Cross-country runner Melissa Jones 09C brought home All-American honors this season.
Fall Sports Highlights:
Eagles varsity teams enjoy winning season
VOLLEYBALL
Despite being hampered by injuries that have forced numerous lineup changes, Head Coach Jenny McDowell and her club finished the season with an overall record of 28-11 that included the program’s eleventh-straight NCAA Tournament bid. In addition, the Eagles concluded the year ranked tenth in the nation. Emory finished University Athletic Association play with a 10-2 mark, good for second place.
WOMEN’S CROSS-COUNTRY
Head Coach John Curtin had an experienced women’s cross-country team to work with in 2006, and a battle-tested group of runners showed their mettle on numerous occasions. Led by the trio of senior Amy DiBianca 07C, junior Lauren Shores 08B, and sophomore Melissa Jones 09C, the Eagles turned in a number of outstanding efforts that were highlighted by a fourteenth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Jones brought home All-America honors by virtue of her twenty-fourth-place finish in the 279-runner field. Emory claimed its fifteenth South/Southeast Region championship in the past sixteen years with the Eagles topping the twenty-six-team field and earning the automatic berth to the nationals. Curtin was also cited for the success of his team by being named the South/Southeast Region Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association.
MEN’S CROSS-COUNTRY
The men’s cross-country team experienced peaks and valleys this fall and though the group did not fulfill all its preseason hopes, it did have its fair share of highlights. Among the achievements was a first-place finish at the Great American Cross-Country Festival and a third-place performance out of twenty-one squads at the NCAA South/Southeast Regional. Though the Eagles fell short of qualifying for the NCAA National Championships, freshman Tommy Fyffe 10C and sophomore Vikram Srivastava 09C did qualify as individuals for nationals by virtue of their finishes at regionals. Fyffe and Srivastava earned at-large berths to the nationals after finishing fourth and thirteenth, respectively, in the 152-runner field.
MEN’S SOCCER
Under the direction of nineteen-year Head Coach Mike Rubesch, the Emory men’s soccer team finished the 2006 season with an overall record of 11-6, the fifth-straight season of double-figure victories for the program. Emory got out of the blocks quickly, rattling off wins in its first nine games of the season that helped the team to a number-nine national ranking. The Eagles captured their own Emory Tournament, registering a decisive 4-1 win over number-seven-ranked College of New Jersey, and a 2-1 overtime decision against Christopher Newport University.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
The Emory women’s soccer team fought through early-season injuries and finished the 2006 season with an overall record of 9-6-2, the eighteenth-consecutive winning season for the program. Among the highlights was senior Amy Franciscovich 06C establishing herself as the all-time winningest goalkeeper in school history as a 1-0 late-season win over Case Western Reserve University enabled her to post her forty-eighth career triumph. Franciscovich, an honorable-mention pick to the All University Athletic Association Team, also closed out her career as the school leader in shutouts with thirty-two. Five other Emory players earned all-conference kudos, including senior defender Laurel O’Neal 07C, who brought home first-team honors. Emory proved to be a formidable foe on its home field, recording a 6-1-1 effort in home outings and raising its record to 29-4-2 in such games over the last four seasons.
—John Farina
Sports Information Director
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