green.

Men's Soccer: 17-4 overall, 8-1 ODAC, ODAC regular season and tournament champion, advanced to the NCAA tournament for the 11th time in the past 14 years, No. 21 final national ranking.

Head coach Sonny Travis completed his 15th season at VWC, which recorded its 19th consecutive winning season in men's soccer, highlighted by the ODAC championship and the bid to the NCAA tournament.

It was the seventh ODAC tournament title for the Marlins, who advanced to the conference's championship game in 12 of the past 15 years.

Post-season honors were highlighted by All-America status again for Kelvin Murray '06 (Virginia Beach). He was named to the second team for the second consecutive season and becomes only the third VWC player to earn multiple All-America honors.

Post-season awards:

• All-ODAC - (First team) Sean Wheaton '04 (Virginia Beach), Murray;
• (Second team) Caleb Hill '05 (Virginia Beach), Chris Mills '06 (Virginia Beach) and Matt Greene '06 (Virginia Beach) and Ryan Cassell '07 (Herndon);
• ODAC Player of the Year - Murray;
• All-Virginia (VaSID) - (First team) Wheaton, Murray, (Second team) Hill, Mills;
• All-Virginia College Division Player of the Year - Murray;
• All-Virginia College Division Coach of the Year - Travis;
• NSCAA All-South - (First team) Wheaton, Murray;
• NSCAA All-America - (Second team) Murray.

Volleyball: 17-10 overall, 4-7 ODAC, qualified for the ODAC championship tournament in the program's first varsity season.

Under the guidance of first-year head coach Jennifer Strauss, the Marlins completed their first season as a varsity team with an impressive record. The season included an 8-2 start, highlighted by a 4-0 showing en route to winning the first Blue Marlin Invitational championship.

Tennis (men's and women's): 4-0 overall, fall schedule.

Coach John Brinkman saw his Marlins start their season on a winning bounce, as both the men's and women's teams won two fall matches. VWC's women compiled a program-best 11-3 record last year, while the men finished 9-6.

Cross Country (men's and women's): First-year head coach Jackie Tugman kept the Marlins at a competitive level, despite low numbers on the teams. The Marlins competed with only six runners overall, which did not qualify VWC for team scores in 2003 meet competition.