Graduate glance

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on January 25, 2005 1:55 PM

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WCDS alum making waves

LEXINGTON, Va. - In just his second season at Division III Washington and Lee University, Wayne Country Day alumnus Maxwell Pike is making impressive waves in the swimming pool -- and in the classroom.

On Jan. 15, Pike and his teammates improved to 5-1 with a win over Getteysburg (Pa.) as Pike helped the Generals capture the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 1:41.77.

Pike, who swims the freestyle and butterfly events, helped the 17th ranked Generals to a second-place finish at the Franklin and Marshall Invitational on Dec. 3 -- taking 14th in the 50 freestyle (22.75) with a season-best time. On Jan. 8, Pike finished fourth in the 100 freestyle with a 50.27 -- also a season-best finish.

He was also one of 13 Washington and Lee athletes to earn the Scholor-Athlete award for achieving a grade-point average of at least 3.5 in the fall term. Pike is a pre-med major with a concentration in chemistry. He plans on attending medical school upon completion of his degree at W&L -- one of the top-15 ranked academic schools in the country.

"Being a college student is a lot different than being high school student, because the level of work is so much harder. Once you get in the flow it's not quite so bad," Pike said.

Pike has put in his time in the books and in practice for second-year coach Joel Shinofield. The effort is not going unnoticed.

"The fact that he is in the top tier academically is a credit to how hard he has worked, and he has also put a tremendous time in with the strength program," Shinofield said. "He's in so much better shape strength-wise. He has a lot of determination and focus."

Last year, the Generals had their first unbeaten season in 13 years and won the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championship for the first time.

"We went undefeated in all dual meets and were as close to a perfect season as you can be. I've never been on a team that pefect," Pike said." This year, we had ten new freshman and the size of the team jumped dramatically. The freshman came in and worked their butts off and the team is strong as it ever was.

"Now we are shooting for going to conference and winning two years in a row."

The Generals return to action on Saturday at Johns Hopkins.

Elliott posting big minutes for Coker

COKER, S.C. -- North Duplin graduate and Coker College freshman India Elliott is currently leading the Cobras in total minutes (366) and is third on the team with 6.85 points per game.

Her 49 assists leads the team, and she has started in 10 games.

Coker (5-11, 2-7 Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference) defeated Pfeiffer 67-47 on Monday and hosts Queens on Saturday.