Northwestern University Athletics
The 2002-03 Year In Review
7/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | General
July 1, 2003
2002-03 Team and Individual Honors in PDF Format
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N-Club Senior Recognition and Center Court Awards in PDF FormatDownload Free Acrobat Reader
EVANSTON, Ill. - The 2002-03 athletic season came to a close in fine fashion once again, as the Northwestern University spring teams gave Wildcat fans plenty of reasons to be proud. Freshman Cristelle Grier (women's tennis) advanced further than any NU woman in history at the NCAA Singles Championships, playing in the quarterfinal round to earn All-America honors. On the diamond, the softball team slid into the Big Ten Tournament and then advanced all the way to the championship game for the first time since 1982. The Wildcats later earned a No. 2 seed in one of the eight NCAA regionals, NU's first national appearance since 2000. In baseball, the 'Cats got head coach Paul Stevens his 400th career victory and played in the Big Ten Tournament for the third time in four years.
The 2002-03 academic year also saw Kellan O'Connor (men's swimming) earn first-team All-America honors for the second year, as he placed seventh overall in the 200 butterfly at the NCAA Championships. He also won the Big Ten title in that event for the second straight year. Overall, 46 NU athletes earned all-conference honors, including 12 who were awarded first-team recognition. The academic year also was highlighted by 127 NU athletes being accorded Academic All-Big Ten honors, a school record.
The fall was full of historic performances. Women's volleyball posted its highest Big Ten win total since 1988 with 10, and advanced to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 1984. In the final game of its first-round loss to Missouri, NU combined with the Tigers to tie the NCAA record for most points in a game (40-38). Women's cross country, led by a strong senior class, also advanced to the NCAA Championships, a first for the program since it was brought back as a varsity in 1998 and NU's second all-time appearance (the other came in 1985). Men's soccer had just one win in two years entering the 2002 season, but a youthful squad improved to 8-12 as goalkeeper J.D. Martin set a school record with seven shutouts. Field hockey also showed improvement, tripling its win output from 2001.
O'Connor's championship campaign was one of the highlights of the winter; in addition to his Big Ten title and All-America finish in the 200 fly, he also earned honorable mention All-America in the 200 individual medley. As a team, the Wildcats finished fourth at Big Tens for the second year in a row. The women's fencing team had another stellar season; despite their youth, the 'Cats had four women qualify for NCAAs where they finished eighth. Sophomore Julia F?ldi was an honorable mention All-America. The men's basketball program added two players to the school's elite 1,000-point list, Winston Blake and Jitim Young. Women's basketball snapped a 43-game losing streak in the Big Ten and ended the season with three conference victories. Finally, Jason Erwinski represented NU at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Kansas City.
Softball and women's tennis proved to be the big stories of a spring season full of highlights. Grier became just the second player in Big Ten history to sweep the conference Player and Rookie of the Year awards, and also collected plenty of hardware from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). As a team, women's tennis saw its Big Ten regular-season streak snapped at 29, but the 'Cats came back to win their fifth-straight Big Ten Tournament and hosted an NCAA regional for the third year in a row. Men's tennis was unable to crack the NCAA code this year, but the team was bestowed the first ITA National Sportsmanship Award. The baseball team advanced to the Big Ten Tournament for the third time in four years, making this year's senior class the first to play in three Big Ten Tournaments. Men's golf competed in the NCAA Central Regional again this year, while Elizabeth Burden qualified on the women's side as an individual. At the Big Ten Men's Golf Championships, Tom Johnson finished second. Women's lacrosse, meanwhile, improved to 8-8 in its second year back as a varsity and earned a national ranking for the first time since its return.
Jason Wright, NU's leading rusher in football last year, and soccer player Jeremy Cook were Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, while five other athletes were named to the Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-District Teams in their respective sports-Luis Castillo, Austin King, Dominique Price and Jeff Roehl in football, and Erin Mobley in softball.
