Athletics Good Stuff – Ohio State Buckeyes
7/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | General
Athletics Good Stuff
Men’s basketball sophomore guard David Lighty was selected to play for the United States Under 19 World Championship team last week. Lighty scored four points in an exhibition game against China Sunday in a 91-75 U.S. victory. The team will play another exhibition Thursday against Africa followed by a meeting with Puerto Rico Friday. The United States begins group play July 12. There are four groups of four teams in the 2007 FIBA U10 World Championship tournament. The U.S. team is in Group B with China, Mali and Serbia. The United States squad is currently training in Dallas. The World Championship tournament will be held in Novi Sad, Serbia, beginning July 12 and running through July 22. The United States opens preliminary round competition against Mali at noon July 12 at the Novi Sad Sports and Business Center Vojvodina.
Marscilla Packer, a senior guard on the women’s basketball team, has helped the USA Basketball U21 team to a 5-0 start at the 2007 FIBA U21 World Championships this week in Moscow. Packer netted 10 points in the Americans’ latest victory over Japan, 98-57, Wednesday, and had eight points in the USA’s 81-62 triumph vs. Spain. Packer is averaging 5.4 points off the bench for USA and leads the team with nine steals.
The Americans begin medal round play Friday vs. Belgium in a quarterfinal match up.
Emma Jandel, who just completed her freshman season as a member of the Ohio State women’s golf team, won the 84th Women’s Ohio Amateur Championship Friday at the Country Club of Ashland. Jandel was down six strokes in the match-play format with 14 holes to play and never led the event until the final hole, but rallied to defend her 2006 title. She is the first back-to-back champion since Diana Schwab, who won it in 1989 and 1990. Jandel, a native of Dayton, Ohio, advanced to the final match-up with a 3-and-2 win in the fourth round. She then faced 2005 champion Kathleen Ekey in the 36-hole final and won the event 1-up on 37 holes.
Jandel competed in all 34 rounds of 2006-07 in her first season as a Buckeye. She finished in the Top 20 of five tournaments, including a 17th-place finish at the Big Ten championships.
Jenna Harris, a senior sprinter on the women’s track and field team, was named ESPN The Magazine Women’s Track and Field/Cross Country Third Team Academic All-American June 26. The voting was conducted by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Harris, a multiple Big Ten champion and All-American, earned all-district status for the third year in a row.
A native of Somerset, N.J., Harris carries a 3.95 grade point average (4.0 scale) in marketing. She redshirted the 2007 outdoor season after winning the Big Ten 60-meter dash for the second time in her career indoors. Two weeks later, she added her first All-America honor while shattering the Ohio State record in the 400-meter dash (52.74) at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships. Harris will complete her collegiate career after the 2008 outdoor season. The 2005 Big Ten 60- and 100-meter champion, Harris also was named Academic All-District IV in 2005 and ’06. She was one of 13 members of the women’s team named 2007 Academic All-Big Ten.
DJ Bucher and incoming freshman Sean Regan of the men’s gymnastics team qualified for the 2007 VISA Championships at the June U.S. Men’s National Qualifier in Colorado Springs, Colo. The two will compete Aug. 15-18 in San Jose, Calif. Former Buckeyes Blaine Wilson (1994-97) and Raj Bhavsar (2000-03) are also slated to compete at the championships with hopes of making the world or national teams. Paul and Morgan Hamm, who train at Ohio State under Buckeye head coach Miles Avery, make their return the USA Gymnastics competitions after taking time off to finish their undergraduate studies at the university.
The National Fastpitch Coaches Association has named Big Ten Softball Coach of the Year Linda Kalafatis and her assistants as the Great Lakes Region Coaching Staff of the Year. Kalafatis, along with assistant coaches Ali Viola and Erica Beach and volunteer assistant Kim Doran, guided the Buckeyes to a historic season in which they captured the program’s first Big Ten title in 17 years and it’s first Big Ten tournament championship. The Buckeyes finished the year 40-18, won back-to-back NCAA tournament games for the first time and came one win away from a berth in the Super Regional.
Greg Miller of the women’s soccer team was promoted to associate head coach Lori Walker, head coach, announced June 30. Miller joined the Buckeyes in 2001 and has served as the recruiting coordinator for the past three seasons. Miller best demonstrated his recruiting talents this past year when the 2007 incoming class was named the No. 1 group in the Big Ten Conference and 13th in the nation by SoccerBuzz.com.
Wrestling incoming freshmen Colt Sponseller and Nikko Triggas were named Wrestler of the Year in their respective regions June 29 by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. Sponseller was the top wrestler in Region 4 and Triggas was No. 1 in Region 8.
Most recently Triggas won the gold medal in the Greco-Roman competition before winning the bronze medal in the freestyle at the 2007 Pan American Juniors Championships in Maracaibo, Venezuela, June 23-24.
Sponseller and Triggas are a part of the 2007 OSU incoming class that was ranked as high as second in the nation in the W.I.N. recruiting standings.
Incoming men’s hockey forwards, John Albert and C.J. Severyn, were selected in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft Saturday in Columbus, Ohio. Albert, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, was picked in the sixth round with the 175th selection by the Atlanta Thrashers and Severyn, from Beaver, Pa., was selected in the seventh round by the Calgary Flames with the 186th pick. Albert signed an NCAA National Letter of Intent with Ohio State in November 2006, while Severyn signed his NLI in May. Albert and Severyn both played for the U.S. National Team Development Program the past two seasons. The duo was on the silver medal-winning teams at the 2007 IIHF World Under-18 Championship and the 2006 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
Former men’s lacrosse defenseman Greg Bice has been selected to play in the sixth annual Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game. The game will be held at 12:30 p.m. July 8 at Harvard Stadium and will be broadcast live on ESPN2. Bice, who plays for the Los Angeles Riptide, will play on the Western Conference Team. The all-stars were selected by the league’s head coaches, general managers and players.
Bice, a native of Helotes, Texas, was a four-year letterwinner for the Buckeyes from 2001-04. As a senior, he was named a STX/USILA Second Team All-American and shared Great Western Lacrosse League co-Player of the Year honors with teammate Tony Russo. Bice is second to former Buckeye Anthony Kelly in picking up ground balls for the Riptide.
