History

Key Dates In W&J Athletics History

Date Moment
Jan. 2, 1922 W&J plays the University of California to a 0-0 tie in the Rose Bowl.  The game remains as the only scoreless tie in Rose Bowl history.
Feb. 22, 1992 Washington & Jefferson College finishes atop the standings at the PAC Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships to earn its first conference championship in school history
Mar. 3, 1962 The Presidents brought home their first PAC Wrestling Championship after Lou Pogoreltz and Pat McCormick won individual titles
Mar. 3, 1978 W&J claims first Pennwood West Conference Women’s Basketball championship
Mar. 8, 2008 Women’s lacrosse debuts as the 24th NCAA Division III sport offered by the college.  The Presidents lost a 7-6 decision to Adrian (Mich.) in a match that was played during a snowstorm at Alexandre Stadium.
Mar. 9, 1963 W&J tops Case Western Reserve 68-51 to finish off its season as Presidents’ Athletic Conference champions for the first time in school history
Mar. 10, 2005 Freshman Kaitlyn Orstein won her first NCAA Division III title after setting a national record in the 200 individual medley (2:03.18) in Holland, Mich.
Mar. 11, 1965 Lawrence Petrillo won the 200-yard individual medley title and helped a freestyle relay to a first-place touch as the men’s swimming & diving team celebrated its first-ever Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championship
Mar. 11, 1994 Presidents knock off Illinois Wesleyan 97-82 in Springfield, Ohio, to earn first trip to NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament Elite Eight appearance
Mar. 15, 2008 Kaitlyn Orstein captures her eighth career national title, winning the 200 breaststroke championship in a school-record time of 2:16.29 in Oxford, Ohio.  Orstein won three NCAA Championships during her senior year. 
Mar. 18, 1943 Head Coach Adam Sanders leads W&J to 43-42 victory over Creighton in the quarterfinals of the NIT Men’s Basketball Tournament at Old Madison Square Garden.  Eleven days later, the Presidents topped Fordham 39-34 in the tournament’s third-place game.
Apr. 16, 1962 Men’s Golf wins first-ever Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championship
Apr. 26, 1986 W&J splits a PAC baseball doubleheader from Hiram to finish off its PAC schedule to earn its first conference crown
Apr. 27, 1996 W&J sweeps Chatham on the softball diamond to clinch its first PAC Softball championship
Apr. 27, 2001 W&J women’s golf captures first Presidents’ Athletic Conference championship
Apr. 29, 2006 Lauren Weinheimer selected as PAC Women’s Track & Field MVP after leading the Presidents to their first conference women’s track & field title
May 3, 1967 Frank Doroff earned the No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles conference titles to help W&J win a share of its first Presidents’ Athletic Conference men’s tennis 
May 14, 2009 Freshman Dave Trushel pitches eight innings of three-hit baseball to help W&J earn its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory when defeating Washington and Lee 8-3 at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Maryland, at the NCAA South Regional
May 23, 1997 Jaimee Heffner wins first national championship in school history after posting a top throw of 144-feet, nine inches at the NCAA Division III Track & Field Championship
May 27, 1971 Washington & Jefferson College’s men’s athletics teams honored with the school’s first Presidents’ Athletic Conference All-Sports Trophy. 
May 30, 1994 W&J women’s athletics teams stop Grove City’s five-year run as PAC Women’s All-Sports Champion and earn school’s first-ever women’s trophy
June 1, 1958 Washington & Jefferson College becomes a member of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference joining Western Reserve University, John Carroll University, Case Institute of Technology and Wayne State University.  Allegheny College, Bethany College and Thiel College join on this day with W&J.
June 1, 2009 Zach Devilbiss announced as NCAA Division III’s leading scorer for 2009 men’s lacrosse season after averaging 5.62 points per game
July 4, 1925 One of the most revered figures in W&J athletics history, Robert “Mother” Murphy passes away due complications from pernicious anemia.  Murphy, a graduate manager for the football program, was credited as being the architect of W&J’s football prominence.  In 1921, Murphy mortgaged his house to make the trip with W&J to the Rose Bowl.
Sept. 1, 1984 Women’s sports start competing in Presidents’ Athletic Conference after previously being a member in the Pennwood West Conference
Sept. 2, 2004 The first game in Alexandre Stadium history is played as Allegheny defeats W&J 2-0 in a women’s soccer match
Sept. 7, 1963 Legendary football standout, coach and AD Wilbur F. “Pete” Henry inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame
Sept. 11, 1999 Washington & Jefferson College renames its football field from College Field to Cameron Stadium, thanks to the support of the Cameron Family.  During the same day, thanks in part to a $60,000 grant from the United States Olympic Committee, the men’s water polo team played its first-ever NCAA varsity match, falling to George Washington University 17-7. 
Oct. 17, 1980 PAC crowns W&J as the women’s tennis conference champions for first time in history
Oct. 23, 1948 Washington & Jefferson College celebrates Doc Donehoo Day at College Field.  An 1890 W&J graduate, Donehoo attended his 300th consecutive Presidents’ football game and was recognized as the “Nation’s No. 1 Football Fan”.
Oct. 24, 1970 Presidents turn around recent football misfortunes with miracle season and clinch school’s first PAC football title with 41-28 victory over Thiel
Oct. 25, 1930 Presidents play first indoor night football game in history and defeat Lafayette 7-0 in Atlantic City (NJ) Auditorium
Oct. 27, 1994 Washington & Jefferson College defeats Thiel 2-0 to clinch its first-ever PAC volleyball championship with a perfect 8-0 league record
Oct. 31, 1987 One of the wildest football games in Presidents' Athletic Conference history resulted in a 38-36 W&J victory over Carnegie Mellon after John Ivory booted a 40-yard field goal with eight seconds left.  A.J. Pagano cemented his legendary status as a Presidents' all-time great with 357 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns. 
Nov. 1, 1890 First varsity game in school history played as W&J crushes Western University of PA (Now the University of Pittsburgh) 34-0 in football
Nov. 6, 2011 W&J wins first Empire 8 Conference field hockey tournament title (W&J 2, Nazareth 1 – Utica, N.Y.)
Nov. 7, 1974 First women’s sport in school history competes in a varsity college volleyball game as Presidents lose to California (Pa.) by a score of 2-0
Nov. 8, 2003 Mike Chiodo scored both goals as the Presidents defeated Grove City 2-0 at Cameron Stadium to win its first-ever PAC men’s soccer title
Nov. 8, 2008 Presidents win first PAC women’s soccer championship, defeating Thomas More in Kentucky 1-0 in overtime
Nov. 10, 2012 The Presidents' football team caps an emotional season by defeating Waynesburg 31-14 to claim the PAC Championship and automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs.  During the second half of the season, W&J played with heavy hearts following the tragic death of running back and team captain Tim McNerney
Nov. 16, 1958 Bill Mason becomes W&J’s first All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference selection after being chosen to the football all-conference team as a guard.  He also was honored in 1959 at the same position.
Nov. 17, 1984 W&J competes in first-ever NCAA Division III playoff game as the football team defeats Randolph-Macon 22-21
Nov. 17, 2012 Sophomore Kristen Galligan places 12th out of 277 runners at the NCAA Cross Country Championships (Terre Haute, Ind.) to become the first All-American in W&J cross country history.
Nov. 20, 1948 “Deacon” Dan Towler scores three touchdowns in a 26-25 loss to Ohio Wesleyan and finishes the season as the nation’s third-leading scorer with 133 points (eight games). 
Nov. 27, 2004 W&J set a school record for single-season football victories, improving to 12-0 after defeating Christopher Newport 24-14 in the second round of the NCAA playoffs.  Chris Edwards passed for 293 yards and two touchdowns, while Frank Pilato notched 10 tackles and one interception. 
Nov. 28, 1913 Burleigh Cruikshank, Red Fleming and John Spiegel named the Presidents’ first-ever football All-Americans
Dec. 5, 1992 Chris Babirad runs 81 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to help W&J defeat Rowan in Glassboro, N.J., 18-13 in the NCAA Division III football semifinals
Dec. 10, 1994 The Presidents’ football team makes its second appearance in three years in the NCAA Division III national championship game (Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl), but falls to Albion 38-15
Dec. 10, 2011 Following a 32-point season in which she was selected as the Presidents' Athletic Conference Player of the Year, sophomore Holly Shipley became the women's soccer program's first All-American after being named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/Continental Tire NCAA Women’s Division III All-America Team
Dec. 12, 1992 W&J makes first appearance in Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Bradenton, Florida.  Wisconsin-La Crosse defeated W&J 16-12 for the national title.