Athletics Good Stuff – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | General
May 2, 2006
Athletes of the Week
Ohio State’s fifth-ranked first varsity eight boat of CharlottGoldstein (Fr., Berlin, Germany), Jana Schiller (Sr., Marquardt,Germany), Susanne Herbrand (Fr., Magdeburg, Germany), NinettKossowsky (Sr., Leipzig, Germany), Gabriele Albertaviciute (So.,Vilnius, Lithuania), Beth Tompkins (Sr., Westerville, Ohio),Annabelle Fago (Jr., Giessen, Germany), Jessica Shepherd (Jr.,Richmond, Ohio) and coxswain Colleen Saville (Fr., SaratogaSprings, N.Y.) opened the Grand Final races at the Big Tenchampionships Saturday by winning with a time of 6:46.2, 1.6seconds ahead of second-place No. 8 Michigan. The Buckeyes alsodefeated No. 6 Michigan State (6:53.4) and No. 17 Minnesota(6:48.8) in the Grand Final.
Kossowsky, Tompkins and Fago were each named First Team All-Big Ten. It is the second-consecutive year Fago, who was the 2004 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, has been named to the first team. It is also the second honor for Kossowsky, who was named to the second team last season. For Tompkins, it is the first conference award of her career. Shepherd and sophomore Albertaviciute were selected to the second team for the first conference honors of either of their careers.
Men’s tennis freshman Bryan Koniecko (Long Island,N.Y./Syosset) defeated Illinois’ Ryler DeHeart at No. 1 singles tohelp the 10th-ranked Buckeyes defeat No. 6 Illinois 4-2 in thetitle match of the 2006 Big Ten Tournament Sunday in Minneapolis.Koniecko, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, downed DeHeart, the BigTen Player of the Year, in straight sets, 7-6 (4), 6-1. DeHeart isranked No. 9 nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Associationin singles. Koniecko (23-12) is ranked No. 40. Ohio State (25-1)won both the regular season (10-0) and league tournament titles inthe same year for the first time in school history.
Athletics Good Stuff
The men’s tennis team improved to 25-1 overall with three winsover the weekend at the 2006 Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis. TheBuckeyes defeated No. 6 Illinois 4-2 to claim Ty Tucker’s secondtournament title as head coach of the Buckeyes. Ohio State won boththe regular season and tournament titles this year, a programfirst. Ohio State will find out where it will be playing in the2006 NCAA Men’s Tennis Team Tournament Wednesday. The selectionshow will be televised live at 8:30 p.m. in ESPNews. The Buckeyesare the Big Ten’s automatic qualifier to the event, which beginsMay 12-14 with first and second round competitions on campus sites.The Round of 16 resumes at Stanford May 20-23. Ohio State will bemaking its seventh-consecutive appearance in the team tournament,all under Tucker’s direction. The fifth-ranked rowing team won the2006 Big Ten Championships Saturday at Lake Phalen in St. Paul,Minn., for the program’s second conference title. Both the firstand second varsity eight boats, seeded No. 1 in their respectiveraces, won their Grand Finals and the No. 2-seeded second varsityfour placed second in its Grand Final as the Buckeyes led the pointstandings throughout the event. Ohio State adds the 2006 trophy toits championship from 2002. The Buckeyes are just the second team,along with Michigan, to hold more than one Big Ten rowingchampionship. OSU finished with 130 points. Host school Minnesotawas second with 121 points and Michigan State took third at 113.The first varsity eight boat opened the Grand Final races bywinning with a time of 6:46.2, 1.6 seconds ahead of second-placeMichigan. The second varsity eight followed with a victory in theirGrand Final as well, clocking in at 6:55.0 to win the event andedge Michigan State by one second. The second varsity four alsoraced in its Grand Final, finishing second to Minnesota with a timeof 8:04.6 to the Gophers’ 8:01.9.
After the conclusion of the event, five Ohio State rowers were named to the All-Big Ten teams. Seniors Ninett Kossowsky (nin-ET kos-SOW-ski) and Beth Tompkins as well as junior Annabelle Fago (FOG-o) were first team honorees. Junior Jessica Shepherd and sophomore Gabriele Albertaviciute (al-bert-a-vi-CHOO-tay) were second team selections. Senior Katie Machingo (ma-CHING-o) earned the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
The Buckeyes will next compete May 13-14 at the South/Central Region Championships in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Ohio State, the three-time defending Central Region champ, is looking for its fourth title in as many seasons.
The No. 22 women’s golf team finished second at the Big TenChampionships April 28-30. The Buckeyes were seven strokes from thelead, carding 1,185 over the 72-hole event. Dana Je (JAY) earnedfirst team All-Big Ten honors following the tournament. Je finishedthe championships tied for eighth with 298 on her scorecard.Carling Coffing and Stephanie Connelly garnered second team All-BigTen honors. Coffing had the best finish of the Buckeyes. She tiedfor second (292), one shot behind the event’s medalist. Connellytied for 15th. She shot 303 at her first Big Ten championships.Jennifer Selfinger was named Ohio State’s sportsmanship honoree.The Buckeyes will next make their 10th-consecutive appearance inNCAA tournament action. They will travel to College Station, Texas,May 11-13 for the NCAA Central Region Competition.
Ohio State will play host to the 2006 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships May 23-26. The four rounds of competition will be held on the Ohio State University Scarlet Course. Each round will cost $10, while an all-session pass is available for $20. Practice rounds will have no charge. A complete schedule is available at ohiostatebuckeyes.com. For tickets please visit hangonsloopy.com.
Synchronized swimmers Leah (LEE) and Leayn (lee-ANN) Pinettewere named to the U.S. National Team II roster April 27 at the 2006U.S. National Championships at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complexin Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The twin sisters are two-time Team IIqualifiers, as they were members of the 2005 group.
The Team II squad will open its 2006 campaign at the U.S. Open July 16-22 in Orlando, Fla.
The men’s lacrosse (6-6, 3-2 GWLL) team wraps up the regularseason with a game at Army at 7 p.m. Saturday that will betelevised live on ESPNU. The squad closed Great Western LacrosseLeague action with a 10-8 loss at Notre Dame last Saturday. SeniorAndrew Bender led the squad with three assists and points, whileJosh Wittenberg, Jason Lutz and Craig Nolan each chipped in twogoals. Women’s lacrosse (4-12 overall, 1-4 ALC) lost 16-4 to No. 2Northwestern Friday and defeated Rutgers, 14-9, Sunday to close outthe 2006 season. Against Northwestern, Kristen Hannon had two goalsand KC Carter and Jessica Patane had one each against the Wildcats.Carter and Kelyn Laws had three goals each against Rutgers withPatane, Lindsay Weiner and Andrea Fischer adding two each. KristenGilwee had the win in goal for her fourth victory of the season.Men’s volleyball (20-12) closed out the 2006 season with a 3-0(30-24, 30-23, 30-23) loss to eighth-ranked Loyola in the MIVATournament Semifinals at Loyola. Mark Greaves and Andy Cole scoreda team-high 9.5 points each in the contest. Greaves had nine killsand an assist block while Cole had eight kills and three assistblocks. Layne Dreven contributed a team-high five assist blocksagainst the Ramblers. Baseball improved to 27-14 overall and 12-8in the conference after winning the first three games of the Purdueseries before missing the sweep with a one-run loss Sunday in thefinale. The Buckeyes won 10-5 Friday and swept the doubleheaderSaturday by scores of 4-0 and 4-1. Purdue won game four, 7-6, afterstopping a late rally. Third baseman Ronnie Bourquin led theBuckeyes in the series, batting .667 at the plate with 10 hits andhad five RBI and scored four runs to pick up Big Ten Player of theWeek honors. The junior from Canton, Ohio (Canton South), had aslugging percentage of .733 and an on-base percentage of .688.Bourquin overtook Purdue’s Mitch Hilligoss for the Big Ten battinglead in the head-to-head matchup. Bourquin is batting .426 andleads the Big Ten with 69 hits and 50 RBI. Dan DeLucia won hisconference-best seventh decision this year in the 10-5 victoryFriday. Ohio State will play host to Eastern Michigan in itsnext-to-last midweek home game Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. at Bill DavisStadium. The game with the Eagles is Johnsonville Buck-A-BratNight. Ohio State heads back on the road for the last time duringthe 2006 regular season this weekend when it travels to Lansing,Mich., for a four-game Big Ten series vs. Michigan State atOldsmobile Park. The Buckeyes and Spartans meet at 2:05 p.m. Fridayand continue the series with a doubleheader Saturday at 5:05 p.m.The series concludes Sunday with a single game at 1:05 p.m. Thelast three games of the series will be broadcast on AM 920 WMNI.Members of the track and field teams completed three days ofcompetition Saturday in the final events at the 106th running ofthe Penn Relays in Philadelphia.
The throwers and relay teams highlighted the weekend for the men’s side. Pat Whalen (WAY-len) won the college division of the shot put with a top mark of 57 feet. Friday, Lenny Jatsek heaved a seventh-place mark (52-4) in the collegiate shot put championship. He backed up that effort with a heave of 189-2 in the hammer Saturday for sixth place. Thursday, Brian Olinger (OH-linger) ran a second-place time (8:45.05) in the 3,000-meter steeplechase collegiate championship.
In the relays, the men’s distance medley consisted of freshmen Matt Comer (COMB-er) and Jeff See, Gerald Griffin and Olinger and placed 10th (9:43.84) in the collegiate championships section. Later Friday, Adam Wilhelm joined Comer, Griffin and See in the sprint medley relay and finished sixth-place overall (3:23.89).
For the women, Keturah (KAH-tor-ah) Lofton heaved a season-best throw (197-5 ¾) to take third in the women’s hammer collegiate championship Thursday. Also in throws, Janine Zylinski (ZIL-in-skee) took 12th in the women’s collegiate shot put championship (45-6). Jessica Stringer took seventh in the high jump (5-8 ¾). The Buckeyes close out the 2006 regular season and home slate Friday and Saturday with the Jesse Owens Track Classic in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
The women’s tennis team (13-13; 3-8 Big Ten) ended its seasonwith a 4-2 loss to host Illinois in the first round of the Big Tentournament last Thursday. The softball team (35-18, 11-5 Big Ten)enters the final week of the regular season this week with a homedoubleheader against Oakland at 5 p.m. Wednesday and Big Ten gamesat Penn State at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The Buckeyes are inthird place in the Big Ten and could earn as high as the No. 2 seedin the conference tournament next weekend. Sophomore BrittanyVanderink was named the Big Ten Player of the Week Monday afterupping her average in conference games to a Big Ten-best .481.Pitcher Kim Reeder (15-8, 1.76 ERA) is closing in on nearly everyOSU freshman pitching record.
Ohio State Athletics Schedule
Wednesday, May 3 – Sunday, May 7
Wednesday, May 3
Softball vs. Oakland, 5 and 7 p.m.
Buckeye Field, Columbus, Ohio
Baseball vs. Eastern Michigan, 6:35 p.m.
Bill Davis Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Friday, May 5
Baseball at Michigan State, 2:05 p.m.
Lansing, Mich.
Jesse Owens Track Classic
Collegiate Field Events, 4 p.m.
Collegiate Track Events, 8 p.m.
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Saturday, May 6
Jesse Owens Track Classic
High School Events, 10 a.m.
Collegiate Field Events, 3 p.m.
Collegiate Track Events, 5 p.m.
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Softball at Penn State, 1 p.m.
State College, Pa.
Baseball at Michigan State, 5:05 and 7:35 p.m.
Lansing, Mich.
Men’s Lacrosse at Army, 7 p.m.
West Point, N.Y.
Sunday, May 7
Softball at Penn State, 1 p.m.
State College, Pa.
Baseball at Michigan State, 1:05 p.m.
Lansing, Mich.
