The 2001-02 athletic season for Northwestern University once again ended on a high note, as the women's tennis team defended its Big Ten championship for the fourth year in a row and advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 for the third straight season. The Wildcats hosted an NCAA regional for the second year in a row, defeating Illinois-Chicago and Wisconsin at the brand-new Combe Indoor Tennis Center en route to the Round of 16, and they currently hold a 25-match win streak in Big Ten regular-season play.
The 2001-02 academic year also saw Kellan O'Connor (men's swimming) and Kate Rudkin (women's fencing) earn first-team All-America honors. Additionally, 30 NU athletes earned All-Big Ten honors, including 10 who were awarded first-team recognition. The academic year was also highlighted by 127 NU athletes being accorded Academic All-Big Ten honors, a school record.
Among fall sports, the women's volleyball team had its best finish in the conference since 1991 despite a roster without a senior. The women's soccer team nearly tripled its win output of a year ago, and advanced to the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 1998. The men's soccer team, under first-year head coach Tim Lenahan, ended a losing streak of more than two years in the season finale at Valparaiso (1-0).
The men's swim team led the winter sports contingent. At the Big Ten Championships, sophomore Tony Swanson was Swimmer of the Meet after taking individual titles in the 200 backstroke and 200 IM, while O'Connor won the 200 butterfly. NU's fourth-place finish at Big Tens and 19th-place finish at NCAA's was the best in more than 50 years. The women's fencing team saw its string of Midwest Conference championships end at three-the 'Cats finished second-but came back to finish sixth at NCAAs. Merritt Adams won her second individual Big Ten crown and was an honorable mention All-American for the women's swim team. The men's basketball team finished with a 16-13 overall record and went 7-9 in the Big Ten, the most conference wins since 1983-84. And a pair of wrestlers, John Giacche and Ryan Kane, represented NU at the NCAA Championships in Albany, N.Y.
The women's tennis team was the luminary of the spring season-however, there were several other highights. The men's tennis team joined its female counterpart in the NCAA Championships. Both tennis teams received individual accolades, as well: Marine Piriou was the women's Big Ten Player of the Year, while Tommy Hanus was the men's Big Ten Freshman of the Year and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) Region IV Rookie of the Year. The baseball team advanced to the Big Ten Tournament for the second time in three years, and the sixth-seeded Wildcats advanced to the semifinal round before succumbing to the top two seeds in succession. The softball team, under first-year head coach Kate Drohan, finished with a winning record and set a school record for home runs. Men's golf did not win the Big Ten title for the first time in four years, but sophomore Tom Johnson advanced to the NCAA Championships as an individual. And women's lacrosse re-appeared on the varsity landscape, going 5-10 (2-4 in the newly formed American Lacrosse Conference) with a freshman-laden roster.
Men's swimming coach Bob Groseth was named Big Ten Co-Coach of the Year and was also honored by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) with their Richard E. Steadman Award.
Five athletes were named to the Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-District Teams in their respective sports-Austin King and Sean Wieber in football, Susie McCreery in women's soccer, Lauren Schwendimann in softball, and Piriou in the women's at-large category.
<small>[ August 18, 2002, 08:49 PM: Message edited by: JoltinJacket ]</small>
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