Athletics Good Stuff – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | General
May 16, 2006
Athletes of the Week
Brian Olinger won his second-career Big Ten individual titleFriday in the 10,000-meter run at the league meet in East Lansing,Mich. The native of Fresno, Ohio bested his own Ohio State recordto win the event in a time of 28:45.59 and narrowly missed settingthe conference meet record (28:45.25). Less than 24 hours later,Olinger posted a runner-up finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechaseSaturday. He crossed the finish line in 8:46.93.
For the championship, Olinger accounted for 18 of Ohio State’s 66 team points.
The Buckeyes’ second varsity eight boat continued its unbeatenstreak dating back to April 1 with a victory its Grand Final Sundayat the Central Region championships. The win helped Ohio Statesecure its fourth-consecutive Central Region title. Lavinia Tinelli(la-VE-nia ti-NEL-li), Andrea Dymalski (da-MAL-ski), SimoneHaubner, Justine Mahler, Katie Poling, Zuzanna Trzcinska(tr-ZIN-ska), Briony Clare (BRI-o-nee), Olga Grigorieva (OL-yagre-gor-EE-vah) and coxswain Sarah Obee clocked in at 6:34.20 todefeat three other Big Ten teams. Wisconsin was second at 6:36.17,followed by Michigan State (6:37.85), Michigan (6:39.04), NotreDame (6:42.21) and Virginia (6:44.35).
Athletics Good Stuff
The rowing team won its fourth-consecutive Central Region titleat the 2006 Aramark Central/South Region Championships Sunday. TheBuckeyes topped the overall standings for the first time since 2003with 366 points, edging fellow Big Ten team Wisconsin with 361.Ohio State is the first team since Michigan in 2001 to win both theBig Ten and Central Region championships in the same season. OSUwon two of four Grand Finals in which it raced with the secondvarsity four and the Ohio State `A’ boat winning finishing first intheir races. The Buckeyes also raced in the first varsity eight andfirst varsity four Grand Finals, placing second in both events.
Ohio State will next compete in its seventh-consecutive NCAA championship May 26-28 in West Windsor, N.J. The event will be hosted by the Princeton National Rowing Association and Rutgers University at Lake Mercer. Last season, the Buckeyes tied their best finish in program history by placing fourth overall.
The men’s tennis team (27-1) advanced to the Round of 16 in the2006 NCAA Men’s Tennis Team Championship May 20-23 in Stanford,Calif. The Buckeyes will take on North Carolina at noon Saturday.The winner of that match will take on either Mississippi or Texasin the quarterfinal round May 21. Ohio State tied a school recordwith its 27th victory Sunday at the Jesse Owens West Tennis Center.The Buckeyes downed Arkansas 4-0 to stay alive in NCAA tournamentplay. Seniors Scott Green and Ross Wilson are the No. 1 seed in the32-team NCAA doubles tournament. Freshman Bryan Koniecko(cone-yecko) was selected to compete in the NCAA singles tournamentas well. Both the singles and doubles tournaments begin May 24 uponcompletion of the team tournament. The 2006 NCAA Women’s GolfChampionships begin May 21 at The OSU Golf Club with the first dayof practice rounds prior to the start of competition May 23. The72-hole championship will be contested on the par 72, 6,203-yardScarlet Course, which will be ready for play after a year-longrenovation project. A total of 24 teams and six additionalindividual student-athletes make up the 2006 championship field.The softball team received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournamentSunday and departs Tuesday for the Arizona Regional, which includeshost and third-ranked Arizona, No. 24 Auburn, Marist and theBuckeyes (38-21). OSU is making its seventh appearance in the NCAAtournament and third in the last six years. The Buckeyes openregional play at 6 p.m. (EDT) Thursday against Auburn, with thedouble-elimination format resuming Friday. Ohio State, owners ofthe Big Ten’s best offense, advanced to the semifinals of the BigTen tournament last weekend at Northwestern and saw five playersreceive All-Big Ten honors, including first-team selection BrittanyVanderink. Baseball is 32-17 overall and 16-11 in the Big Ten afterdropping two of three games last weekend to Minnesota. The Buckeyesrode the arm of Dan DeLucia to his ninth win of the year and backedhim up with 10 runs on 18 hits in a 10-2 victory in the openinggame of the series. The Buckeyes had just six hits in each of thefinal two games of the series as Minnesota won 2-1 and 12-3. RonnieBourquin was 4-for-9 with four RBI to lead Ohio State againstMinnesota. He continues to lead the Big Ten with a .426 battingaverage and with 80 hits, is within 12 of the school record of 92set by Steve Caravati in 2004. He has driven in 58 RBI, the mostsince Jason Turner had 64 in 2000. Ohio State, which was second inthe nation last week with a .341 team batting average, is batting.340 after the Minnesota series. National rankings will be releaselate Tuesday afternoon. DeLucia allowed one run on six hits ineight innings against Minnesota. He is 9-2 this year with a 3.49ERA ad a team-high 57 strikeouts in 90.1 innings. DeLucia is 18-10in his career, a win total that ranks in the school’s Top 20 andhis 3.94 ERA ranks in the Top 15. The game Wednesday vs. Pittsburghis the final Buck-A-Burger promotion at Ohio State this season.Fireworks will follow the 6:35 p.m. game. This weekend the Buckeyeswill close the regular season with a four-game Big Ten series vs.Penn State. The series begins Friday at 6:35 p.m. with anine-inning game and continues Saturday with a doubleheaderbeginning at 1:35 p.m. The teams will close the series Sunday witha single game at 1:05 p.m. The midweek game and games one, threeand four of the Penn State series will be broadcast on AM 920 WMNI.Ohio State shortstop Jedidiah Stephen and leftfielder Jacob Howellhave been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District IV BaseballTeam. Each player earned second-team honors as selected by theCollege Sports Information Directors of America, the organizationannounced May 11. Stephen, a senior human development and familyscience major from Caldwell, Ohio (Shenandoah), has started all 49games for the Buckeyes this season and is batting .342 with ateam-high 18 doubles, seven home runs and a .587 sluggingpercentage. He has driven in 42 runs and has scored 31 runs.Howell, a red-shirt junior majoring in communication, has startedall 30 games he has played this year, which has been hampered by ahamstring injury. Howell is batting .415 with 49 hits, 21 RBI and33 runs scored. He has played in only eight of the team’s last 27games. He returned to the lineup as the DH in the Minnesota series.The men’s and women’s track and field teams each competed at the2006 Big Ten Outdoor Championships last weekend in East Lansing,Mich. The women’s team made a strong final-day push to finish infifth place. The men’s team was in first place after Day 1, butdropped to eighth by the conclusion of the meet Sunday.
Junior Jessica Stringer successfully defended her 2005 Big Ten high jump championship Sunday to lead the women’s climb to fifth place. Stringer, who cleared 5 feet, 10 inches for the win, has won the last three league high jump titles indoors and outdoors. Jenna Harris also turned in solid performances for the women. She finished second in the 200-meter dash and third in the 100m dash. Freshman Ayrizanna Favours (AY-riz-ah-nah FAV-ors) took second in the 400m. Senior Keturah Lofton also placed second in the women’s hammer Friday.
Brian Olinger accounted for 18 of the men’s 66 team points with a win in the 10,000-meter run Friday and followed that less than 24 hours later with a runner-up time in the steeplechase. Freshmen Matt Comer (COMB-er) and Elon (EE-lon) Simms made impressive debuts at the conference meet. Comer edged Simms at the finish line of the 400m hurdles for second place.
Both the men’s and women’s teams are off next week to prep for the 2006 NCAA Mideast Regional Championships May 26-27 at Knoxville, Tenn.
Colin Biles will play as an individual representing Ohio Statein the 2006 NCAA Men’s Golf Central Regional competition this week.The event, hosted by Cleveland State University, will be played atthe Sand Ridge Golf Club (par 71, 7,173 yds.) in Chardon, Ohio,Thursday through Saturday.
The top 10 teams and two individuals not attached to one of those teams will advance to compete in the NCAA championships May 31 through June 3 at Crosswater Golf Club at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore. Biles, a junior from Columbus, Ohio, earned second team All-Big Ten honors this season. He was not originally selected to participate in NCAA regional competition but when Illinois’ Patrick Nagle withdrew from the tournament Biles was invited to fill the void.
Five men’s lacrosse players received postseason honors from theGreat Western Lacrosse League, the conference announced last week.Joel Dalgarno was named the GWLL Newcomer of the Year, while KevinBuchanan, Ricky Pages and Brian Yontz were first team all-leagueselections and Andrew Bender was a second-team choice. Dalgarno wasthe Buckeyes’ first rookie of the year since Pat Myers in 2000.Yontz moved up from the second team last year, while Bender earnedsecond-team honors for the second-consecutive season. Buchanan andPages were honored for the first time in their careers. MarscillaPacker, who finished her sophomore season as the Big Ten’s leading3-point shooter, will tryout for the 2006 Under-20 USA Women’sBasketball National Team Thursday through Saturday at the OlympicFacility in Colorado Springs, Colo. Packer will contend for a spoton the U-20 U.S. team that will compete in the 2006 FIBA AmericasChampionship Aug. 9-13 in either Costa Rica or Guatemala.
Should Packer gain a spot on the USA U-20 roster, she would be the third current Buckeye to play for a Team USA squad in the last two seasons. Last August, Jessica Davenport and Brandie Hoskins each earned a position on the U.S. team that won the 2005 World University Games in Izmir, Turkey. In April, Davenport again joined up with Team USA for its final leg of its European tour and helped the Americans win the 2006 Opals World Challenge tournament in Australia.
Women’s lacrosse KC Carter, Kristen Hannon and Kristen Gilweehave been named to the American Lacrosse Conference All-ConferenceTeam. Carter was named to the first team while Hannon and Gilweereceived second team honors. Hannon had a team-high 12 points forthe Buckeyes in ALC play with eight goal and four assists. Sheadded 10 ground balls, five draw controls and three causedturnovers. Carter had 10 points in conference play with eight goalsand two assists. She added seven ground ball, seven draw controlsand six caused turnovers. Gilwee played in all five conferencegames with four starts. She had a 1-3 record in the league with a12.63 goals against average and a .518 saves percentage. JimmyWickham (So., Gulfport, Miss./Planet Gymnastics) was one of fiveU.S. gymnasts who competed at the 2006 World Cup event at theFlanders Sports Arena in Ghent, Belgium, Saturday-Sunday. Thepreliminary rounds of the individual apparatus competition wereheld Saturday. Wickham placed 11th on floor with a 14.650 duringthe qualifying session. The sophomore did not place high enough toadvance on floor, but qualified for finals on vault after finishingthird on the apparatus with a 16.025. His score was just .100behind second place. At the finals on Sunday, Wickham placedseventh on vault with a score of 15.212.
Ohio State Athletics Schedule
Wednesday, May 17 – Tuesday, May 23
Wednesday, May 17
Baseball vs. Pittsburgh, 6:35 p.m.
Bill Davis Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Thursday, May 18
Softball vs. Auburn, 6 p.m.
NCAA Tournament Arizona Regional
Tucson, Ariz.
Men’s Golf at NCAA Central Regionals
Cleveland, Ohio
Friday, May 19
Baseball vs. Penn State, 6:35 p.m.
Bill Davis Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Softball NCAA Tournament Arizona Regional, 3:30, 6 and/or 8:30 p.m.
Tucson, Ariz.
Men’s Golf at NCAA Central Regionals
Cleveland, Ohio
Saturday, May 20
Softball NCAA Tournament Arizona Regional, 3 p.m. (5 p.m. if needed)
Tucson, Ariz.
Men’s Tennis vs. North Carolina, Noon
NCAA Tournament Round of 16
Stanford, Calif.
Baseball vs. Penn State, 1:35 and 4:05 p.m.
Bill Davis Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Men’s Golf at NCAA Central Regionals
Cleveland, Ohio
Sunday, May 21
Baseball vs. Penn State, 1:05 p.m.
Bill Davis Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Men’s Tennis vs. Texas/Mississippi, 1 p.m.
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
Stanford, Calif.
Monday, May 22
Men’s Tennis NCAA Tournament Semifinals, 1 p.m.
Stanford, Calif.
Tuesday, May 23
Men’s Tennis NCAA Tournament Championship, TBA
Stanford, Calif.
