Roskos adds to Spartans’ history AKRON, OHIO – Manchester University sophomore women’s diver Ally Roskos has made a habit of etching her name into the Spartans’ swimming and diving history annals. Her performance on the final day of the 2016 Ohio Athletic Conference Championships Saturday was no different. Hitting a mark of 400-or-higher points for the second time this season, she stood atop the awards podium at the end of the one-meter event inside the University of Akron’s Oliver J. Ocasek Natatorium as the school’s first OAC champion. “Ally’s performance was right in par with where it should be for regionals,” Coach Mike Kroll said. “She’s been able to get over 400 at two big meets this year. It shows it isn’t a onetime thing for her … that she can consistently be at that level.” Roskos, compiling a 404.25 mark, defeated the field by better than 16 points. Baldwin-Wallace University’s Maddie Fortune, the 3-meter champion, was second (388.45). Freshman Andrew Hinds led the way on the men’s side during the final two days, placing eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke Friday. He clocked a 1:01.33. “Overall, the entire weekend was very good,” Kroll noted. “Everyone on the team at least one event ending in a personal best time. We also had great performances throughout all sessions which included individuals making it back for relays. "Emily (Clark) made it back in both butterflies; Jamie (McBride) did so in the 200 breaststroke; Quinn (Michael L’Heureux) made it back in the backstroke as did Guerby,” he added. “It was everything we expected (in regards to the OAC), as the meet atmosphere was awesome. It was very exciting with every sessions’ prelims and finals being great race environments and all teams being supportive of each other.” Roskos continues her season Friday and Saturday, Feb. 26 and 27, competing in the NCAA Division III Central Region Diving Championships hosted by Denison University of Granville, Ohio. NOTES: MU’s men turned in 125 points over the three days to end seventh. The Spartans’ women’s squad was also seventh but gave Wilmington College a firm battle for sixth (195 – WC/157 – MU).
Women's Track Three event titles lead MU to HCAC championship DEFIANCE, Ohio – In what Manchester University Director of Cross Country and Track and Field called a “total team effort”, the Spartans made good on their preseason favorite status from the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference coaches early last month, winning the 2016 conference title with 113 points that eclipsed the rest of field by 12 Saturday, Feb. 20. “We’re extremely excited and humbled for the opportunity to place high,” Cashdollar in noting the program’s first league title. “It’s taken a lot of hard work and commitment (to get to this point). There’s so much more than just what I do, too, as assistant and volunteer coaches have given tirelessly of their attention and time to athletes. It’s been a complete team effort, as everybody was part of it.” MU’s run to the top of the awards podium inside Defiance College’s George H. Smart Center was fueled by the junior duo of distance runner Mariah Jordan and thrower Shay Aator. Jordan successfully defended her 3000 and 500 meter championships doing so in conference meet record fashion in the 5K (18:12.25) and setting a new Smart Center mark in the 3K (10:21.28), while Aator remained atop the HCAC in the 20-pound weight throw with a top toss of 16.77 that obliterated the former mark she held from 2015 (15.24). “You need to have athletes that are at a national level to do special things team-wise,” Cashdollar said. “Mariah and Shay are in that range. The coolest thing about it, though, is that it didn’t start that way, as they’ve each had to develop over time. Their results give hope to others to get those same opportunities, as hard work can correlate.” While the three individual victories were part of 10 top five marks, the Black and Gold were locked in a nip-and-tuck battle until the very end, as Rose-Hulman, Anderson University and Hanover College made strong bids throughout the day. The Fightin’ Engineers’ 101 points left them second, while the Ravens were close behind in third (98), and Hanover College was just off triple digits at 96.5 for fourth. “There were very few events where we didn’t score as we should of, but this field was so strong,” Cashdollar said. “Rose, Anderson and Hanover were all right there competing very hard all day, too. I felt like after the 3K, when we had Mariah and fellow junior Tiffany Harber of Columbia City, Ind., end first and third, it made it so there was no pressure on our long jumpers. It was good momentum, and knowing we could breathe a little easier. However, it was still close right down to the end.” Senior jumps specialist Allison Rowe (high jump – 1.58 meters) and sophomore jumps specialist Paige Keller (pole vault – 3.35 meters) narrowly missed adding their names to the individual champions’ list, each gaining runner-up efforts. MU resumes its 2016 campaign Saturday, making its second trip to Anderson University for the Fred Wilt Invitational. NOTES: Freshman sprinter Dasia Beck recorded school standards in the 60 meter (8.1 seconds) and 200 meter (27.27 seconds) in route to third and fourth-place finishes, respectively. She added another third-place finish and school record in the 4x200 meter relay, as Beck anchored for Keller, freshman Brianna Jondle and sophomore Olivia Jenks in crushing the old mark of 1:52.64, set in 2006, with a fleet 1:48.97 clocking … The team title marked the sixth successive season in which the Spartans have placed among the top five.
Men's Track Black and Gold place fifth at HCACs DEFIANCE, Ohio – A pair of top three marks from junior jumps specialist Ramsen Bet-Nimrod and from sophomore sprinter Harrison Hollis lifted Manchester University’s individual accolades at the 2016 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships Saturday, Feb. 20. Bet-Nimrod cleared 1.91 meters to join a logjam that included Rose-Hulman’s Kenton Hispher and Defiance College’s Aaron Schwarzbeck for runner-up honors in the high jump. Anderson University’s Garrett Cooley, the event champion, also made it over a best mark of 1.91 meters but moved into the top spot due to fewer misses. Hollis, crescendoing since the beginning of the year in the 60, clocked a 7.18 in the finals for third. “We had some good individual efforts,” coach Brian Cashdollar said. “I was glad to see us compete hard within events, as the points we received weren’t earned easily, and the guys battled to get them. The afternoon saw us come close to our estimated numbers which is always a goal and what we went after.” Looking deeper into the Spartans’ fifth-place team finish, the junior distance duo of Alex Gudeman and Connor Bresnahan went four-five in the 5000 meters (15:44.73/15:49.61). A trio of events ended fifth (distance medley relay team of junior Blake Harris – Fort Wayne, Ind., senior Luke Scheel – Lafayette, Ind., junior Riley Worl – Russiaville, Ind., and junior Thomas Dean – Bremen, Ind. – 11:26 flat; junior thrower Cole Sellers of North Manchester, Ind. – shot put – 13.34 meters; and senior jumps specialist Tanner Odle of Rensselaer, Ind. – high jump – 1.85 meters) to aid in the squad’s 47.333 point total. MU resumes its 2016 campaign Saturday, Feb. 27, making its second trip to Anderson University for the Fred Wilt Invitational. NOTES: The Spartans fifth-place team standing marked the fourth time in six years of the championships they’ve wound up in similar territory.
Men's Basketball Spartans lock up HCAC bid LEXINGTON, Ky. – Manchester University resumed an upward trend to wind up its 2015-16 regular season Saturday. The Spartans, winners of three of their last four and two in a row on the road, clinched the program’s first Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference postseason tournament bid since 2011, posting 56 second half points during a 97-80 victory over at Transylvania University’s Clive Beck Center. A balanced scoring attack, aided by a meteoric effort from the field overall (58.5 percent) and better than 95 percent from the charity stripe, headlined the key conference win. Senior guard Brady Dolezal was at the top of the list, tallying 24 points as part of a double-double which featured 10 rebounds and four assists. Junior guard Chase Casteel and sophomore guard Brody Kirby ended with 13 points apiece, while freshman guard Adrian Johnson, junior guard Blake Brouwer and senior forward Matt Brown each finished with 12 points. MU had to overcome a fast start by the host Pioneers (10-15, 9-9), trailing 17-14 at the halfway point of the opening frame. A 21-7 roll, from that point, gave the Black and Gold a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. TU closed to within six (46-40) during the early stages of the second 20 minutes, but the red-hot shooting Spartans were up to the task, answering with a 13-3 run and not looking back. “I think it’s great,” Coach Gerad Good said of the win and icing a postseason tourney bid. “I’ll never forget what everybody on the team has done to get us to this point. “All of the players have been a part of it and can share in this success,” he added. “This team has shown a willingness to keep playing and always battling. They’ve been so resilient. The one thing we kept preaching this week was that there wasn’t a situation they haven’t seen due to playing in a lot of different type of games. Everyone knew what was on the line, as from day one, this group wanted to get to the tournament. It was important to them to do anything they could to get there, and they weren’t afraid of anything down the stretch to do so.” MU takes the number five seed into next week’s HCAC tourney. They face off against fourth-seeded Rose-Hulman at 6 p.m. Friday at Defiance College’s Karl H. Weaner Center in one of two quarterfinal round clashes. NOTES: Brown’s second double-figure scoring outing of the week ended a period in which he averaged 23 points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal per contest and saw his season points average climb one (10.9-11.9) … Dolezal gathered his second double-double of the season … Kirby, who also recorded a pair of double-digit point efforts during the week, had his scoring average rise five-tenths (5.9-6.4) … The program’s 10th league win of the year was its most since the 2010-11 campaign.
Women's Basketball Solid road effort concludes 2015-16 LEXINGTON, Ky. – A 42-30 run over the second and third periods Saturday, Feb. 17, put Manchester University on the verge of a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory. MU (6-19 overall, 4-14 HCAC) responded to a 28-17 deficit handed to them by host Transylvania University (18-7, 14-4) by clawing back to within six (36-30) at the break and then overtook the Pioneers with a 19-12 scoring stretch in the third period for a 59-58 edge going into the final stanza. TU, closing the regular season as the number four seed in next week’s postseason tournament, answered the call by reeling off six successive points from the final 1:42 of the third to the 7:56 mark of the fourth in route to being tied twice and not trailing in the fourth period to gain an 84-74 decision. Sophomore forward Samantha Bolen led a trio of Spartans’ scoring in double figures. She hit on nine-of-17 field goal attempts for 19 points as part of a stat line that included an assist, a rebound and a blocked shot. Fellow sophomore Tori Christlieb contributed to an effective one-two inside punch by tallying 12 points, seven rebounds, an assist, a blocked shot and two assists. Senior guard Justine Kruger added 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal. NOTES: Bolen closed her sophomore season for the Black and Gold on a high note, as her point total was a single-game career high. It was part of a span in which she registered double-digit points three times over the last six contests … Christlieb closed her year with a run of eight games in which she registered five-or-more boards … Category leaders for MU were senior guard Katie Arterburn – scoring (9.1 points per game) and three-point field goal accuracy (35.3 percent); Christlieb – field goal conversion rate (43.5 percent); rebounding (6.2 pg); and blocked shots (.9 pg); freshman guard Faith-Alexis Graham – assists (2.7 pg); Kruger – steals (1.7 pg); and Bolen – free throw percentage (76.5).
