Dec. 26, 2010
BELLINGHAM, Wash. - However you measure it, whether by individual, team or program accomplishments, 2010 was an outstanding year for athletics at Western Washington University.
As the end of the calendar year approaches, here is a look back at the school's milestones and achievements over the last 12 months.
The Vikings placed sixth among 310 NCAA Division II schools in the 2009-10 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings, the highest finish in school history and the second straight among the top 10. And the Vikings are 13th following the fall sports season in the 2010-11 standings.
Western won a sixth straight NCAA II championship in women's rowing, the longest winning streak by any school in any division of the sport.
The Vikings successfully defended their Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Sports Championship in 2009-10, taking top honors for the sixth time in the nine-year history of the league. And they are again leading the conference heading into the 2010-11 winter sports season.
Western's Ryan Brown (Jr., Bellingham/Squalicum) won the national title in the men's pole vault at both the indoor and outdoor championships.
Two Vikings earned first-team All-America honors - forward Gibson Bardsley (Sr., Fall City/Mount Si) in men's soccer and libero Allison Gotz (Sr., Bothell/Archbishop Murphy) in volleyball.
Western's Sarah Porter (Sr., Hockinson) placed second nationally for the second straight year in women's cross country, the school's highest individual finish in that sport.
And the Vikings accomplished all of this while maintaining rates 12 percentage points or better than the national and conference averages in both the federally mandated graduation rate and the NCAA Academic Success Rate reports.
Both the men's and women's basketball teams reached their respective West Regionals, with the men advancing to the semifinals before a 76-75 overtime loss to eventual national champion Cal Poly Pomona in coach Brad Jackson's 25th season. And the two hoop squads began the 2010-11 season with a combined 14-4 record.
Carmen Dolfo won her 400th game on Nov. 20, becoming the second women's basketball coach in school history to achieve that milestone.
Western had top 20 finishes in both the men's and women's divisions at the indoor and outdoor national track & field championships, and the men's and women's golf squads each placed seventh in their respective Super Regionals.
Both the Viking men's outdoor track and men's golf teams won GNAC titles, the men for the third straight time.
This fall, the men's and women's cross country teams both had top 10 finishes for the third consecutive season, the men placing ninth and the women 10th.
The volleyball team, led by conference Player of the Year middle blocker Emily Jepsen, tied for the GNAC title and reached the regional semifinals as Gotz placed second among career dig leaders with 1,708.
Bardsley, who is the school's only first-team All-America in men's soccer, tied the WWU career record with 41 goals. He also was named the GNAC Player of the Year.
