Sports Briefs

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RUDIN CAPTURES NESCAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK -- AGAIN

It is hard to play favorites when considering all the valuable assets to this year's NESCAC championship-winning men's basketball team, but Ben Rudin '09 is certainly one of the team's undisuputed leaders.

Rudin was named the NESCAC Player of the Week for the third time this season on the heels of an amazing performance this past weekend. The senior point guard piled up impressive statistics in all three major categories, averaging 24.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists on the weekend.

In Saturday's semifinal contest against Bowdoin, Rudin had a career-high 30 points, only 16 fewer than the entire Bowdoin team scored in the blowout victory for the Panthers.

Against Amherst, Rudin displayed another solid performance, scoring 18 points and grabbing nine rebounds, both of which led the Panthers. In the game, he also established an all-time conference record with 77 points in the NESCAC tournament.

The Panthers look to extend their storybook season when they take on the winner of St. Joseph's College of Maine and Bridgewater State in a home game on Saturday, March 7 at 7 p.m.

- Jeff Klein, Sports Editor

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY TEAM HONORED WITH SCHOLAR AWARD

The Middlebury women's cross country team was named the USTFCCCA Division III Scholar Team of the Year on March 3. The team is awarded this honor after having won the 2008 Division III Cross Country title.

The Panthers were named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic team in 2006 and 2007. The entire roster is factored into the grade point average (GPA) scoring, making the honor all the more impressive. The women maintained a cumulative 3.480 GPA in the fall. The team tops the list of 156 Division III women's programs that received honors this year, compared to 141 schools in 2007.

Nine NESCAC schools in total were represented on the list.

In order for a team to be considered for the USTFCCCA honors, the team must have accrued a team score high enough to compete at an NCAA Regional meet while also maintaining a minimum 3.10 cumulative GPA.

Despite Bluffton University having the highest overall GPA (3.859), it was the national champion Middlebury Panthers who were awarded with the highest honor.

- Kevin Carpenter, Sports Editor

ILLIG EARNS NESCAC COACH OF THE YEAR HONORS FOR SQUASH

John Illig wastes no time when it comes to making his mark on the Middlebury squash program. In his second year as head coach of both the men's and women's teams, Illig was named NESCAC Coach of the Year after leading the women to a 13th place finish and a 19-8 record on the season - their best in school history.

Illig is a veteran of squash in the NESCAC league, having served 11 seasons as head coach at Bates and five years at Colby before that. His Coach of the Year award joins numerous accolades on his resume, which include being named the U.S. Olympic Developmental Squash Coach of the Year in 2000 and President of the Women's College Squash Association from 2000-2002.

In preparing his players to face historically dominant varsity teams such as Trinity and UPenn this season, Illig emphasized the importance of competition at a high level and the value of learning from one's opponents, despite the outcome of the match. Both his unwavering support for the program and the impressive results he garnered this season demonstrate that Illig has what it takes to lead Middlebury squash to many future successes.

- Emma Gardner, Sports Editor