For Immediate Release April 29, 1999
Lindsay Wernert Named ODAC Player of the Year
Four Maroons on Conference First Team, One on Second
SALEM, Va.--Just two days after she was named the 1999 Roanoke College Female Athlete of the Year, senior Lindsay Wernert (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich) has added another honor to her growing list of credentials. This time it is the 1999 Old Dominion Athletic Conference women’s lacrosse Player of the Year Award. Wernert, now a two-time selection to the All-Conference First Team, becomes the first Roanoke women’s lacrosse player to be honored as the league’s outstanding player since the 1995 season. In 17 games this year, Wernert scored 48 goals handed out 27 assists and recorded 75 points, all team and career-highs. The senior co-captain led the Maroons to a 14-3 record and the 1999 ODAC championship. The Maroons, behind the offensive exploits of Wernert, went 8-0 in conference play this season, outscoring league opponents, 100-35. She finished the year ranked second in the conference in both points scored and assists. On Tuesday, Wernert was named Roanoke College’s Outstanding Female Athlete for the 1998-99 academic year, marking the third consecutive year a women’s lacrosse player has won that award.
Joining Wernert on the All-Conference First Team, are her sister Kylie, Ellie Page (Savannah, GA/Berkshire), and Maura Hilgartner (Baltimore, MD/Mercy).
Kylie Wernert finished second only to her sister in goals scored on the Maroon club this season, putting in 44. What makes her 44 goals stick out, is the fact that she split time between the offensive and defensive ends of the field this year. She recorded a career-best eight goals in one game this season, a win over league-foe Guilford College. In addition to her offensive play, Wernert, a sophomore, led the team with 64 groundballs this season and was fourth in caused turnovers (23).
If the Maroons rode the goal-scoring duo of Wernert and Wernert during the regular season, then they turned to senior Ellie Page during the conference tournament. Of Page’s 38 goals this year, eight came during a two-game stretch in the conference tournament, including five in the championship game. She also had six assists this year and ranked third on the team in draw controls (26). This is Page’s first selection to the conference’s First Team All-Star squad.
The fourth member from Roanoke College to make the First Team this season was senior co-captain Maura Hilgartner. Hilgartner, one of five Maroons to start every game this season, was Roanoke’s top defender this season. She led the team in the caused turnover category (47), and rated third in groundballs (51). Hilgartner consistently drew the oppositions’ top offensive threat, and made a habit of shutting those players down. Hilgartner also scored two goals on the year, bringing her career total to eight.
Roanoke’s lone selection to the All-Conference Second Team was sophomore defender Erin Brooks (Towson, MD/Maryvale). Another Maroon to not miss a start this year, Brooks forced 33 turnovers in 1999 , while committing just 10 herself. She also had 48 groundballs, the fourth highest total on the squad. Brooks picked a great time to flash a hint of offense, scoring a goal, on her first and only shot of the year, in the conference championship game.
The last Maroon to be named the ODAC’s top women’s lacrosse player was Kathleen Ostar, who was recognized in 1995. The Maroons’ four selections to the All-Conference first team are the team’s most since four were chosen to the squad in 1994.
The Maroons await to see if they receive a bid to the 1999 NCAA Division III women’s lacrosse tournament. The NCAA will select this year’s field of 12 in a conference call on Sunday (May 2nd) night. If the Maroons receive a bid, it will be their eighth overall and second in three years.