A bases-loaded walk with one out in the bottom of the seventh spelled defeat for the Illinois Wesleyan softball team in the first round of the NCAA Division III Regional tournament in Eau Claire, Wis., on Thursday, May 8. Simpson (now 29-10) managed only three hits against the Titans (also 29-10) and sophomore Christy Engel (shown), who struck out five and walked four in 6 1/3 innings. Engel's record is now 17-5. Junior Val Hackett had two of the Titans' five hits while senior Kayla Kindred, junior Monica Urban and sophomore Allison Ward had the others. Wesleyan now plays Ripon at noon on Friday, May 9 in the second round. Ripon (20-13) was defeated by top seed St. Thomas (Minn.) by an 8-0 score in a game halted in the sixth inning.

The Illinois Wesleyan women's team finished third and the men's team finished fourth at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin outdoor track and field championships, held May 2-3 at North Park in Chicago. The women scored 165 points, closely behind Augustana (171) and Wheaton (168), while the men tallied 89 points as Augustana won with 240.5. Seniors Rachel Anderson and Matthew Harden (shown) were selected as the women's and men's track athletes of the meet, respectively. Anderson finished first in the 200 and 400 and ran on the victorious 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams while Harden finished first in the 400 and on the 4x100 relay team and second in the 200 and on the 4x400 relay team. Senior Segun Olopo was a double winner for the men, taking the 100 and 200 and junior John Maloney finished fourth in the decathlon with 5231 points. Sophomore Amanda LaRocca was first in the 100 hurdles, second in the 100 and fourth in the 200 while sophomore Ali McCoy was second in both the 200 and 400. Sophomore Mackenzie Clemens was second in the 800 and third in the 1500.

For the second year in a row (and the second time ever), the Illinois Wesleyan men's golf team will participate in the NCAA Division III men's golf championships, which will be May 13-16, at the Chateau Elan Resort in Braselton, Georgia. The championships are hosted by Emory University and the Gwinnett Sports Commission. Playing for IWU will be juniors Bennett Blakeman, Mike DeRuntz and Chris Green along with sophomores Matt Wennmaker (shown) and Doug Keller. Green was the medalist of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin tournament last weekend and has a stroke average of 75.6 in 18 rounds. Wennmaker has the lowest team stroke average at 74.8, followed by DeRuntz (74.9), Blakeman (75.4) and Green. Keller averages 78.0 through 16 rounds. The Titans made the NCAA Division III tournament as a team for the first time last year as an at-large selection. IWU finished 27th after the second day of the 2007 championships and only the low 23 teams made the cut to participate in the final two days.

For the sixth time overall and the fourth consecutive season, the Illinois Wesleyan women’s golf team has been selected to play in the NCAA Division III national championships. The tournament is May 13-16 at the Centennial Oaks Golf Course in Waverly, Iowa, and includes 20 teams and 11 individuals. Wartburg College will serve as host. Competing for IWU will be senior Kristi Katz, juniors Maddie Murphy and Nicole Spear and sophomores Alessandra Bollero (shown) and Lindsey Haines. In previous Division III national tourneys, IWU has been sixth in 2007, 2006 and 2000, 10th in 2002 and eighth in 2005. In 2007 at the Mission Inn Golf and Tennis Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., the Titans had a team score of 1335 over the four days as Methodist (N.C.) was the winning team for the 10th straight year with a 1215 score. For IWU, Taylor Paskell finished tied for 23rd with a 330 total and Andrea Johanns was tied for 30th at 334. Katz (tie-43) had a score of 338, Spear (49th) had 343 and Bollero (tie-56th) had a 349. The individual medalist was Methodist's Katie Dick with a 4-over par 296 four-day total.

The Illinois Wesleyan men's tennis team finished fourth in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championships, held April 25-26 at Bloomington's Evergreen Racquet Club. The Titans defeated Elmhurst, 8-1, in the first round before losing to eventual champion Wheaton, 9-0, in the semifinals. Augustana defeated IWU, 9-0, in the third place match. Wesleyan finished with a 7-15 dual match record and was 2-3 in the CCIW regular season. Dan Chang (shown) finished with a record of 14-12 (11-11 at No. 1 singles) and Paul Oehrlein was 12-13 overall (11-11 at No. 2 singles). The pair had a 9-12 mark at No. 1 doubles. Freshman David Dulmage finished his season with a 6-7 record at No. 6 singles and was 7-11 overall.

As a member of the NCAA Division III, Illinois Wesleyan does not offer financial aid to students based on athletics. Consequently, student-athletes do not "sign" athletic grants-in-aid with Illinois Wesleyan. The lists below comprise those students who have reserved a space in the Class of 2012 and who have indicated their intention to participate in a varsity sport. We will add to these lists as other student-athletes make us aware of their decision to attend Illinois Wesleyan.