ATH: Athletics Good Stuff – Ohio State Buckeyes
7/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | General
Athletics
• Gene Smith, associate vice president and athletics director at The Ohio State University, was appointed chair of the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee for the 2010-11 academic year June 30. Smith’s term as chair will begin September 1, 2010, following formal approval by the NCAA Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet. He will succeed Dan Guerrero, who will chair the committee for the 2009-10 season.
• Ohio State finished 10th in the final 2008-09 Division I Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings released June 29. Ohio State’s 1015.80 point total was the second-best among Big Ten universities. Michigan finished fifth with 1131.80 points, while Minnesota took 14th with 975.75 points. Stanford won the Directors’ Cup for the 15th year in a row with 1455 points.
• Brett Rybak has joined the Ohio State Athletics Communications staff as an intern July 7. Rybak comes to Ohio State from Florida International University, after also previously working at Otterbein College.
• The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) awarded the Ohio State Athletics Communications and Creative Services departments with 14 honors in the 2008-09 publications contest. At the top of the list of OSU publications were the football and women’s basketball game programs. Jerry Emig and Andy DeVito produced the football program, while Adam Widman, Breanna Brasseur and Stacey Freyer collaborated on the women’s basketball program that also received best cover.
Men’s Basketball
Head coach: Thad Matta
• Evan Turner was one of four U.S. competitors to score double-digits as the 2009 USA Men’s World University Games Team (6-1) nabbed the bronze medal after downing Israel (6-2), 91-80, July 11 in Belgrade, Serbia. Turner had 10 points and three assists in the final contest.
Women’s Basketball
Head coach: Jim Foster
• Jantel Lavender added 14 points helped the 2009 USA Women’s World University Games Team (7-0) defeat Russia (6-1), 83-64, and win the gold medal at the 2009 World University Games July 11 in Belgrade, Serbia.
• Samantha Prahalis, who helped the U.S. claim gold at the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, was named to the country’s 12-member roster for the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship July 7. The USA will attempt to make it three straight golds at the ’09 U19 Worlds, scheduled for July 23-Aug. 2 in Bangkok, Thailand. The USA Women’s U19 Team will train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., July 9-16 before departing for Bangkok.
Field Hockey
Head coach: Anne Wilkinson
• Berta-Naoko Queralt O’Callaghan, gave the Spanish Under-18 National Team a two-goal lead over Scotland in the first 36 minutes of play, propelling Spain to a 4-2 victory in the championship game of the 2009 Euro Field Hockey Youth Nations July 12 in Madrid, Spain. Queralt O’Callaghan, who tallied six goals in the tournament, played in all five contests for Spain and had two multiple-goal games, including a hat trick in the opening game vs. Switzerland.
Football
Head coach: Jim Tressel
• Ohio State will be represented by three senior leaders at the 2009 Big Ten Conference Football Media Days and 38th annual Kickoff Luncheon, set for July 27-28 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago: tight end Jake Ballard, defensive back Kurt Coleman and defensive lineman Doug Worthington.
• Incoming freshmen Jack Mewhort and Storm Klein were named to the 2009 International Federation of American Football Junior World Championship All-Tournament First Team July 6 in Canton, Ohio. The two were members of the 2009 IFAF Junior World Champion squad that downed top-seeded Canada, 41-3, in the Gold Medal Game before a crowd of 15,473 fans July 5 at Fawcett Stadium.
Men’s Golf
Head coach: Donnie Darr
• Chris Yoder has been named assistant coach of the Ohio State men’s golf team, Donnie Darr, Ohio State head coach, announced July 7. Yoder joins Ohio State after six seasons as an assistant at Wake Forest.
Men’s Gymnastics
Head coach: Miles Avery
• Brandon Wynn, a rising junior for Ohio State, notched an 87.635 to place first at the 2009 Men’s Qualifier hosted by USA Gymnastics July 11 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Out of 88 contestants, Wynn also finished the meet with the top number of points in the ranking system to secure a spot at the VISA Championships Aug. 12-14 in Dallas, Texas.
• Jake Bateman, who completed his four-year Buckeye career this past season, took second with an 87.2 all-around tally while 2009 pommel horse All-American Steven Spencer posted a second-place score of 15.15 on the event to ensure that three Ohio State gymnasts will be vying for spots on the U.S. Senior National team.
• Shachar Tal will be competing at the 18th edition of the Maccabiah Games at Rav Sport Hall in Tel Aviv, Israel, July 14-15. Tal, a native of Rehovot, Israel, earned three Top 5 finishes at the last Maccabiah Games held in 2005, including a first-place finish on parallel bars.
Men’s Lacrosse
Head coach: Nick Myers
• Dave Dobbins will join Ohio State as an assistant coach, head coach Nick Myers announced July 9. Dobbins joins the Buckeyes after serving six years as an assistant coach at Salisbury University (Md.) with one of the most successful collegiate men’s lacrosse programs in the country.
Men’s Swimming and Diving
Head coach: Bill Wadley and Vince Panzano
• Ohio State head coach Bill Wadley was elected to the board of directors of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) July 1. He will serve a three-year term with the organization, which serves in a leadership capacity for the collegiate coaching community.
• Junior diver Sean Moore won a bronze medal in the 10-meter synchronized diving competition July 10 at the World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia. Teaming with partner and friend David Colturi of Purdue University, the pair totaled 383.64 points to finish third behind teams from China and Russia.
• Also at the World University Games, Stefan Sigrist finish 11th in the 800 freestyle an Ohio State and Swiss national record time of 8:07.45 while also setting records in the 1500 freestyle with a ninth place finish of 15:3.07. George Markovic also set two Ohio State and Serbian national records at the games, finishing 11th in the 400 freestyle (3:52.19) and fifth in the 200 freestyle (1:48.34).
• Niksa Roki, swimming at the Croatian Nationals, swam Ohio State and Croatian national records in the 400 IM (4:21.60) and the 200 IM (2:00.91) to take first in both events. Roki also swam the leadoff leg of the winning 400 medley relay team.
• Freshman Tim Phillips placed 13th in the 100 meter butterfly at the ConocoPhillips U.S. Swimming World Championship trials in Indianapolis.
Women’s Swimming
Head coach: Bill Dorenkott
• Ohio State swimmers Megan Alexander, Katelyn Brix and Jill Lockhart competed at the 2009 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships and World Championship Trials July 7-12 at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Ind.
• Haley Mitchell, a senior from Walled Lake, Mich., swam for the United States at the 18th Maccabiah Games in Israel, while junior Samantha Cheverton, from Lachine, Quebec, competed at the Canadian World Championship Trials July 8-11 in Montreal.
Wrestling
Head coach: Tom Ryan
• Tom Ryan, Ohio State head coach, has been credited with bringing the10th-best recruiting class in the nation to Ohio State for 2009-10 season, according to internet publication InterMatwrestle.com. In addition to early National Letter of Intent signees Nick Heflin, Ian Paddock, Collin Palmer and Jacob Vaughan last November, the Buckeyes received a NLI from Johnson City, N.Y., native Peter Capone in June.
• The 2009-10 wrestling schedule has been release on OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
