This Week in Ohio State Athletics – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/4/1998 12:00:00 AM | General
March 4, 1998
Thursday, Mar. 5 Baseball vs. Oral Roberts, 10 a.m. at UNLV/Coors Desert Classic at Las Vegas, Nev. Men’s Basketball at Big Ten Tournament at Chicago, Ill. Friday, Mar. 6 Baseball vs. Washington St., 10 a.m.; vs. Lewis-Clark St., 5 p.m. at UNLV/Coors Desert Classic at Las Vegas, Nev. Men’s Basketball at Big Ten Tournament at Chicago, Ill. Men’s Golf at Matlock Collegiate Classic at Lakeland, Fla. Hockey at Ferris State, 7 p.m. Men’s Swimming at Cleveland State Invitational, 1 p.m. Volleyball at Indiana-Purdue, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Mar. 7 Baseball at UNLV, 1 p.m. at UNLV/Coors Desert Classic at Las Vegas, Nev. Men’s Basketball at Big Ten Tournament at Chicago, Ill. Fencing at NCAA Regionals at Evanston, Ill. Men’s Golf at Matlock Collegiate Classic at Lakeland, Fla. Hockey at Ferris State, 7 p.m. Men Lacrosse at VMI, 1 p.m. Softball vs. Troy State, 8:30 a.m.; vs. Evansville, 12:30 p.m., vs. Loyola, 4:30 p.m. at Lady Panther at Atlanta, Ga. Synchronized Swimming hosts the North Regional Championship, 7 a.m. Men’s Tennis at Virginia Commonwealth, 6 p.m. Women’s Tennis vs. Iowa, 10 a.m. Wrestling at Big Ten Championship at State College, Pa. Sunday, Mar. 8 Baseball vs. TBA on championship day at UNLV/Coors Desert Classic at Las Vegas, Nev. Men’s Basketball at Big Ten Tournament at Chicago, Ill. Men’s Golf at Matlock Collegiate Classic at Lakeland, Fla. Men’s Gymnastics at Nebraska, 1 p.m. Women’s Gymnastics vs. Northern Illinois, 2 p.m. Women’s Lacrosse vs. Gannon, 1 p.m. Softball vs. Norfolk State, 9 a.m.; vs. Mercer, 3:30 p.m. at Lady Panther at Atlanta, Ga. Women’s Tennis vs. Minnesota, 10 a.m. Wrestling at Big Ten Championships at State College, Pa.
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 – The OSU fencers are equally as impressive academically as they are athletically. Last year the Buckeyes had five student-athletes named to the academic all-Big Ten team, while eight fencers earned OSU Scholar Athlete laurels. This Week – Ohio State will travel to Evanston, Ill. to compete in the NCAA Regionals on Saturday. This is solely an individual competition. Patricia Szelle (Sr., Budapest, Hungary) is returning to defend her title in the foil, while teammate Yelena Kalkina (So., Almaty, Kazakhstan) is looking to improve upon her third place finish in the foil. Also hoping to improve their finishes from last year are Spella Pirc (Jr., Ljubljana, Slovenija) and Greg Carlino (Fr., Cleveland Heights, Ohio) in the epee. Last Week – The Buckeyes traveled to Notre Dame, Ind. to compete in the Midwest Championships Saturday and Sunday. The women’s foil squad captured the team championship, while the men’s epee team took third. Overall, Ohio State’s men’s and women’s teams finished third. OSU fencers competed against Case Western, Cleveland State, Detroit-Mercy, Lawrence, Northwestern, Notre Dame and Wayne State. Notes – Fayne Groes (Fr., Denmark) aided the women’s foil squad to its victory after having her appendix removed earlier in the season. She was not expected to compete the rest of the season.
Men’s Golf
1997-98 Record – 19-23 overall
Head Coach – Jim Brown, 25th year (Ohio State ’66)
Good Stuff – In 25 years as OSU head coach, Jim Brown has never had a losing season or finished the year without at least two tournament wins. This Week – The Buckeyes travel to Lakeland, Fla., to compete in the Matlock Collegiate Classic hosted by Florida Southern at the Imperial Lakes Golf Club Friday through Sunday. Last year at the tournament Ohio State tied for fourth place, last year with a four under par 860. Last Week — The Buckeyes have been idle since Feb. 8. Notes – The Buckeyes got the Spring portion of their schedule underway on Feb. 6-8 at the Gator Invitational at the University of Florida Golf Club in Gainesville, Fla. OSU had its best finish of the season at the Gator, taking sixth place. Ryan Armour (Sr., Silver Lake, Ohio) was the Buckeyes top finisher at the latter, tying for third with an even par (210). On the year, Armour leads the team with the lowest average at 72.8 strokes per round. He shot a 68 at the Golf World/ Palmetto Dunes tournament for his lowest and teams lowest round of the season.
Women’s Golf
1997-98 Record – 52-37, 19-1 in Big Ten
Head Coach – Therese Hession, seventh year (Southern Methodist ’79)
Good Stuff – As of the beginning of the 1998 season, Overstake has knocked four strokes off her personal best to post a 72. This Week – The Buckeyes are idle for three weeks. Ohio State will compete at the Bryan National Collegiate tournament on March 27-29 in Browns Summit, N.C. Auburn, Duke, Furman, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New Mexico State, North Carolina, Penn State, South Carolina, Tennessee, UNC Greensboro, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest are the other teams in the field. Last Week – The Buckeyes placed eighth at the SunTrust Lady Gator Invitational. Notes -At the Bryan National Collegiate tournament, Ohio State will compete against Georgia, who captured both the team and individual titles at the Lady Gator Invitational. Florida and Auburn also participated and placed second and seventh, respectively. After 18 rounds, Natalie Mosher (Jr., New Philadelphia, Ohio) leads the team with an average of 75.0. In their past tournament, the Buckeyes posted a 302 in the third round, two strokes lower than their tournament average. Bethany Overstake (Sr., Urbana, Ohio) has been Ohio State’s top finisher in the past two tournaments.
Men’s Gymnastics
1997-98 Record -9-3 overall, 3-1 in Big Ten, 3-1 in Dual Meets
Head Coach – Miles Avery 1st year (Temple, ’81)
Good Stuff – The Buckeyes pulled away from the Spartans in a close meet last Friday by dominating the high bar. They scored a season high 39.30 on that event. “The routines on the high bar were perfect, every single one,” coach Miles Avery said. This Week – The Buckeyes (9-3) travel to Lincoln, Neb., on Sunday for the second meeting of the season with the Cornhuskers. Ohio State beat Nebraska and Oklahoma in a tri-meet in Norman, Okla. on Feb. 6, by a final score of 227.9-226.6-226.3. The Cornhuskers finished second in the meet. Nebraska recently scored 230.15 which is one of the best scores in the nation this season. The all-time series between these two teams is even at 8-8. Last Week – Ohio State beat Michigan State 229.875-228.7 on Friday night to improve its record to 9-3 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten. Ohio State’s score of 229.875 is the Buckeyes season best score and the second best road score of any team in the nation. The Buckeye’s took the top four spots in the all-around competition. Ohio State’s Doug Stibel (Jr., Canton, Mich.) won the all-around with a score of 58.0 and Jamie Natalie (Fr., Hockessin, Del.) took second place with a score of 57.8, both scores are career best marks.
Women’s Gymnastics
1997-98 Record- 7-3 overall, 2-2 in Big Ten
Head Coach – Larry Cox, 19th year (Arizona State, ’77)
Good Stuff- After Friday’s victory over Pittsburgh, head coach Larry Cox is closing in on his 200th win at Ohio State. Cox, who came to OSU in 1980, has now recorded 198 wins in his 19 years. This Week – Ohio State (7-3, 2-2) hosts Northern Illinois, Sunday at 2 p.m. in Larkins Hall. Last Week – The Buckeyes defeated the Pittsburgh Panthers 188.525-187.825 in a dual meet Friday evening. OSU captured the top three places in the vault competition. Susan Eckman (Jr., Boardman, Ohio) placed first with a score of 9.80. Lindsey Vagedes (Fr., Warrenville, Ill.) and Jill McMillon (So., Tipp City, Ohio) took second (9.75) and third (9.675) place, respectively.
Eckman tied for first place along with Pittsburgh’s Samantha Salyers in the uneven bars competiton (9.80). The Buckeyes also swept the balance beam competition. Elizabeth Jensen (So., Naperville, Ill.) grasped first place (9.825), while Eckman and Vagedes took second and third.
Men’s Lacrosse
1998 Record – 0-1
Head Coach – Joe Breschi (North Carolina ’90), 1st year
Good Stuff – Like to surf the web? Here are a few websites that are devoted to College Lacrosse: www.lacrosse .org
Notes – Johnson, the Buckeye’s leading returning scorer from last year, was held scoreless against Rutgers.
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 400 medley relay team consisting of Malich, Kling, Fox and Strahija shattered the five year old Big Ten record with a time of 3:11.74 during the three day competition. This Week – Ohio State will travel to Cleveland, Ohio to compete in the Cleveland State Invitational, Friday at 1 p.m. Last Week – The Buckeyes took fourth place in the Big Ten Championships at the University Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The fourth place finish is up one notch from a fifth place showing in 1997. Minnesota, won the team titile, followed by Michigan and Penn State. Ohio State won four individual Big Ten titles. Kevin Kling (Sr., Louisville, Ky.) regained his title in the 100 breaststroke with a time of :54.50. Kling won the event in 1996 and finished fourth in 1997. Mike McIntyre (So., Orlando, Fla.) had a strong performance in the three diving competitions. He claimed the three-meter diving title and placed third in both the one-meter springboard and the platform dives. Freshman standout Brian Malich (Mason, Ohio) won the 100 freestyle with his time of :43.89. Malich and Kling also teamed up with Jason Fox (So., Goshen, Ind.) and Marko Strahija (Sr., Zagreb, Croatia) on the winning 400 medley relay team.
Synchronized Swimming
1998 Record – 26-1
Head Coach – Linda Lichter-Witter 3rd year (S. Connecticut St., ’72)
Good Stuff – Musical selections for the synchronized swimming routines vary greatly in the musical spectrum. Ohio State has used classical music, oldies, R&B, and music from motion pictures. So far this year, the crowd has responded most to the team routine to Michael Jackson’s Thriller. This Week – Ohio State will host the North Regional Championship this Saturday at 8 a.m. at the Peppe Aquatic Center. This will be the final home meet for All-American Ana Cukic (Sr., Markham, Ontario) and Lisa Nielsen (Sr., Sacramento, Calif.) as well as the final tune-up before the National Championship meet. Last Week – Ohio State travelled to Minneapolis, Minn. this past Sunday to compete against four Big Ten teams at the University of Minnesota Invitational. Ohio State outdistanced Minnesota, Iowa, Penn State, and Illinois by a score of 110 – 60.5 – 55 – 47 – 18, respectively. Cukic, Nielsen and Heather Moore (Soph., Amherst, N.Y.) won the Trio and Cukic and Nielsen won the Duet. Ohio State took home the team competition with a season high score of 97.100
Notes – Ohio State will have two weeks to prepare for a rematch at the National Meet with Stanford on March 26-28. Ohio State rebounded well from its only loss of the season as the 110 overall points tied the most Ohio State had scored this season.
Men’s Tennis
1997-98 Record – 3-8-0, 0-3-0 in Big Ten
Head Coach – John Daly, 27th year (Northern Illinois)
Good Stuff – Ohio State will be back home on March 20-22 to compete against Texas El Paso, Michigan State and Michigan. This season, the Buckeyes are 3-1 at home. Freshman Chris Porter (Canton, Ohio) is having a great season with a team best record of 15-7. Porter is undefeated in the No.2 and No.4 singles position. This Week -Ohio State (3-8, 0-3) will travel to Richmond, Va., to compete against Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday at 6 p.m. Last year, the Buckeyes lost 6-1, to VCU and the Rams now lead the all-time series, 4-1. Virginia Commonwealth is undefeated and currently ranked No. 19 in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. The Rams have defeated Old Dominion, North Carolina, Virginia, Illinois and Wake Forest to give them a record of 5-0. Last Week – The Buckeyes dropped matches to Kansas and Iowa. Notes – The doubles tandem of Bob Wellstein (Fr., Perrysburg, Ohio) and Derek DeFalco (Fr., Maumee, Ohio) have now won their last four matches and have compiled an overall record of 6-3 at the No. 3 spot.
Women’s Tennis
1997-98 Record – 6-4, 0-0 in Big Ten
Head Coach – Chuck Merzbacher, second year (Minnesota ’87)
Good Stuff – Ten matches into the season, Ohio State’s 6-4 record is one win better than at this point last year (5-5). This improvement has come, despite the fact that the Buckeyes are playing the toughest schedule in the history of OSU Women’s Tennis. In fact, three of Ohio State’s four losses have come at the hands of teams ranked in the ITA’s top 50. No. 12 Tennessee, No. 15 Notre Dame and No. 37 Maryland. This Week – Ohio State (6-4, 0-0) will complete a four-match homestand this weekend when it opens the Big Ten campaign against Iowa and Minnesota. The Buckeyes will face the Hawkeyes on Saturday and the Golden Gophers on Sunday. Both matches will begin at 10 a.m. in the Jesse Owens West Tennis Center. Iowa enters this weekend’s match with a record of 4-1. Last weekend, the Hawkeyes swept in-state rival Iowa State 9-0. Iowa is led by junior, Erin Wolverton at third singles, and freshman Megan Kearny at fifth singles. Both are undefeated in five regular season matches. Minnesota enters weekend play with a 5-4 mark. The Gophers dropped an 8-1 decision to No. 15 Notre Dame last weekend. Earlier this season, Ohio State suffered a 7-2 loss to the Fighting Irish. The Buckeyes are 7-14 all-time against Iowa, with the Hawkeyes taking last year’s meeting 6-1 in Iowa City. Ohio State is 5-20 in its series with Minnesota. Last season in Minneapolis, the Gophers scored a 6-1 victory over the Buckeyes. Last Week – The Buckeyes got back on the winning track, taking a pair of home matches against Indiana State (7-2) and Cincinnati (6-3) on Saturday. Notes – Kristy Dascoli (Fr., Bradenton, Fla.) resumed her winning ways last week, one week after her seven match winning streak was snapped with a 6-2, 6-2 loss to Maryland’s Meg Griffin. With a pair of wins against Indiana State and Cincinnati, Dascoli’s regular season mark now stands at 9-1.
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 – In her first pentathlon competition of her inaugural Buckeye season, Jones shattered the school record with 3,807 points at the Big Ten Championships. The previous record of 3,721 points was slated by Michelle Frazier (1991-94) in 1994. This Week – Ohio State is idle.
Last Week – OSU competed in the Big Ten Championships. The women’s team finished in fourth place, while the men’s team was 10th. Donica Merriman (Fr., Trotwood, Ohio) captured the sole Big Ten Championship for OSU in the 55 hurdles (7.74). David Gonzalez (So., Bolingbrook, Ill.) led the men’s team with a third place finish in the 3,000. Notes – In hopes of an NCAA berth, Merriman surpassed the provisional qualifying standard for the NCAAs in the 55 hurdles (7.74) and is just shy of meeting the automatic qualifying standard (7.70). Shanda McJunkins (Sr., Cleveland Heights, Ohio) recorded season’s best times in the 200 (24.35) and 400 (55.19), while Abieda Benjamin (Jr., Brooklyn, N.Y.) recorded a personal best in the 600 (1:34.13). Ohio State currently has eight student-athletes who have surpassed the provisional qualifying standards for the NCAAs: All-American Erika Goines (Sr., Zanesville, Ohio), Tamieka Porter (Sr., Escondido, Calif.), Gonzalez, Andrew Pierce (Fr., Yellow Springs, Ohio), Merriman and the men’s 4 x 400 relay team which consists of Sekou Smith (Sr., Chicago, Ill.), Marlon DeLeon (Jr., West Indies, Trinidad), Reggie Germany (Fr., Hazelwood, Mo.) and Pierce.
Men’s Volleyball
1998 Record – 13-1, 5-0 in Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association
Head Coach – Pete Hanson, 14th year (Ball State ’79)
Good Stuff – Ohio State was ranked first nationally in hitting percentage this week at .370. Setter Angel Aja (So., Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) is second nationally this week in assists per game at 17.91. Holding the fifth spot in both national team rankings is the highest the Ohio State program has even been ranked. This Week – Fifth-ranked Ohio State (13-1 overall, 5-0 Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) travels to eighth-ranked Indiana-Purdue (8-1, 4-1) Friday night in Ft. Wayne, Indiana Last Week – Ohio State extended its winning streak to 10 matches with a 3-1 (15-7, 15-4, 9-15, 15-6) win over 15th-ranked Penn State. The win was the fifth in six matches against ranked teams this season. Rene’ Esteves (So., San Juan, Puerto Rico) recorded a team-high 25 kills in the match with Jeff Koterba (Sr., Martinsville, N.J.) adding 22 and Phil Kerewich (Jr., Wilmette, Illinois) 20. Kerewich added a match-high 11 digs while Esteves recorded a match-high seven blocks including six assists. The Buckeyes hit .458 as a team, including a .724 (23 kills, two errors, 29 attempts) hitting percentage in game two. The .458 percentage is the sixth match this season OSU has hit .402 or better. Notes – Ohio State defeated Indiana-Purdue 3-1 (15-9, 15-9, 11-15, 16-14) on Jan. 24. The OSU win made the series record 40-26 in favor of the Buckeyes.
Wrestling
1997-98 Record -10-13 -1 overall, 1-9 Big Ten
Head Coach – Russ Hellickson, 12th year (Wisconsin ’70)
Good Stuff – Even after a loss to Jevon Herman of Illinois, last week, Clark still remains the ranked No.1 at 177 pounds. This Week – The Big Ten tournament gets under way this week at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa. Mitch Clark (Sr., Canton, Ohio) and Jeff Bucher (Jr., Toledo, Ohio) are the Buckeyes top grapplers this season. Clark has a 31-1 record and is ranked No.1 at 177 and Bucher is ranked 15th at 134, with a 26-9 overall record. Peter Rogers (Jr.,Sheboygan, Wis.) at 150 and Sean Salmon (Fr., Worthington, Ohio) at 167, have both wrestled well of late and hope to be in the championship picture. “The Big Ten Championships are going to be a battle for us,” Head Coach Russ Hellickson said. “We are going to have to wrestle more consistent and beat people we haven’t this year.” Last Week – The Buckeyes did not compete last week.
