Issue date: 12/11/08 Section: Sports

With the semester drawing to a conclusion, five different college sports at UW-Eau Claire have also reached the end of their season.

The Blugold athletics programs had a very successful year, as every single team saw improvements from the previous season.

Three women's sports; cross-country, soccer and volleyball, have all seen their seasons come to a close.

The women's cross-country team had the most successful year out of the three and finished in fifth place at the NCAA Div. III Championships. The finish was the best by Eau Claire since the 1997 season when they finished in second place overall.

Senior Mary Palmer was the top performer for the Blugolds and finished 26th overall, which earned her All-American honors.

Fifth place was a nice improvement from last year's 12th place finish.

The Eau Claire women's soccer team had a record-breaking season that was cut short by a narrow defeat in a shootout.

Jumping out with a 12-0-2 record to start the season, the Blugolds eventually climbed to become the third ranked team in the country.

The 14 games without a loss set an Eau Claire record for consecutive games without being defeated.

In the playoffs they faced Wheaton College (Ill.), the defending national champions, and were barely defeated in a shootout, even though they failed to concede a goal the entire playoffs.

Senior Amy Smith was the strongest competitor for Eau Claire the season, and is a likely candidate for conference player of the year honors, along with All-American honors.

Smith scored 22 goals and had six assists for a total of 50 points on the season. The goal and point total both broke Blugold records that had been intact for 11 years.

The women's volleyball team finished with a record of 24-12 overall and 7-1 in the conference.

Starting the season 2-3, the team got off to a relatively slow start. However, they were able to recover enough to become Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference co-champions.

They fell a game short of the regional championship and finished the season ranked 24th in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.

Two players were named to All-American honors including seniors Abby Freiborg and Emily Haese.

Freiborg was a second team honoree and also was named WIAC Player of the Year for her performance this season. Haese led the Blugolds with 1,286 assists and was a national honorable mention honoree.

Continued...

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