Even After The Season The Glories Keep Pouring In For the Tigers

Rebecca Russ

Emily Duh

The season may be over, but the Wittenberg field hockey team is still basking in the glory of a 20th consecutive winning season and the rewards that come along with such success. On Monday, Nov. 25, four Wittenberg players were named to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-America teams, nearly doubling the total number of All-Americans in school history.

Senior forward Emily Duh (Hellertown, Pa./Saucon Valley) and senior sweeper Rebecca Russ (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart) were both named to the first team after earlier taking home first-team All-NCAC and first-team All-Great Lakes Region honors. Both were repeat selections on the conference and region teams, but it was the first first-team All-America designation for either. Russ had earned third-team All-America a year ago.

Duh put together one of the finest seasons in school history in 2002, scoring a school-record 60 total points on a school-record-tying 26 goals and eight assists. Russ will go down in the Wittenberg annals as one of the finest defensive player ever to don a Tiger uniform. She recorded 20 career defensive saves, tops in school history, and she also scored two goals and six assists in her career on 40 shots.

Two other Tigers garnered national recognition as well. Senior defender Heather House (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) and sophomore goalkeeper Jen Meyer (Solon, Ohio/Hathaway Brown) both were named to the third team. It was the first such designation for either, and it also followed first-team All-NCAC and first-team All-Great Lakes Region honors. House has been a stalwart on defense for the Tigers for three straight years and was an integral part of the record-setting unit of 2002. Meyer allowed just 17 goals all season and started every game.