This Week in Ohio State Athletics – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/25/1998 12:00:00 AM | General
Feb. 25, 1998
Thursday, Feb. 26
Men’s Basketball at Wisconsin, 8 p.m.
Hockey vs. Miami (O.), 7 p.m.
Men’s Swimming at Big Ten Championship at Minneapolis, Minn.
Friday, Feb. 27 Baseball at McNeese State, 7 p.m. at Lake Area Classic Softball vs. Coastal Carolina, 11 a.m., Georgia Southern, 1 p.m. at Louisville Slugger Tournament at Tampa, Fla. Men’s Swimming at Big Ten Championship at Minneapolis, Minn. Women’s Swimming at USS Senior Championships Men’s Tennis at Kansas, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 28
Baseball vs. Louisiana Tech, 2:30 p.m. at Lake Area Classic
Men’s Basketball vs. Penn State, 8 p.m.
Fencing at Midwest Championships at Notre Dame, Ind.
Women’s Gymnastics at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. Hockey at Bowling Green, 7 p.m.
Softball at South Florida, 5 p.m., Connecticut, 7 p.m. at Louisville Slugger Tournament at Tampa, Fla.
Men’s Swimming at Big Ten Championship at Minneapolis, Minn.
Women’s Swimming at USS Senior Championship
Women’s Tennis vs. Indiana State, 8 a.m., Cincinnati, 12:30 p.m. at Jesse Owens Tennis Recreation Building
Track and Field at Big Ten Indoor Championship
Women at East Lansing, Mich. and
Men at West Lafayette, Ind.
Men’s Volleyball vs. Penn State, 2 p.m.
Sunday, Mar. 1
Baseball vs. Iowa State, Noon at Lake Area Classic
Fencing at Midwest Championships at Notre Dame, Ind.
Softball at Louisville Slugger Tournament, opponents TBA
Women’s Swimming at USS Senior Championship
Track and Field at Big Ten Indoor Championship
Women at East Lansing, Mich. and
Men at West Lafayette, Ind.
Fencing
1997-98 Record -Men 12-7 Overall; Women 20-3 Overall
Head Coach – Charlotte Remenyik, 20th year (Northeastern Illinois, ’73)
Good Stuff – The Buckeye women are ranked 5th in the January 28 United States Fencing Association collegiate poll and received one first place vote. The men’s squad is tied for 11th in the nation with NYU. The next poll will be available near the end of February and the last poll will be out after the regional qualifiers.v This Week – Ohio State (12-7 men, 20-3 women) travels to Notre Dame, Ind. to compete in the Midwest Championsips Saturday and Sunday. OSU fencers will compete against Case Western, Cleveland State, Detroit-Mercy, Lawrence, Northwestern, Notre Dame and Wayne State. Last Week – The Buckeyes hosted the OSU Dual Meets on Saturday in Larkins Hall. Both the men’s and women’s went undefeated posting 4-0 records. All-Americans Patricia Szelle (Sr., Budapest, Hungary) and Yelena Kalkina (So., Almaty, Kazakhstan) led the attack for the women as the pair notched perfect records (16-0) in the foil. The women improved to 20-3 on the year while the men moved to 12-7. Notes — Representing OSU at the Junior Olympics in Oakland, Calif., Feb. 13-16, were Greg Carlino (Fr., Cleveland Heights, Ohio) and Jason Abele (Fr., Gahanna, Ohio). Carlino finished 24th overall in the men’s foil, while Abele placed 51st in the men’s epee.
Women’s Golf
1997-98 Record – 41-30, 19-1 in Big Ten
Head Coach – Therese Hession, seventh year (Southern Methodist ’79)
Good Stuff – In the second round of the SMU/OSU Regional Challenge, Bethany Overstake (Sr., Urbana, Ohio) had a season personal best round of 73. Her previous best was a 76. This Week – The Buckeyes are idle for two weeks. Ohio State will compete at the Sun Trust Gator Golf tournament on Feb. 27- March 1. A total of 18 schools will be competing in the field: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Auburn, Central Florida, Coastal Carolina, Florida International, Florida State, Georgia, Louisiana State, Miami, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Rollins, Southern Methodist, South Carolina,South Florida and Ohio State. Two years ago, Ohio State placed fifth and Marisa Wilhelm (Sr, Brookville, Ind.) placed 37th individually. Last year, Louisiana State was the champion with a team score of 889 and LSU’s Laura Moore captured the individual title. Last Week – Ohio State was idle last weekend. Notes -Ohio State is ranked No. 44 in the nation by the Mastercard Collegiate Golf Rankings. Natalie Mosher (Jr., New Philadelphia, Ohio) leads the team with an average of 74.5 strokes in 15 rounds of play. Lisa Strom (So., North Wales, Pa.) is right behind Mosher with an average of 76.7. As a team, Ohio State is averaging 303.8 strokes per tournament.
Men’s Gymnastics
1997-98 Record -8-3, overall; 2-1, in Big Ten; 2-1, in Dual Meets
Head Coach – Miles Avery 1st year (Temple, ’81)
Good Stuff – Stibel scored season best 56.90 in the all-around competition against Penn State. This Week – The Buckeyes (8-3) travel to East Lansing, Mich. to take on the Spartans of Michigan State (3-9) on Sunday at 2 p.m. Michigan State recently set a school record with a team score of 228.420 on Feb. 13 in a home meet against Minnesota. Ohio State beat Michigan State last season, 224-218.4. The all time series between these two teams is even at 23-23-1. Last Week — Penn State handed the Buckeyes their first Big Ten loss of the season by a final score of 230.550-227.225. The Nittany Lions total score is the best by any team in the nation so far this season. Ohio State’s Doug Stibel (Jr., Canton Mich.) claimed the Buckeye’s only victory of the meet with a score of 9.75 on the horizontal bar.
Women’s Gymnastics
1997-98 Record-6-3, overall; 1-2, in Big Ten
Head Coach – Larry Cox, 19th year (Arizona State, ’77)
Good Stuff- In the individual gymnast category, Susan Eckman (Jr., Boardman, Ohio) is currently ranked No. 14 in the country. This Week – Ohio State (6-3, 1-2) will travel to Pittsburgh, Pa. to compete against the University of Pittsburgh (6-3, 2-1 Eastern Atlantic Gymnastics League) this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Last Week – The Buckeyes fell to Denver 193.650-188.100 Friday in Denver. Lindsey Vagedes (Fr., Warrenville, Ill.) captured the Buckeyes only first place victory with a score of 9.775 on the vault. Susan Eckman (Jr., Boardman, Ohio) placed third in the vault with a 9.70.
In the balance beam competition, Mindi Farmer (Indianapolis, Ind.) tied for first place with a score of 9.825. Vagedes placed third in the all-around competition with a score of 37.875.
Notes- The Buckeyes are home March 8 for their final home meet. They will play host to Northern Illinois at Larkins Hall at 2 p.m.
Men’s Lacrosse
1998 Record – 0-0
Head Coach – Joe Breschi (North Carolina ’90), 1st year
Good Stuff – Ohio State will be led by attackman Kevin Johnson (Jr., Penfield, N.Y.). Last year Johnson had 27 goals and 27 assists. He is preseason honorable mention All-American according to Face Off ’98 magazine. This Week – Ohio State opens the 1998 season by hosting Rutgers (0-0) this Sunday at 1 p.m. on the Turf field at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Last Week – OSU Finished 1997 at 6-6 overall and 0-3 in the Great Western Lacrosse League.
Notes – The opening game against Rutgers marks the beginning of a new era in OSU men’s lacrosse. New head coach Joe Breschi will be on the sidelines for the Buckeyes for the first time. Breshci comes to Ohio State after a stint as an assistant at Brown University. He was an outstanding player at the University of North Carolina and has competed for the U.S. National Lacrosse Team.
Men’s Swimming and Diving
1997-98 Record -9-3-0, 3-1-0 in Big Ten
Swimming Head Coach – Bill Wadley, 9th year (Austin Peay, ’79)
Diving Head Coach – Vince Panzano, 20th year (Ohio State, ’72)
Good Stuff – The team’s best finish under Wadley in the Big Ten Championships was third in 1994 and 1996. This Week – Ohio State will travel to Minneapolis, Minn., where the Golden Gophers will host the Big Ten Championships on Thursday through Saturday. The Buckeyes placed fifth in the Championships last season, which were also held in Minneapolis. Former Buckeye Brent Bortolussi was OSU’s only champion last year. Bortolussi scored a 694.10 in the 10-meter dive. Last Week – The Buckeyes have been idle since February 7. Notes — Head Coach Bill Wadley, in his ninth year with the Buckeyes, has improved his record to an outstanding 84-15. Marko Strahija (Sr., Zagreb, Croatia) and Kevin Kling (Sr., Louisville, Ky.), both of whom were honorable mention All-America selections last year, will lead OSU into this year’s Big Ten Championships. Kling captured first place in the 100-meter breastroke at the 1996 Big Ten Championships with a time of 55.17.
Women’s Swimming and Diving
1997-98 Record -7-6-0, 0-4-0 in Big Ten
Swimming Head Coach – Neil Harper, first year (Louisiana State, ’88)
Diving Head Coach – Vince Panzano, 20th year (Ohio State, ’72)
Good Stuff – Wong earned all-Big Ten honors with her championship performance in all the diving competition at the Big Ten Championships.v This Week – Divers Carrie Ziebarth (So., Auburn, Wash.) and Sharon Wong (Sr., Worthington, Ohio) will spend the next three weeks preparing for the upcoming NCAA regional qualifying diving competition on March 13-14 in Oxford, O. Last Week – Ohio State took a disappointing ninth place finish at the Big Ten Championships in Bloomington, Ind., on Feb. 19-21. Michigan dominated the competition with 788.5 points – 140 more than the second place team. The Buckeyes fell behind early in the competition and could not get back in sync, earning a total of 205 team points. Ziebarth and Wong turned in OSU’s top performances. Wong won her second platform diving title with a score of 564.6, took third in the 1-meter dive (380.45) and seventh in the 3-meter dive (415.75). Ziebarth performed nearly as well, taking third in the platform dive (513.85), fourth in the 1-meter (374.4) and third in the 3-meter (476.90). Other notable performances came from Traci Mainer (So., Kennett Square, Pa.) who took second place in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:59.44 – over five seconds faster then her seasons best. Ohio State’s 200 medley relay team of Julie Hutzler (Jr., Hampton, Virginia), Missy Kuck (Sr., Delaware, Ohio), Heidi Hazen (So., Mentor, Ohio) and Johanna Barron (Fr., Danville, Calif.) placed fifth, earning 28 team points. Notes – During the three-day competition the Buckeyes posted 13 individual season best times.
Synchronized Swimming
1998 Record – 22-1
Head Coach – Linda Lichter-Witter 3rd year (S. Connecticut St., ’72)
Good Stuff – The Ohio State Synchronized Swimming Team began as the Ohio State Swan Club back in 1928. The team put on exhibition water shows until they began to eventually compete in five to six meets per year in the 1960’s. The Buckeyes captured their first Midwest Championship in 1969 and are now the most dominant program in collegiate synchronized swimming history. This Week – Ohio State will travel to Minneapolis, Minn. for Sunday’s University of Minnesota Invitational at 8 a.m. This is the Buckeyes’ final regular season meet. Last Week -Ohio State was upset by rival Stanford 100-96 at the Wheaton College Invitational in Norton, Mass last Saturday. Ohio State could not overcome a dominating performance by Stanford’s Olympian Heather Pease. Pease took first in every event but the team competition. Ana Cukic ( Sr., Markham, Ontario), Lisa Nielsen (Sr., Sacramento, Calif.), and Heather Moore (So. Amherst, N.Y.) led the Buckeyes. Nielsen and Moore were runners-up in the Senior Figures and Solo events, respectively. Cukic and Nielsen teamed up to win the Duet, while Moore joined them to take second in the Trio event. Ohio State dominated the Team category by scoring a 93.733 to Stanford’s 90.600. Ohio State’s “B” team was also in action, downing the University of Richmond by a score of 103-88.5. Amanda Smelzer (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev.) and Lynda Ludwig (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio) each captured two first place finishes.
Notes – Despite Ohio State’s loss to Stanford, head coach Linda Lichter-Witter was upbeat and optimistic after the meet. “I am really pleased with the way we performed and how our routines went,” she said. “There is a lot of pressure off us now, and we know what we have to do to get ready for nationals.”
Men’s Tennis
1997-98 Record – 3-6-0, 0-2-0 in Big Ten Head Coach – John Daly, 27th year (Northern Illinois) Good Stuff – This weekend, Pari Laxminarayan (Jr., Bangalore, India) ended his five-game losing streak with wins over Indiana’s Scott Lippett and Louisville’s Kane Easter. Wiles has won seven doubles matches this season, giving him a career record of 55-55 and ranking him 12th on the OSU all-time list. This Week – On Friday, Ohio State (3-6, 0-2) will travel to Lawrence, Kan. to compete against the Kansas Jayhawks (0-4) at 6:30 p.m. It is the first time Ohio State and Kansas have ever met in a dual match. On Sunday the Buckeyes will end the road trip in Iowa City, Iowa against the Hawkeyes at 10:30 a.m. Last year, Iowa edged the Buckeyes 4-3 to take a 19-18 lead in the all-time series. Buckeyes Scott Wiles (Sr., Massillon, Ohio) and Ben Basil (Jr., Upper Arlington, Ohio) both posted wins in singles and doubles play in last year’s match. Last Week – Last weekend, the Buckeyes dropped two matches to Indiana and Louisville, but won a tight match over Miami (O.) 4-3. Notes – Chris Porter (Fr., Canton, Ohio) ended the weekend with a 2-1 record in both doubles and singles. Porter is still undefeated at the No. 2 spot and has the team’s best overall record of 15-5 in singles. In doubles action, the freshmen duo of Derek DeFalco (Maumee, Ohio) and Bob Wellstein (Perrysburg, Ohio) won against all three opponents, giving them a record of 5-3 at the No. 3 spot.
Women’s Tennis
1997-98 Record – 4-4, 0-0 in Big Ten
Head Coach – Chuck Merzbacher, second year (Minnesota ’87)
Good Stuff – Ohio State is playing its most ambitious schedule in the school’s history this season (Three of the OSU’s four losses have come at the hands of ranked opponents). Ohio State has fallen to No. 12 Tennessee, No. 15 Notre Dame, and No. 37 Maryland.
“To be the best, you’ve got to play the best,” said head coach Chuck Merzbacher. “I’m definitely challenging the team, but I believe that it will pay off in the long run.” This Week – Ohio State (4-4, 0-0) returns home for a pair of matches at the Jesse Owens West Tennis Center this weekend. The Buckeyes will face Indiana State on Saturday at 8 a.m. and Cincinnati at 1:30 p.m. Indiana State enters this weekend’s match – the first ever between the Buckeyes and Sycamores – with a record of 4-3. Cincinnati comes into its match against Ohio State with a 3-3 mark. The Buckeyes lead the all-time series between the two schools 9-0. The Buckeyes were 8-1 winners when the two schools last met in 1994. The premier match of the day will be at No. 1 singles, where OSU’s outstanding freshman Kristy Dascoli (Bradenton, Fla.) will put her 7-1 record to the test against Cincinnati’s Kara Molony. Molony brings a perfect 6-0 singles record into the match. The only common opponent between the Bearcats and Buckeyes this season has been Bowling Green. OSU defeated Bowling Green 7-2 on Jan. 18, while Cincinnati suffered a 6-3 loss at the hands of the Falcons earlier this year. Last Week – The Buckeyes lost a pair of matches in Lexington, Ky. Ohio State was defeated by Kentucky 7-2 on Friday, and lost 8-1 to No. 37 Maryland on Saturday. Notes – Dascoli had her seven-match winning streak snapped on Saturday, dropping a 6-2, 6-2 decision to Maryland’s Meg Griffin. The loss was Dascoli’s first of the regular season.
Track and Field
1997-98 Record-M-0-1-0, 0-0-0 in Big Ten; W-1-0-0, 0-0-0 in Big Ten Track & Field Head Coach – Russ Rogers, 9th year (Maryland-Baltimore County ’65) Good Stuff – Porter broke the school and French Field House records in the triple jump with a mark of 42’10-1/4.” The previous school record (42’8-3/4?) and French Field House record (42’5-1/2?) were set by former teammate Shandi Boyd-Pleasant (1994-97) in 1996. This mark also improves her provisional qualifying status for the NCAA Championships. This Week – Ohio State is on the road for the Big Ten Championships Saturday and Sunday. The men travel to West Lafayette, Ind. and the women to East Lansing, Mich. for the conference showdown. Erika Goines (Sr., Zanesville, Ohio), Tamieka Porter (Sr., Escondido, Calif.) and Andrew Pierce (Fr., Yellow Springs, Ohio) have posted the best marks in the conference in the shot put, triple jump and 400, respectively. Shanda McJunkins (Sr., Cleveland Heights, Ohio) in the 400, Donica Merriman (Fr., Trotwood, Ohio) in the 55 hurdles and David Gonzalez (So., Bolingbrook, Ill.) in the 3,000 could also be in the title hunt. Both the men’s and women’s teams are shooting for a top three finish in the team competition. According to the United States Track Coaches Association poll, the Big Ten boasts five schools in the top 25 in the nation. Michigan (sixth), Minnesota (19th) and Wisconsin (22nd) are each included in the men’s poll, while Michigan (17th) and Wisconsin (20th) showed up in the women’s poll. Last Week – OSU hosted the Scarlet & Gray Invitational Saturday in the French Field House. Competing against the Buckeyes were Akron, Ashland and Ohio, but there was no team scoring. Seven men and eight women recorded first-place finishes for OSU. Notes – After a series of minor setbacks, All-American Dominque Calloway (Aurora, Colo.) is back to competing for the Buckeyes. She captured first-place finishes in both the 200 (24.73) and the 55 hurdles (7.84).
Men’s Volleyball
1998 Record – 12-1, 5-0 in Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association
Head Coach – Pete Hanson, 14th year (Ball State ’79)
Good Stuff – Ohio State has reached the halfway point in regular season league play in the MIVA. OSU returns to league action March 6 at Indiana-Purdue. This Week – Seventh-ranked Ohio State (12-1 overall, 5-0 Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) hosts 12th-ranked Penn State (5-11) Saturday afternoon (2 p.m.) in St. John Arena. Last Week – Ohio State extended its winning streak to nine matches with 3-0 wins over Clarke College (15-3, 15-11, 15-12) and Quincy (15-9, 15-13, 15-8). Phil Kerewich (Jr., Wilmette, Illinois) had a team-high 11 kills against Clarke. OSU hit .423 as a team in the match.
Jeff Koterba (Sr., Martinsville, N.J.) recorded a match-high 18 kills against Quincy. Colin McMillan (So., Burlington, Wisconsin) added 15 kills while Kerewich had 14. The 3-0 win over Quincy was the fourth consecutive sweep for the Buckeyes and the eighth of the season. Notes – Ohio State is facing Penn State for the second time this season. In State College, Ohio State defeated the then ninth-ranked Nittany Lions 3-1 (7-15, 15-9, 15-7, 15-10). Penn State has a 43-20-1 lead in the series.
Wrestling
1997-98 Record -10-13 -1 overall, 1-7 Big Ten
Head Coach – Russ Hellickson, 12th year (Wisconsin ’70)
Good Stuff – Clark’s loss to Herman sets up a dream re-match between the two wrestlers at both the Big Ten Championships in State College, Pa. (March 7-8) and the National Championship meet in Cleveland, Ohio (March 19-21). This Week – The Ohio State wrestling team is idle for the next two weeks. The Buckeyes are training for the Big Ten Championships which will be held on March 7 and 8 at State College, Pa. in the Bryce Jordan Center. Mitch Clark (Sr., Canton, N.Y.) and Jeff Bucher (Jr., Toledo, Ohio) are Ohio State’s top grapplers. At 177-pounds, Clark has posted a 31-1 overall record. Bucher stands 26-9 overall at 134-pounds. Last Week – The Buckeyes lost their last dual match of the season, 28-8, to Big Ten foe Illinois. Clark lost his first match of the year, a 9-3 decision to Illinois’ Jevon Herman. It was the second time that the two wrestlers met this season. Clark defeated Herman earlier in the final round of the Midlands Tournament on Dec. 30. Robbie Archer (Sr., Kitts Hill, Ohio) pummeled Brad Sikma, 17-0. It was Archer’s second match termination of the year. Bucher won a close 3-2 match against Illinois’ Tony Seibert.
