Athletics Good Stuff – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | General
March 8, 2006
Athletes of the Week
Two-time national champion Adam Crompton placed first in men’ssabre Saturday at the NCAA Midwest Regional Qualifier in Clevelandto earn an automatic berth to the national championships in twoweeks in Houston. Crompton is 22-3 overall this season and was anindividual conference champion two weeks ago when he helped leadOSU to its third-consecutive league title over defending nationalchampion Notre Dame. Ohio State’s Brandie Hoskins was named MostOutstanding Player of the 2006 Big Ten Women’s BasketballTournament Monday after she averaged 15 points per contest in theBuckeyes’ three-game run to their first conference tourney title.
Hoskins hit 19-of-38 field goal attempts in the tournament, including a 2-for-4 clip from 3-point land. She had 14 points in the quarterfinal win over Penn State Friday and followed with 15 against Michigan State in the semis Sunday. She finished off the tournament with 16 points in Ohio State’s 63-60 win in the tournament championship game over Purdue. Hoskins also was named to the All-Big Ten Tournament team in 2005.
Athletics Good Stuff
Ohio State will host the 2006 NCAA Zone C Diving QualifyingMeet at the Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, Friday-Sunday.Divers that have matched or surpassed the NCAA Zone score thatattend schools within Zone C will travel to compete for a spot atthe 2006 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. The men will openthe meet with the 3-meter on Friday, followed by the 1-meter onSaturday. The women will compete on the 1-meter Friday and the3-meter Saturday. Both men and women will compete on the platformevent Saturday. Admission is free and each event begins at 11 a.m.The No. 2/2-ranked women’s basketball team (28-2) became just thethird club in Big Ten history to win both the regular season andconference tournament titles Monday with a 63-60 victory overPurdue in the tournament final. Marscilla Packer scored eight ofOhio State’s final 10 points and snapped the 60-60 tie with herthird 3-point field goal of the game with 39 seconds to go. BrandieHoskins finished the game with 16 points en route to being namedmost outstanding player of the tournament. Jessica Davenportrecorded her 30th career double-double with 17 points and 14rebounds and also was named to the all-tournament team.
The Buckeyes opened the Big Ten tournament with a 64-46 victory over Penn State in the quarterfinals. Hoskins led the Buckeyes with 14 points, while Debbie Merrill pitched in 11. In the semifinals Sunday, the Buckeyes got past Michigan State, 68-64. Ohio State fended off a late MSU rally that pulled the game to 65-64 with less than a minute to play and converted 11 of their last 12 free throws to seal the win. Hoskins, Packer and Merrill led a balanced attack with 15 points each.
The conference tournament championship earned Ohio State the Big Ten’s automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes carry a 19-game win streak – second longest in school history – into their fourth consecutive NCAA appearance.
Synchronized swimming recorded 100 points to win the 2006 NorthRegional Championship March 4. The Buckeyes qualified all theirroutines to advance to the 2006 U.S. Collegiate NationalChampionship March 23-25 at the Avery Aquatic Center on the campusof Stanford University in Stanford, Calif. Becky Kim won solo witha score of 94.333 and teammate Carmen Moraes recorded asecond-place 90.667. The duo of Carly Grimshaw and Chelsea Lukerfinished first (94.167) and Hacker and Moraes were second (92.167).Leah and Leayn Pinette scored a 90.333 for third place and MichelleBenzie and Julia Broadfoot were fourth (90.167). Hacker, Kim andMoraes teamed up in trio to score a first-place 92.833 andGrimshaw, Luker and Ashley Rule earned a 90.667 for second.
Both the Ohio State `A’ and `B’ teams executed season bests with scores of 96.500 and 94.333, respectively, to finish first and second.
Nine members of the fencing team automatically qualified forthe national championships in two weeks as the Buckeyes competed atthe NCAA Midwest Regional Qualifier hosted by Cleveland State lastSaturday. Senior Adam Crompton won sabre and junior Boaz Ellis wonfoil for OSU’s two individual winners, while sophomore SiobhanByrne placed second in women’s sabre. The women’s tennis team (7-4;0-0 Big Ten) split a pair of weekend matches. The Buckeyes defeatedMarquette in a 7-0 shutout of the Golden Eagles. Ohio State thendropped a close one to No. 37 New Mexico, 4-3. The Buckeyes returnto action March 19 as they travel to Newport Beach, Calif. tocompete in the Newport Beach Tournament. The teams include OhioState, No. 43 Nebraska, Washington State, and Loyola Marymount. Thefirst match will be held at 9 a.m. with the second match at 3 p.m.All matches will be held at the Balboa Bay Tennis Club in NewportBeach. 11th-ranked men’s volleyball improved to 14-4 overall with a3-2 (27-30, 26-30, 30-23, 30-28, 15-7) come-from-behind victoryover Division III top-ranked Juniata Friday. John Albertsonrecorded career-highs of 23 points, 17 kills and 11 total blocks inthe win. Robbie Klein added 12 kills and Layne Dreven and MatthewHankey had 11. The Buckeyes then defeated Division III fifth-rankedCarthage, 3-0 (30-19, 32-30, 30-17) Sunday behind a team-high 11kills by Albertson. Ben Spurlock and Brett Versen came off thebench to contribute to the win. Spurlock had nine kills in 10swings and added five assist blocks while Versen had seven kills ineight attempts and added two assist blocks.
Ohio State continues play at home this Friday when they host Mercyhurst at 7 p.m. in St. John Arena.
Albertson (Ballwin, Mo.), a 6-6 freshman middle blocker, was chosen the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I-II Men’s National Player of the Week. Albertson hit .714 for the two matches with averages of 4.31 points, 3.50 kills, 1.50 blocks and 0.62 digs per game. He tallied a double-double of 17 kills and 11 blocks along with a career-high 23 points to help Ohio State rally from a 0-2 deficit to defeat Juniata on March 3. Albertson hit .727 against the Eagles on 22 swings. The rest of the Buckeyes managed a mere .138 attack percentage. He charted 11 kills with a .692 attack percentage in a sweep of Carthage on March 5. Albertson increased his season averages to 3.09 points, 2.36 kills, 1.30 blocks and 0.30 digs per game with a .398 attack percentage. A Buckeye player has the received the national award nine times, the last being Mark Greaves on April 11, 2005.
Women’s lacrosse (0-3) fell, 14-10, to Penn Saturday afternoonin Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. KC Carter scored a team-high threegoals in the game with Kristen Hannon adding two. The Buckeyestrailed at half by four, 8-4, and could only match the Quakers inthe second half with each squad scoring six times.
Ohio State opens play in the American Lacrosse Conference Sunday, March 12 at eighth-ranked Johns Hopkins.
Buckeye wrestlers J Jaggers, Blake Maurer and Kirk Nailqualified for the 2006 NCAA Wrestling Championships in OklahomaCity after posting Top 7 finishes at the 2006 Big Ten ConferenceWrestling Championships March 4-5 in Assembly Hall in Bloomington,Ind. Wrestling at 149 pounds and heavyweight, Jaggers and Nailfinished sixth and Maurer was seventh at 174 pounds.
Finishing eighth in their respective weight classes, Reece Humphrey (133) and Steve Sommer (157) were named alternates to the national championships out of the pool of eighth place finishers.
The NCAA championships, hosted by the University of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma All Sports Association are March 16-18 in the Ford Center.
The NCAA released accepted qualifiers for the 2006 Indoor Trackand Field Championships Tuesday. Ohio State will send threestudent-athletes from the women’s team and two from the men’s teamto compete in Fayetteville, Ark., March 10-11.
Brian Olinger, a senior All-American, will run in the men’s 5,000 meters. He currently is ranked fifth nationally in the event with a top time this season of 13:45.94. Sophomore thrower Lenny Jatsek also will represent the OSU men’s team in the weight throw. In his last two competitions, Jatsek has won the Big Ten weight title Feb. 25 and last week posted the third-longest weight mark in OSU history at 72 feet, 5 3/4 inches at Notre Dame. Jatsek’s mark rates No. 6 nationally.
For the women, junior jumper Jessica Stringer recently won her second consecutive Big Ten high jump title Feb. 26 and heads to nationals with the No. 8 height in the country. In the throws, senior All-American Keturah Lofton returns for her third career trip to the national meet and has the No. 8 weight mark in the country. Freshman Janine Zylinski will make her first appearance at nationals after qualifying with the No. 14 shot put measure in the country.
The baseball team dropped to 2-4 following losses toJacksonville (4-3) and Western Michigan (12-11) after beginning theweekend with a 12-2 victory over UNC Greensboro at the Kennel ClubClassic in Jacksonville. Ronnie Bourquin leads the team with 12hits this season and is batting .480, while Jedidiah Stephen, whohas at least one hit in all six games this season, is batting .407.Stephen has 11 hits with a team-best four doubles. On the hill, thethree starters combine for a 1.77 ERA, while the team boasts anoverall ERA of 3.83. Cory Luebke beat UNC Greensboro this pastweekend by striking out eight in 7.0 innings, while allowing oneunearned run on five hits to earn Big Ten Pitcher of the Weekhonors. Luebke is 1-1 on the year with a 0.79 ERA and 10 strikeoutsin 11.1 innings. J.B. Shuck is 1-0 and has seven strikeouts and a1.74 ERA in 10.1 innings, while Dan DeLucia is 0-1 with a 2.57 ERAand eight strikeouts in 14.0 innings. Ohio State heads back toFlorida this weekend for the third time this spring. The Buckeyestravel to Clearwater for four games, beginning Friday at 1 p.m.with a double dip against Lehigh. The weekend continues Saturday at3:30 p.m. with a single game vs. Northern Iowa and concludes Sundayat 1 p.m. with a single game with Bethune-Cookman. All four gameswill be played at Jack Russell Stadium, the former spring traininghome of the Philadelphia Phillies. The men’s basketball teamclaimed the outright 2006 Big Ten Regular Season ChampionshipSunday with a win vs. Purdue on “Senior Day” in Columbus. TheBuckeyes, ranked No. 7 nationally in both polls this week, travelto Indianapolis for the 2006 Big Ten Tournament as the league’s No.1 seed. The Buckeyes will face either No. 8-seed Penn State or No.9-seed Northwestern at noon Friday (ESPN). Leading the way for OhioState is 2006 Big Ten Player of the Year Terence Dials and ThadMatta, whom the media tabbed as the Big Ten’s coach of the year for2005-06. Dials also earned first team all-league honors. SeniorJe’Kel Foster was picked as a second team member by the leaguecoaches, who also placed him on the all-defensive team. The mediapicked Foster and sophomore Jamar Butler to the third team. TheBuckeyes enter conference tournament play with a 23-4 overallrecord. Ohio State has won nine of the last 10 games. The leaguetitle this year is the 18th in program history. Eleven of thosetitles are outright championships. The Ohio State women’s hockeyteam dropped a pair of games to St. Cloud State in the first roundof the WCHA playoffs March 3-4 at the National Hockey Center. TheBuckeyes fell 2-1 in overtime Friday and 6-3 Saturday. Theyconclude their season with an overall record of 13-18-5 and 10-15-3in league games. It is the first time OSU has lost in the firstround or quarterfinals of the playoffs. It is also the first timethe Buckeyes have lost to SCSU in the postseason. The overtime gameFriday was Ohio State’s 10th this year, tying its own NCAA recordfor most in a season.
Senior co-captain and 2006 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Top 10 Finalist Jana Harrigan had two goals and an assist in the series for a total of 47 points this season to rank second all time in a single-season in school history. Harrigan holds the all-time mark with 54 points set last year. She finished her senior campaign with 23 goals and 24 assists. Harrigan’s goal Saturday was scored shorthanded, her sixth of the season. The total leads the NCAA this season and ties for the second-most in a single season in NCAA history.
The softball team upset No. 6 Alabama last weekend in theHampton Inn Crimson Classic and finished the tournament with a 3-2record. The Buckeyes are 9-10 overall and lead the Big Ten in homeruns (18), triples (5), runs (79) and stolen bases (30). OSU headsto the Evansville Tournament this weekend to take on Evansville andNo. 22 Louisville before hosting the Buckeye Invitational March17-19. Senior Stacy Hibma leads OSU with a .313 average, whilefreshman Kim Reeder’s 2.41 ERA is best on the pitching staff. Thewomen’s gymnastics team wraps up the regular season Saturday at No.21 Minnesota. The Buckeyes’ average score was ranked No. 25 lastweek and Ohio State beat No. 21 Illinois in OSU’s final home meetlast Saturday, but OSU slipped to No. 27 in the national rankingsthis week. Ohio State (193.380 avg., 8-6 record) ranks No. 21nationally on floor with a 48.735, No. 26 on beam (48.300) and No.26 on bars (48.430). In the Big Ten, sophomore Maalika Moore-Thomasranks No. 8 (38.660) in the all-around and No. 7 on vault (9.795).Senior Brittany Brown is No. 2 on floor (9.840) and senior KaylinSchlecht is No. 3 on bars (9.840). The men’s lacrosse team opensits home slate with two home games over the next five days. TheBuckeyes will host non-conference foes Penn State at noon Saturdayand Marist at 8 p.m. Monday in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. TheBuckeye squad lost a neutral-site game to Hobart last week, 13-8,in Hershey, Pa. Ohio State sophomore Kevin Buchanan led the squadwith a career-best five goals and six points vs. the Statesmen,while freshman Joel Dalgarno chipped in two tallies. The No. 3men’s gymnastics team meets No. 7 and Big Ten foe Michigan at 7p.m. Saturday at Cliff Keen Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich., to wrap upthe regular season. The Buckeyes enter the dual meet toting a 6-0record in the Big Ten after a bye last week. Big Ten Championshipsaction will be held March 24-25 in Iowa City, Iowa. The men’shockey team ended its season with two losses at Ferris State lastweekend in the first round of the CCHA playoffs. The series markedthe final games for four Buckeye seniors – captain defenseman NateGuenin, forwards Dan Knapp and Rod Pelley and goalie Dave Caruso.The quartet was a part of three NCAA tournament appearances, 92wins and the 2004 CCHA Championship team.
Junior forward Mathieu Beaudoin has been named the team’s 2005-06 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the Central Collegiate Hockey Association announced Tuesday. Each of the 12 conference schools selected one student-athlete for the honor. The CCHA Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be chosen from the group and honored at the 2006 CCHA Awards Banquet March 16 at Fox Theatre in Detroit. The faculty representative at each CCHA school, in consultation with the head coach, selected the institution’s scholar-athlete honoree. Nominees must have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 through the fall term of the selection year to receive the award. The league’s overall honoree will be chosen by a vote of the conference’s faculty representatives.
Beaudoin, from Sherbrooke, Quebec, is a finance major. He is a two-time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete and an Academic All-Big Ten selection. On the ice, Beaudoin ended the 2005-06 season with eight goals, including a team-best four gamewinners, and eight assists for 16 points in 32 games. He was the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week Nov. 21, 2005.
The No. 9 men’s tennis team (11-1) recorded a 4-1 victory vs.No. 30 Florida State (5-6) at the Scott Spiecher Tennis CenterSaturday in Tallahassee, Fla. Drew Eberly (So. Lake Forest,Ill./Lake Forest) and Bryan Koniecko (Fr. Long Island,N.Y./Syosset) beat Andrew Bailey and Maciek Sykut at No. 2 doubles9-8 (4). The Eberly, Koniecko tandem is now 7-2. The final OSUdoubles win came at the No. 3 spot when Devin Mullings (Jr.Freeport, Bahamas/Ft. Lauderdale Prepatory) and Chris Klingemann(Jr. Bradenton, Fla./Texas Tech Independent) downed JonathasSucupira and Sam Chang 8-4. Klingemann and Mullings are now 10-1 onthe season. No. 42 Mullings won his match at No. 3 singles againstSam Chang 6-3, 6-1 to improve to 13-8 on the year. Singles winsalso came at the No. 4 and 6 spots for the Buckeyes. The Ohio Statemen’s tennis team moved to No. 9 in the latest IntercollegiateTennis Association Poll released March 7. The No. 9 ranking is thehighest ever for OSU. The previous high was No. 11, a spot theBuckeyes held earlier this season. OSU next travels to MyrtleBeach, S.C., to take on Coastal Carolina March 20. Ohio State’snext home match is against Purdue April 1. All home matches areplayed at the Jesse Owens West Recreation Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Ohio State Athletics Schedule
Wednesday, March 8 – Tuesday, March 14
Wednesday, March 8
Women’s Golf at Cal Invitational
Guadalajara, Mexico
Friday, March 10
Men’s and Women’s NCAA Zone C Diving Qualifying Meet
Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatics Pavilion, Columbus, Ohio
Baseball vs. Lehigh, 3:30 p.m.
Clearwater, Fla.
Men’s Volleyball vs. Mercyhurst, 7 p.m.
St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Men’s and Women’s Track and Field at NCAA Indoor Championships
Fayetteville, Ark,
Men’s Basketball vs. Penn State/Northwestern, noon
Big Ten Tournament
Indianapolis, Ind.
Saturday, March 11
Men’s and Women’s NCAA Zone C Diving Qualifying Meet
Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatics Pavilion, Columbus, Ohio
Softball at Evansville, 11 a.m.
Softball vs. Louisville, 1 p.m.
Evansville, Ind.
Men’s Lacrosse vs. Penn State, Noon
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Baseball vs. Northern Iowa, 3:30 p.m.
Clearwater, Fla.
Women’s Gymnastics at Minnesota, 6 p.m.
Minneapolis, Minn.
Men’s Gymnastics at Michigan, 7 p.m.
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Men’s and Women’s Track and Field at NCAA Indoor Championships
Fayetteville, Ark,
Men’s Basketball Big Ten Tournament Semifinals, 4 p.m.
Indianapolis, Ind.
Sunday, March 12
Men’s and Women’s NCAA Zone C Diving Qualifying Meet
Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatics Pavilion, Columbus, Ohio
Softball vs. Evansville, 11 a.m.
Softball vs. Louisville, 1 p.m.
Evansville, Ind.
Baseball vs. Bethune-Cookman, 1 p.m.
Clearwater, Fla.
Women’s Lacrosse at Johns Hopkins, 1 p.m.
Baltimore, Maryland
Men’s Basketball Big Ten Tournament Championship Game, 3:30 p.m.
Indianapolis, Ind.
Monday, March 13
Men’s Lacrosse vs. Marist, 8 p.m.
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Tuesday, March 14
Pistol at Collegiate Nationals
Fort Benning, Ga.
