Renee Rosenow

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.

Football and cross-country are the two men’s sports that have had their seasons come to an end.

The football team saw success for the second straight year after finishing just 3-7 overall in 2006. The Blugolds eventually became the seventh ranked team in the country and nearly defeated defending national champion UW-Whitewater in a 16-14 loss.

Eleven different Blugolds were named to All-WIAC conference honors and were led by junior Cory Sartorelli who was a unanimous first-team selection.

Senior Paul Bielmeier added to the honors as he was named to the Academic All-American team and became just the fourth Eau Claire football player in history to do so.

The men’s cross-country also took strides in the right direction this season. After placing 16th in their NCAA Regional last year, they improved to become sixth overall this season.

Junior Chris Wirtz was the team’s strongest performer and finished in 19th place at the Regional. Finishing that high enabled him the opportunity to compete in the NCAA Championship where he become the first Blugold male runner represented since 2001.

Across the table the Eau Claire athletic programs have proved they can compete at the national level, no matter what the sport is.

Along with team success, many players found individual success as well and have left a strong foundation for seasons to come.