Athletics Good Stuff – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | General
Good Stuff Athletes of the Week
James Laurinaitis, a junior captain on the football team, has led or tied for the team lead in tackles in 11 of the last 15 games, including a team-best eight stops at Washington. The All-America linebacker also had two interceptions and a 5-yard sack against the Huskies, earning Big Ten defensive player of the week honors.
Men’s soccer senior tri-captain Xavier Balc set an Ohio State record Sunday with four assists in Ohio State’s 6-1 win over Cal State Fullerton at the UCLA Soccer Classic in Los Angeles. Balc’s six assists this season are tied for the national lead as he continues to build on his school record of now 27 career assists. Balc assisted on the Buckeyes’ middle four goals Sunday, including the game-winner. He also owns OSU career records for shots, ranks fourth in career points and is tied for seventh in career goals. The Buckeyes, ranked as high as No. 10 in the nation, are off to a 4-1-1 start this season.
Athletics Good Stuff
The 33-14 win at Washington was the 200th of football head coach Jim Tressel’s career. He becomes one of just 19 head coaches of Division I-A schools all-time to record 200 or more career wins. Tressel posted 135 wins at Youngstown State before taking over the Ohio State program in 2001.
Among active coaches, only Bobby Bowden (Florida State), Joe Paterno (Penn State) and Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech) also have 200 career wins.
Alice Jamen, a senior on the women’s basketball team from Yaounde, Cameroon, currently is trying out for the national team in her home country. The tryouts are for the team that will represent Cameroon in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
The men’s lacrosse team will face off against Denver in Ohio Stadium April 19, Joe Breschi, Buckeye head coach, announced Monday. The lacrosse game precedes the Buckeye football team’s annual spring game, with the lacrosse game beginning at 11 a.m., followed by football at 1:30 p.m. The lacrosse team looks to break national attendance records for Division I men’s lacrosse, including the all-time record of 52,004, set at the NCAA championship semifinals May 26 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
Tickets, which will go on sale at a later date, will be $5 and will include both games. One dollar from every ticket is used to support the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) which is held at Ohio State each summer.
The women’s tennis team opened practice over the weekend, as the squad gets set to open 2007-08 at the H-E-B Baylor Invitational Sept. 28-30 in Waco, Texas. The squad, under 11th-year head coach Chuck Merzbacher, is led by six returning letterwinners, including senior Caitlin O’Keefe and sophomore Christina Keesey, the team’s Most Valuable Player a year ago. The squad posted an 18-10 record in the dual season a year ago, tying for the second-most single-season wins in program history.
The 12th-ranked men’s soccer team is off to a 4-1-1 start after going 1-1 at the UCLA Soccer Classic last weekend in Los Angeles. The Buckeyes dropped a 3-1 match to the host and No. 10/17 Bruins Friday before rebounding for a 6-1 win over Cal State Fullerton Sunday. In that victory, senior Xavier Balc set an Ohio State record with four assists as six different Buckeyes scored a goal. Balc, who already owns the OSU career assists record (27), moved into sole possession of fourth place on the OSU all-time points list Sunday. Ohio State travels to Bowling Green Thursday for a 4 p.m. match before hosting No. 10 Northwestern at 1 p.m. Sunday in the Big Ten opener for both teams live on the Big Ten Network.
National player of the year candidate Lara Dickenmann scored from 15-yards out with 6:31 to play in the second overtime to lift the women’s soccer team to a thrilling 2-1 win over Ohio University Thursday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The win improved Ohio State’s program-best record to 6-0. The goal was Dickenmann’s third game-winner this season and the 26th goal of her career, moving her into fourth-place on the all-time Ohio State list. Lisa Collison also scored against OU. It was her first goal of the season and the 25th of her career, tying her for sixth at Ohio State.
A loss at Louisville on Sunday snapped the Buckeyes’ winning streak at six. The 6-1 mark is the second-best seven game start next to the 2003 team’s 6-0-1 start.
The game against Louisville was the first of four straight matches three of them on the road against teams that played in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Games at Duke, vs. No. 2 North Carolina (as part of the adidas Classic hosted by Duke) and home vs. Illinois are up next for the Buckeyes.
Women’s volleyball opens Big Ten play this week by hosting Northwestern (9-2) at 7 p.m. Friday and Michigan State (9-3) at 2 p.m. Sunday. Ohio State (6-3) was 1-2 last week with a 3-0 (32-30, 30-22, 30-12) win at Illinois State Tuesday behind 18 points from Briana McCarthy and 17.5 from Danielle Meyer. OSU dropped a 3-2 (27-30, 30-20, 28-30, 30-26, 16-14) decision to fourth-ranked Southern California and a 3-0 (30-17, 30-18, 30-27) loss to Oregon in the Sports Imports Classic. Meyer posted a team-high 22 points against the Trojans with McCarthy adding 16.5. Against Oregon, Meyer and McCarthy recorded 10 points each.
Junior Emily Mikac scored 5:09 into overtime as the field hockey team defeated in-state foe Miami by a score 2-1, Sept. 12 in Oxford, Ohio. Senior Yesenia Luces scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season with just over three minutes remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime. The game was the Buckeyes’ fourth of a five-game road swing that will conclude Tuesday with a 3 p.m. matchup at Ball State. Ohio State then returns to North Turf Field for the first time since Sept. 2 for two games this weekend. The Buckeyes begin their defense of their 2006 Big Ten Regular-Season Championship when they open their conference schedule against Indiana, Friday at 3 p.m. The field hockey team will follow that with their Scarlet and Gray game Sunday at 1 p.m. when it faces off against Missouri State.
The men’s cross country team won its second-consecutive meet in the Tennessee Invitational Friday. The Buckeyes swept the Top 3 spots for the second week in a row. Junior Jeff See won the 8-kilometer race with a time of 25:30.24. Sophomore Chad Balyo took second with a time of 25:27.10. Senior co-captain John Ealy rounded out the Top 3. The Buckeyes are undefeated in September the past two seasons combined, winning a total of five team titles. The Buckeyes will take a week off and then head to the Bill Dellinger Invitational Sept. 29 in Eugene, Ore.
The Ohio State women’s cross country team took sixth in the Mel Brodt Invitational Saturday in Bowling Green, Ohio. Freshman Ellen Birmingham finished sixth overall on the 5-kilometer course with a mark of 18:09.40. The Buckeyes will take a week off and then head to the South Bend, Ind., for the Notre Dame Invitational Sept. 28.
The men’s golf team, led by three in the Top 20, had a strong opening to its fall season with a fourth-place finish at the William H. Tucker Invitational. The event took place Sept. 14-15 at the par 72, 7,350-yard UNM Championship Course in Albuquerque, N.M. The Buckeyes opened with a team score of 283, what would be the lowest team round of the event, on their way to three-round total of 877 (+13). In his first collegiate event, freshman Bo Hoag tied for ninth place at even-par 216 after opening the event with a round of 5-under 67. Also finishing in the Top 20 were junior Dan Rush to was 14th at 219, including first round score of 69, and senior Kyle Coconis, who played consistently with scores of 74-73-74 to tie for 19th at 221.
The Buckeyes return to action Oct. 7-8 when they travel to Durham, N.C., to compete in the Coco-Cola Duke Golf Classic at the Duke University Golf Club.
Jim Brown, head coach of the men’s golf team, announced the hiring of Brad Sparling as the team’s associate head coach Sept. 12. Sparling joins the Buckeyes after three years with the Duke golf teams, including the interim men’s golf head coach in 2007 when he guided them to 13th place at the NCAA championships. He was the associate head coach of the Blue Devils the season before that. Prior to his promotion to associate head coach in 2006, he served as the assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s golf teams. During Sparling’s time with the Blue Devils, the women’s team won two NCAA championships as well as two Atlantic Coast Conference championships and the men’s team won its first ACC championship since 1966. The men’s team also concluded two of its seasons ranked in the Top 10 nationally and finished tied for eighth at the NCAA championships in 2005 and 12th in 2006.
The women’s golf team opened its fall season this past weekend at the Mason Rudolph Women’s Championship in Nashville, Tenn. The Buckeyes competed against a stacked field consisting of 13 of the Top 25 teams in collegiate golf. Junior Gemma Webster led the squad to its 17th place finish, placing 10th individually. Webster had a stellar performance on the third day of the event, recording three birdies and a hole-in-one on No. 3. The Buckeyes will next face competition Sept. 22-23 when they travel to the Lady Northern Invitational in University Park, Pa.
Wrestling assistant coaches Joe Heskett and Tommy Rowlands will represent the U.S. Team when they compete in the 2007 World Wrestling Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, Thursday and Friday. Heskett will compete in the 74kg freestyle weight class and Rowlands will wrestle in the 120kg freestyle group.
Fellow Buckeye assistant coach Lou Rosselli also is serving as the head coach of the U.S. Freestyle team.
Ohio State Athletics Schedule
Sept. 18-25
Tuesday, Sept. 18
Field hockey at Ball State, 3 p.m.
Muncie, Ind.
Thursday, Sept. 20
Men’s soccer at Bowling Green, 4 p.m.
Bowling Green, Ohio
Friday, Sept. 21
Field hockey vs. Indiana, 3 p.m.
Columbus, Ohio
North Turf Field
Women’s soccer vs. North Carolina, 5 p.m.
Durham, N.C.
Women’s volleyball vs. Northwestern, 7 p.m.
Columbus, Ohio
St. John Arena
Saturday, Sept. 22
Football vs. Northwestern, 3:30 p.m.
Columbus, Ohio
Ohio Stadium
Women’s golf at Lady Northern Invitational, All Day
University Park, Pa.
Sunday, Sept. 23
Men’s soccer vs. Northwestern, 1 p.m.
Columbus, Ohio
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium
Field hockey vs. Missouri State, 1 p.m.
Columbus, Ohio
North Turf Field
Women’s volleyball vs. Michigan State, 2 p.m.
Columbus, Ohio
St. John Arena
Women’s soccer at Duke, 2:30 p.m.
Durham, N.C.
Women’s golf at Lady Northern Invitational, All Day
University Park, Pa.
