March 18, 2003
Monroe Hits the Mark
Senior Makes GW History as All-Time Leading Scorer
Chris Monroe engraved his name at the top of the 88-year-old mens
basketball record book with a pair of free throws with 37.8 seconds
remaining in the second half of the GW-Massachusetts contest March 10.
As Monroe hit his first shot, he tied Joe Holup for the most career
points in Colonials history with 2,226. Monroes next basket sealed
his status as GWs most prolific scorer, surpassing the 44-year-old
record.
The senior from nearby Hyattsville, MD (Good Counsel High School) has
played in all 117 games of his four-year career, netting 202 three-point
shots and 105 double-figure scoring games, among other statistical gems.
Monroe is only one of eight players in Atlantic 10 history to score
more than 2,000 points in a career, placing third overall on that distinguished
list. Monroe and Holup are the only two Colonials to reach the 2,000
point plateau (though Holups numbers do not count in the Atlantic
10 record books). Monroe now tops a list of superb GW basketball players
for most career points:
Chris Monroe, 199903, 2,227 points (as of March 10)
Joe Holup, 195356, 2,226
Mike Brown, 198185, 1,916
Pat Tallent, 197276, 1,725
Kwame Evans, 199396, 1,723
Through the years, Monroes teammates and coaches have praised
his work ethic.
We practice hard for three hours a day, then go back and study,
says freshman Mike Hall. We often came over to the gym at 9:30
pm, and there he was practicing his jump shot. That showed me what it
takes to be a good player and a good leader.
When Monroe passed the 2,000-point plateau on Jan. 25, Head Coach Karl
Hobbs said, When he came here as a freshman, if someone had said
he was going to score 2,000 points, you wouldnt have believed
him. Im really proud of Chris and especially of the way he played.
He played with a lot of energy and heart; he made shots when he had
to. I feel very honored to have been the one to coach him.
Shortstop Shanley Shines
As of March 12, freshman Tom Shanley has hit in 12 consecutive games
for the baseball team, earning Atlantic 10 Rookie of Week honors recently.
He has started every game at shortstop for the Colonials this year and
has a hit in each of them. Shanley leads the Colonials with a .409 batting
average.
In the first half of the March 9 doubleheader against Fairfield, Shanley
came to the plate in the seventh inning without a hit in two previous
at-bats. It appeared to be his final at-bat of the game as the Colonials
were three outs from losing the seven-inning game. With GW down 81
and two men on, Shanley hit his first collegiate home run to keep his
hitting streak alive. More importantly, the homer keyed the Colonials
comeback as they tied the game in the bottom of the seventh forcing
extra innings. After giving up a run in the top of the eighth inning,
the Colonials looked to Shanley again for a lift. He came through again
this time with a single to leadoff the bottom of the eighth inning.
Two batters later Shanley scored when senior captain Chris Barry blasted
a two-run walk-off home run for a 109 GW victory.
Shanley hit .538 during the week of March 3, including two doubles,
one homer, seven runs and five RBI. Despite hitting ninth for all but
one game this year, Shanley leads GW with 18 hits. The Colonials hold
an 84 record.
Womens Tennis Tops Mount St. Marys
The GW womens tennis team won its second match of the weekend,
March 9 against Mount St. Marys, 61, at the GW-Mount Vernon
Tennis Facility. The win helped the Colonials creep closer to .500 on
the season as their record improved to 34.
Senior Tracy Wei had no problems at No.1 singles, winning 61,
61. Junior Nazli Gencsoy and sophomore Sevla Gonca didnt
lose a game on the day, both winning their singles matches 60,
60 and teaming to win at number two doubles, 80. The same
goes for senior Samantha Fisher and sophomore Natasha Bode who blanked
their opponents at No. 5 and No. 3 singles, respectively, and won at
No. 2 doubles, 80.
The Colonials will go for three in a row when they travel to Cincinnati,
OH, on March 27 to take on Xavier.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu