Athletics Good Stuff – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | General
March 15, 2006
Athletes of the Week
Jessica Stringer (Williamsburg, Ind.), the reigning Big Tenwomen’s indoor and outdoor high jump champion, tied the Ohio Stateindoor high jump record Friday at the NCAA Championships with leapof 6-0. Stringer cleared 6-0 on her fifth and final jump to securea fifth-place national finish and qualify for her first All-Americahonors. Stringer now shares the OSU indoor high jump record withformer Buckeye All-American Tami Smith (1999-2002), who topped the6-foot barrier as a senior in 2002. In the four games last weekend,OSU centerfielder Matt Angle batted .647 in going 11-for-17 withseven RBI and nine runs scored. He was 5-for-6 for the secondstraight Sunday, getting hits in his first five at bats in gamesagainst Western Michigan and Bethune-Cookman. He also had twosacrifice flies and a sac bunt last week and was 3-for-4 in thestolen base department. Angle was named Big Ten Player of the WeekTuesday.
Athletics Good Stuff
The No. 2/2-ranked women’s basketball team (28-2) earned itssecond No. 1 seed in program history Monday as ESPN announced thebrackets for the 2006 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. TheBuckeyes earned the automatic bid from the Big Ten and were placedin the Albuquerque Regional. Ohio State will face No. 16 seedOakland (15-15) in the first round at approximately 9:30 p.m. ESTSunday in Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. ESPN 2 willbroadcast the game live.
Oakland gained the automatic berth as the champion of the Mid-Continent Conference tournament. The winner of the Ohio State-Oakland contest will meet the winner of the No. 8 Boston College (19-11, ACC at-large) and No. 9 Notre Dame (18-11, Big East at-large) game March 21 in West Lafayette.
The No. 1 seeding for Ohio State is the second in program history. The Buckeyes also earned a No. 1 seed in the 1993 NCAA Tournament, when Ohio State advanced to the national championship game and lost, 84-82, to Texas Tech.
The Buckeyes, who have made the tournament each of the last four seasons, have reached NCAA postseason play for the 15th time in team history. Ohio State is 17-14 all-time in the NCAA tournament.
The men’s basketball team opens the 2006 NCAA Tournament as theNo. 2 seed at 12:15 p.m. Friday in Dayton, Ohio. The Buckeyes takeon the No. 15 seed, Davidson. Ohio State, 25-5 overall, advanced tothe championship game of the Big Ten tournament last weekend.Senior J.J. Sullinger and sophomore Jamar Butler were selected tothe all-tournament team for their efforts over three days of actionin Indianapolis. Ohio State is playing in its 19th NCAA event thisweekend. Should the Buckeyes advance, they would face theGeorgetown vs. Northern Iowa winner at 2:20 p.m. Sunday. Thewrestling team will send Reece Humphrey, Blake Maurer and Kirk Nailto the 2006 NCAA Wrestling Championships in the Ford Center inOklahoma City March 16-18. Humphrey will wrestle at 133 pounds,Maurer will see action at 174 pounds and Nail will compete atheavyweight. Maurer and Nail qualified for the national meet afterplacing seventh and sixth, respectively, at the Big Tenchampionships where the Top 7 finishers in each weight classadvanced. Humphrey was named a second alternate and qualified afteran injury to teammate J Jaggers and the Big Ten first alternate.Three members of the women’s swimming and diving team will competeat the 2006 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships inAthens, Ga., March 16-18. Gulsah Gunenc, Griet Buelens and NicoleMaglich will compete in a combined four events. Buelens will becompeting in three events, the most of the three Buckeyestraveling. She will compete in both the 200- and 500-yard freestyleevents, as well as the 200-yard butterfly, in which she is ranked26th nationally. Maglich will join Buelens in the 200- and 500-yardfreestyle. In the 200-yard freestyle, Maglich is ranked 18th in thenation. Gunenc will compete in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly. Inboth events, she broke the Ohio State school record at the 2006 BigTen Championships. In the 200-yard butterfly, she is ranked 11th.Four members of the men’s swimming and diving team will travel tothe 2006 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Atlanta,Ga., March 23-25. Joe Doyle, Nate King and R.J. Lemyre eachqualified for the event in a combined seven swimming events. Doylewill compete in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle and the 100-yardbutterfly. King qualified for the 200- and 400-yard individualmedley, as well as the 200-yard backstroke. Lemyre will join Kingin the 200-yard backstroke and compete in the 100-yard backstroke,also. Kellen Harkness will represent the diving squad at thenational championships. He earned the spot after placing second andfifth on the 1- and 3-meter, respectively. Pistol will begincompetition at the National Collegiate Championships Thursday atFt. Benning, Ga. The Buckeyes qualified in the three open evens(free, standard and air) and the two women’s events (air andsport). Ohio State is the two-time defending national champion forwomen and has finished third in the open championship the last twoyears. Competition begins Thursday, March 16 with free pistol andthe women’s air match. Standard pistol and the women’s sport matchwill be held Friday, March 17. Competition will conclude with airpistol on Saturday, March 18.
Taking part in the Collegiate Nationals for Ohio State are Chip Mardis (Jr., Akron, Ohio), Anthony Douglass (Sr., Marietta, Ohio), Teresa Meyer (So., Dearborn, Mich.), Krystin Schmidt (Jr., Granville, Ohio), Rich Hart (Sr., Canton, Ohio), Justin Walters (So., New Lexington, Ohio) and Lauren Diefenderfer (So., Bare, Del.). Mardis is the defending national champion in standard pistol while Meyer finished second in both the women’s sport and women’s air pistol last year.
The fencing team travels to Houston this weekend for the 2006NCAA National Championships, where nine Ohio State automaticqualifiers will compete for the national title. The Buckeyes haveplaced among the Top 4 each of the last three years and won thenational championship in 2004. OSU is led by a pair of two-timeindividual national champions in senior Adam Crompton in sabre andjunior Boaz Ellis in foil. The rowing team’s varsity eight wereranked No. 4 in the preseason USRowing/ Collegiate Rowing CoachesAssociation NCAA Division I Varsity Eight Coaches Poll releasedTuesday. The Buckeyes were the highest ranked of five Big Ten teamsin the Top 20 poll.
OSU totaled 383 points, just three points back from No. 3 Virginia. Princeton topped the poll with 450 points and 13 first-place votes. California, the 2005 NCAA Champion, was second with 421 points and nine first-place votes. Michigan (286 points) and Wisconsin (254) were seventh and eighth, respectively. Michigan State (195) was No. 13 and Minnesota (81) was No. 19.
The Ohio State rowing team opens the spring season March 24-25 at the Wyndamere Classic in Redwood Shores, Calif.
Women’s lacrosse lost to fourth-ranked Johns Hopkins, 17-7Sunday in Baltimore, Md.. KC Carter had a team-high three goalsagainst the Blue Jays with Kristen Slahor, Lindsay Weiner, KristenHannon and Jessica Patane adding a goal each. The Buckeyes play atVirginia Tech next Saturday. The No. 3 ranked men’s gymnastics teamdefeated No. 8 Michigan, 214.300-212.700, Saturday at Cliff KeenArena in Ann Arbor, Mich. For the win, the Buckeyes earned 10 Top 3finishes and won four of six events to close their seasonundefeated (7-0) in Big Ten action.
Jake Bateman (Fr., Kingsport, Tenn./Premier Gymnastics) notched career highs on floor (9.250) and rings (9.400) and tied his high bar record of 9.150. Sophomore DJ Bucher (Mason, Ohio/Queen City Gymnastics) won pommel horse with a 9.200. On vault, Jimmy Wickham’s (So., Gulfport, Miss./Planet Gymnastics) 9.550 won the event title as Ohio State outscored its opponent 37.100-36.800. On parallel bars, sophomore Michael Marino (Ellington, Conn./Tim Daggett’s Gold Medal Gymnastics) earned a career-high 9.050 to claim his first event title this season.
No. 11 men’s volleyball (15-4 overall, 3-2 MidwesternIntercollegiate Volleyball Association) defeated Mercyhurst, 3-0Friday. Mathew Hankey scored a match-high 13.5 points, eight kills,three ace serves and five assist blocks. Ohio State will next playin Long Beach, Calif. against No. 1 Brigham Young Friday and No. 5Long Beach State Saturday in the Active Ankle Classic hosting byLong Beach State. The women’s tennis team (7-4; 0-0 Big Ten) hitsthe road this weekend as they travel to Newport Beach, Calif., tocompete in the Newport Beach Tournament. The teams include OhioState, No. 53 Nebraska, No. 60. Loyola Marymount and No. 73Washington State. The first match will be held at 9 a.m. Sundaywith the second match at 3 p.m. All matches will be held at theBalboa Bay Tennis Club in Newport Beach. The men’s lacrosse teamrebounded from a 14-13 overtime loss to Penn State last Saturday,downing Marist, 13-8, Monday night in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.The Buckeyes were led by freshman Joel Dalgarno vs. the Red Foxes,as he posted a career-best three goals , two assists and fivepoints. The Buckeyes open Great Western Lacrosse League play atnoon Saturday against Quinnipiac in Hamden, Conn. Riding afour-game win streak, the baseball team closes out a 16-gameroad-trip to start the season when it travels to the IMG Academy inBradenton, Fla., for a six-game schedule during spring break, March19-24. Following winter quarter final exams, the Buckeyes, now 6-4on the year, will travel to Florida Thursday for two days ofpractice before opening play Sunday vs. Massachusetts. The teamalso will play a single game vs. Illinois-Chicago and has two gamesscheduled against each Cornell and Vermont. The team will return toColumbus following its game vs. Vermont on March 24, take theweekend off and begin preparations for the 10th season at BillDavis Stadium, which kicks off Wednesday with a 2 p.m. matinee vs.Toledo. The baseball team won all four games it played inClearwater, Fla., last weekend, sweeping a doubleheader vs. Lehigh(17-10, 13-6) and beating Northern Iowa (9-6) and Bethune-Cookman(9-1).
In the four games last weekend, OSU centerfielder Matt Angle batted .647 in going 11-for-17 with seven RBI and nine runs scored to earn Big Ten Player of the Week accolades. He was 5-for-6 for the second straight Sunday, getting hits in his first five at bats in games against Western Michigan and Bethune-Cookman. He also had two sacrifice flies and a sac bunt last week and was 3-for-4 in the stolen base department. Angle did not have the only hot bat for the Buckeyes. Shortstop Jedidiah Stephen was 10-for-17 with four RBI and seven runs scored. Four of his 10 hits were doubles and he was able to match his career-best hit streak in a 1-for-5 day against Bethune-Cookman, his 11th straight game with at least one hit. That stretch dates back to the season-ending loss to St. John’s at the NCAA Corvallis Regional. Four other players batted better than .400, including Wes Schirtzinger (.571), Ronnie Bourquin (.474), Jacob Howell (.474) and Jason Zoeller (.417).
The softball team plays four games, including its home opener,this weekend as host of the Buckeye Invitational. The 13-game,six-team tournament will be held at Buckeye Field, with the firstgame beginning at 2 p.m. Friday and the final game commencing at 4p.m. Sunday. Ohio State (9-10) will host Robert Morris (5-5),Pittsburgh (9-11), Central Michigan (7-13) and Kent State (7-7).After 19 games Ohio State led the Big Ten in home runs (18), runsscored (79), triples (5) and stolen bases (30). The Buckeyes’ fourgames at Evansville last weekend were rained out.
The women’s gymnastics team has a bye week this week before traveling to East Lansing for the Big Ten Championships March 25. The Buckeyes are ranked fifth in the central region and are just outside the Top 25.
Freshman Steven Moneke was named the men’s tennis Big TenPlayer of the Week last Wednesday. It is the first weeklyconference honor for Moneke, who is 9-4 on the year. Monekerecorded the match-clinching victory for the Buckeyes at FloridaState March 4 when he defeated Chris Westerhof, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 4singles. OSU topped No. 30 Florida State 4-1 to improve to 11-1 onthe year. The win helped Ohio State move up to No. 9 in the latestIntercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.
OSU next travels to Myrtle Beach, S.C., to take on Coastal Carolina March 20.
Men’s hockey senior goalie Dave Caruso and defensemen juniorSean Collins and senior Nate Guenin received honorable mentionAll-Central Collegiate Hockey Association accolades, the leagueannounced last Wednesday. The CCHA coaches select a first and asecond team, based on performance in league games (coaches are notallowed to vote for their own players). The next six point totals,regardless of position, are named honorable mention.
Ohio State Athletics Schedule
Wednesday, March 15 – Wednesday, March 22
Wednesday, March 15
Pistol at National Collegiate Championships
Fort Benning, Ga.
Thursday, March 16
Pistol at National Collegiate Championships
Fort Benning, Ga.
Fencing at NCAA Championships
Houston, Texas
Women’s Swimming at NCAA Championships
Athens, Ga.
Wrestling at NCAA Championships
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Friday, March 17
Men’s Basketball vs. Davidson, 12:15 p.m.
NCAA Tournament First Round
Dayton, Ohio
Men’s Volleyball at BYU, 5 p.m.
Long Beach, Calif.
Softball vs. Robert Morris, 4 p.m.
Softball vs. Pittsburgh, 6 p.m.
Buckeye Field, Columbus, Ohio
Fencing at NCAA Championships
Houston, Texas
Women’s Swimming at NCAA Championships
Athens, Ga.
Wrestling at NCAA Championships
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Pistol at National Collegiate Championships
Fort Benning, Ga.
Saturday, March 18
Men’s Lacrosse at Quinnipiac, Noon
Hamden, Conn.
Women’s Lacrosse at Virginia Tech, 1 p.m.
Blacksburg, Va.
Softball vs. Central Michigan, 3 p.m.
Softball vs. Kent State, 5 p.m.
Buckeye Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Men’s Volleyball at Long Beach State, 7 p.m.
Long Beach, Cali.
Fencing at NCAA Championships
Houston, Texas
Women’s Swimming at NCAA Championships
Athens, Ga.
Wrestling at NCAA Championships
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Pistol at National Collegiate Championships
Fort Benning, Ga.
Sunday, March 19
Baseball vs. Massachusetts, 2:30 p.m.
Bradenton, Fla.
Women’s Basketball vs. Oakland, 9:30 p.m.
NCAA Tournament First Round
West Lafayette, Ind.
Women’s Tennis vs. Washington State, Noon
Women’s Tennis vs. Nebraska or Loyola Marymount, 5 p.m.
Newport Beach, Calif.
Men’s Golf at Schenkel Invitational
Statesboro, Ga.
Fencing at NCAA Championships
Houston, Texas
Monday, March 20
Men’s Tennis at Central Carolina, 2 p.m.
Myrtle Beach, S. Car.
Baseball vs. Cornell, 2:30 p.m.
Bradenton, Fla.
Men’s Golf at Schenkel Invitational
Statesboro, Ga.
Tuesday, March 21
Baseball vs. Illinois-Chicago, 10 a.m.
Baseball vs. Cornell, 2:30 p.m.
Bradenton, Fla.
Wednesday, March 22
Softball at Loyola Marymount, Noon and 2 p.m.
Los Angeles, Calif.
Men’s Volleyball at Penn State, 7 p.m.
University Park, Pa.
