Buckeye Sports Shorts – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | General
March 19, 2003
Athletes of the Week
Mitch Richeson (So., Indianapolis, Ind./Greenwood) qualifiedfor the 2003 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships with a strongperformance at NCAA Zone C Diving Qualifying over the weekend inOxford, Ohio. Richeson took first the 1-meter dive with a score of639.55 to qualify for the championships. He will compete in the 1-and 3-meter dive at his first NCAA meet, March 27-29, in Austin,Texas. Buckeye women’s lacrosse goalie Erin Forquer (So., ShakerHeights, Ohio) earned American Lacrosse Conference Player of theWeek honors after leading OSU to wins over Johns Hopkins andVirginia Tech last week. She had 12 saves against the Blue Jays andseven against the Hokies to run her record this season to 4-0 infour starts. Junior men’s hockey goalie Mike Betz posted both winsin net against Nebraska-Omaha to become Ohio State’s all-timeleader in career wins with 55. He passed Bill McKenzie, whoserecord had stood since 1972.
Sports Shorts
The No. 20/23 women’s basketball team (21-9; 10-6 Big Ten)earned a No. 4 seed in the west regional of the NCAA Tournament andwill face No. 13-seed Weber State (21-8; 11-3) at 6:10 p.m. Sunday,March 23, at the Thomas Assembly Center on the campus of LouisianaTech in Ruston, La. The Buckeyes are making their 12th appearancein the NCAA Tournament and own a 13-11 overall record in the event.Ohio State made its first trip in 1982 and its most recentappearance was in 1999, when the team fell to Boston College,72-59, in the first round of the east regional. The furthest aBuckeye squad has gone in the tournament was to the nationalchampionship game in 1992-93; Ohio State fell 84-82 to Texas Techthat season. Only 18 other schools in the 2003 NCAA Tournament havemade 12 or more appearances in the event. Senior Courtney Colemanwas named a regional NCAA Division I Kodak/WBCA Honorable Mentionpick and a finalist for the Kodak/WBCA All-America team. TheAll-America team will be announced April 4 in Atlanta, site of the2003 NCAA Women’s Final Four. Coleman, a senior forward fromCincinnati, Ohio, averages 14.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per outingand was named to both the coaches and media 2003 Second TeamAll-Big Ten squads. A three-time second-team all-conferenceselection, Coleman has been ranked either first or secondnationally all year in the category of field-goal percentage;currently, she owns a second-place .676 (175-259) shooting average.The No. 13 men’s hockey team swept Nebraska-Omaha in the openinground of the CCHA tournament last weekend at Nationwide Arena byscores of 4-1 and 3-1 to advance to the CCHA Super Six Championshipin Detroit this weekend. The No. 3- seed Buckeyes will face No. 6Notre Dame in the quarterfinal round at 4:05 p.m. Thursday. Thesemifinal games will be held at 4:05 p.m. and 7:35 p.m. Friday,with the championship game at 7:35 p.m. Saturday and thethird-place game at 4:05 p.m. Saturday. The CCHA announced a numberof league awards last week. OSU junior center R.J. Umberger was aunanimous selection to the All-CCHA First Team, while goalie MikeBetz was a second-team honoree. They are the first Buckeyes to earnall-league honors since 1999. Senior captain Scott Titus was one ofseven CCHA student-athletes selected to the CCHA All-Academic Team,while freshmen Ryan Kesler and Nate Guenin were honorable mentionall-rookie team selections. The No. 20 men’s lacrosse team went 1-1last week, falling in a close game to No.13-ranked North Carolina,9-8, at home Wednesday before beating Drexel, 12-5, Sunday inPhiladelphia. Curtis Smith earned GWLL Co-Player of the Week honorsafter leading the Buckeyes with four goals and five points in theirwin over the Dragons. The team returns to action at noon Saturdaywhen it plays host to Army. The men’s basketball team advanced tothe finals of the 2003 Big Ten Tournament in Chicago last weekend.It was the second-consecutive season in which the Buckeyes playedfor the conference tournament title. Seniors Brent Darby and SeanConnolly were named to the all-tournament team. It was Darby’ssecond-consecutive year making that team. The Buckeyes learned lateSunday an invitation had been extended to play in the 2003 NationalInvitation Tournament. Head coach Jim O’Brien accepted the inviteon behalf of the university, extending Ohio State’s season. TheBuckeyes will open at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Georgia Tech on theroad. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2. The No. 18softball team (14-6) went 4-0 over the weekend to capture theBuckeye Invitational championship. The Buckeyes defeated MoreheadState, 6-1 and 14-0, and Oakland, 7-1 and 4-2. The Buckeyesoutscored the opposition 31-4 in the four games. Kristine Himes,Ashley Cutcliff, Annie Dedic, Chelsea Baker, Karisa Evans and KatieChain all were named to the all-tournament team. Himes was namedthe tournament MVP. Chain reached another pitching milestone Sundayas she recorded her 600th career strikeout in the 4-2 win overOakland. Chain, already OSU’s career strikeout leader with 601,recorded nine strikeouts in the complete game and gave up onlythree hits over the seven innings. Ohio State hit four home runs inthe final two games. Cutcliff blasted two and Himes one againstMorehead State. Evans hit her first career home run, thegame-winner off the scoreboard, against Oakland to help OSU downthe Grizzlies, 4-2. Freshman pitchers Baker and Andrea Tribuzi bothrecorded their first career starts and wins during the BuckeyeInvitational last weekend. Baker pitched a complete game againstMorehead State Saturday, striking out 14 batters and allowing justone earned run on two hits. Tribuzi went all five innings in themercy-rule shortened game Sunday against Morehead State. She struckout six and allowed zero runs on four hits. The Buckeyes are inaction this week in the Hawaiian islands as they take part in theHawaii/Chevron Invitational March 20-23. The No. 14 women’sgymnastics team (9-4, 2-2 Big Ten) set a season high team score asthey defeated Kent State (9-9), 196.825-196.450, Friday in Kent,Ohio at the M.A.C Center. Freshmen Jill Weber and Kaylin Schlechteach set a personal-best in the all-around posting scores of 39.575and 39.250, respectively. Sophomore Elizabeth Meaney led Ohio Stateon vault with a 9.925. Meaney posted a 9.925 on beam while Schlechttied her career-best with her 9.875 as the Buckeyes defeated KentState 49.350-48.875. Both Meaney and Weber each tied theircareer-highs on floor with a 9.925. Ohio State will be back inaction Saturday, March 22, at 7 p.m. ET when they host Utah Stateat St. John Arena. The No. 4 fencing team will compete this weekendat the NCAA championships in Colorado Springs, Colo. Advancing forthe men are Brian Gross and Spencer Jones in epee, Nathan Weir andMatt Carbone in foil and Adam Crompton and Jason Rogers, 2002bronze medallist, in sabre. Crompton and Rogers are ranked No. 1and 3, respectively, in the junior men’s sabre national rankings.For the women, Alexandra Shklar and Sherice Gearhart advanced inepee, Hannah Thompson and Metta Thompson in foil and LouiseBond-Williams, 2002 silver medallist, and Marguerite Plekhanov insabre. Hannah and Metta Thompson are No. 3 and 4 in the latestjunior women’s foil national rankings. Abhijeet Konduskar (Sr.,Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India) finished seventh in air rifle and10th in smallbore rifle as the individual championships weredecided at the NCAA Rifle Championship hosted by the U.S. MilitaryAcademy. Konduskar shot a 388 in air rifle that tied him with JamesKauber of Navy and Hannah Kerr of Xavier. Kauber finished sixthwith 26 center shots with Konduskar having 25. The smallborechampion was Jamie Beyerle of Alaska-Fairbanks with a 395. Insmallbore rifle, Konduskar shot a 1,167 with 65 centers for tenth.The event was won by Matt Emmons of Alaska-Fairbanks with a 1,191and 89 centers. Men’s Volleyball (12-6 overall, 8-2 MIVA) defeatedFindlay 3-0 (32-30, 30-22, 30-22) and lost to 12th-ranked Loyola3-2 (23-30, 30-22, 23-30, 30-26, 15-13) last week. Against Findlay,Andy Cole had team-highs of 13 kills and six blocks while TomTrantow recorded 12 kills and 10 blocks in the victory. OSU held a2-1 lead against Loyola but came up short (15-13) in the fifthgame. Trantow had team-highs of 20 kills and 14 digs in the contestwhile Adam Pedersen had 16 kills while hitting .762. OSU travelsthis week to face fifth-ranked Lewis on Friday and Quincy Saturday.Women’s Lacrosse (4-1 overall, 1-0 American Lacrosse Conference)won two home contests last week. OSU, ranked 18th, defeated15th-ranked Johns Hopkins, 9-6. Regina Oliver and Alexia Voglerscored two goals each for OSU with a goal by Caroline Weatherill at47:50, the winner for OSU. Buckeye goalie Erin Forquer had 15 savesin the game. OSU defeated Virginia Tech 14-5 on Sunday behind afour-goal performance by Noemi Hites. Vogler, Weatherill and TraceyBounds added two goals each in OSU’s fourth consecutive victory.Forquer picked up her fourth consecutive win in goal and recordedseven saves. The Buckeyes will travel to 19th-ranked Northwesternfor a Sunday afternoon match. OSU then plays at 11th-ranked NotreDame on Tuesday. Pistol has qualified to compete in the 2003 NRAIntercollegiate Pistol Championships, March 18-22, at Fort Benning,Georgia. Ohio State will compete in the open free, air and standardpistol events and in the women’s air and sport pistol events. TheBuckeyes qualified for the championships at a Collegiate SectionalMeet hosted by Ohio State, Feb. 15. This was one of ten sectionalsheld across the country. OSU’s free pistol team qualified with thesixth best mark, a 1,952 score. Navy was first at 2,051. In airpistol (2,192) and standard pistol (2,087) the Buckeyes qualifiedwith the fifth best score. Navy qualified first in air pistol(2,233) and The Citadel, was first in standard pistol (2,140). OhioState’s women’s air pistol team ranked second with a 1,082qualifying score. Navy qualified first at 1,088. OSU ranked fifthin women’s sport pistol with a 1,576 score with M.I.T. rankingfirst at 1,635. The Buckeyes finished seventh last year in the openevents with a three-event aggregate (free, standard, air) score of5,988. Navy was the open champion with a 6,321 mark. OSU is thedefending champion in women’s sport pistol. Junior All-Americanthrower Dan Taylor (Jr., Middlefield, Ohio/ Berkshire) captured asecond place finish in the men’s shot put with a 21.33-meter effortat the 2003 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Taylorcoupled his runner-up standing in the shot put with a third place21.00m effort in the weight throw Friday. Taylor, who was namedUnited States Track and Field Athlete of the Week after winningboth the weight throw and shot put at the Big Ten Championshipslast week, posted his 21.33m effort on his second throw. Other OhioState competitors at the national championships were Keturah Lofton(Zanesville, Ohio/ Zanesville), who recorded a 19.01m mark to earnan 11th place finish. Lofton joined fellow female thrower KristaKeir (Sr., Westerville, Ohio/ Westerville North) as an NCAAqualifier. Keir placed 17th in Friday’s shot put event, whiledistance runner Rob Myers scored a Top 10 finish as he posted a4:07.36 to earn eighth in the one-mile run championship. HurdlerMolly Logan (Darby, Pa.) competed Friday in the 60-meter hurdlesbut failed to earn a berth in the finals, as did senior hurdlerJoel Brown (Baltimore, Md./ Woodlawn), who missed earning a berthin Saturday’s final by .01 with a mark of 7.78 in the men’s60-meter hurdles. Natalia Diea (Sr., Austin, Texas/University ofTexas) qualified for the 2003 NCAA Swimming & DivingChampionships with strong a performance at NCAA Zone C DivingQualifying over the weekend in Oxford, Ohio. Diea took third in the3-meter dive (469.40) and will compete in the 1-, 3-meter andplatform dive at the 2003 NCAA Women’s Swimming and DivingChampionships, this weekend, in Auburn, Ala. The No. 22 men’stennis team picked up two conference wins over Michigan State andMichigan this weekend. The Buckeyes handed the Spartans a 4-3decision and shut out the Wolverines, 7-0. Ohio State advanced to12-4 on the season and is 3-0 in Big Ten play. Vince Ng (Sr.,Broadview Heights, Ohio) owns a 122-44 career singles record. Heneeds five singles wins to break the record at Ohio State currentlyheld by Roger Smith (’86) with 126 wins. Next up, the squad travelsMarch 25 to Coastal Carolina in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Baseball sweptall four games this past weekend taking 4-2 and 15-7 wins inSaturday’s doubleheader with Eastern Michigan and 5-3 and 7-0victories in a Sunday doubleheader with Detroit. Catcher DerekKinnear batted .667 over the weekend and was 8-for-12 at the plate,knocked in eight RBI and scored four times to earn Big Ten Playerof the Week honors. He doubled in the winning run in a 4-2 game inthe first game of a doubleheader against Eastern Michigan onSaturday in a 2-for-3 performance. He went 2-for-3 in all fourgames in improving the Buckeyes to 7-3 on the year. A three-runhome run in the bottom of the eighth inning in the first game ofSunday’s doubleheader with Detroit gave the Buckeyes acome-from-behind 5-3 victory. He also had a solo home run theinning before. Kinnear now owns a .438 batting average this seasonand is riding a seven-game hit streak, which includes five gameswith multiple hits. Ohio State will meet Vermont, Eastern Kentuckyand Illinois in non-conference action on the annual spring breaktrip which begins Friday in Bradenton, Fla. After a week off, thewomen’s tennis team will return to the road to face Louisiana StateMarch 23 in Baton Rouge, La., and Central Florida March 26 inOrlando, Fla., before returning home March 29 to battle Notre Dame.The No. 3 men’s gymnastics team topped No. 7 Michigan Saturday atSt. John Arena. The Buckeyes outscored the Wolverines with aseason-high 221.2 to Michigan’s 214.35. Raj Bhavsar (Sr., Houston,Texas) completed his first all-around of the season and posted ateam season-high 55.05. Ohio State advances to 10-3 (5-2 Big Ten).On floor, Kerry Adderly (So., Orlando, Fla.) placed first byscoring 9.4 points. Senior Matthew Smith (Salt Lake City, Utah), arings specialist, scored a career-high 9.65 and placed second inhis event. Randy Monahan (So., Elizabethtown, Pa) took first placewith career-highs on vault (9.55) and high bar (9.45). Bhavsarplaced first on parallel bars with a team season-high 9.50. OhioState will play host to the Big Ten championships at 7 p.m. FridayMarch 28 and Saturday March 29 in St. John Arena. This will markthe last competition before the NCAA championships April 11-13 inPhiladelphia, Pa. Bhavsar was named one of eight finalists for the2003 Nissen-Emery Award last week. The award is given annually tothe top senior collegiate male gymnast in the country. OSU has hadfour previous winners – Jamie Natalie, Mike Racanelli, Kip Simonsand Blaine Wilson. Ohio State will send seven members of it’swrestling team to the 2003 NCAA Championships in Kansas City, Mo.March 20-22. Included in the group is reigning national championTommy Rowlands at HWT, while seniors Keaton Anderson (157), CaseyKapustka (184) and Anton Talamantes (197) will vie for nationaltitles. Juniors John Clark (165) and Blake Kaplan (174) make theirsecond trip to the event in the last two seasons. Anderson entersthe championship with a 21-match win streak as he has scored 33wins in 34 total bouts.
The following is a list of Ohio State athletics events, both home and away, for the upcoming week.
GO BUCKS!
Ohio State Athletics Schedule
Wednesday-Sunday, March 19- 23
All Times Eastern
Wednesday, March 19
Men’s Basketball at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m.
NIT First Round
Atlanta, Ga.
Thursday, March 20
Wrestling at NCAA Championships, All Day
Kansas City, Mo.
Synchronized Swimming at Collegiate National Championships, All Day
Tucson, Ariz.
Fencing at NCAA Championships, All Day
Colorado Springs, CO
Softball vs. Tokyo, 2 p.m.
Honolulu, Hawaii
CCHA Super Six Championship
Quarterfinal Round
No. 3 Ohio State vs. No. 6 Notre Dame, 4:05 p.m.
No. 4 Michigan State vs. No. 5 Northern Michigan
Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Mich.
Friday, March 21
Wrestling at NCAA Championships, All Day
Kansas City, Mo.
Synchronized Swimming at Collegiate National Championships, All Day
Tuscon, Ariz.
Fencing at NCAA Championships, All Day
Colorado Springs, CO
Track & Field at Baldy Castillo Invitational, All Day
Tempe, Ariz.
Softball vs. Nittaidai, 9 a.m.
Honolulu, Hawaii
Softball vs. Pacific, 11 a.m.
Honolulu, Hawaii
Baseball vs. Vermont, 2:30 p.m.
Bradenton, Fla.
Men’s Volleyball at Lewis, 7 p.m.
Chicago, Ill.
CCHA Super Six Semifinals
Ferris State vs. Lowest Remaining Seed, 4:05 p.m.
Michigan vs. Highest Remaining Seed, 7:35 p.m.
Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Mich.
Saturday, March 22
Wrestling at NCAA Championships, All Day
Kansas City, Mo.
Men’s Golf at Chris Schenkel Invitational, All Day
Statesboro, Ga.
Synchronized Swimming at Collegiate National Championships, All Day
Tuscon, Ariz.
Fencing at NCAA Championships, All Day
Colorado Springs, CO
Track & Field at Baldy Castillo Invitational, All Day
Tempe, Ariz.
Men’s Lacrosse vs. Army, noon
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium
Baseball vs. Eastern Michigan, 2 p.m.
Sarasota, Fla.
CCHA Super Six Championship
Championship Game, 7:35 p.m.
Third Place Game, 4:05 p.m.
Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Mich.
Softball vs. Hawaii, 5 p.m.
Honolulu, Hawaii
Softball vs. Wisconsin, 7 p.m.
Honolulu, Hawaii
Women’s Gymnastics vs. Utah State, 7 p.m.
St. John Arena
Men’s Volleyball at Quincy, 7 p.m.
Quincy, Ill.
Sunday, March 23
Women’s Basketball vs. Weber State, 7:10 p.m.
NCAA First Round
Ruston, La.
Softball vs. TBA, TBA
Honolulu, Hawaii
Fencing at NCAA Championships, All Day
Colorado Springs, CO
Men’s Golf at Chris Schenkel Invitational, All Day
Statesboro, Ga.
Women’s Golf at Betsy Rawls Longhorn Classic, All Day
Austin, Texas
Baseball vs. Illinois, noon
Bradenton, Fla.
Women’s Lacrosse at Northwestern, 1p.m.
Evanston, Ill.
Women’s Tennis at LSU, 1 p.m.
Baton Rouge, La.
