September 25, 2008

Women’s XC, Men’s Soccer Win America East Honors

Walkonen, Taylor earn weekly conference awards

By BU Athletics

Andrea Walkonen (SAR'09) set a cross country record last weekend. (Below) Shaun Taylor (SAR'10) sends a ball across the field against UMass. He scored the league's first hat trick this season, against Colgate on September 20.

Boston University's Andrea Walkonen (SAR'9) was named the America East Women's Cross Country Performer of the Week after a record-setting run at the Ted Owen Invitational last weekend in New Britain, Conn.

Walkonen, running her first cross country race of the season, led the pack of 82 runners and set a course record of 16:49 on the 5K route at Stanley Quarter Park. She finished 28 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, teammate Erin Lagasse (SMG'10), and 1:06 ahead of her nearest competitor.

With Walkonen leading five top-10 finishers, the Terriers won the meet as well, besting seven other squads.

For the second year in a row, the Jaffrey, N.H., native won the Ted Owen Invitational; it was the fifth individual cross country win of her career.

Walkonen was the second Terrier in as many weeks to be tabbed as the top runner in the America East — Lagasse took the honor last week with her first-place finish at the Dartmouth Invitational on September 13.

BU is back in action on Saturday, October 11, competing for the New England Championship at Franklin Park in Boston.

Men's soccer

Men's soccer team forward Shaun Taylor (SAR'10) was named the America East Player of the Week after recording the league's first hat trick of the season with a three-goal performance against Colgate on Saturday, September 20.

A First-Team All-Conference selection in 2007, Taylor kept his team in the game with two first-half scores against the defending Patriot League champions and provided an insurance tally late in the second stanza. The Raiders, who were ranked third in the NSCAA Mid-Atlantic rankings last week, had allowed just four goals in six games entering the contest.

Taylor's was the first Terrier hat trick since Joachim Kaland (MET'04) recorded one on September 2, 2001, in a 4-1 win over Lehigh. Taylor now leads the team in goals, with four, and points, with nine.

He earned the team's third straight conference Player of the Week honor after midfielder Tom Strackhouse (SMG'10) on September 15 and goalie Hrafn Davidsson (ENG'09) on September 8 took home the first two. BU is the first team since Stony Brook in 2005 to earn a share of the award for three consecutive weeks.

The Terriers dropped a 1-0 decision to Northeastern on September 23, and face Harvard at home on Tuesday, September 30, at 7 p.m.