Senior soccer standout Jessica Farmer became the first female student-athlete in Rose-Hulman history to earn national recognition for her accomplishments by earning a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team this fall.

Farmer earned second-team recognition after scoring a school record 20 goals to earn Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors. In addition, she became the first Engineer female to earn all-district recognition, claiming second-team honors in a vote of coaches throughout the Midwest. Her efforts helped lead the Engineers to a school record 13-4-2 mark in 2003.

“It took me a while to adjust to the academic work at Rose-Hulman, but I have been fortunate to succeed in the classroom and on the field. It’s been a wonderful experience to compete in intercollegiate athletics, and it’s icing on the cake to earn a national award,” said Farmer.

Farmer earned one of three forward slots on the College Division Academic All-America Women's Soccer Second Team, which features student-athletes NCAA Division II, III and NAIA schools. She was the only student-athlete from the state of Indiana or a college located in Indiana that earned College Division Academic All-American honors in women's soccer this season.

Farmer established 12 Rose-Hulman school records in a career that featured four all-SCAC selections, including a pair of first-team honors. Her marks include career marks for goals (60), assists (19) and points (139), along with single-season records established in 2003 for goals (20) and points (46).

Football Team Enjoys Best Season Since 1995

The Rose-Hulman football team enjoyed its best season since 1995 by finishing 5-5, culminating with a 22-12 win over archrival DePauw University.

Sophomore Charlie Key became the first 1,000-yard rusher at Rose-Hulman since 1995, and he claimed the SCAC rushing title.  Key, senior offensive tackle Ryan Smith and senior defensive end Jordan Strunk earned first-team all-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference recognition for their efforts, while senior Matt Jackson made a team-high 96 tackles despite playing half the season with a broken hand.

In addition, first-year head coach Ted Karras was named the “National Rookie Coach of the Year” by d3football.com.

Soccer Teams Boot Their Way to Success

The Engineer women’s soccer team set a school record with a 13-4-2 mark, while the men finished 9-9 in their best season since 1993.

Senior Jessica Farmer was named the SCAC Women’s Player of the Year, while freshman Kathleen Stynes earned first-team all-conference recognition.  Sophomore Kareem Lee earned first-team men’s honors after leading Rose-Hulman with 10 goals.

The success included regional rankings for both squads for the first time in school history.

 Volleyball Team Narrowly Misses Record

Rose-Hulman’s volleyball team missed the school’s single-season win record by just one match with a 16-21 record in 2003.

Junior Lindsey Kerbel led the squad with third-team all-conference honors and a school record 1,234 assists.  Senior Sara Christenson paced the offense with 297 kills.

Cross Country Squad Enjoys Best SCAC Success

The Rose-Hulman men’s cross country team finished sixth in its best performance in six years in the SCAC, while the women placed eighth in the championship meet held at the Bird-Gibson Course.

Freshman Charlie Williams and junior Serena Oaks were named Most Valuable Runners after leading the squad in every meet.

Ryan Smith Earns Academic All-American Honors

Rose-Hulman senior offensive tackle Ryan Smith (Columbia City) earned second-team Academic All-American honors in the football college division, according to results released by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Smith earned second-team recognition to become the 59th Academic All-American and the 23rd football honoree in school history.  For 18 consecutive years, at least one Rose-Hulman student-athlete has earned CoSIDA Academic All-American recognition.

Jason LaBella Earns Rifle All-American Honors

Senior Jason LaBella earned the first All-American honor in the history of Rose-Hulman’s rifle program and helped lead the team to a 14th-place national finish, the team’s best mark ever.

LaBella finished 11th out of 24 competitors in air rifle at the NCAA Rifle National Championships with a score of 389.  He also earned the first rifle All-American in school history due to his season-long efforts in smallbore, capped by a 17th-place finish in the NCAA Qualifier at Xavier University. 

“It was a lot of fun going against the top rifle shooters in the nation.  I performed to the best of my ability and felt like that I competed on a high level against the nation's best,” said LaBella.

LaBella's air rifle score included 25 perfect centers out of his 40 shots and was his personal top score in two years.  He competed against several athletes that will attempt to qualify for the upcoming Olympic Games.

“Most people outside the shooting community don't have any idea how special this is,” said head coach Michael Ray.  “What makes it even more special is that fact that it came from a student-athlete from a school of our size and difficulty.  Performing well in the NCAAs and receiving an All-American award in the same year against the Division I student-athletes is truly remarkable,” said Ray.

Women’s Basketball Squad Establishes History

The women’s basketball team rewrote their team history book with an 11-15 record under first-year head coach Tony Hill.

In addition to establishing a single-school record for team victories, freshman Rebekah Forsyth became the inaugural first-team all-conference player in school history.  Forsyth averaged 15.3 points and 10.3 rebounds, while setting a single-season mark with 15 double-doubles, to claim conference Newcomer of the Year recognition.

Team feats included four wins over a five-game stretch for the first time in school history; an appearance in the SCAC Tournament for the first time; and school records for points, rebounds and assists in a season.

Rose-Hulman Honors Terre Haute First National Bank for $150,000 Gift

Rose-Hulman’s athletic department honored Terre Haute First National Bank for a $150,000 gift for a state-of-the-art scoreboard that is part of the new William Welch Track and Field Complex.

The scoreboard gift was the sixth made to the college by Terre Haute First National Bank for the purchase of a facility scoreboard.  Previous gifts made it possible to purchase scoreboards for the baseball field, basketball and volleyball court, football field, soccer field, and indoor track and field complex.

Participating in the ceremony were Bill Welch, head coach at Rose-Hulman from 1982-03; Chris Fenimore, vice president and trust officer at Terre Haute First National Bank; Jeff Jenkins, athletic director; Samuel Hulbert, president of Rose-Hulman; and Greg Gibson, board member of both Rose-Hulman and Terre Haute First, President of ReTec, and Rose-Hulman track-and-field alumnus.

Men’s Basketball Team Enjoys Best Turnaround Ever

The Rose-Hulman men’s basketball team enjoyed the best single-season turnaround in school history after finishing 19-8 and second in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference this winter.

Junior Philip Griffith led the team in scoring at 14.0 points per game and shot 56% from the field to earn SCAC Player of the Year honors.  Sophomore Munchie Muskeyvalley joined Griffith on the first-team all-conference squad after averaging 13.4 points and 3.7 assists per contest.

Head coach Jim Shaw led the Engineers to a 6-1 start, before the team ran together a pair of four-game winning streaks to finish second in the conference at 11-3.