Winter Sports Athletes Claim 15 NCAC Postseason Awards
An outstanding winter sports season has come to a close for the 2004-05 school year, but not before 15 Wittenberg University student-athletes reaped rich rewards for their efforts as they were selected to All-North Coast Athletic Conference teams.
Daniel Russ
Joe Rumschlag
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — An outstanding winter sports season has come to a close for the 2004-05 school year, but not before 15 Wittenberg University student-athletes reaped rich rewards for their efforts as they were selected to All-North Coast Athletic Conference teams.
Announcements for men's and women's basketball came in separate releases from the NCAC office last week. Individual finishes at conference championship events determined All-NCAC selections for men's and women's swimming and diving (Feb. 10-12) and men's and women's track and field (March 4-5).
Two Wittenberg athletes earned individual conference honors. Junior men's basketball post Daniel Russ (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) was named Player of the Year and senior men's track standout Joe Rumschlag (Maumee, Ohio/Toledo Christian) was named Indoor Field Events Athlete of the Year for the second time, fitting nicely alongside hardware claimed as the Outdoor Field Events Athlete of the Year in 2003.
Russ, second on the TIGER MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM in scoring and rebounding in 2004-05, was the Tigers' lone selection on the men's basketball first-team all-conference list after leading Wittenberg to a 25-4 overall record and a mark of 14-2 in the NCAC regular season, good for second place. The Tigers won the NCAC Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the fourth time in the last five years and eighth time in 12 seasons under Head Coach Bill Brown. Wittenberg's season came to an end at home Saturday in a double overtime loss to John Carroll.
Senior wing Andy Bucheit (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle), the team's top three-point shooter and third-leading scorer, and junior post Dane Borchers (Russia, Ohio/Russia), who led the Tigers in scoring and rebounding, earned second-team All-NCAC nods for the first collegiate postseason honors of their careers. Russ was a second-team honoree a year ago. (NCAC Press Release)
The TIGER WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM finished with a record of 17-10, including a mark of 12-4 in the NCAC regular season, good for a second-place tie. The two-time defending NCAC Tournament champions lost in this year's semifinal round to Denison.
Sophomore post Kathy Hittle (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville), the team leader in scoring and rebounding, claimed second-team All-NCAC honors and senior guard Emilie Schmid (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson), second in both categories, was placed on the honorable mention list. It was the first All-NCAC recognition for either in women's basketball, although Schmid was a two-time league honoree in volleyball as Libero of the Year in 2003 and 2004. (NCAC Press Release)
Track and swimming athletes earn All-NCAC recognition with a top-three finish in the NCAC championship meets. In MEN'S AND WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD, the Tiger men claimed fourth place in the championship meet, and the Tiger women finished seventh.
Rumschlag took All-NCAC honors with second-place finishes in the 200 meters and the triple jump and a first-place in the long jump for the third straight year, which brings his remarkable record to five conference titles in the long jump (three indoor and two outdoor). In addition, Rumschlag was a member of the second-place 800-meter relay and the third-place 1600-meter relay.
Now with a remarkable 23 All-NCAC honors between indoor and outdoor championships, Rumschlag was the only member of the Tiger men's team to earn an individual all-conference designation in the indoor meet. He was joined on the relay events by junior Gregg Carter (Wellsville, Ohio/Wellsville), freshman Sean Gouch (Columbus, Ohio/Mifflin) and senior Lamarr Lewis (Trotwood, Ohio/Madison) in the 800-meter relay and freshman Mike Echols (Springfield, Ohio/North), Gouch and Lewis in the 1600-meter relay.
On the women's side, freshman Nicole Bailey (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day) was simply outstanding in her first conference championship event, taking first place in two events and second in another. She wound up just barely on the outside looking in at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships, ranking in the top 20 nationally in the 55-meter dash with a provisional qualifying time of 7.31, which is also a school record. She was not among the competitors selected for the meet, however.
Bailey earned a trio of all-conference honors as she finished second in the triple jump, first in the long jump and first in the 55 meters. In addition, freshman Michelle Kyle (Ashland, Ohio/Ashland) reached All-NCAC status with a third-place finish in the high jump. (NCAC Press Release)
In MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING, the Tiger women took fourth place for the fourth straight year, and the Tiger men finished fifth. On the men's side, the lone All-NCAC honoree was sophomore Cody Nicely (Knoxville, Tenn./Bearden), who placed third in the 3-meter diving event. For the women, juniors Becca Searcy (Shelbyville, Ky./Shelby County) and Betany Yeakley (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) both took top three finishes for All-NCAC honors.
After placing fourth in the 500-yard freestyle and the 400-yard Individual Medley, Searcy broke through in the competition's final event, placing third in the 1650-yard freestyle. She will compete in all three events at this weekend's NCAA Division III Championship meet at Hope College in Holland, Mich. It was the second straight year Searcy has earned one All-NCAC honor and the third straight year that she has advanced to the national meet.
Yeakley placed third in the 100-yard backstroke to claim her first All-NCAC award. She has posted NCAA Division III provisional qualifying times each of the last seasons, only to miss advancing to the national meet by the narrowest of margins both times. (NCAC Press Release - Day 1 - NCAC Press Release - Day 2 - NCAC Press Release - Day 3)
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