Buckeye Spotlight – Jan. 23
1/23/2024 3:57:00 PM | General
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Week in and week out, Buckeye student-athletes raise the standard of excellence set at Ohio State, whether that be in competition, in the classroom or in the community. 'Buckeye Spotlight' recognizes student-athletes who had noteworthy accomplishments both in contests and beyond the box score.
Leah Bertrand | Women's Track & Field | Jr. | Point Fortin, Trinidad and Tobago
Leah Bertrand | Women's Track & Field | Jr. | Point Fortin, Trinidad and Tobago
- Leah Bertrand broke the program record in the women's 60m this past weekend, finishing in 7.20 to earn the win in the finals after finishing second in the prelims.
- This is Bertrand's second 60m win of the season as the Buckeyes have competed in just two meets. She ranks fourth in the country in the 60m.
- Justin Ciccone stuck his vault for the second week in a row to earn a career-high 14.950 and win the vault competition at the Navy Open.
- He ranks third in the country with an average score of 14.750.
- The Buckeyes won the six-team competition at the Navy Open, improving on five of their event scores from the previous meet.
- Dylan D'Emilio earned a pair of bonus-point wins against Maryland and Wisconsin last week for the Buckeyes.
- He defeated No. 17 Ethen Miller of Maryland 14-6 and No. 22 Joseph Zargo (WIS), 12-4.
- He helped the No. 7 Buckeyes improve to 11-1 overall and 3-0 in the Big Ten
- It's Michigan week in Columbus. The No. 13 Wolverines travel to face the Buckeyes at 7 p.m. Friday at the Covelli Center
- Luca Fioretto led the Buckeyes with a 21-6 record over the weekend as the Buckeyes took on top teams in New York and Philadelphia.
- Saturday at St. John's, Fioretto was 11-4, including 3-0 marks against Notre Dame and St. John's. He and the men were 3-2 as a team on the day.
- Sunday at UPenn, the freshman was 10-2, with perfect 3-0 matches vs. Yale and Penn. The men's sabre squad was 5-0 Sunday, with the men 4-1 as a team.
- The Buckeyes will close the regular season at Northwestern Feb. 3-4 before hosting the Central Collegiate Fencing Conference Championships Feb. 24-25. Ohio State will also serve as the host of the 2024 NCAA Championships March 21-24.
- Ruslan Gaziev helped the No. 14 Buckeyes to a 163-137 dual meet victory over No. 17 Michigan on Saturday.
- He picked up wins in two individual events, racing to a first-place finish in the 100 back (46.77) and the 100 free (43.21). Both times are NCAA B standard times.
- Gaziev also swam the final leg of the 400 free relay, powering the Buckeyes to a first-place finish with an overall time of 2:55.75.
- Viktor Kiss, along with Derek Keiser and Paige Hollowell, was one of three Buckeyes to post an aggregate score of 1180 or better on Sunday against TCU.
- Thanks to those three scores, Ohio State set a new team record aggregate score of 4717.
- Kiss had a score of 590 in smallbore and 595 in air rifle.
- Ohio State set its program record for an aggregate score three times this season.
- Evan Mahaffey scored a career-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting to lead the Buckeyes to a 79-67 victory over Penn State on Saturday.
- He played a career-high 31:41 minutes and also finished with five rebounds, two assists and a career-high two blocks.
- Mahaffey played 34 games last season at Penn State before transferring to Ohio State this past summer.
- He is also dealing with a lot off the court as his father is in need of a heart transplant. LINK
- Cotie McMahon led the Buckeyes to wins at -/RV Maryland and against No. 2/2 Iowa last week, averaging 23.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in the two victories. She was named AP National Player of the Week, Naismith Trophy Player of the Week, Big Ten Player of the Week and to the USBWA Starting Five.
- McMahon scored a career-high 33 points and added a season-high 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season in Sunday's win against the No. 2 Hawkeyes in front of a record crowd. Against Maryland, McMahon had 14 points and a then season-high nine rebounds, adding three assists.
- This season, McMahon is averaging 13.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
- Luciana Perry, a freshman, made an immediate impact for the Buckeyes in her first dual matches.
- Friday at No. 13 Oklahoma, Perry posted a come from behind win a Top 20 ranked player to clinch the Ohio State comeback victory. The Buckeyes trailed 3-0 but claimed the final four singles matches for the 4-3 team win. Perry and her doubles partner Sydni Ratliff were tied against the Sooners' No. 2-ranked team when the doubles point was clinched.
- Against No. 5 Oklahoma State Sunday, Perry and Ratliff topped the Cowgirls' No. 6-ranked duo in a tiebreaker to clinch the doubles point for the Buckeyes.
- Perry and the Buckeyes open their home schedule this week with ITA Kickoff Weekend matches. Ohio State will face Notre Dame at 10 a.m. Friday, with Kansas and Arizona State playing at 1 p.m. Saturday, the women's championship match will be held at 4 p.m., followed by the consolation at 7 p.m.
- Cole Young helped the No. 4 Buckeyes to a 2-0 weekend at the First Point Collegiate Challenge in Austin, Texas.
- He contributed 16 kills and nine blocks in 3-2 wins over No. 1 UCLA and No. 13 USC.
- He hit .481 for the weekend and leads 6-0 Ohio State on the year at .512.
- Ohio State hosts No. 7 Penn State Thursday (6 p.m.) and travel to State College Sunday (3 p.m.)
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