Grinnell women claim MWC All-Sports Trophy
GRINNELL, Iowa – Grinnell College’s women’s sports teams enjoyed extensive overall success during the 2017-18 academic year, and have been rewarded for that this week with the Midwest Conference’s All-Sports championship.
Grinnell tallied 72.5 points to claim the Ralph Shively Trophy, named for the former MWC Commissioner, for the first time since 2005-06. Second place went to St. Norbert College with 68.5 points and Lake Forest College was third with 61.5.
All-Sports points are awarded on a 10-9-8, etc. basic in all sports, and championship tournament results are incorporated into the final standings.
Grinnell College Athletics
For football, soccer, volleyball, basketball, softball and tennis, places are determined by regular-season standings. In baseball, the top four places are figured by tournament play. All other sports are determined by the sport’s championship meet.
Grinnell garnered the maximum 10 points in three women’s sports, claiming championships in tennis, golf and swimming and diving. Grinnell got nine points in cross country, eight in softball, 7.5 in soccer and seven in volleyball.
The Pioneer women’s tennis team tied a school record for wins this season while qualifying for the NCAA Division III National Tournament for the ninth time since 2007. They also won the MWC title for the 11th time in the last 14 years. Milica Cvrkota ’21 was named MWC Newcomer of the Year and Paige Madara was Coach of the Year.
Behind All-Region performers Vrishali Sinha ’19 and Vidushi Sinha ’19, Grinnell’s women’s golf team claimed its fifth MWC crown in a row. Vidushi Sinha was the MWC individual champ for the second time in her career.
Grinnell’s women’s swimming and diving team won its sixth MWC title in a row and 19th in the last 20 years with the aid of Maria Venneri ’18, the MWC Swimmer of the Year for the second time, two-time MWC Diver of the Year Summer White ’18 and MWC Newcomer of the Year Madeline Peak ’21. Erin Hurley was tabbed Coach of the Year.
Other highlights included Darice Wheeler ’21 being named NCAA All-American, MWC Player and MWC Newcomer of the Year as the softball team set a school record for wins. Wheeler and Kayla Morrissey ’18 were both named All-Region, and Morrissey was also All-Region and Academic All-District in basketball. Kaylin Kuhn ’21 was named MWC Newcomer of the Year in volleyball and Emma Zimmerman ’18 was All-Region in cross country. The women’s soccer team advanced to the MWC Tourney for the 23rd time in the last 26 seasons.
Grinnell’s men were fifth in the All-Sport standings with 55 points. The Pioneers gained 10 points with titles in swimming and diving and tennis, nine in cross country, eight in baseball and seven in soccer. The champion was Monmouth College with 80.5 points.
