Two Yale seniors who represent "the highest ideals of sportsmanship and Yale tradition" were given athletic awards at the Senior Class Day exercises on May 23 by Athletics Director Tom Beckett. The students and Beckett's description of their accomplishments follow: Rosanna Wustrack Nellie Pratt Elliot Award Rosanna Wustrack, one the most decorated athletes in Yale history, was presented with the 1999 Nellie Pratt Elliot Award, the most prestigious athletic award given to a senior female at Yale, at the Class Day exercises on May 23. The award goes to the senior woman whose excellence in the field of athletics and in her life at Yale best represents the ideals of sportsmanship and Yale tradition. It is awarded in memory of Nellie Pratt Elliot, who was an assistant director of undergraduate admissions at Yale for 46 years. A two-time Ivy League Player of the Year and three-time first-team All-Ivy selection, Wustrack holds virtually every volleyball record at Yale. In her four years she rose to the top of the career list for kills, blocks, service aces, and hitting percentage. In 1998 she became the first Yale player to be named to the All-District team. The 1995 Ivy League Rookie of the Year was named Ivy Player of the Week nine times over four years. In addition to her achievements on the court, Wustrack is a two-time Academic All-America and Academic All-Ivy selection. In April she earned the Thomas W. Ford '42 Student-Athlete Community Outreach Award, given for her work strengthening the relationship between Yale athletics and the youth in the New Haven community. Rosanna was a biology major and was a member of Branford College. Alex Westlund The William Neely Mallory Award Alex Westlund, the hockey player who broke almost every school goaltending record during his four-year career, has been named the winner of the William Neely Mallory Award, the most prestigious athletic award given to a senior male at Yale. The award was presented at the May 23 Class Day ceremonies. The award citation reads, "William Neely Mallory Award, given to the senior man who on the field of play and in life at Yale best represents the highest ideals of American sportsmanship and Yale tradition." Westlund's leadership abilities on and off the ice made him the perfect choice for the award named after the Yale Class of 1924 athlete. Westlund, one of the finest goalies to play hockey at Yale, owns school records for all-time wins, saves and games played and single-season save percentage, wins, games played, saves and shutouts. He stopped 30 or more shots in 42 career games and topped the 40-save mark 11 times. He will best be remembered at Yale for his leadership in the school's first Eastern College Athletic Conference championship in 1997-98. Westlund, who was second-team All-America, became the first goalie in Yale history to win the Dryden Award for the ECAC's top netminder, broke numerous school records, ranked fifth in save percentage and seventh in goals against average in the nation and had a shutout streak of just over 179 minutes. Westlund, also a first-team All-ECAC and Ivy League selection, was the only goalie to win conference player of the week honors that winter. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound player was the primary reason Yale earned home ice for the ECAC quarterfinal playoffs this past winter. Westlund got hot over the last five games (6 goals) of the regular season and finished by stopping 39 of 40 shots during the last weekend of the regular season. He was a two-time ECAC Goalie of the Week winner in 1998-99 and had 30 saves or more nine times, including five of the last 10 games. In ECAC games he finished fourth in GAA (2.37) and fifth in save percentage (.919). Westlund's best outing of the season was a 38-save night at Wisconsin in a 4-2 win in the Badger Hockey Showdown, which helped him earn second-team All-ECAC and first-team All-Ivy honors. Westlund had a career-high 49 saves in a a 4-1 loss to Brown at Ingalls Rink on Feb. 10, 1996, but his finest outing was the 46 saves (19 first period) he made in a 1-0 win at Colgate in the 1997 ECAC Playoffs at Hamilton, N.Y. Westlund majored in English and was a member of Silliman College. Robert E. Lewis Award: Intramural Sports Three Yale College seniors received the Robert E. Lewis Award during Senior Class Day exercises on May 23. The trophy is given annually at Commencement to the senior woman or man who best demonstrates the ideals of athletics in intramural college competition. This year's awards were presented by Robert Farris Thompson, master of Timothy Dwight College and the John Trumbull Professor of the History of Art, who also chairs the Council of Masters Committee on Athletics. Thompson's remarks follow: Sarah Overfield and Barbara Koegel These two women, in the words of their master, "were the backbone of their college's intramural posture. They played virtually every sport, pingpong to basketball to volleyball, in every season. In every sport, whether or not they had ever played it before, the two women were quick studies and fierce competitors. But they never lost sight of the essentials -- good sportsmanship and having fun." Yale is therefore proud to award Lewis trophies to Sarah Overfield and Barbara Koegel of Berkeley College. Christiaan Vorkink The master of the male winner said this about his prowess: "He injected single-handedly a sense of the importance of IM's [intramurals] in the college as a whole. Due to his superb enthusiasm we had a great turnout on the playing fields, where just a couple of years ago we forfeited games because of no-shows. He was unfailingly upbeat, devoting an enormous amount of his own time to IM's but never mocking others who did not. He once said, 'Life is not a spectator sport.'" And that sums up why are proud to award the Lewis trophy to Christiaan Vorkink of Branford College. C O M M E N C E M E N T1 9 9 9 Introduction Baccalaureate Address Honorary Degrees Senior Class Day Teaching Prizes Scholastic Prizes Roosevelt L. Thompson Prize Athletic Awards David Everett Chantler Prize Other Undergraduate Honors Wilbur Cross Medals Graduate Student Awards T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S Yale celebrates 298th Commencement Yale launching a more user-friendly home page on the World Wide Web Anthony T. Kronman reappointed as Dean of Law School Festival will bring world of art and ideas to city Endowed Professorships New Haven attorney Julie Carter joins Office of General Counsel To eat well, relax at the table, advises master chef Pépin Reunion programs will both educate and entertain returning alumni Some Yale graduates dancing down a different path Yale's new student-built solar car headed for Sunracye '99 New alumnae's nursing training included health work overseas Harold Samuel dies; brought musicians' archives to Yale Dining staff friendliness ranks high on survey Prostate Cancer Awareness Stamp to be unveiled at campus event Conference to explore the future of language Dr. William F. Collins is recognized for lifetime contributions to neurosurgery Bulletin Home|Visiting on Campus|Calendar of Events| Bulletin Board Classified Ads|Search Archives|Production Schedule|Bulletin Staff Public Affairs Home|News Releases|E-Mail Us|Yale Home Page

 Rosanna Wustrack and Alex Westlund