Three Players of the Year, Coach of the Year Headline Spring All-NCAC Honors

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Another banner spring sports season has reaped rich rewards for 41 Wittenberg University athletes who were selected to All-North Coast Athletic Conference teams over the last two weeks.

Announcements for men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's tennis, softball and baseball have come in separate releases from the NCAC office over the last two weeks. All-conference selections in golf and men's and women's track were determined by individual finishes at the conference championship events that were held May 3-4.

Casey Clagett

Cara Romanowski

Geri Woessner

Steve Shutt

Emily Figel

Norah Gillam

Three Wittenberg athletes were chosen as an NCAC Player of the Year for a spring sport - junior men's tennis No. 1 singles and doubles player Casey Clagett (Steamboat Springs, Colo./Steamboat Springs), junior women's lacrosse defender Cara Romanowski (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) and sophomore track standout Geri Woessner (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood). In addition, Men's and Women's Track and Field Head Coach Steve Shutt was named NCAC Men's Track Coach of the Year after his team cruised to the Tigers' lone spring conference title.

Two athletes were also named NCAC Newcomer of the Year in their respective sports - freshman softball player Norah Gillam (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) and freshman women's tennis No. 1 singles and doubles player Emily Figel (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead).

The men's tennis team concluded another outstanding season with a 14-4 overall record and a third straight third-place finish in the NCAC tournament. Casey Clagett showed the way with a 23-3 individual record, including a perfect 4-0 mark against NCAC West Division competition. Sophomore Duby Lakos (Lynchburg, Va./Heritage), who went 16-8 at No. 2 singles, was named to the second team, and junior Eric Cusick (Lima, Ohio/Senior), who went 18-9 at No. 3 singles and 4-0 in the NCAC West for a second straight year, made honorable mention. In addition, the No. 1 doubles team of Clagett and junior Ben Hodgkiss-Lilly (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) compiled an 8-3 overall record to earn a second-team nod.

Geri Woessner was the NCAC Women's Track Field Events MVP for a second straight year after winning the heptathlon, placing second in the shot put and capturing third place in the javelin and long jump. A provisional national qualifier in the heptathlon, Woessner led the Tiger women to a fifth-place finish in the NCAC meet, while the men put it all together, winning Wittenberg's first outdoor track and field NCAC title since 1997.

Track athletes earn All-NCAC recognition with a top-three finish in the NCAC meet.

Senior Sarah Weide (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead) finished third in the 800 meter run and sophomore Kelly Zilli (Dayton, Ohio/Kettering Alter) placed third in the 1500. In addition, the 4x400 relay quartet of Woessner, Zilli, Weide and freshman Marissa Davoll (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) captured second place at the conference competition.

On the men's side, senior Brian Gehle (Huntsville, Ohio/Indian Lake) placed first in the decathlon, second in the pole vault and third in the long jump. Sophomore Tim Gaal (Amanda, Ohio/Clearcreek) was the Tigers' lone NCAA Division III championship meet qualifier after he threw the javelin a school record 206-feet to win the event. He added a second in the decathlon.

All-NCAC honors also went to sophomore Skip Ivery (Columbus, Ohio/Groveport Madison), who was first in the 110 high hurdles and third in the 400 low hurdles, sophomore Joel Drake (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) and senior Chris Silliman (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington), who were first and second respectively in the discus, freshman Joe Rumschlag (Maumee, Ohio/Toledo Christian), who placed second in the long jump and third in the 200 meters, and sophomore Derek Thompson (South Charleston, Ohio/Greenon), who was second in the 400 hurdles.

Rounding things out in men's track, a pair of relay foursomes earned All-NCAC honors. The 4x100 quartet of Rumschlag, junior Mark Trempe (Springfield, Ohio/St. Paris Graham), sophomore Alex Yurovitsky (Richmond Heights, Ohio/Lyndhurst Brush) and senior Jason Jackson (Columbus, Ohio/South) were NCAC champions. The 4x400 quartet of sophomore Demetrius Ellison (Cleveland, Ohio/Trinity), Gehle, Trempe and sophomore Mike Torsell (Springfield, Ohio/Catholic Central) claimed runner-up honors.

Cara Romanowski was the offensive juggernaut who led the Tiger women's lacrosse squad to a 6-8 overall record and a mark of 3-4 in the NCAC. She was named Women's Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Year and to the All-NCAC first team after leading the NCAC in 54 goals and 61 total points in 2002 despite playing a defensive position. In addition, Romanowski was named first-team All-Great Lakes Region.

Sophomore midfielder Kate Williston (Wooster, Ohio/Wooster) and sophomore defensive back Katie Babcock (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney) were named to the second team in both the NCAC and the region. Freshman Jenny Burns (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman), the team's second-leading scorer, was awarded Honorable Mention All-NCAC for her efforts.

In women's tennis, first-team All-NCAC and Newcomer of the Year honors were awarded to freshman Emily Figel, who finished the regular season with a dazzling 19-4 overall singles record, including a 6-1 mark in the conference. Figel will cap off her outstanding inaugural collegiate season next week with a trip to Sweet Briar, Va. To compete in the NCAA Division III singles championship tournament.

In addition, junior Shannon Oliphant (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson), who compiled a 17-4 record at No. 2 singles and a team-best mark of 8-0 in the NCAC. Oliphant was also honorable mention all-conference in 2000 and second-team All-NCAC a year ago. Figel and Oliphant, who were the catalysts for a 10-11 dual match overall record and the team's second straight second-place NCAC finish, also teamed up for a 13-6 mark at No. 1 doubles, which earned them second-team All-NCAC honors as a unit.

In softball, Wittenberg finished sixth in the conference with a 5-8 NCAC mark and a 12-21-1 overall record. The Tigers placed two players on the All-NCAC first team - junior outfielder Beth Walters (Columbus, Ohio/DeSales) and freshman utility player Norah Gillam, who parlayed her final all-around play and pitching into NCAC Newcomer of the Year honors. Senior shortstop Christy Schneider (Fairfield, Ohio/Fairfield) concluded her career with second-team All-NCAC honors. Walters led the Tigers in almost every offensive category, Gillam was second on the team with a .314 batting average and led the team in hits with 33 and earned run average at 3.65. Schneider was the team�s leadoff hitter and only senior, and she finished with a team-best 25 runs scored. The Wittenberg baseball team finished the year 21-16 overall and 10-2 in the NCAC West Division, good for a first-place tie with Ohio Wesleyan. The Tigers placed four senior standouts on All-NCAC first team, shortstop Bryan Burke (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick), centerfielder Lance Dill (Bellville, Ohio/Clear Fork), utility player/outfielder Scott Hirsch (Cincinnati, Ohio/Colerain) and catcher Nate Williams (Urbana, Ohio/Urbana). All four players hit at least .362 for the season, and they represent four of the top five hitters in the record-setting Tiger lineup of 2002.

In addition, junior designated hitter/outfielder Trent West (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian) was named to the second team and senior pitchers Brad Cerovac (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) and Nick Allen (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler) were selected as Honorable Mention.

In golf, Wittenberg finished a fourth in a strong NCAC field that included two NCAA Division III Tournament teams. Leading the charge were freshman Andy Bonar (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) and junior Steve Spittle (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman), both of whom made second-team All-NCAC. Bonar finished sixth in the NCAC tourney, while Spittle was tied for ninth.

Rounding things out, the Tiger men's lacrosse team finished with a 5-11 overall mark in men's lacrosse and wound up 2-3 in the NCAC, which was good for fourth place. Senior midfielder Nate Reed (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller) showed the way with a first-team All-NCAC selection, where he was joined by sophomore defenseman Jim Kelley (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson).

Two other Tiger players were named Honorable Mention All-NCAC, freshman attacker Cory Essig (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman), the team's leading goal-scorer, and senior attacker Alex Nichols (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney), the team's top scorer overall.