This Week in Ohio State Athletics – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/17/1998 12:00:00 AM | General
March 17, 1998
Wednesday, March 18
Fencing at NCAA Championships at Notre Dame, Ind.
Thursday, March 19
Fencing at NCAA Championships at Notre Dame, Ind.
Softball at Capital Classic at Sacramento, Calif.
Women’s Swimming at NCAA Championships at Minneapolis, Minn.
Wrestling at NCAA Championships at Cleveland, Ohio
Friday, March 20
Baseball at Gene Cusic Tournament at Ft. Myers, Fla.
Fencing at NCAA Championships at Notre Dame, Ind.
Men’s Gymnastics at Big Ten Championships at Ann Arbor, Mich.
Women’s Lacrosse vs. North Carolina at John Hopkins, 6 p.m.
Softball at Capital Classic at Sacramento, Calif.
Women’s Swimming at NCAA Championships at Minneapolis, Minn.
Men’s Tennis vs. Texas El Paso, 7 p.m.
Wrestling at NCAA Championships at Cleveland, Ohio
Saturday, March 21
Baseball at Gene Cusic Tournament at Ft. Myers, Fla.
Fencing at NCAA Championships at Notre Dame, Ind.
Men’s Gymnastics at Big Ten Championships at Ann Arbor, Mich.
Women’s Gymnastics at Big Ten Championships, 7 p.m. Iowa City, Iowa
Men’s Lacrosse vs. Colgate, 1 p.m.
Softball at Capital Classic at Sacramento, Calif.
Women’s Swimming at NCAA Championships at Minneapolis, Minn.
Men’s Tennis vs. Michigan State, 7 p.m.
Track and Field at Spring Trip
Men’s Volleyball at San Diego State, 7:00 p.m.
Wrestling at NCAA Championships at Cleveland, Ohio
Sunday, March 22
Baseball at Gene Cusic Tournament at Ft. Myers, Fla.
Fencing at NCAA Championships at Notre Dame, Ind.
Softball at Capital Classic at Sacramento, Calif.
Men’s Tennis vs. Michigan, 1 p.m.
Track and Field at Spring Trip
Fencing
1997-98 Record -Men 12-7-0 Overall, Women 20-3-0 Overall
Head Coach – Charlotte Remenyik, 20th year (Northeastern Illinois, ’73)
Good Stuff – Starting in 1991, the championship was combined, totaling the men’s and women’s point totals to declare a national champion. In 1995, the team and squad competitions were dropped and women’s epee was added as a weapon. In 1996, the format remained the same, but the number of participants was reduced to 24 in each weapon and is the current standard used today. This Week – Ohio State will travel to Notre Dame to compete in the NCAA Championships beginning Thursday through Sunday. Yelena Kalkina (foil, So., Almaty, Kazakhstan), Patricia Szelle (foil, Sr., Budapest, Hungary) and Geoff Kane (epee, So., Vancouver, Wash.) will represent the Buckeyes. All-Americans Kalkina and Szelle are returning to dominate the foil competition. Kalkina is the defending national champion, while Szelle took third place last year. As OSU’s epee specialist, Kane is preparing for his NCAA berth. In 1997, the Buckeyes finished seventh overall. Kalkina was Ohio State’s first-ever women’s fencing national champion. The women’s squad is currently ranked third in the country and the men’s team is 13th according to the Fencing Coaches Association Poll.
Last Week – The Buckeyes were idle.
Notes – Fencers will be formed into groups, with teammates together whenever possible. Each group will be fencing one another, beginning with their own group, until the round-robin of 24 has been completed. At the completion of the round-robin, the top four fencers will fence a direct elimination for places 1 through 4. Absolute ties will be broken as follows: for position Nos. 1 through 3, by a coin toss; for position No. 4 and down, by a fence-off according to U.S. Fencing Association rules.
Men’s Gymnastics
1997-98 Record -9-4 overall, 3-1 in Big Ten, 3-2 in Dual Meets
Head Coach – Miles Avery 1st year (Temple, ’81)
Good Stuff –The Big Ten has six teams ranked in the top ten in the nation. No. 3 Iowa, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 5 Penn State, No. 6 Michigan, No. 9 Michigan State, and No. 10 Illinois.
This Week – Ohio State will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., to compete in the Big Ten Championships on March 20-21. The team competition will start at 7 p.m. on Friday, while the individual championships will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The Buckeyes have won four Big Ten Championship in the 90’s including the last two in ’96 and ’97. A talented group of underclassman are leading the way for the Buckeyes. Michael Morgan (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio) is No. 1 in the nation on the floor exercise with an average score of 9.725. Doug Stibel (Jr., Canton, Mich.) is No. 2 in the nation on the high bar with a scoring average of 9.858 and Big Ten Freshman of the Year candidate Jamie Natalie (Fr., Hockessin, Del.) is No. 2 in the nation in the all-around with a average score of 57.567. Ohio State is ranked No. 1 in the Big Ten on vault, floor and high bar.
Last Week – The Buckeyes were idle last week.
Women’s Gymnastics
1997-98 Record- 9-4 overall, 2-3 in Big Ten
Head Coach – Larry Cox, 19th year (Arizona State, ’77)
Good Stuff- Coach Larry Cox celebrated his 200th career win in East Lansing, Mich. against Western Michigan University on Saturday.
This Week – Ohio State will travel to Iowa City, Iowa to compete at the Big Ten Championships on Saturday. The Buckeyes are ranked No. 21 in the country in the NCAA gymnastics poll.
Last Week – The Buckeyes fell to No. 16 Michigan State 196.375-192.075, but won over Western Michigan 192.075-190.30 in a tri-meet on Saturday at Michigan State. Susan Eckman (Jr., Boardman, Ohio) tied for first on the uneven bars with a score of 9.875 and third on the balance beam (9.80). Lindsey Vagedes (Fr., Warrenville, Ill.) tied for third on the vault with a score of 9.725. The Buckeyes managed three top ten finishes on the floor exercise and three top five finishes on the balance beam.
Men’s Lacrosse
1998 Record – 1-1
Head Coach – Joe Breschi (North Carolina ’90), 1st year
Good Stuff – Goalie John Kuss (Sr., Columbus, Ohio) has stepped his level of play up a notch this season. Kuss has a save percentage of 61.5 so far this year compared to 54.5 a year ago.
This Week – Ohio State will face Colgate this Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. The Red Raiders come into the game sporting a 1-1 record while Ohio State also boasts a 1-1 record. This will be the first meeting between the two squads
Last Week – The Buckeyes have been idle since a 9-5 win over Virginia Military Institute on March 7.
Notes – In the week following the Colgate game, Ohio State faces its toughest stretch on the schedule playing 11th ranked Loyola, 10th ranked Notre Dame and 9th ranked Butler in three out of their next four games.
Women’s Lacrosse
1997-98 Record -1-0
Head Coach – Sue Stimmel (Temple ’84, UMass ’87, 3rd year)
Notes- For Spring Break the Buckeyes will play three games in the Philadlephia, Pa and will return home April 1 to face Duquesne.
This Week – The Ohio State women’s Lacrosse team will travel to Johns Hopkins University to battle the North Carolina Tarhhels. The Tarheels are currently ranked No.1 in the country and are 4-0 this season. North Carolina is led by Erin McGinns who has 10 goals and 4 assist on the season. “We will have to play for the entire sixty minutes of the game and execute everything flawlessly to defeat the No.1- ranked team in the nation.” said Head Coach Sue Stimmel.
Last Week – The Buckeyes dropped it’s first game of the year 11-6 to the Colgate Red Raiders. The Buckeyes were led by Laurie Rybak (Jr., Worthington, Ohio) who scored three goals, two of which came in second half. Mara Simpson (Jr., Worhtington, Ohio) added two goals along with Miranda James (So., Bel Air, Md.) who scored one goal. Good Stuff- Laurie Rybak (Jr., Worthington, Ohio) OSU’s first hat trick of the season last weekend against Colgate.
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 Buckeyes have seven members of the team who qualified to compete in the NCAA Championships next weekend, the most since the 1990-91 season.
This Week – The Ohio State men’s swimming and diving team will be idle until March 26 when nine members of the team travel to Auburn, Ala. to compete in the NCAA Championships, hosted by Auburn – last year’s NCAA Champions. Last season the Buckeyes finished 25th with 35 team points at the NCAA Championships held in Minneapolis, Minn.
Last Week – Buckeye divers Mike McIntyre (So., Orlando, Fla.) and Ryan Fillmann (Fr., Muncie, Ind.) competed in the NCAA qualifying competition hosted by Miami (O.) University in Oxford, Ohio, on Friday and Saturday. McIntyre led the pack with a score of 500.00, winning the platform diving competition. He also placed second in the three-meter springboard diving competition (540.65) and fourth in the one-meter springboard (476.70). With his outstanding performances in Oxford, McIntrye automatically qualified to compete in the NCAA Championships in two weeks. Fillmann finished seven places behind McIntyre in both the one-meter and three-meter dives. Fillmann placed ninth in the three-meter springboard (429.60) and 11th in the one-meter springboard (416.80).
Notes – Representing the Buckeyes at the NCAA Championships on March 26-28, will be diver Mike McIntyre along with swimmers Kevin Kling (Sr., Louisville, Ky.), Marko Strahija (Sr., Zagreb, Croatia), Brian Malich (Fr., Mason, Ohio), Niclas Ohman (Sr., Fagersta, Sweden), Matt Braun (So., Berkley, Mich.) and Jason Fox (So., Goshen, Ind.).
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 – In his 25 years of coaching (20 with Ohio State) OSU diving coach Vince Panzano has mentored eight NCAA champions and 14 second place finishers.
This Week – Divers Carrie Ziebarth (So., Auburn, Wash.) and Sharon Wong (Sr., Worthington, Ohio) will go to Oxford, Ohio to participate in the NCAA diving qualifying competition on Friday and Saturday. Last season Wong placed 12th in platform diving and 29th in the three-meter diving competition at the NCAA Championships. As a freshman, Ziebarth took ninth place in both the one-meter and three-meter diving contests at the NCAA championship meet.
Last Week – The Buckeyes were idle.
Notes – In their final tune-up meet before the NCAA diving competition Ziebarth and Wong turned in excellent performances at the Big Ten Championships on Feb. 19-21. Ziebarth finished third in both the one-meter springboard and platform dives and placed fourth in the three-meter springboard competition. Wong claimed her second Big Ten platform title in three years. She also took third in the one-meter springboard and seventh in the three-meter springboard.
Men’s Tennis
1997-98 Record – 3-9-0, 0-3-0 in Big Ten
Head Coach – John Daly, 27th year (Northern Illinois)
Good Stuff -This season, the Buckeyes are 3-1 at home. Porter and teammate Pari Laxminarayan (Jr., Bangalore, India) defeated Werner/Sanchez of VCU (8-6).They now have a record of 9-3 at the No. 2 doubles position.
This Week – The Buckeyes (3-9, 0-3) will play against Texas-El Paso at the Racquet Club of Columbus on Friday at 7:00 p.m. UTEP is 2-5 this season and undefeated against Ohio State in all-time series play (4-0). Last year, the Buckeyes lost 4-3 to the Miners. On Saturday and Sunday, Ohio State will compete in two Big Ten conference matches at the Racquet Club of Columbus. Michigan State (8-2) will begin its Big Ten schedule against Ohio State on Satuday at 7:00 p.m. Last year, the Spartans defeated the Buckeyes 5-2 and leads the all-time series 32-27. The Buckeyes will wrap-up weekend play against Michigan (3-2, 0-0) on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Last season, Ohio State was shutout by Michigan, 7-0. OSU has an 11-69 all-time record against the Wolverines. Last Week – The Buckeyes were idle.
Notes – Even though Ohio State will be meeting the Spartans and the Wolverines for the first time this season in dual action, the Buckeyes have defeated several of their top players in this season’s tournament play. In January, Chris Porter (Fr., Canton, Ohio) defeated MSU’s Chris Struck (6-3, 6-3) at the Big Ten Indoors Singles Championship. Bob Wellstein (Fr., Perrysburg, Ohio) also had a great showing at the Big Ten Indoors after defeating Michigan State’s Mark Findling (7-6 (2), 6-2) and John Long of Michigan (6-3, 7-6 (5)).
Women’s Tennis
1997-98 Record – 6-6, 0-2 in Big Ten
Head Coach – Chuck Merzbacher, second year (Minnesota ’87)
Good Stuff – The Buckeyes will not play another match until Mar. 24, and they will use the long layoff to get healthy. The team has been plagued by the flu in the past few weeks, and injuries to Meredith Zimpfer (Jr., Centerville, Ohio) and Nicole Votolato (Fr., Dublin, Ohio) have hurt Ohio State’s depth. This Week – Ohio State (6-6, 0-2) will be idle until it travels to Las Vegas, Nev., Mar. 24-25 for non-conference matches against Kansas State and UNLV. The Buckeyes’ next Big Ten action will come on Mar. 28-29 when they head north for matches at Michigan State and Michigan. Last Week – The Buckeyes dropped their first two Big Ten matches of the season, losing a tough 4-3 decision to Iowa on Saturday, and falling to Minnesota by a 6-1 count on Sunday. Notes – Kristy Dascoli (Fr., Bradenton, Fla.) continues to be the heart of the Ohio State lineup. The No. 1 singles players’ two wins last weekend, which included a miraculous 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 come-from-behind victory over Minnesota’s Nora Sauska (17-5), upped her overall record to 15-7 and her regular season mark to 11-1. After dropping the first set, and going down 4-1 in the second, Dascoli won 12 of the match’s final 13 games to gain the victory.
Track and Field
1997-98 Record-M-0-1-0, 0-9-0 in Big Ten W-1-0-0, 6-3-0 in Big Ten Track & Field
Head Coach – Russ Rogers, 9th year (Maryland-Baltimore County ’65)
Good Stuff – Assistant coach Robert Gary is scheduled to depart Tuesday for Morrocco to represent the United States in the World Cross Country Championships. This Week – OSU is idle as they prepare to begin the outdoor season. Last Week – Buckeyes Tamieka Porter (Sr., Escondido, Calif.) and Erika Goines (Sr., Zanesville, Ohio) traveled to Indianapolis and competed in the NCAA Championships at the RCA Dome Saturday. Porter received All-America status with her 11th place finish in the triple jump (42’3-1/2?). Goines competed in the shot put and threw 50’2? but did not advance to the finals. Notes – The OSU track and field team will once again spend it’s spring break in warm weather and at a top-notch training site at Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz. (March 18-28). The hammer will debut as a scoring event for this year’s outdoor Big Ten Championships. OSU alumna Shandi Boyd-Pleasant (1994-97) placed fourth in the 60-meter hurdles at the USATF Indoor National Championships.
Men’s Volleyball
1998 Record – 17-1, 6-0 in Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association
Head Coach – Pete Hanson, 14th year (Ball State ’79)
Good Stuff – Ohio State has won 14 consecutive matches since a 3-1 loss to Stanford in January. The Buckeyes have defeated seven of eight nationally ranked opponents this season. For information on the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association check out: www.acs.ohio-state.edu/units/athletics/MIVA/miva.html. This Week – Fifth-ranked Ohio State (17-1 overall, 6-0 Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) travels to the West Coast this weekend to play three matches. The Buckeyes will face San Diego State (5-11), No. 10 Loyola Marymount (7-4) and No. 2 Pepperdine (13-1) in a period of four days. Last Week – Ohio State ran its unbeaten streak to 14 matches with 3-0 wins over Quincy (15-6, 15-2, 15-8), Juniata (15-8, 15-9, 15-13) and Clarke (15-9, 15-8, 15-7). Greg Lehman (So., Galena, Ohio) scored a match-high 13 kills for OSU against Quincy, while Jeff Koterba (Sr., Martinsville, N.J.) had 18 and Rene’ Esteves (So., San Juan, Puerto Rico), 17 against Juniata. Against Clarke, Colin McMillan (Jr., Burlington, Wisconsin) had 11 kills and Chris Fash (So., Lockport, Illinois), 10 in OSU’s third win of the week. McMillan tallied 26 blocks in the three matches on three solo and 23 assists. That included a OSU match record 13 assist blocks against Juniata tying him with Jon Yunker (UC Santa Cruz, ’93) and Tom Hoff (Indiana-Purdue, ’93). Notes – Ohio State trails in the series with San Diego State 2-1, while the Buckeyes are 5-0 against Loyola Marymount. Against Pepperdine, the Waves have a 12-2 lead in the series. This is OSU’s second trip to the West Coast this season. The Buckeyes defeated Pacific 3-0 (15-3, 15-10, 15-12) and lost to No. 6 Stanford 3-1 (15-9, 15-8, 12-15, 15-13) in mid-January.
Wrestling
1997-98 Record -10-13 -1 overall, 1-8 Big Ten
Head Coach – Russ Hellickson, 12th year (Wisconsin ’70)
This Week – Jeff Bucher (Jr., Toledo, Ohio), Mitch Clark (Sr. Canton, N.Y.) and Dan DiCesare (Sr., Dublin, Ohio) will be representing the Buckeyes at the National Championships in Cleveland, Ohio. Clark, ranked No. 1 the entire year, is one of the favorites to win the 177 pound weight class. He won at the Big Ten Championships and has compiled a 34-1 overall record this year. Bucher is currently ranked No. 8 in the country and has compiled a 28-11 overall record this season. He advanced to the semifinal round at the Big Ten Championships, but was defeated by Scott Schatzman, 7-6, in overtime. DiCesare, a surprise qualifier for the National Championships, finished seventh at the Big Ten Championships. Last Week – The Buckeyes were idle
Notes – Two time Big Ten Champion Mitch Clark will most likely be the No.1-ranked grappler at the National Championships.
