W&L Sweeps Old Dominion Athletic Conference Major Awards

SALEM, Va. -- Washington and Lee University swept the Old Dominion Athletic Conference major awards for the 2008-09 school year by claiming the Dan Wooldridge Overall Sports Champion Cup and the Harry G. "Doc" Jopson and Majorie Berkley Awards presented to the outstanding male and female scholar-athletes of the year.

Senior men's lacrosse player Harry St. John (Essex Fells, N.J./West Essex) received the "Doc" Jopson Award as the top male scholar-athlete in the conference, while senior women's soccer player Anne Van Devender (Jackson, Miss./Choate Rosemary Hall) was awarded the Majorie Berkley Award as the top female scholar-athlete in the league. Additionally, W&L won the overall Sports Champion Cup, sponsored by Farm Bureau Insurance, for the 13th time in the last 15 years and also earned the women's sports cup for the sixth-straight year. Lynchburg College claimed the men's cup, ending the Generals' run of four-consecutive men's cups.

A political science major, St. John is a four-year member of the All-ODAC Academic Team and a four-year Washington and Lee Scholar-Athlete. He was named the 2009 ODAC/Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete of the Year in lacrosse and was also tabbed to the 2009 USILA Scholar All-America team. He is involved in the Campus Community Coalition and is a team captain for the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, whose goals are to improve the quality of life for children suffering from pediatric brain tumors and to help fund research. St. John will also become an active board member of the Timothy C. McWilliams, Jr., Foundation, which is dedicated to helping victims of traumatic brain injury.

On the field, St. John is a four-time All-ODAC honoree (two-time first-teamer) and the 2009 ODAC Player of the Year. A North-South All-Star and a Second Team All-America selection this spring, he played in 16 games and finished fifth on the team in scoring with 37 points (28 G, 9 A). St. John ended his career tied for 20th on the W&L scoring list with 144 points on 104 goals and 40 assists. His 104 goals also rank ninth on the all-time goal list.

A computer science major with a concentration in women's studies, Van Devender is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa national honor societies and is a recipient of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship for graduate work at Northwestern University. A four-year member of the All-ODAC Academic Team and a four-year Washington and Lee Scholar-Athlete, Van Devender received the 2008 ODAC/Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete of the Year in soccer and was named to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America team as a first team selection.

On the field, Van Devender was a four-year letterwinner and a team captain for the W&L women's soccer team. She led the squad and finished fourth in the ODAC in scoring during the 2008 season with 45 points on 17 goals and 11 assists. Van Devender was crowned the 2007 ODAC Player of the Year and the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VASID) College Division Player of the Year. She was a NSCAA All-American in 2007 and 2008. She finished her career ranked second all-time at W&L in career goals (64), career assists (33) and career points (161). She was a three-time First Team All-ODAC honoree and the first two-time All-American in program history.

Inaugurated in 1981 and 1984, respectively, the Harry G. "Doc" Jopson and Marjorie Berkley Scholar‑Athlete Awards are given each May to member college seniors and conference sport participants who exhibit the highest athletic, academic, and extracurricular achievements. St. John is W&L's 10th all-time of the Jopson Award, while Van Devender is the Generals' sixth all-time recipient of the Berkley Award.

DAN WOOLDRIDGE SPORTS CHAMPION CUP RESULTS OVERALL
1. Washington and Lee, 0.76
2. Roanoke, 0.71
3. Randolph-Macon, 0.67
4. Lynchburg, 0.65
5. Bridgewater, 0.62
5. Hampden-Sydney, 0.62
7. Virginia Wesleyan, 0.60
8. Guilford, 0.49
9. Eastern Mennonite, 0.40
10. Emory & Henry, 0.36
11. Randolph, 0.32
12. Sweet Briar, 0.27
13. Hollins, 0.25

-- GENERALS --