2003-04 Year in Review
 

Baseball

Virginia Wesleyan captured its sixth conference baseball championship with a 12-8 decision over Washington and Lee. The win marked the second straight year the Marlins defeated W&L for the title ... Bridgewater 's JR Estes was named the conference Player of the Year. Estes finished the season with a .417 batting average and led the league in slugging percentage (.865) ... Washington and Lee's Peter Dean was named the conference Pitcher of the Year. Dean completed his collegiate career with 29 career victories - a conference record ...  Bridewater first-year pitcher Ricky Read was named the conference Rookie of the Year ... Virginia Wesleyan received the conference AQ and advanced to the NCAA Tournament playing a regional in Martinsville , Va. The Marlin lost their first two games against Mary Washington and Emory University and finished the season with a 31-12 overall mark ... VWC's Nick Boothe was honored as the ODAC's top coach after leading the Marlin to the conference championship and NCAA appearance.

Men's Basketball

Hampden-Sydney defeated Virginia Wesleyan, 75-69, to take the Tigers' ninth conference basketball title ... Both HSC and Randolph-Macon advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Hampden-Sydney defeated Elizabethtown in the first round while Randolph-Macon defeated Methodist. Both advanced to the second round. HSC dropped a 78-76 decision to Franklin and Marshall. RMC lost to Maryville (Tn.), 75-68 ... Emory & Henry's Justin Call was honored with the conference's Kurt Axe Player of the Year award. Call also garnered national attention being named the Jostens Trophy winner, recognizing the most outstanding DIII Men's Basketball Player in the country ... Guilford first-year head coach Tom Palombo and E&H veteran head coach Bob Johnson shared the conference Coach of the Year award ... Virginia Wesleyan's Brandon Adair was tabbed the conference Rookie of the Year.

Women's Basketball

Eastern Mennonite capped off a fantastic 2003-04 by winning its second conference championship. The Royals finished the regular season tied with cross-town rival Bridgewater at 17-3. The Royals advanced to the conference championship game against Randolph-Macon, defeating the Yellow Jackets, 65-54 ... RMC's Megan Silva was named the conference's top player. Silva finished the season leading the league in three statistical categories including scoring (19.4 ppg) ... BC's Katie Herr was named the Rookie of the Year while Bridgewater's Jean Willi was tabbed the Coach of the Year ... EMU advanced to the NCAA Tournament winning its first contest at home against Christopher Newport. The Royals' title hopes ended with a 91-64 second round loss to Hardin Simmons in Abilene , Tx .

Men’s Cross Country 

Roanoke College won the conference championship placing five runners in the top 10 spots and finishing with 30 points.  Last year’s champ, Lynchburg College, came in second with 39 points and Washington & Lee finished third with 86 ...  Washington and Lee’s Andrew Schorr was named ODAC Runner of the Year.  Schorr led all runners in the championship with a time of 28:11 ...  Coach of the Year honors were given to Finn Pincus from Roanoke College ... Brian Flynn of Lynchburg (92nd) and Jacob Pack from Roanoke (184th) both advanced to the NCAA Division III Championships.

Women’s Cross Country

Lynchburg College took home the conference title filling the top three spots in the championship run and finishing with 20 points.  Roanoke finished second with 67 points while Washington and Lee came in third with 75 ...  Lynchburg also grabbed the top two awards in the ODAC.  Kelly Archibald led all runners in the championship with a time of 26:18 and was named Runner of the Year while Dr. Jack M. Toms was named Coach of the Year.

Equestrian

Hollins University regained its place at the top capturing its 15th ODAC Equestrian Championship. Hollins was followed closely by Bridgewater and R-M Woman's College tied for second with 12 points. Washington and Lee (10pts) and Lynchburg (6pts) wrapped up the final standings ... Washington and Lee's Caitlin Lane posted the best individual performance (86.4 average) and was named the conference Rider of the Year ... Coach of the Year honors went to Hollins College Head Coach Sandy Gerald.

Field Hockey

Eastern Mennonite won the conference championship with a 2-1 victory over Virginia Wesleyan and both teams advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Royals (17-4) fell to Messiah College , 5-2 while the Marlins (18-2) dropped a 2-0 decision to Williams College ... Eastern Mennonite’s Kristen Moyer was named the ODAC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.  Moyer tallied a conference-best 71 points on 30 goals and 11 assists ... Virginia Wesleyan’s Chrissy Clancy was named ODAC Rookie of the Year while EMU’s Brenda Bechler and VWC’s Kim-Michael Mertes were named Co-Coaches of the Year.   Clancy helped lead her team to a perfect 9-0 ODAC season with 34 points on 13 goals and 8 assists. 

Football

Bridgewater won the conference championship with a perfect 6-0 conference record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament by way of the ODAC automatic berth. The Eagles defeated Waynesburg (28-24), Christopher Newport (26-3) and Lycoming (13-9) before falling to defending national champion, Mount Union, 66-0 in the national semifinals. Bridgewater ’s Jermaine Taylor and Hampden-Sydney’s Conrad Singh were named ODAC Co-Players of the Year.  Taylor led his team on the defensive end with 58 solo tackles and 60 assisted tackles. Singh finished the year with 98 receptions and 1,419 receiving yards which were both new ODAC single-season records ... Emory & Henry’s Todd Woods was named Rookie of the Year.  He threw for 1,913 yards and 15 touchdowns and had a 51.7% completion rate ...  Coach of the Year Honors were presented to Hampden-Sydney’s Marty Favret.

Golf
Guilford College won the conference tournament by a record 39 stokes. With the win, the Quakers registered their eighth ODAC Golf Championship. GC's Chris Lowman completed the two-day event posting a 144 (Even) and receiving medallist honors ... GC was the only conference school selected to advance to the NCAA Tournament in California . The Quakers finished 12th in the 23-team field with a four-day total of 1222 (305.5 avg) ... GC freshman Colin Clark was named the conference Player of the Year after finishing the season with a league-leading 74.8 scoring average ... Guilford's Jack Jensen was named the conference Coach of the Year after leading the Quakers to a runaway victory in the championship and an NCAA appearance.

Men's Lacrosse

Washington and Lee avenged its championship loss to Lynchburg in 2003 by registering its eighth ODAC men's lacrosse championship in 2004. The Generals rolled by way of a 11-8 championship victory over Roanoke College on May 2. The Generals advanced to the national tournament winning their first round contest against Messiah (12-8) only to lose to eventual national champion Salisbury University, 15-8, in the quarterfinals ... W&L mentor Mike Cerino was named the conference Coach of the Year, while W&L goalie Ansel Sanders was tabbed as the conference's top player. Sanders finished the season with a 6.76 GAA and .611 save percentage ... Randolph-Macon goalie Brian Vierheller was named the league's top rookie finishing second in the league goalkeeper stats behind Sanders with a 10.34 GA average and league-leading .621 save percentage.

Women's Lacrosse

Head coach Jan Hathorn led the Generals to their second consecutive conference championship with a 11-9 victory over Virginia Wesleyan ... The Generals advanced to the national tournament, losing to Gettysburg in regional play, 13-8 ... W&L record setting goalie Joanna Perini was named the conference Player of the Year after registering a league-best 6.42 GAA and .593 save percentage ... Randolph-Macon's Traci Phipps was tabbed the conference Rookie of the Year, while SBC mentor Missy Ackerman and Hathorn were named ODAC co-Coaches of the Year.

Men’s Soccer

Virginia Wesleyan defeated Washington and Lee 3-1 to win the conference championship.  The Marlins went on to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Eastern College, 3-2 in double overtime before falling to Drew University, 3-0 ... Virginia Wesleyan’s Kelvin Murray was named the ODAC Player of the Year.  Murray, a sophomore, led the Marlins with 44 points on 15 goals and 14 assists ... Bridgewater College took home both Rookie and Coach of the Year Honors ...  Rookie of the Year In Meang led the Eagles with 32 points on 11 goals and 10 assists ... Bridgewater’s Mike Brizendine was selected Coach of the Year after leading his team to a school-record 12 wins.

Women’s Soccer

Washington and Lee defended its title by beating Virginia Wesleyan in the championship game, 2-1 ...  Both the Generals and Marlins advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament.  Virginia Wesleyan defeated Hardin-Simmons, 2-1 in the first round, while Washington and Lee tied Greensboro , 0-0 in double overtime, but advanced to the next round on penalty kicks.  The two ODAC foes then faced each other in Lexington with the Marlins defeating the Generals, 1-0 in double overtime.  Virginia Wesleyan then tied DePauw 0-0 in double overtime, but DePauw advanced in the tournament on penalty kicks ...  Virginia Wesleyan swept the top three awards as Julia Green took home Player of the Year honors, Kelly Donnelly was named Rookie of the Year, and Marlin head coach Jeff Bowers was named Coach of the Year.  Green tallied seven points on two goals, both game winners, and three assists.  Donnelly had 14 points on seven goals, and Coach Bowers led his squad to a school-record 18 wins.

Softball  

Roanoke College captured its fifth championship in six years with a 4-3 win over Virginia Wesleyan.  The Maroons advanced to the NCAA Tournament where they picked up a pair of wins before bowing out with a 5-1 loss to Muskingum.  RC’s Kim Rowe was named Player-of-the-Year, while Lynchburg ’s Jen Overstreet earned Pitcher-of-the-Year honors.  LC skipper Dawn Simmons was the league’s Coach-of-the-Year and the Hornets’ Caroline Cubbage took Rookie-of-the-Year honors.  Emory & Henry’s Sara Caldwell received the Scholar Athlete-of-the-Year award. 

Swimming

Washington and Lee won the conference championship for the 11th consecutive time. The Generals edged past Randolph-Macon College with 557 total points. The championship proved to be a record setter with seven conference records broken ... Randolph-Macon's Erin Ewalt was named the ODAC Swimmer of the Year after capturing four events at the championship ... Teammate Katie Duff was tabbed the conference Rookie of the Year. Duff set two conference records in the three-day meet ... RMWC's Donna Hodgert was picked by her peers as the league's Coach of the Year. Hodgert's team posted a 10-2 dual meet record and finished a strong third at the conference meet.

Men's Tennis

Washington and Lee continued its dominance of the ODAC tennis world with another conference title. The Generals completed the two-day championship with 81 team points. Virginia Wesleyan and Roanoke finished second with 61 points followed by LC, BC, HSC, E&H, EMU and RMC ... The Generals were selected to participate in the national tournament, winning their first round contest over Piedmont (6-1) and losing to Emory University (5-2) in the second round ... W&L's Paul McClure was named the conference's top player after capturing the #1 singles and doubles flight. McClure went on to compete in the national tournament, losing to Andrew Murray of Williams College 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals ... Roanoke's Phil Benne was named the ODAC Coach of the Year after leading the Maroons to a strong second-place showing ... Roanoke's Tim VanRheenan received the conference Rookie of the Year award.

Women's Tennis

The Generals of Washington and Lee registered their 14th conference championship. The Generals captured each single and double flight while posting a perfect 72 team points ... Washington and Lee's Lindsay Hagerman was named the conference's top player after winning #1 singles. The combo of Hagerman and Ginny Wortman were tabbed the top doubles team after winning the tournament's top flight ... The Generals advanced to the NCAA Tournament making the final eight teams at the national championship round. W&L lost to Emory (5-0) University and Williams College (5-4) finishing fourth ... W&L Head Coach Cinda Rankin was named the conference Coach of the Year after leading the Generals to a first-place finish in the conference tournament and another strong showing in the national tournament ... W&L's combo of Hagerman and Wortman played in the national doubles competition advancing to the semifinals. Hagerman and teammate Kristen McClung advanced to individual singles play with McClung losing in the second round and Hagerman being eliminated in the semifinals.

Men's Indoor Track and Field

Lynchburg wrapped up its seventh ODAC Indoor Championship. The Hornets finished the competition on top with 183 team points ... LC's Ryan Holmes was named the conferenence Athlete of the Meet. Holmes, a freshman, won the long and triple jumps and placed third in the 55-meter hurdles and sixth in the high jump ... Lynchburg's Jack Toms was named the conference Coach of the Year ... Lynchburg student-athletes Andy Rollins and Mike Lansdowne posted provisional marks for NCAA competition but did not compete ... Bridgewater's Jermaine Taylor advanced in the 100 meters, placing sixth and earning all-America honors.

Women's Indoor Track and Field

Lynchburg swept the conference track indoor titles by adding the 2004 women's indoor title to a growing list of ODAC track accomplishments. LC finished with 158 team points ... The Hornets were led by Athlete of the Meet Ashley Palmer. Palmer won three conference events, including the 200, 400 meters and long jump ... Palmer qualifed for the NCAA Championship and placed 8th in the long jump - good enough for all-America honors. Fellow LC teammate Crystal Bergen posted a provisional mark in the 800 meters but did not compete in the national meet ... Lynchburg's Jack Toms was named the conference Coach of the Year.

Men's Outdoor Track and Field

Lynchburg slipped past Bridgewater in a very closely contested championship. The Hornets finished the afternoon with 185.5 team points, 7.5 points better than BC ... Washington and Lee's Nathan Johnson and Bridgewater 's Steward White were recognized as the conference co-Athletes of the Meet ... Bridgewater 's Shane Stevens was recognized as the Coach of the Year ... Lynchburg had several student-athletes advance to the NCAA Championships. Doug Thomasey made All-America in the decathlon placing fifth. Mike Lansdowne  qualified in the 200 and 400 meters finishing ninth in both events nationally ... BC high jumper Ricky Easterling advanced to the national meet placing ninth - one place from all-America honors.

Women's Outdoor Track and Field

Lynchburg edged Eastern Mennonite for its second straight conference title. The Hornets compiled 149 team points on the way to the victory. EMU finished second with 119 points ... Jack Toms (LC) and EMU's Paul Johnson were named co-Coaches of the Year ... Ashley Palmer was named the conference Athlete of the Meet after capturing five individual events ... Conference champion Lynchburg College advanced two athletes to the national meet. Palmer led the way earning all-America honors for her fourth-place finish in the heptahlon. She also finished ninth in the long jump and qualifed for the 400 meters but did not compete in that event. Crystal Bergen also advanced to the national competition placing 12th in the 800 meters.

Volleyball

Washington and Lee won its sixth championship in the last seven years with a 3-1 win over Bridgewater .  The Generals advanced to the NCAA tournament, defeating Averett, 3-1 in the first round before falling to Emory University , 3-0 ... Bridgewater ’s Candy Baker was named Player of the Year.  Baker finished the year with a .315 hitting percentage, 3.96 kills per game along with 330 digs ...  Rookie of the Year honors went to Randolph-Macon’s Mollee Farrell.  She tallied 244 kills and 99 blocks in 110 games as well as leading her team with a .336 hitting percentage ...  Washington and Lee’s Bryan Snyder was named Coach of the Year after leading his squad to a 35-4 overall record.