Posted October 25 2000, 10:40 am
Posted by: Ryan Maurer
Wittenberg captures NCAC Players of the Week in men's and women's cross country
Athletes representing Wittenberg's fall sports teams have had tremendous success in 2000, and the rewards have been reaped in the form of NCAC Player of the Week selections. The flood of awards continued this week with the selection of junior women's cross country runner Sarah Weide (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead) and men's cross country runner Dave Hyde (Naperville, Ind./Naperville Central) as POWs in their respective fields. There is no better time to peak than at the end of the season, and Wittenberg Men's & Women's Cross Country Head Coach Steve Shutt says his athletes are doing just that. Every runner entered in Saturday's Wilmington Fall Classic accomplished a season-best time.
Weide, who qualified for the NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships last year in the 800-meter run, finished 10th at Saturday's meet with a time of 20:05.7. She is one of the team's captains in 2000.
Hyde has been solid this year as one of the team's captains. He posted a time of 27:20.6 at Wilmington to finish 17th.
Weide and Hyde join senior football standout Casey Donaldson (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern), women's soccer freshmen Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) and Kate Williston (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster), men's soccer junior Steve Cassiere (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin), field hockey sophomore Emily Duh (Hellertown, Pa./Saucon Valley) and volleyball sophomores Brittany Baume (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) and Teresa Murphy (Blacklick, Ohio/Newark Catholic) as 2000 NCAC Player of the Week selections.
Battling to the end Volleyball clinches NCAC title; Women's Soccer rallies
to claim first-ever NCAC tournament berth
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MEN'S and WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
In a final tune-up for the 2000 North Coast Athletic Conference meet, scheduled for this weekend at Oberlin College, the Wittenberg runners who participated in the Wilmington Fall Invitational did exceptionally well. In particular, junior Sarah Weide (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead) and junior Dave Hyde (Naperville, Ind./Naperville Central) managed top-10 finishes to lead their teams and earn NCAC Player of the Week status (see boxed story above).
On the men's side, Hyde finished 17th with a season best time of 27:20.6. He led the team, which was without top runner Nick DeWald (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior), to a 13th-place finish in the meet. Also scoring well for the Tigers were freshman Tim Damopolous (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City) and junior Luke Clarkson (Bascom, Ohio/Hopewell-Louden), both of whom posted season best times en route to 56th and 57th place respectively.
For the women, Weide led the Tigers to an 8th-place finish by running a season-best 20:05.7 and finishing 10th. Wittenberg, which was without two of its other top three runners, also got season-best efforts and good finishes from freshman Becky Barnes (Williamsport, Ohio/Westfall) and freshman Jenny Brill (Worthing, Ohio/Thomas Worthington), who finished 43rd and 47th respectively.
Next 10/28 @ NCAC Championships (Oberlin)
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FIELD HOCKEY (12-4, 9-2 NCAC)
Coach Marianne Beshara (first season)
The Tigers held their destiny in their own hands, but they were unable to lock up an outright NCAC championship, falling 3-0 to red-hot Wooster - winner of seven straight - in a conference match on Sunday.
The loss dropped the Tigers a half-game behind defending conference champion Denison going into Wednesday night's match against Ohio Wesleyan at Edwards-Maurer Field. The event, scheduled for 5 p.m., will pick up where the Oct. 4 contest left off, with Wittenberg ahead 1-0 at halftime. A win makes the Tigers co-champions of the NCAC for the 2000 campaign.
Last week, Wittenberg was busy, starting off with a trip to Philadelphia. On Oct. 22, the Tigers defeated Neumann College, 2-1, on goals by seniors Kelly McMullen (East Amherst, NY/The Nichols School) and Kacy Heinmiller (Bexley, Ohio/Bexley). Junior goalkeeper Georgina Klinzing (Gasport, NY/Royalton Hartland) stopped eight shots to preserve the win.
On Monday, the Tigers dropped a 3-2 decision to Gwynedd Mercy. McMullen and Heinmiller again had the goals, and Wittenberg outshot its hosts, but Gwynedd Mercy still got the best of things.
Back in conference action on Saturday, the Tigers fell behind 1-0 at Ohio Wesleyan with about 14 minutes remaining in the first half. But showing the mettle of the ranked team it is, Wittenberg rallied behind a pair of freshmen. Katie Babcock (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney) and Barb Keselman (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) scored the tying and winning goals just before halftime, and the Tigers hung on from there to claim the victory.
On Sunday, the Tigers didn't have the answers. Wooster, which had dropped a 4-1 decision at Edwards-Maurer Field earlier this year, took command early and, despite being outshot 17-16, cruised home with the win to lock up third place in the NCAC behind Denison and Wittenberg.
Next 10/25 vs. Ohio Wesleyan (conclusion of suspended game)
10/28-29 @ KIT/NCAC Tournament (Memphis, TN)
FOOTBALL (8-0, 5-0 NCAC)
Coach Joe Fincham (fifth season)
Wittenberg kept its 2000 record perfect on Saturday, jumping out to a 17-0 lead by the end of the first quarter and cruising to a 37-7 victory over host Ohio Wesleyan. The Tigers, who now have won 29 straight regular season games and 20 consecutive NCAC contests, remain alone atop the conference standings in their quest for a third straight outright championship heading into this weekend's homecoming battle with Hiram College at Edwards-Maurer Field in Springfield.
Next 10/28 vs. Hiram
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MEN'S SOCCER (10-5-1, 4-3 NCAC)
Coach Steve Dawson (18th season)
Once again living on the edge, the Tigers pulled back into contention for one of the four NCAC tournament berths with a pair of hard-fought, one-goal victories last week. Wittenberg, which exceeded its win from last year with two still remaining, defeated Kenyon, 3-2, in overtime on Oct. 18 and Hiram, 2-1, on Oct. 21 to improve to 7-2 in one-goal games and 2-2-1 in overtime affairs.
In the victory over the visiting Lords, sophomore Mike Shirilla (Petosky, Mich./Petosky) netted the first goal off a pass from junior Steve Cassiere (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin) and senior Matt Brewer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin) added a second first half goal off an assist from junior Chad Atwood (Nashport, Ohio/Tri-Valley). But Kenyon rallied for a pair of second half goals to force overtime, which was ended abruptly when freshman Taggart Suddes (Ostrander, Ohio/Dublin Coffman), the team's leading scorer, found the back of the net off an assist from freshman Steve Doring (Dayton, Ohio/Huber Heights Wayne).
On Saturday, the Tigers once again were in a pitched battle, tied 0-0 at halftime. Sophomore Matt Lapish (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich./South) netted a goal and an assist, while freshman Tim Fogler (Glen Ellen, Ill./Kenston) added the other tally.
Wittenberg is back at it again this week with a pair of crucial games. The Tigers travel to Richmond, Ind. for a game with Earlham on Wednesday, and then Denison visits Bill Edwards Field on Saturday for Parents Day in a game that could determine who's in and who's out of the NCAC tournament. Seniors Chris Cea (Delaware, OH/Buckeye Valley), Matt Brewer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin), Adam Greenwood (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster), Andrew Krueger (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and Sam Jodka (Indianapolis, Ind./Park Tudor) will be honored.
Next 10/25 @ Earlham
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WOMEN'S SOCCER (10-6, 4-4 NCAC)
Coach Fran Kulas (second season)
Just a few short weeks ago, it didn't seem plausible. A young Wittenberg team that had torn through its pre-NCAC schedule had seemingly peaked with a six-game win streak. Since a high-water mark of 7-1, the Tigers were defeated four straight times on the road to fall to 1-4 in the NCAC.
But the Tigers rallied to win their last three regular season conference games - 4-1 over Earlham on Oct. 11, 1-0 over Oberlin on Oct. 14 and then 6-1 over Hiram on Oct. 21. With Saturday's win at Hiram, the Tigers forged a three-way tie for fourth place at 4-4 with Wooster and Kenyon, and they were awarded the final tournament spot based on a total points tiebreaker. Only the top four teams make it, and the Tigers will head to Meadville, Pa. on Wednesday as the No. 4 seed.
Wittenberg will take on top-seeded Allegheny, which won the regular season title based on tiebreaker criteria as well. The Tigers lost to the Gators, 4-2, on Sept. 30 in Meadville.
Ohio Wesleyan, the second seed, takes on third-seeded Denison in the other semifinal match-up. The first round winners square off on Saturday, Oct. 28 to determine the NCAC's representative in the NCAA Division III playoffs.
Wittenberg started last week off on a down note, however. On Senior Day at Bill Edwards Field, the Tigers were beaten by visiting non-conference foe Cedarville 2-1 in overtime. Freshman forward Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) scored Wittenberg's lone goal late in regulation to force the extra session, but the Yellow Jackets won it with a goal just five minutes into the overtime period.
It was the final home appearance for seniors Shana Ryan (London, Ohio/London), a defensive back who has been named All-NCAC in each of her first three seasons, and Natalie Estep (Fairborn, Ohio/Fairborn), a midfielder and the team's second-leading scorer with 10 goals and six assists in 2000.
The resilient Tigers came right back on Saturday, however, to score six important goals in the NCAC match at Hiram. After a scoreless first half, Woessner turned a hat trick and Estep, freshman forward Jill Rekers (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) and sophomore midfielder Emily Gersbach (Hamilton, Ohio/Badin) all added goals to make up the crucial final scoring margin.
Woessner, who tops the NCAC in scoring, has now tied the Wittenberg record for goals in a season with 18. The record was previously set by Karen Larson in 1993.
Next 10/25 @ Allegheny (NCAC Tournament)
MEN'S &
WOMEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING
(1-1 & 2-0)
Coach Bob Rueppel (sixth season)
The Tigers opened the 2000 season with a bang, as the women's team won twice over visiting Transylvania and Carnegie Mellon and the men split a pair with the same two schools.
On the women's side, freshman Nicole Kinzelar (Centerville, Ohio/Archbishop Alter) won the 100-yard backstroke, junior Melissa Beck (Williamsville, NY/Carmel) captured the 200- and 100-yard butterfly, freshman Courtney Gallinger (Eagan, Minn./Eagan) took the 50-yard freestyle, senior Allison Dingus (Lexington, Ky./Catholic) and junior Rachel Jurgens (Springfield, Ohio/North) was victorious in the 500-yard freestyle. Wittenberg beat Transylvania, 148-78, and Carnegie Mellon, 136-95.
For the men, no swimmers won any events, but senior Aaron Edsall (Circleville, Ohio/Circleville) took a pair of seconds, in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke, and freshman Steve Rader (Concord, Ohio/St. Ignatius) was runner-up in the 200-yard freestyle.
Next 10/28 @ NCAC Relays (Kenyon)
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VOLLEYBALL (26-6, 8-0 NCAC)
Coach Connie Surowicz (seventh season)
The Tigers concluded the regular season portion of their NCAC schedule with the same results as each of the last two seasons - with a string of impressive victories and momentum as the team to beat in the NCAC tournament.
Wittenberg defeated Wooster and Oberlin by 3-0 scores on Saturday to lay claim to a third straight perfect NCAC regular season. In the win over the host Scots, sophomore Brittany Baume (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) recorded 15 kills in limited playing time as the Tigers swept to a 15-4, 15-10, 15-6 victory. In the second match of the day, Wittenberg was too much for Oberlin in a 15-3, 15-3, 15-6 victory that was highlighted by freshman Michelle Emming (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mt. Notre Dame) and her season-high 11 kills.
Wittenberg, which has not suffered a losing season since 1989, carries a nine-match win streak into Wednesday's Senior Night contest with Thomas More at 7 p.m. at the HPER Center. After that, the team heads to Calvin for the weekend before returning home to host an NCAC tournament match against Hiram at 7 p.m. on Oct. 31. The top-seeded Tigers now have a 25-match regular season NCAC win streak dating back to a 1997 loss at Case Western Reserve. A win over the eighth-seeded Terriers will bring the NCAC semifinals and finals back to Wittenberg for a third straight year.
Next 10/25 vs. Thomas More (Senior Night)