Student Vikings soared in 2010-11
By Olena Rypich
WWU University Communications
From academics to athletics, the Vikings were on top of their game in 2010-11. Here is a sample of some student accomplishments to be proud of:
Dead Parrots Society celebrates
its national championship
The Dead Parrots Society, a student improvisational comedy troupe, won the National College Improv Tournament in Chicago in February.
Journalism students Benjamin Woodard, Adrianne Woods and Carey Rose won national first-place awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. Their writing and photography entries originally appeared in The Western Front.
For the seventh straight year Western's women's rowing team won the NCAA Division II National Championship, taking first place in both the varsity eight and varsity four events. Their string of seven national team titles is unprecedented in any rowing division since the NCAA began a championship in 1997.
Distance runner Sarah Porter was the national champion in the 10,000 meter race at the outdoor nationals. Her meet-record time of 33:17.39 was the fourth-fastest in NCAA Division II history.
Ryan Brown is a four-time
national
pole vaulting
champ
Pole vaulter Ryan Brown is a four-time national champion after successfully defending his NCAA Division II titles at both the indoor and outdoor national championships.
Monika Gruszecki won a national title in women's javelin at the NCAA II Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Western's Model United Nations team, representing Portugal, was named Outstanding Delegation, the highest team recognition, at the National Model United Nations conference in New York City.
Computer Science students placed second in the fourth annual Pacific Rim Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition at Highline Community College. Student teams were judged on how well they defended a computer system from attacks launched by a "red team" of cyberdefense professionals from Boeing, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force.
Western's student marketing team took second place at the eighth annual Intercollegiate Marketing Competition at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, B.C. Teams of undergraduate business majors competed by analyzing a business case before a panel of industry expert judges.
Lisa Pubigee, center, is Washington
state's Student Employee of the Year.
Six students in the Industrial Design program received recognition and $6,000 in scholarships for their children's furniture designs in the annual Mount Baker Products Furniture Design Competition.
Lisa Pubigee, a peer advisor in the Financial Aid Department since Sept. 2007, was the 2011 Western Student Employee of the Year as well as Washington State's Student Employee of the Year.
