Northwestern University Athletics
Murphy's Mark: Women's Lacrosse Team on a Roll
4/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | General
April 10, 2007
Women's Lacrosse
After a convincing 17-5 win over No. 4 Duke on Saturday, our top-ranked women's lacrosse team is well positioned to win another national championship. The win over Duke was significant because Duke beat us in the regular season last year, and then earned the top seed in the NCAA championship. We beat Duke, though, in the NCAA semifinals, 11-10, before winning our second straight national championship. Duke is a perennial power and the resounding victory should give our team great confidence as we head into the NCAA tournament. We have great senior leadership mixed in with outstanding young players. The team has two key games at home this week -- against No. 8 Penn State at noon on Saturday and versus No. 2 Maryland at 4 p.m. on Monday.
Wildcat Women's Sport Weekend
This weekend is Women's Sport Weekend at Northwestern, and we will be celebrating the talent of our nationally ranked women's sports teams with several events and special promotions throughout the weekend. In addition to top-ranked women's lacrosse, our softball team currently is ranked No. 7 and women's tennis is No. 9 in the nation. Women's tennis will host No. 2 Notre Dame in a battle of midwest powers at 3 p.m. on Friday at the Combe Tennis Center. Softball is hosting Big Ten rivals Ohio State and Penn State in a homestand at Sharon J. Drysdale Field, with Friday's game starting at 4 p.m. and both Saturday and Sunday's action beginning at noon. I encourage all of our fans to come out and watch our exciting women's teams this weekend!
Directors' Cup
After strong performances by our wrestling, men's swimming and fencing teams, our athletic program is ranked 38th nationally in the Directors' Cup standings. The Directors' Cup measures the strength of an overall athletic department. At this point last year, we were ranked 52nd, and went on to match our highest finish ever, 29th. With several of our spring teams ranked nationally, we appear to be in good position to finish in the top 30 of the Directors' Cup again this year.
Cross Country
In 1998 April Ecke was hired as our women's cross country coach and charged with the task of reestablishing a program that had been dropped more than 10 years before. In three years, April led our cross country team to a fifth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships. Shortly after the 2000 season, April resigned to move with her husband to Detroit for a new job. When April left Northwestern I'm sure she never thought she would come back to coach the team. In January, though, April (now April Likhite) and her husband moved back to the Chicago area. When Amy Tush decided to resign earlier this spring, we immediately started a search for her replacement. It did not take us long to determine that April was the top candidate. She had great success here and we are very excited about the future of the program under her leadership. April Likhite is living proof that you can go home again.
Spring Game
Our annual spring game will be played at noon on Saturday, April 21. Weather permitting, the game will be played on Ryan Field. Please come out to the game to get a sneak preview of this year's football team.
