COLUMBUS, Ohio – Classes have resumed, and winter sports are in full swing. The Ohio State Spirit Squads competed at nationals last week and their top-5 finishes highlight this week’s large group of Buckeye Spotlights.
Throughout the 50th anniversary of Title IX, Ohio State Athletics continues to celebrate exceptional female student-athletes and women’s teams throughout history, highlighting a new moment or person every week. This week’s feature is on the women’s swimming & diving team which has won each the last three Big Ten Championships. For more Title IX stories, visit OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
This Week’s Spotlights:
Ohio State Spirit Squads
- The Ohio State cheer and dance teams were in Orlando, Fla. last weekend competing at the UCA & UDA College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championship.
- The cheer squad took third place overall in the Division IA Co-Ed Cheer category. It’s the fifth consecutive event that the Buckeyes have claimed a top-five finish.
- Branden DeLullo and Mikayla Smith took 10th place overall in the Co Ed Partner Stunt category.
- The Buckeyes’ dance team had second-place showings in both the Division IA Pom category and Division IA Jazz category.
- Ohio State has nine national championships in either jazz, pom or gameday over the last six years, including three last year.
Colby Miller | Women’s Gymnastics | Fifth Year | Mason, Ohio
- Colby Miller scored the Buckeyes’ first 9.900 on uneven bars this season, earning a career-best tying 9.950 Monday afternoon against Georgia, Fisk and Rutgers.
- She helped her team score a 49.225 on uneven bars for the overall event title at the meet, the team’s second of the season.
- Her efforts helped the Buckeyes earn a team score of 196.250 to win the Georgia Quad on Monday and improve to 6-0 on the year.
Paetyn Levis | Women’s Hockey | Gr. | Rogers, Minn.
- Paetyn Leivs recorded her second career hat trick with three goals in Saturday’s 5-0 win over Wisconsin at the OSU Ice Rink. She is the first player to record a hat trick against the Badgers since the 2017-18 season.
- The forward finished the weekend with four points, adding an assist on the Buckeyes’ game-tying goal in Friday’s 2-1 overtime win over the Badgers.
- She was also on the ice for six of the Buckeyes’ seven goals in the top-10 ranked series, finishing with a +6 on the weekend.
Rebeka Mikulášiková | Women’s Basketball | Sr. | Nitra, Slovakia
- Senior forward Rebeka Mikulášiková led the Buckeyes to a 76-67 wire-to-wire win at Nebraska in OSU’s lone game of the week, improving to 18-0 overall.
- Mikulášiková put together her sixth 20-point game of the season with a game-high 25 points on 10-of-19 (.526) shooting, including making 3-of-4 three-point attempts. She added seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.
- This was her 11th game in double figures this season, a mark she surpassed in the first half. This season, Mikulášiková is averaging 14.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
Caden Spencer | Men’s Gymnastics | Fr. | Huntington, W. Va.
- Freshman all-arounder Caden Spencer made the most of his collegiate debut at the Windy City Invite this past weekend. Spencer competed in three events at the meet, scoring a team-high 14.050 on floor (the Buckeyes’ lone 14+ score on any event other than vault). He also led the team on parallel bars with a 13.950 and stuck his dismount on high bar to earn a 13.200.
- Spencer’s three events competed were the most by any of the Buckeyes’ newcomers and his scores currently rank tied for sixth (parallel bar), seventh (floor) and tied for 18th (high bar) in the nation.
Hayden Tobias | Men’s Track & Field | Jr. | Fishers, Ind.
- Junior thrower Hayden Tobias had a strong showing in the Buckeyes’ first meet of the season at the Rod McCravy Memorial. Tobias won the shot put competition with a personal-best throw of 20.07m, a mark that also puts him fifth on Ohio State’s all-time records list. Tobias also finished fifth in the weight throw (18.31m), just .13m shy of his career-best in that event.
- His shot put throw is the second-best in the country so far this season.
Lacey Stringer | Women’s Track & Field | Jr. | Blacklick, Ohio
- Junior thrower Lacey Stringer earned her first collegiate win this past weekend, opening the season at the Rod McCravy Memorial. Stringer won the shot put with a best throw of 15.13m. The second-place finisher had a best throw of 14.50m as Stringer had the top two throws of the competition.
- Stringer also finished eighth in the weight throw (16.16m), which is tied for her second-best finish in her career.
Isaac Wilcox | Wrestling | Jr., 165 | Holladay, Utah
- Earned three team points in Ohio State’s 27-12 win over No. 19 Rutgers Sunday
- Wrestled up a weight class vs. the Scarlet Knights and defeated Connor O’Neill (RUT) | 3-2
- Improved his Big Ten dual record to 2-0 on the year and 4-2 over his career
Jacob Pasteur | Men’s Volleyball | Jr., OH | Westminster, Maryland
- Recorded 30 kills last weekend in a split at the Patriot Invitational in Fairfax, Virginia
- Had a game-high 20 kills in 3-2 loss to No. 9 Grand Canyon
- Added 14 digs while totaling 35.0 points vs. the Antelopes and host George Mason (W, 3-1)
Nikki Dzurko | Synchronized Swimming | Sr. | Los Gatos, Calif.
- Earned two first-place finishes in the Buckeyes’ win over Michigan at Saturday’s Zero Waste Invitational.
- The 2022 national solo champion finished right where she left off last season, earning a first-place finish in the solo competition with an 83.9167.
- She also teamed up with Paige Hopper and Emma Spott to take first in trio with a score of 83.2250.
Shelly Bereznyak | Women’s Tennis | So. | Bat Yam, Israel
- In the season-opening Michigan Invitational, an individual (hidden dual) tournament, Bereznyak was a perfect 3-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles, including a ranked singles win.
- In singles, she recorded a three-set win vs. Tennessee, dropped just one game vs. Ole Miss and prevailed in three sets over No. 40-ranked Jaedan Brown of Michigan Sunday.
- In doubles, Bereznyak and Sydni Ratliff won 6-1 over Ole Miss and 6-2 vs. Michigan.
Travis Treloar | Men’s Hockey | Jr. | Kalmar, Sweden
- Travis Treloar scored twice and added an assist in the Buckeyes’ 7-2 win at No. 6-ranked Michigan Friday.
- He led the Buckeyes to a 4-for-8 performance on the power play, with goals in the first and second periods with the man advantage and a power play assist in the middle stanza.
- It marked his fifth career two-goal game and his second this season. He has seven goals, with six on the power play, this year, tying for sixth nationally and first in the Big Ten (with his teammate) for power play goals.
Alex Quach | Men’s Swimming & Diving | So. | Sydney, Australia
- Quach was instrumental in the No. 13 Buckeyes’ upset of No. 2 Texas and victory over No. 14 Alabama in a double dual meet over the weekend.
- He picked up his first win of the weekend in the 100 IM with a time of 48.23.
- He won the 100 back with an NCAA B standard time of 46.88 and the 100 fly with an NCAA B cut time of 46.34.
- Quach was also part of multiple winning relay teams (200 medley relay, 400 free relay, 400 medley relay, 200 free relay).
Josie Panitz | Women’s Swimming & Diving | Sr. | Armonk, N.Y.
- Panitz helped the No. 5 Buckeyes to a win over No. 6 Alabama this past weekend.
- She placed second in the 100 IM with a time of 55.03 and second in the 100 breast with an NCAA B cut time of 1:00.06.
- Panitz also turned in a second-place finish in the 200 breast with an NCAA B standard time of 2:11.46.
- She was on the second-place 400 medley relay team.
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