Athletics Good Stuff – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | General
March 1, 2006
Athletes of the Week
Sophomore fencer Siobhan Byrne won an individual conferencetitle in women’s sabre Saturday then helped lead Ohio State to ateam league championship Sunday over host and defending nationalchampion Notre Dame. Byrne, seeded third entering competitionSaturday, went 6-0 in pool play to claim the top seed entering thechampionship bracket. She then topped seeds 16, 9 and 5 and 6,which included two fencers from Northwestern and one from NotreDame, to claim the title. Her efforts on Sunday then helped giveOhio State its third-consecutive conference title. Lenny Jatsekbecame the third Ohio State student-athlete to win the conferencechampionship in the weight in the last four seasons. A Buckeye hasnabbed the Big Ten weight throw in each of the last four years.Former Buckeye All-American Dan Taylor won the league title in 2003and ’04. Bryan Duby took first place in the event last season. Thisyear, Jatsek’s heave of 68-2 1/4 topped the conference field.Jessica Stringer posted the second-best high jump mark in OhioState history en route to winning her second consecutive conferencechampionship in the event. The native of Franklin, Ind., cleared 5feet, 11 1/4 inches to claim victory Sunday at Wisconsin. She wonthe 2005 Big Ten Outdoor High Jump Championship at home last seasonin Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
Athletics Good Stuff
The women’s basketball team clinched its first outright Big Tenchampionship since the 1985-86 season with three victories lastweek over No. 14/14 Michigan State, No. 12/11 Purdue and at PennState. Ohio State also won back-to-back Big Ten championships sincethe 1985-86 and 1986-87 seasons. Jessica Davenport led the Buckeyesto the three victories with a trio of 20-plus point outings duringthe week. Davenport netted 22 vs. MSU, 20 vs. Purdue and 24 at PennState en route to earning her fourth Big Ten Player of the Weekaward.
Tuesday, the Big Ten announced its all-conference teams. Davenport repeated as Big Ten Player of the Year, becoming the first Buckeye to win the award in back-to-back seasons since Tracey Hall in 1986 and ’87. Senior Kim Wilburn was named the league’s defensive player of the year and OSU head coach Jim Foster gained her second Big Ten Coach of the Year honor in the last two seasons. Senior Debbie Merrill, junior Brandie Hoskins and sophomore Marscilla Packer all were selected third team by either the coaches or media.
Ohio State heads to the Big Ten tournament this weekend as the No. 1 seed for the second season in a row. The Buckeyes play either No. 8-seed Penn State or No. 9-seed Wisconsin at noon Friday in the quarterfinals.
The synchronized swimming team will host the 2006 NorthRegional Championship at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Bill and MaeMcCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. The championship is the Buckeyes’Scarlet and Gray “game” and is the qualifier for the 2006 U.S.Collegiate National Championship.
Head coach Linda Lichter-Witter will be recognized during the first half of the Ohio State men’s basketball game vs. Purdue Sunday after collecting her 400th victory when the Buckeyes finished first at the OSU College Association Meet Feb. 4. Lichter-Witter, who has coached the Buckeyes to a 14-0 mark this season, now owns 407-7 record.
The Big Ten announced its 2006 Men’s and Women’s Track andField All-League Teams Wednesday. Ohio State’s Leonard Jatsek andJessica Stringer each were named to the first team after claimingleague titles in the men’s weight throw and the women’s high jump,respectively, last weekend. Both the Buckeye men’s and women’steams finished sixth at their respective conference meets at Iowaand Wisconsin.
Stringer posted the second-best high jump mark in Ohio State history en route to winning her second consecutive conference championship in the event. Jatsek became the third Ohio State student-athlete to win the weight in the last four seasons withy a heave of 68-2 1/4.
The men’s distance medley team of Taylor Candella, Gerald Griffin, Joe Gourley and Jeff See also combined to claim first-team honors after winning the event Saturday and shattering the Ohio State record. Senior and two-time All-American Brian Olinger was a second-team honoree in the 5,000 meters. For the women, senior and two-time All-American Keturah Lofton was runner-up in the weight, while freshman Janine Zylinski also took second in the shot put.
The rifle team finished third in the Western IntercollegiateRifle Conference Championship at Purdue. Linnea Nygren was honoredat the meet by being named to the second-team WIRC All-Conferencesmallbore team. Women’s lacrosse (0-2) opened the season with a17-9 loss at Stanford and a 12-11 defeat at California. KC Carterscored a team-high four goals in each contest. Ohio State will hostPenn (1-0) in the home opener Saturday at 1 p.m. in Jesse OwensMemorial Stadium. The 11th-ranked men’s volleyball team (12-4overall) lost at home to 15th-ranked IPFW, 3-2 and then defeated10th-ranked Ball State, 3-0, in Munice last weekend. Robbie Kleinscored a career-high 21 kills, while Sam Stevens had a career-high19 kills in the loss to IPFW. Klein had a team-high 12 kills andLayne Dreven recorded a match-high seven assist blocks in the winat Ball State. Ohio State now hosts top ranked (Division III)Juniata (6-6) Friday at 7 p.m. and fifth-ranked (Division III)Carthage (5-8) Sunday at 3 p.m. The women’s hockey team concludedits regular season schedule with two losses against No. 3 Wisconsinat the OSU Ice Rink in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes fell 3-0 Fridayand 1-0 Saturday for a final WCHA record of 10-15-3 to finish infifth place with 23 points. They are 13-16-5 overall. Juniorgoaltender Erika Vanderveer had an outstanding series, stopping 74of 78 total shots faced against one of the top offenses in thenation. She set a career high Friday with 45 saves. She followedthat performance Saturday by stopping 29 of 30 shots. In her lastfour games, Vanderveer has saved 143 shots with only seven goalsallowed for a .953 save percentage and 1.72 goals-against-average.Senior Jana Harrigan ended the regular season as the third-highestpoint scorer in the WCHA with 44 points. It ties the highest aBuckeye has ever finished in overall league scoring, with JeniCreary also finishing third in 2001-02 with 44 points.
The Buckeyes will next travel to No. 4-seed St. Cloud State for the first round of the WCHA tournament March 3-5 at the National Hockey Center. Games begin at 2:07 p.m. (CT) each day. Ohio State and the Huskies split the regular season series this year with each team sweeping their two-game home series.
The No. 11 men’s tennis team travels to Tallahassee, Fla.Saturday to take on No. 34 Florida State. The Buckeyes return toaction after falling to No. 26 Notre Dame 5-2 Friday in South Bend,Ind. OSU beat No. 20 Virginia Commonwealth 5-2 Sunday in Richmond,Va. The loss against the Irish was Ohio States first on the year.Seniors Ross Wilson (Toledo, Ohio/Toledo St. Francis de Sales) andScott Green (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover), the nations No.1 doublesteam, improved to 10-0 in dual matches this season with wins overNotre Dame’s Keckley/King 8-2 and VCU’s Olsak/Lecloerec 9-8 (4)from the No. 1 singles spot. Wilson passed Loir Ursine on thecareer singles wins list with his win against Notre Dame’s BarryKing on Feb. 24 to move up to No. 14 with 78 for his career. TheNo. 17 women’s golf team finished the Central District Challenge insecond after the final round Tuesday. The Buckeyes totaled 907(301+308+298) at the par 72 River Wilderness Golf Club in Parrish,Fla. The Buckeyes shot their third-lowest round of the season, 298(+10), to pull ahead of Southern Methodist. Stephanie Connelly andDana Je took top honors for the team. Both tied for 11th with 226strokes. Carling Coffing and Gemma Webster joined Connelly and Jeamong the Top 25 individuals. Connelly recorded the shot of thetournament for Ohio State with an eagle on the 480-yard par 5 No. 4hole. Ohio State travels to Guadalajara, Mexico for the CalInvitational, March 6-8. The No. 18 men’s swimming and diving teamfinished fifth at the 2006 Big Ten Men’s Swimming and DivingChampionships Saturday in Bloomington, Ind. With 357.5 points, theBuckeyes finished one spot higher and scored 64.5 points more thanthey did last year. In 21 events, Ohio State recorded 43 lifetimebests and broke eight school records. The team notched a total of40 NCAA “B” qualifying times, including four relay times. NCAA “B”times are consideration times for the 2006 NCAA Men’s Swimming andDiving Championships to be held in Atlanta, Ga., March 23-25.Kellen Harkness was the highest-placed Buckeye during the meet,taking runner-up on the 3-meter springboard with 394.30 points. JoeDoyle won the Sportsmanship Award for the Buckeyes. Ohio State willhost the 2006 NCAA Diving Regional Championships for Zone C March10-11 in the Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus,Ohio. Divers from Ohio State will be vying for a spot at the NCAAchampionships in Atlanta, Ga. Qualified OSU swimmers will join thedivers at the national championships March 23-25. The women’sgymnastics team moved up to No. 25 in the national rankings thisweek after a 193.675 performance last Saturday against No. 17 PennState. Sophomore Kaylan Clevinger won the Buckeye Performance Awardin the meet, given by Olympic medalists Paul and Morgan Hamm. OhioState hosts No. 21 Illinois at 7 p.m. Saturday on Senior Night inSt. John Arena, when OSU seniors Leah Boccaccio, Brittany Brown,Kaylin Schlecht, Emily Sineway and Shelby Warner will be honored.The fencing team won its third-consecutive Midwest FencingConference championship last weekend as the Buckeyes topped hostand defending national champion Notre Dame. The No. 1-ranked OSUmen beat Notre Dame by 45 points and the sixth-ranked OSU womenbettered the Irish by 20 points. Three Buckeyes won individualconference titles, including Adam Crompton, Andras Horanyi andSiobhan Byrne. This weekend Ohio State travels to the NCAA RegionalQualifier in Cleveland. The softball team knocked off No. 22 Oregonlast weekend at the Palm Springs Classic but dropped games to No. 1Arizona, No. 3 UCLA, UNLV and UC-Santa Barbara. The Buckeyes (6-8)travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., this weekend for the Hampton InnCrimson Classic to face Coastal Carolina, Drake and sixth-rankedAlabama. In the win over the Ducks last weekend, junior JameeJuarez tied a Big Ten and OSU record with three home runs and addeda two-hit shutout, the 14th of her career. The wrestling teamtravels to Bloomington, Ind., for the 2006 Big Ten WrestlingChampionships in Assembly Hall Saturday and Sunday. Redshirtfreshman J Jaggers received the highest OSU seed with a No. 4ranking at 149 pounds. Five other Buckeyes earned a Top 8 seed intheir respective weight classes. Blake Maurer (174) is a No. 5 seedand the trio of Kirk Nail (HWT), Alex Picazo (184) and Steve Sommer(157) obtained No. 7 seeds. True freshman Reece Humphrey rounds outthe field with a No. 8 seed at 133 pounds.
The Buckeye lineup will vie for a chance to compete at the 2006 NCAA Wrestling Championships March 16-18 in Downtown Arena in Oklahoma City. The Top 7 individuals from each weight class, plus two at-large athletes (wildcards) will advance.
The men’s gymnastics team (9-1; 6-0 Big Ten) captured five ofsix events on their way to recording a season-high team total of216.300 in a win over Penn State last Saturday in St. John Arena.On floor, Eddie Hay earned a career-high 9.750 to capture first.Jimmy Wickham finished second with a 9.600 on the event. Ohio Statenotched a season-high 37.150 on the event. Freshman Jake Batemantallied career highs on four of five events he competed in. He setcareer marks on vault, parallel bars, floor and rings. At the dual,Bateman earned finished third on vault (9.350), third on parallelbars (9.100), placed fourth on floor (9.150) and led Ohio State onrings (9.200). The Buckeyes won pommel horse and recorded aseason-high team score of 34.950. Ohio State swept the event with afirst place score of 9.200 by sophomore DJ Bucher. Juniors GrantOsborne and Kristopher Kline rounded out the Top 3. Osbornefinished second with an 8.800 and Kline finished third with an8.700. Wickham earned a career high 9.700 on vault Saturday in thedual meet win against Penn State. The 9.700 served as his thirdfirst-place finish this season. Wickham’s high mark on theapparatus gave the Buckeyes the edge on the Nittany Lions, boostingOhio State in the event, 36.950-36.400. Co-captain Nicholaus Searcyled the Buckeyes on parallel bars and won the event tallying a9.200. Bateman finished second with a 9.100 and Mike Marino tiedPenn State’s Shaun Antonio with an 8.800 for third. The 8.800 is acareer record for Marino. The team won parallel bars with acombined score of 35.800. In the final rotation, Ohio Statecaptured high bar with a team total 35.900. Co-captain Willie Itotied or first on the event. Osborne scored a 9.100 to place second.The men’s hockey team travels to Big Rapids, Mich., for the firstround of the CCHA tournament this weekend. The Buckeyes andBulldogs will meet in the best-of-three series at 7:05 p.m. Fridayand Saturday (and Sunday if needed) in Ewigleben Ice Arena. Themen’s lacrosse team will face off against Hobart at 2 p.m. Saturdayin a neutral-site game at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Pa. Thesquad is coming off a 9-3 loss on the road at No. 6 Navy lastweekend. Freshman Joel Dalgarno is first on the Buckeye squad withthree goals this year, including two vs. the Midshipmen. Thebaseball team opened its season 1-2, upsetting then-No. 12 Missouriafter losses to Wake Forest and then-No. 1 Florida at the PepsiBaseball Classic in Gainesville. The Buckeyes return to theSunshine State this weekend with four games in Jacksonville. OhioState starts the weekend with an exhibition game against AoyamaGakuin, a Japanese university, Friday at noon at the University ofNorth Florida’s Harmon Stadium. That game will immediately befollowed with a game against UNC Greensboro at approximately 3:30p.m. On Saturday, the Buckeyes will travel across town for a gameat Jacksonville before they return to UNF to close the trip with an11 a.m. game vs. Western Michigan. Junior third baseman RonnieBourquin leads the team with a .545 batting average in going6-for-11 in Gainesville. Junior outfielder Jacob Howell batted .417(5-for-12) during the three games and joined Bourquin on theall-tournament team. Freshman pitcher J.B. Shuck got the win in hisfirst start on the mound as a Buckeye, allowing one run on threehits with six strikeouts in hiss 7.0-inning outing. The women’stennis team (6-3; 0-0 Big Ten) split a pair of weekend matches.Junior Kristin Messmer clinched a win over the LouisvilleCardinals, 4-3, Feb. 25. The Buckeyes then dropped their match withNo. 28 Tennessee, 5-2, on Feb. 26. Both matches were held at theJesse Owens West Recreation Center in Columbus.
The Buckeyes are back in action next weekend as they travel to Milwaukee, Wis., to face the Marquette Golden Eagles at 3 p.m. March 3 and New Mexico at 10 a.m. March 4. Both matches will be held at the Helfaer Tennis Stadium on the campus of Marquette University.
The men’s basketball team, ranked No. 9 this week in theAssociated Press Poll, travels to Northwestern (8p.m./Wednesday/ESPN Plus/WBNS 10 TV) with a chance to secure atleast a tie for the regular season Big Ten title. The Buckeyes,21-4 overall and 10-4 in the Big Ten, could earn the title outrightwith wins at Northwestern and then in the finale Sunday vs. Purdue(Noon/ESPN Reg./WBNS 10 TV) at Value City Arena. The Buckeyes areshooting for the 18th title in school history. Ohio State has wonthe championship 10 times outright, the last coming in 1992. Thelast league title was earned in 2002. Senior Terence Dials helpedpush the Buckeyes into first place last week with wins at MichiganState and at home vs. Michigan. Dials earned the Big Ten’s playerof the week after averaging 20.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in thetwo wins last week. The honor was the third for Dials in his careerand the fourth of the season for the Buckeyes. Senior Je’Kel Fosterhas been honored twice this year while sophomore Jamar Butler hasclaimed the award once. The men’s golf team finished 10th at theLexus Naples Intercollegiate Invitational Tuesday at the HammockBay Golf Club in Naples, Fla. The Buckeyes shot a final round of295 (+7) for a three-round total of 900 at the 6,879-yard, par-72course. Junior Colin Biles (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) tiedfor 17th place to lead the Buckeyes in individual play aftershooting a third round of par to finish even at 216 (74-70-72).
Ohio State Athletics Schedule
Wednesday, March 1 – Wednesday, March 8
Wednesday, March 1
Men’s Basketball at Northwestern, 8 p.m.
Evanston, Ill.
Friday, March 3
Women’s Basketball vs. Penn State or Wisconsin, Noon
Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals
Indianapolis, Ind.
Baseball vs. Aoyama Gakuin, 12 p.m.
Baseball vs. UNC-Greensboro, 3:30 p.m.
Jacksonville, Fla.
Softball vs. Coastal Carolina, 1 p.m.
Softball vs. Alabama, 6:30 p.m.
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Women’s Tennis at Marquette, 3 p.m.
Milwaukee, Wis.
Men’s Volleyball vs. Juniata, 7 p.m.
St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Men’s Ice Hockey at Ferris State, 7:05 p.m.
CCHA Tournament First Round
Big Rapids, Mich.
Women’s Ice Hockey vs. St. Cloud State, 3:07 pm.
WCHA Tournament First Round
St. Cloud, Minn.
Pistol at Collegiate Invitational, TBA
TBA
Track at Alex Wilson Last Chance Meet
South Bend, Ind.
Saturday, March 4
Women’s Tennis vs. New Mexico, 10 a.m.
Milwaukee, Wis.
Softball vs. Drake, 11 a.m.
Softball vs. TBA, 4 or 6:30 p.m.
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Men’s Tennis at Florida State, 1 p.m.
Tallahassee, Fla.
Women’s Lacrosse vs. Penn, 1 p.m.
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Baseball at Jacksonville, 1 p.m.
Jacksonville, Fla.
Men’s Lacrosse vs. Hobart, 2 p.m.
Hershey Park, Pa.
Women’s Gymnastics vs. Illinois, 7 p.m.
St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Men’s Ice Hockey at Ferris State, 7:05 p.m.
CCHA Tournament First Round
Big Rapids, Mich.
Synchronized Swimming North Regional Championships
Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatics Pavilion, Columbus, Ohio
Track at Alex Wilson Last Chance Meet
South Bend, Ind.
Women’s Ice Hockey vs. St. Cloud State, 3:07 pm.
WCHA Tournament First Round
St. Cloud, Minn.
Wrestling at Big Ten Championships
Bloomington, Ind.
Pistol at Collegiate Invitational, TBA
TBA
Fencing at NCAA Midwest Regional Championships
Cleveland, Ohio
Sunday, March 5
Baseball vs. Western Michigan, 11 a.m.
Jacksonville, Fla.
Men’s Basketball vs. Purdue, 12 p.m.
Value City Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Men’s Swimming Ohio State Last Ditch, 12 p.m.
Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatics Pavilion, Columbus, Ohio
Women’s Basketball vs. MSU or Iowa, 1 p.m.
Big Ten Tournament Semifinals
Indianapolis, Ind.
Men’s Volleyball vs. Carthage, 3 p.m.
St. John Arena, Columbus Ohio
Men’s Ice Hockey at Ferris State, 7 p.m. (if necessary)
CCHA Tournament First Round
Big Rapids, Mich.
Wrestling at Big Ten Championships
Bloomington, Ind.
Softball vs. TBA, 11 a.m. or 1 p.m.
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Women’s Ice Hockey vs. St. Cloud State, 3:07 pm.
WCHA Tournament First Round
St. Cloud, Minn.
Monday, March 6
Women’s Basketball Big Ten Championship, 7 p.m.
Indianapolis, Ind.
Women’s Golf at Cal Invitational
Guadalajara, Mexico
Tuesday, March 7
Women’s Golf at Cal Invitational
Guadalajara, Mexico
Wednesday, March 8
Women’s Golf at Cal Invitational
Guadalajara, Mexico
