Ohio Northern Sports Year in Review -
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August 5, 2005 By Zach Stipe Before beginning yet another chapter in Ohio Northern sports this fall, let us first take a quick look back at the 2004-05 year in sports. In the final installment of a three-part series, we remember the 2005 spring season. | Baseball | Softball | MTennis | WTennis | MGolf | WGolf | Baseball Upon returning to Ohio, the Polar Bears stayed hot compiling an 11-5 record to start the season. However, ONU faltered down the stretch, losing to some tough conference competition to end the 2005 campaign. Sophomore shortstop Paul Day earned Honorable Mention All-OAC. Day led ONU in hits (46), runs scored (31), RBIs (30), total bases (74) and slugging percentage (.514). He also started all 38 games, had a batting average of .319 and hit three home runs. Sophomore second baseman Josh Conkey led the team with a .346 batting average and also hit three home runs. Senior outfielder Nathan Bornhorst led the team with 23 walks was named First Team Academic All-OAC and Second Team Academic All-District IV. Senior Brett Auer led the pitching staff with four complete games and five wins. After a 3-0 complete game shutout of Mount Union in the latter half of a doubleheader on April 3, Auer was named the OAC Pitcher of the Week. Sophomore Nick Ornella led the team with a 3.26 ERA in 12 appearances. Junior Adam Crane led the team with 51 strikeouts and amassed a record of 3-4. Softball Senior pitcher Erin Rupp earned OAC Softball Pitcher of the Week three times during her final collegiate season. She led the team with a 9-4 record, a 1.63 ERA and 82 strikeouts. She recorded 211 strikeouts during her career, good enough for second on the ONU all-time list. Freshman third baseman Lynda Thomas led the team with .317 batting average and was tied with senior centerfielder Jessica Kasper for the team lead with 12 RBIs. Kasper started every game for the Polar Bears and also led the team with 11 doubles. Junior first baseman Kara Kreisher and freshman Jenny Plunket led the team with 17 runs scored a piece. Senior second baseman Amanda Kalal earned First-Team Academic All-OAC, while ranking second on the team with a .287 batting average. Junior outfielder Jessica Headings earned Honorable Mention Academic All-OAC and batted .283, good for fourth on the team. Both Kasper and Kreisher joined ONU’s 100-Hit Club during the 2004 season. Kasper accomplished the feat on April 13 against Wilmington, while Kreisher joined the club on April 19 at Heidelberg. Men’s Tennis From February 27 to March 3, the team took a spring break trip to Florida to open its season. They battled foes from Indiana, Michigan, Florida and Canada to go 2-3 in their five matches. The Polar Bears returned to Ohio to win 10 of their final 13 regular season matches. Freshman Micah Scott posted a 32-14 overall record en route to being named First Team All-OAC. Scott was 8-1 at number one singles in the OAC. Freshman Bart Schenck earned Second Team All-OAC off the strength of his 27-15 overall record. Senior Josh Hafer ended a stellar career at Ohio Northern by winning the prestigious Clyde Lamb Award given to the university’s top student-athlete. Hafer topped off his collegiate tennis career by earning Honorable Mention All-OAC, his fourth straight All-OAC honor. This season Hafer accumulated a 24-16 overall record and ended with a career record of 121-41. He leaves ONU as one of only nine players ever to amass 100 wins. Women’s Tennis Junior Melanie Oleski earned First Team All-OAC honors on the strength of her outstanding play at number one singles and number two doubles. Oleski finished with a 45-17 total record. Freshman Kaitlyn MacDonald won every OAC match she competed in and posted a team best 48 total wins to also earn First Team All-OAC. Junior Ashley Jones went 9-0 in OAC singles matches to help her gain Second Team All-OAC honors. Freshman Bridget Larsen teamed with Jones at number one doubles and had a 42-15 overall record en route to Second Team All-OAC accolades. Freshman Courtney Anderson did not lose a regular season match and finished with an overall record of 34-2 while earning Honorable Mention All-OAC. Senior Karen Lee garnered First Team Academic All-OAC and Honorable Mention All-OAC awards. Lee had an overall record of 35-7 in her final collegiate season. Lee finished her career as Ohio Northern’s all-time leader in singles, doubles and total wins, amassing a 139-33 career record. Men’s Golf The team’s best finishes were at the September 18-19 Wittenberg Invitational and the April 17 John Carroll Invitational, where golfers hit their way to sixth place finishes. Freshman Steve Mullalley, who only competed in the two invitaionals during the fall had the team’s best average at 81.5 and the teams best round with a 74. Senior David Parr had the second best average on the team with an 81.9 while playing in every single match, but one, this year for the Polar Bears. Senior Chris Farris capped off his career in superb fashion by shooting a career high 75 on the first day of the OAC Championships before coming back to shoot an 81 to finish 21st in conference and lead the Polar Bears. Senior Troy Hunsicker was third on the squad with an 83.1 average, while freshman Wes Immler was fourth with an 83.5 average. Women’s Golf The Polar Bears won the September 19 Wilmington Invitational and the September 26 ONU Fall Invitational. The team ended the year with a fourth place finish at the OAC Championships on April 28-29 held at Baldwin-Wallace. Freshman Meagan Brennan set the school record for low 18-hole score in her first collegiate competition when she shot a 79 to finish third at the September 13 Jon P. Speiss Memorial Tournament. Brennan capped off her first season much like she started it, finishing tied for third at the OAC Championships with a school record 36-hole score of 170 to earn All-OAC honors. Sophomores Kassi Karlen and Ashley Raderstorf and freshman Amy Gillen also shot in the 80s and had top rounds for the team. Raderstorf was second on the team with a 90.7 average, Gillen was third with a 92.4 and Karlen finished fourth with a 95.2 average. Seniors Sherri Ringnalda and Christy Bennett became the first-ever four-year letterwinners in the history of ONU’s women’s golf program. Men's Outdoor Track & Field The relay team broke the school record with a 40.89 in the national preliminaries and then ran a 41.39 in the finals. As a team, ONU placed third at the OAC Outdoor Championships, earning 87 team points at the meet. Led by eighth-year head coach Brian Cole, the Polar Bears finished the season with a 34-6 overall record. Northern won the OAC South Meet on April 4 and finished third of 21 teams at the All-Ohio Championships on April 16. Senior Jason Horn competed at the NCAA III Championships, placing 10th in the hammer throw with a performance of 178'. Junior Brad Schroeder won the OAC Championship in 5,000 meters, while Horn won the hammer throw. The 4x100 relay team earned All-OAC honors with a second place finish, while the 4x800 relay team was All-OAC with a third place finish. The 4x800 consisted of senior Brian Fullenkamp, juniors Sean Koran and Schroeder and sophomore Mark Bierkan. Women's Outdoor Track & Field Junior Kandice Gobin and sophomore Sara McGinnis both provisionally qualified for the NCAA III Championships in the high jump with leaps of 1.65m each. Sophomore Lauren Ernst also provisionally qualified with a time of 1:04.4 in the 400-meter hurdles. Ernst won an OAC Championship in the 400 hurdles and was a member of the winning 4x400 relay team. The relay also included senior Kristi Sisler and juniors Amanda Dittmar and Mindy Erb. Erb was also named Second Team Academic All-America and First Team Academic All-OAC. McGinnis was All-OAC in the high jump with a second place finish, while junior Cindy Dircksen also placed second in the hammer throw for All-OAC honors. SDircksen placed third in the shot put, while ophomore Lauren Crook was All-OAC in 1,500 with a third place finish. | Back to Top | |