Thirty-Three Wittenberg University Athletes Earn Fall Postseason Honors
Another banner fall sports season has reaped tangible rewards for 33 Wittenberg University athletes who were selected to All-North Coast Athletic Conference teams. In addition, several Tiger athletes received regional and national recognition from various organizations, including three first-team All-America selections to date.
Rebecca Russ
Sarah Yuskewich
Abi Gerstle
Emily Duh
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Another
banner fall sports season has reaped tangible rewards for 33
Wittenberg University athletes who were selected to All-North Coast
Athletic Conference teams. In addition, several Tiger athletes
received regional and national recognition from various
organizations, including three first-team All-America selections to
date.
Announcements for football, men's and women's soccer,
volleyball and field hockey came in separate releases from the NCAC
office in the past two weeks, and regional and national award
announcements have been distributed over the last few weeks as well
for every sport except football. All-conference selections in men's
and women's cross country were determined by individual finishes at
the conference championship meet hosted by Wittenberg University at
John Bryan State Park on Nov. 2.
Three Wittenberg athletes won NCAC Athlete of the Year honors
for a fall sport. Senior cross country
runner Abi Gerstle (Kettering,
Ohio/Fairmont) won an individual championship
at the NCAC meet to claim Female Runner of the Year honors for a
second straight year, sophomore setter Sarah
Yuskewich (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson) earned
volleyball Player of the Year, and senior
sweeper Rebecca Russ (Louisville, Ky./Sacred
Heart) claimed the field hockey Defensive
Player of the Year award. In addition, two coaches earned top
conference accolades - Connie
Surowicz was named Coach of the Year for a
third time in volleyball andMarianne
Beshara was co-Coach of the Year in field
hockey, the second time in her three seasons leading the Tigers
that she has claimed that award. In addition, Yuskewich, Russ and
field hockey senior Emily Duh (Hellertown,
Pa./Saucon Valley) claimed All-America
honors.
Yuskewich re-wrote the Wittenberg, NCAC and NCAA Division III
record books for assists in a season in 2002. She distributed 2,125
assists in 143 games (14.86 per game average), including three
matches in the NCAA tournament, shattering the records for total
assists and assists per game that were both previously set by
Wittenberg's Shelli Habegger in 2000. Yuskewich, who was second on
the team in blocks with 51.5 and service aces with 55 and third in
digs with 272, was named first-team All-NCAC and Player of the
Year, first-team All-Great Lakes Region by the American Volleyball
Coaches Association and first-team All-America by the same
organization.
By earning Player of the Year, Yuskewich became the sixth
different Wittenberg player to claim the honor in the last six
years. She led Wittenberg to its sixth straight NCAC regular season
and tournament championships in 2002. But Yuskewich wasn't the only
one garnering postseason recognition, as sophomore outside
hitterMonica McDonald (Newark,
Ohio/Catholic), the conference leader in kills, and
senior middle hitter Tiffany Keller (Massillon,
Ohio/Tuslaw), last year's NCAC Player of the Year
and the team's leader in blocks, earned second and third-team
All-America status respectively. Both were also first-team All-NCAC
and first-team all-region choices.
Senior outside hitter Teresa Murphy
(Blacklick, Ohio/Newark Catholic), a three-time
first-team All-NCAC honoree, was squeezed off the first team in
2002 and wound up with second team recognition this year. She still
finished her career as one of a select few athletes in Wittenberg
history to gain all-conference honors four straight
years.
In field hockey, Wittenberg finished first in the NCAC with a
school record-tying 10-2 record and a 17-4 overall mark. The Tigers
won the inaugural NCAC field hockey tournament championship and
advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament for the fifth time in
school history. Wittenberg's season ended in the second round with
a 3-0 loss to Williams.
Russ was the leader of a defense that set a school record
with just seven goals allowed against NCAC competition and yielded
just 14 goals in 20 regular season games. She was also the leader
in postseason honors, beginning with the aforementioned Player of
the Year award and first-team All-NCAC recognition for a third
consecutive year. In addition, the National Field Hockey Coaches
Association named Russ first-team All-Great Lakes Region for a
second straight year and first-team All-America for the first time
in her career. Duh also earned first-team All-America honors after
putting together one of the finest seasons in school history in
2002, scoring a school-record 60 total points on a
school-record-tying 26 goals and eight assists. Duh was also a
first-team All-NCAC and all-region selection, the second straight
year she earned those awards.
Two other Tiger field hockey players claimed All-America
honors as well. Senior defender Heather House
(Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) and sophomore
goalkeeperJen Meyer (Solon, Ohio/Hathaway
Brown) were named to the third team. It was the
first national recognition for either, coming on the heels of
first-team All-NCAC and first-team All-Great Lakes Region honors
for both. House has been a stalwart on defense for the Tigers for
three straight years and was an integral part of the record-setting
unit of 2002. Meyer allowed just 17 goals all season and started
every game.
Also garnering All-NCAC recognition were sophomore
midfielder Blair Ufer (Ann Arbor,
Mich./Pioneer), the team's fifth first-team
selection, and senior defender Jill Hobelman
(St. Louis, Mo./Villa Duchesne) and
sophomore Melanie Boss (Dayton,
Ohio/Fairmont), who were both honorable mention
choices.
At the NCAC Cross Country Championship Meet, Gerstle took
home the individual women's title for a second straight year with a
time of 18:46, which was five seconds faster than the rest of the
field and 23 seconds better than her winning time in 2001. Gerstle
then finished ninth at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional
meet at Ohio Northern University on Nov. 16, advancing her to the
national competition for a third straight year. Gerstle finished
54th in a field of more than 200 runners at the NCAA Division III
National meet at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. on Nov.
23.
The football team closed another outstanding season with a
10-2 overall record and a mark of 6-1 in the NCAC, good for second
place. While the Tigers' string of five consecutive NCAC
championships ended, Wittenberg still placed 15 players on the
All-NCAC awards list. Nine Tigers earned first-team All-NCAC:
senior tailback Daniel Grove (Uhrichsville,
Ohio/Claymont), junior offensive
guard Chad Thompson (Ft. Thomas,
Ky./Highlands), junior wide
receiver Skip Ivery (Columbus,
Ohio/Groveport-Madison), sophomore offensive
guard Brad Kassner (Circleville,
Ohio/Circleville), senior defensive
end Allen D'Andrea (Naples, Fla./Barron
Collier), senior
linebacker Dustin Goldsbury (Columbus,
Ohio/Ready), senior outside
linebacker Andy Pope (Hamilton, Ohio/Lakota
East), senior safety John Hauser
(Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley) and senior
defensive end Jim Lackmeyer (Cincinnati,
Ohio/Purcell Marian). For Goldsbury and Hauser, it
was the fourth time in their careers that they had garnered
All-NCAC recognition, while it was the third first-team selection
for Pope.
Second-team choices included senior
quarterback Greg Cornett (Franklin,
Ohio/Franklin), senior
center Adam McClain (Danville,
Ind./Community), senior offensive
tackle Tony Banich (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben
Davis) and senior defensive
back Andy Waddle (Springfield,
Ohio/Greenon). Honorable mention went to sophomore
fullback Raymar Hampshire (Lima,
Ohio/Elida) and senior defensive
tackle Lloyd Hudson (Cincinnati,
Ohio/Sycamore). All-region and All-America honors
for football will be announced later this month.
Three members of the Wittenberg men's soccer team, which
finished the 2002 season with five wins in its last six games to
end up 5-4 in the NCAC and 7-10-1 overall, earned All-North Coast
Athletic Conference honors. Senior
forward Brian Armstrong (Delaware, Ohio/Dublin
Coffman) was rewarded for his hard work and
NCAC-leading 34 total points with a first-team designation, the
first of his career. Junior midfielder Steve
Doring (Dayton, Ohio/Wayne) and senior
midfielder Matt Lapish (Grosse Point Farms,
Mich./South) both were named to the second
team.
The Wittenberg women's soccer team, which finished 6-12
overall and 4-5 in the NCAC, placed one athlete on the All-NCAC
second team and two more among the honorable mention selections.
Freshman midfielder Emily Hiscar (Pataskala,
Ohio/Watkins Memorial) was named second team.
Junior forward Geri Woessner (Dayton,
Ohio/Oakwood), the team's leading scorer despite
missing half the season with a knee injury, and sophomore
midfielder Rachel Ridgeway (Montclair, N.J./The
Taft School) were both named honorable
mention.
056-02