Buckeye Sports Shorts – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/20/2003 12:00:00 AM | General
May 20, 2003
Athletes of the Week
Tami Smith defended her 2002 Big Ten title in the women’s highjump with a first place 5-11.25 leap Sunday. Smith, a 2002All-American, has won a combined five-consecutive Big Ten high jumpconference championships spanning both indoor and outdoorcompetitions. Amarachi Ukabam claimed the 2003 Big Ten Championshipin the women’s discus with a 170-11 effort. Joel Brown won the BigTen championship in the 100-meter hurdles equaling his career-bestwith a 13.76. Brown also earned All-Big Ten honors as he anchoredthe men’s 4×100-meter relay squad to a second place performance ina NCAA regional qualifying time of 40.46. The first varsity 4 boatpaved the way for the Buckeyes’ first regional team championshiptitle in program history in the 2003 Central Regional Championshipin Oak Ridge, Tenn. The first varsity 4 edged Michigan by just .4seconds in the event’s Grand Finals to take home the regional boattitle and earn 12 points towards the team’s overall score. In theboat for the Buckeyes was Jess Dolle, Becca Brinker, Liz Tuppen,Mimi Webb and coxswain Jamie Berning.
Sports Shorts
The No. 22 men’s tennis team fell 4-0 to No. 4 CaliforniaSaturday, May 17 at Henry Field Stadium in Athens, Ga. After a latestart Saturday evening, California held the Buckeyes scoreless andconcluded their 2003 NCAA Championship ride. Ohio State (22-7)ended its season with an overall record of 4-4 in NCAA appearances.Next up, Buckeyes Vince Ng (Sr., Broadview Heights, Ohio) andJeremy Wurtzman (Jr., Rochester, N.Y.) will compete in the 2003NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Singles Championship Wednesday-Monday(May 26) at the University of Georgia in Athens. The baseball teamdrew the second seed in this week’s Big Ten Tournament, which willbe held at Minnesota’s Siebert Field beginning Wednesday. TheBuckeyes will open play Thursday at 4:35 p.m. against thehigher-seeded winner of game one (No. 4 Penn State vs. No. 5Northwestern) and game two (No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 6 Indiana).Minnesota, the No. 1 seed, will play the lower-seeded winner ofthose two games Thursday at 8:05 p.m. If Ohio State wins itsopening game, it will play at 8:05 p.m. Friday night. A loss andthe Buckeyes would play at 1:05 p.m. Friday. Christian Snavely(Jr., Defiance, Ohio/Defiance) is riding a career-long 15 game hitstreak and is batting .467 (21-for-45) during that streak with 10extra-base hits, including five doubles, a triple and four homeruns, including on in each of his last three games. During thestreak, he has batted in 13 runs, scored 13 times and has touched40 bases for a slugging percentage of .889 and an on-basepercentage of .583. Snavely now leads the team with a .335 battingaverage and also paces the team in runs (42), hits (55), doubles(10), home runs (12), RBI (40), total bases (107), sluggingpercentage (.652), walks (54) and on-base percentage (.498). ScottLewis (So., Washington Court House, Ohio/Washington) was named theBig Ten Pitcher of the Year, the league office announced Tuesday.The left-handed pitcher struck out 127 batters during the regularseason in going 9-1 with a 1.61 ERA in 83 2/3 innings. Joining himin earning First Team All-Big Ten honors were outfielder ChristianSnavely (Jr., Defiance, Ohio/Defiance) and relief pitcher MattDavis (So., Mason, Ohio/William Mason). Snavely led the Buckeyes inseveral offensive stat categories during the regular season,including doubles (10), home runs (12) and RBI (40). Davis had aBig Ten-best 10 saves. Second baseman Drew Anderson (So.,Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) and starting pitcher Josh Newman (Jr.,Wheelersburg, Ohio/Wheelersburg) were named Second Team All-BigTen, while designated hitter Steve Caravati (So., Dover,Ohio/Dover) and catcher Derek Kinnear (Jr., Kenton, Ohio/Kenton)were named Third Team All-Big Ten. The No. 10 rowing team took homethe 2003 Central Region Championship over the weekend at the 2003south/central regional regatta in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The team alsoallotted the most points of any team in either region to be awardedthe Lexus Cup. Both accolades were program firsts. The team was ledby the Buckeye first varsity 4, which edged the Michigan first 4 byjust .4 seconds in the event’s Grand Finals to take home theregional boat title and help guide the Buckeyes’ to the team crown.The regional crown helped pave the way for the squad’sfourth-consecutive selection to compete at the NCAA championshipsMay 30-June 1 at Eagle Creek Reservoir in Indianapolis, Ind. Thewomen’s golf team will compete in the 2003 NCAA Championships May20-23 on Purdue’s Kampen Course in West Lafayette, Ind. TheBuckeyes qualified for the event after tying for fifth place at theNCAA West Regional in Tempe, Ariz. Big Ten Coach of the YearTherese Hession and the squad are looking for their highest finishat the NCAA Championships after placing a school-best eighth lastyear. The men’s golf team concluded the 2002-03 season Saturday atthe par 72, 7,525-yard Colbert Hills Golf Club in Manhattan, Kan.,with a 14th-place finish. The Buckeyes needed to finish in the Top10 to advance to the NCAA championships in Stillwater, Okla.Leading the way for Ohio State was junior Zach Doran as he fired athree-round total of two-under-par, 215. Three members of the men’sgymnastics team qualified for the U.S. Gymnastics Championships atthe USA Gymnastics National Qualifier Saturday in Keen Arena on thecampus of Michigan. Buckeyes Ryan Schwartzkopf (Sr., Columbus,Ind.), Jamey Houle (Jr., Enfield, Conn.) and Randy Monahan (So.,Elizabethtown, Pa.) will join Raj Bhavsar (Sr., Houston, Texas) inthe national championships. Bhavsar qualified for the event Feb. 8at the Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas. The U.S. GymnasticsChampionships will be held June 19-21 in Milwaukee, Wis. Seniorwomen’s tennis player Sadhaf Pervez (Warren, N.J.) was named theMidwest Senior Player of the Year by the International TennisAssociation. Student-athletes from eight geographical regions weregiven the honor. Pervez, the lone senior in the Buckeye lineup,finished her Ohio State career ranked No. 3 in career wins with 99(No. 1 Kristy Dascoli 104, No. 2 Monica Rincon 101). Pervez rackedup 27 wins in the 2002-03 campaign, which tied her effort lastseason and ranks No. 6 in single season wins in OSU history.Playing from the No. 1 spot, Pervez had a 17-5 record and earnedAll Big-Ten honors. Softball player Karisa Evans (Franklin,Ohio/Franklin) was named to the 2003 Great Lakes All-Region SecondTeam last week. First and second team members from each of theregions are considered for All-American accolades. Evans, anoutfielder for the Buckeyes, was one of two players to start in all49 games for Ohio State and owned a .949 fielding percentage. Evansled the Buckeyes with a .345 batting average, 49 hits, 32 runs and13 doubles. Evans also tallied 17 RBI’s and stole six-of-eightbases this season. Men’s hockey freshman forward Ryan Kesler(Livonia, Mich./U.S. National Team Development Program) is ranked16th among North American skaters (forwards and defensemen) in theNational Hockey League’s Central Scouting Service final rankings ofprospects for the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. The 2003 NHL Entry Draftwill be held June 21-22 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center inNashville, Tenn. It will be televised live on ESPN2 from 1-4 p.m.Kesler is the highest-rated player from the Central CollegiateHockey Association (CCHA). He is third among all collegians, behindonly third-ranked Thomas Vanek of Minnesota and ninth-ranked ZachParise of North Dakota. The Buckeyes made their mark in the 2003Big Ten Track & Field Championships. Junior thrower Dan Taylorearned All-Big Ten honors in three events at the 2003 conferencechampionship meet as he claimed first place in the men’s shot putwith a heave of 64-8 Sunday. Taylor added second place finishes inthe hammer and discus as the All-American shattered his previousOSU record with a 217-5 in the hammer. Also earning All-Big Tenhonors in multiple events was Aaron Fisher, who placed first in themen’s 5,000-meter run Sunday with a career-best 14:19.41 and secondin Saturday’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. Fellow distance man DerekButler was crowned Ohio State’s first Big Ten Champion Fridayevening in the men’s 10,000-meter run in a winning time of31:36.16. On the women’s side, junior Nicholette Chambers proved tobe the class of the women’s heptathlon competition using firstplace efforts in the 100-meter and 800-meter events to total 4,982points en route to the Big Ten title. In the men’s 4×100-meterrelay, Joel Brown was joined by sophomore Greg Norman, who ran thelead leg, and juniors Drew Carter and Michael Jenkins, as the groupclocked a season-best 40.46 to earn a qualifying bid to the 2003NCAA Regional Championships held May 30 and 31 at Ohio State’sJesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
The following is a list of Ohio State athletics events, both home and away, for the upcoming week.
GO BUCKS!
Ohio State Athletics Schedule
Tuesday, May 20 – Sunday, May 25
All Times Eastern
Tuesday, May 20
Women’s Golf at NCAA Championships, All Day
West Lafayette, Ind.
Wednesday, May 21
Women’s Golf at NCAA Championships, All Day
West Lafayette, Ind.
Thursday, May 22
Women’s Golf at NCAA Championships, All Day
West Lafayette, Ind.
Baseball vs. TBA, 4:35 p.m.
Big Ten Tournament
Minneapolis, Minn.
Friday, May 23
Women’s Golf at NCAA Championships, All Day
West Lafayette, Ind.
Baseball vs. TBA, 8:05 p.m.
Big Ten Tournament
Minneapolis, Minn.
Saturday, May 24
Baseball vs. TBA, 8:05 p.m.
Big Ten Tournament
Minneapolis, Minn.
Sunday, May 25
No events scheduled
