A combination of new records and accomplishments earned Team of the Week honors from the Wabash Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for the period ending February 20, 2010.
The SAAC Student-Athlete of the Week Award is a selective process in which the SAAC board, composed of representative athletes from each varsity sport, votes on players who have been nominated by their coaches, based upon the athlete’s performance during the past week. The Player of the Week award is announced every week on the Wabash Sports Home page.
A group of athletes share this week honors, starting with freshman track and field runner Jake Waterman. Waterman (left) set a new meet record at the DePauw Indoor Invitational Saturday, winning the 800-meter run with a time 1:52.88. His time met the provisional qualifying time for the upcoming NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championship Meet and was 8/100ths of a second away from earning an automatic qualifying berth. He posted the time less than 24 hours after winning the same event at the Ohio State University Tune-Up Invitational with a time 1:56.14. Waterman was also named the North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Distance Runner of the Week.
Two Little Giant wrestlers --- freshman Jake Strausbaugh and senior Michael Burke --- were also named to the Team of the Week by the SAAC. Strausbaugh (right) earned a trip to the NCAA Division III National Championship meet after winning the 141-pound weight class at Saturday's Midwest Regional. Strausbaugh claimed the title after defeating top-seeded Vince Tucker from Olivet in the title bout. Tucker entered the weekend with an overall record of 29-2 and had not lost to a DIII opponent until Strausbaugh defeated him by a score of 9-4. Strausbaugh was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Regional for his efforts.
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Burke (left) received a wild card berth to Nationals after finishing second at 197 pounds at the Midwest Regional. He advanced all the way to the finals of the weight class before losing 9-5 to Delaware Valley's Martin Porter. Burke's efforts throughout the tournament and the season provided enough material for the regional coaches to select him for one of six wild card berths.
The final Little Giants named to the SAAC Team of the Week are basketball players Aaron Brock and Wes Smith. The duo led Wabash to two key victories on the hardwood during the week to capture second place in the NCAC standings while securing the number-two seed in the NCAC Men's Basketball Tournament. Brock (right) scored 37 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and had an assist and a blocked shot in wins by Wabash at Wittenberg and at home against Kenyon. Smith (below left) added 32 points, 12 boards, eight assists, and two blocked shots. The 72-69 win by the Little Giants last Wednesday night marked the first win by a Wabash team over Wittenberg in Springfield, Ohio in school history.
