June 17, 2011

Ephs Finish 1st in Directors' Cup for 13th year in a row: Williams College 1, Triskaidekaphobia 0

CLEVELAND, OH – Some people fear the number 13 – triskaidekaphobia – but at Williams College this spring the Ephs are embracing the number 13 with the Ephs winning a 13^th consecutive Directors’ Cup and 15^th out of the 16 awarded in NCAA Division III.  Williams 1, Triskaidekaphobia 0.

The Ephs' winning point total of 1,147.00 points was short of their all-time best point total of 1,292.25, established last year, but enough to allow Williams to add another Cup to its collection that is spread out from Williamstown to New York and Boston. Middlebury finished second, 83.83 points behind the Ephs with a total of 1,063.17. 

NESCAC was impressive again this year as the conference placed three teams in the top four with Amherst finishing fourth and tallying 889.5 points

Only the 1998 Cup, won by the UC San Diego Tritons (now in NCAA Division II) eluded the Ephs' grasp.

The Directors’ Cup competition is sponsored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and Learfield Sports, in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III and in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).

See Directors' Cup promotional video with Eph Athletic Director Lisa Melendy and other athletic directors HERE.

The Directors’ Cup is emblematic of athletic superiority and points in the Cup competition are awarded based on a school’s finish in NCAA post-season team championships. You don’t luck into a Directors’ Cup, not when there are more than 300 schools each year scoring points. The Cup has to be earned.

The Ephs athletic success is all the more impressive when you factor in how highly regarded Williams is as one of the nation’s most selective colleges and its annual ranking among the top liberal arts colleges in the nation.

The Ephs have won 13 in a row and 15 of the 16 awarded in NCAA Div. III

Teams scoring points in the Cup have to overcome all sorts of obstacles in competition and at Williams two of the biggest obstacles are the expectation that the Ephs will win the Cup each year and the motivation of the opponents to be the ones to knock off the Ephs. A win over Williams is so highly prized that often times opposing fans and teammates rush the playing surface to embrace the winners.

It will be at least 14 years before another Division III school can break this Eph record. The Ephs latest accomplishment may now reside in the realm of conversations about sports records in Division III that will never be broken.

Last fall the Williams College Ephs found themselves in fifth place in the Directors’ Cup standings 100 points behind leader Washington University (MO).

At winter’s end the Ephs had moved ahead of the field by scoring 483.50 points that season and taking a 55.5–point lead over second place Middlebury and a 70-point lead over third place Washington University. 

At the spring update on May 27^th with four NCAA spring championships completed and seven championships remaining to be scored, Middlebury had taken a 14-point lead on the Ephs. Of the remaining seven spring NCAA championships Williams was competing in just five, while Middlebury and Washington University were in six. 

Williams rose to the challenge in a big way with four of its five teams finishing in the top five, winning two NCAA team titles, and winning three individual women’s NCAA track titles.

Sophomores Lead Eph Comeback

Men’s tennis used a herculean effort by sophomore Bryan Chow (Schenectady, NY/Niskayuna HS) to hold off seven match points in his number five singles match versus third ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps to win an 11-9 third set tiebreaker and lift the 8^th ranked Ephs over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps to a fourth place finish.

Another sparkling highlight of the spring championship season was the performance of the Eph women’s tennis team that had to reach deep to beat archrival Amherst 5-4 for the NCAA title.  The Ephs prevailed on the strength of the resilient and fearless play of sophomore Nancy Worley (New Orleans/Metairie Park CDS) who trailed by a set and was down 4-1 in the second and 5-3 in the third, but came back to win in a tiebreaker 7-2. The title was the Ephs 4^th straight and a Division III leading sixth overall.

Bryan Chow '13	Nancy Worley '13

 

Women’s track & field posted a fifth place finish at the NCAA outdoor championships on the strength of three individual crowns won by sophomores. Tanasia Hoffler (Cheshire, CT/Cheshire Academy) repeated her winning effort in the triple jump and Jen Gossels (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury HS) won both the 10K and the 5K. Hoffler has been named an All-American five times already, while Gossels has four All-American awards (one in cross country) to her credit.

Women’s crew capped off the spring in fine fashion placing both boats in the Grand Final and winning a record 6^th consecutive NCAA title and a Division III-leading 7th overall. The Eph Varsity 1 boat won the Grand Final and the Varsity 2 placed 6^th, marking the fourth straight year the Ephs have placed both boats in the Grand Final. Three memebers of the Eph Varsity 1 boat and two members of the Varsity 2 boat are members of the talented sophomore class.

 

2011 NCAA Champions; 6 in a row & 7th overall

Women’s crew now owns the most NCAA titles of any sport at Williams with 7; women’s tennis is next with six.

The Ephs have won 25 NCAA titles overall with 23 coming since NESCAC permitted post-season NCAA team championship competition during the 1993-94 academic year.

Williams won the 1982 and 1983 NCAA women’s swimming & diving titles (first two staged in NCAA Division III) by qualifying enough individuals in individual events to out score the other participating teams.

9 Eph Top 5 & 11 Top 10 National Teams	Finish
Women's Crew	1st
Women's Tennis	1st
Men's Basketball	3rd
Women's Swimming & Diving	3rd
Men's Swimming & Diving	4th
Men's Tennis	4th
Women's Cross Country	5th
Women's Soccer	5th
Women's Outdoor Track & Field	5th
Women's Indoor Track & Field	7th
Women's Golf	8th

12 Ephs won individual NCAA Championships in 2010-11:

Men’s Swimming & Diving

Paul Dyrkacz - 200-yard IM  

Paul Dyrkacz - 400-yard IM  

Gary Roberson - 200-yard Freestyle

Paul Dyrkacz '13, has 2 career NCAA titles	Logan Todhunter '12, has 8 career NCAA titles	Caroline Wilson '13, has 5 career NCAA titles

Sophomore Caroline Wilson traveled to Michigan in April and competed in a US Swimming Grand Prix event and secured a qualifying time for the US Olympic Trials in the 400 IM.

Women’s Swimming & Diving

Logan Todhunter - 100-yard Butterfly  

Logan Todhunter - 200-yard Butterfly  

Logan Todhunter - 200-yard IM  

Caroline Wilson - 1,650-yard Freestyle  

Caroline Wilson - 400-yard IM

Women’s Indoor Track & Field

Tanasia Hoffler - Triple Jump 

Women’s Outdoor Track & Field

Jennifer Gossels - 10,000-meter Run

Jennifer Gossels – 5,000-meter run 

Tanasia Hoffler - Triple Jump

Jen Gossels '13 is a 4-time All-American	Tanasia Hoffler '13 is a 5-time All-America

WATCH NCAA Spring Highlights Show on CBS Sunday June 19th at 4:00PM EST.
Eph senior tennis player Lucy Marchese will be featured along with Eph
women's tennis and Eph women's crew.

Sophomores Bryan Chow (men's tennis) and Sean Hoffmann (men's basketball) won the prestitigious NCAA Elite 88 Award at their national championships for possessing the highest cumulative GPAs of all the competing players at the finals. Chow owns a 4.0 GPA and has yet to declare his major, while Hoffman possesses a 3.79 GPA and is majoring in poltical science.

Williams athletes have now won four of the coveted NCAA Elite 88 awards in the two-year history of the program.

Bryan Chow '13	Sean Hoffmann '13

 

Corey Paulish '11

Senior Corey Paulish, a captain on the Eph wrestling team, and the all-time leader in wins at Williams (129), was named to the Capital One Academic All-American Men’s At-large Third Team.
He is the 24^th Eph and first wrestler honored.

54 Eph athletes earned All-America honors this past academic year.

Men’s Basketball
James Wang
Troy Whittington 

Women’s Crew
Adrienne Darrow
Kate Shaper

Women’s Cross Country
Jen Gossels

Women’s Golf
Georgi Salant

Women’s Lacrosse
Julia Schreiber

Men’s Soccer
Charles Romero
Joe Vella

Women’s Soccer
Sara Wild

Men’s Swimming & Diving
Chris Corbett
Andrew D'Ignazio
Paul Dyrkacz
Stuart Horgan
Ryan Marrano
Gary Roberson
Martin Soderstrom
Phil Treesh
Thomas Vieth
Ben Wampler

Women’s Swimming & Diving
Erin Altenberger
Olivia Card-Childers
Carolyn Geller
KC Ha
Jillian Hancock
Joanna Hoffman
Christina Metcalf
Stephanie Nguyen
Katharine O'Leary
Ryan McChesney
Bonnie Patchen
Kelsey Roggensack
Logan Todhunter
Caroline Wilson 

Men’s Tennis
Felix Sun

Women’s Tennis
Kristin Alotta
Lucy Marchese
Nikki Reich
Nancy worley

Men’s Track & Field
Jabulani Blyden
Taylor Fitzgerald
Chris Fogler
Richard Fusco
Stephen Simalchik

Women’s Track & Field
Lizzy Danhakl
Annie Dear
Chiara Del Piccolo
Julieanne Fontana
Jen Gossels
Maya Hawakara
Tanasia Hoffler
Brianne Mirecki

Volleyball
Kate Anderson

Wrestling
Ryan Malo

The Ephs again led all NESCAC members in total NESCAC team championships won on the year by claiming nine. When men's and women's crew won the NESCAC titles in Worcester, MA in May they bumped the all-time total number of NESCAC titles won by the Williams over the years to 162, also the conference's best total. Middlebury is second in NESCAC team titles won with 66, while Amherst owns 34.

Williams also led in the number of student-athletes who were accorded Academic All-NESCAC honors (283) during the 2010-11 academic year. To earn Academic All-NESCAC honors and athlete must be at least a sophomore, a Varsity letter winner, and possess a cumulative GPA of at least 3.35.

NESCAC Titles Won by Williams in 2010-11

Men’s Crew

Women’s Crew

Football

Women’s Soccer

Men’s Swimming & Diving

Women’s Swimming & Diving

Women’s Tennis

Men’s Track & Field

Women’s Track & Field

 

Eph NESCAC Performer of the Year

Jennifer Gossels '13

NESCAC Players of the Year

Patrick Moffitt '11

Troy Whittington '11

Sara Wild '11

NCAA Div. III

Directors’ Cup Top 10

Place	School	Points
1.	Williams	1,147
2.	Middlebury	1,063.17
3.	Washington Univ.	964
4.	Amherst	889.5
5.	Calvin	762.5
6.	Wisc. Whitewater	722.75
7.	Emory	692
8.	Johns Hopkins	688
9.	Wisc. Stevens Point	686.25
10.	TCNJ	660.75

See complete listing of Division III teams HERE.