Here’s the Ohio Northern University sports round up from the past week.
Women’s swim team
The Ohio Northern women's swimming and diving team started off its dual meet season with a victory. The Polar Bears defeated Wilmington 138-122 Friday night.
The 200-meter medley relay team — of Shelby Starkey, Abby Schauer, Kyley Stuart and Gabrielle Grant — got things started, claiming first with a time of 2:11.90.
Schauer won the 100-meter breaststroke, as well, boasting a time of 1:20.21. Stuart touched first in the 100-meter butterfly, clocking in at 1:13.37, and Grant took first in the 50-meter freestyle, registering a time of 29.76.
Marissa Taylor won the 50-meter backstroke with a time of 33.33. Taylor also placed first in the 100-meter freestyle, logging a time of 1:03.63.
Mya Parsons paced the field in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 32.41.
Northern has a quick turnaround, as it plays host to John Carroll Saturday at 1 p.m.
Men’s swimming
The Ohio Northern men's swimming & diving team fell to John Carroll 197-83 Saturday at the ONU Sports Center. The loss drops the Polar Bears to 1-1 on the season, while the win improves the Blue Streaks to 1-0 on the year.
Jeremy Adams (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ann Arbor Pioneer) led the way for ONU, claiming first in the 100-yard breaststroke, clocking in at 58.07. Adams also won the 200-yard breaststroke and the 200-year individual medley with times of 2:10.73 and 2:00.58, respectively.
Calob Cope (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) kept things rolling for Northern, winning the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:08.89. He also placed second in the 500-yard freestyle, recording a time of 4:52.86.
The 200-yard medley relay team — of Ryan Groehl (Marysville), Adams, Jackson Stanley (Beavercreek) and Zach Ayres (Chillicothe) — placed runner-up with a time of 1:36.36.
Stanley also touched second in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 52.50, and finished third in the 200-yard butterfly, clocking in at 2:03.58.
Noah Curry (Oxford/Talawanda) took third in the 200-yard freestyle, registering a time of 1:50.28, while also placing third in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 49.26.
Justin DeLano (Englewood/Northmont) finished third in the 200-yard backstroke, logging a time of 2:02.69.
The Polar Bears travel to take part in the Calvin (Mich.) quad Nov. 8 and 9.
Volleyball
The No. 11-ranked Ohio Northern volleyball team moved to 7-0 in Ohio Athletic Conference after defeating Capital 25-15, 25-14, 25-12 on Saturday at the Capital Center.
Sophomore Madi Ellis (Delphos/St. John's) led ONU (21-4 overall, 7-0 OAC) with eight kills on 12 swings and junior Katie Wade (Battle Creek, Mich./Harper Creek) contributed 28 assists, nine digs, four kills, and four total blocks.
Capital (9-19 overall, 0-7 OAC) got 14 kills from Kirsten Jutte.
Northern never trailed in first set, utilizing a an 11-3 run to close the set at 25-15.
ONU had slow start in the second set, but rattled off nine straight points to control the set, winning 25-14.
Capital opened the third set by scoring seven of the first 10 points. The Polar Bears responded with a 17-3 run to put the set and match out of reach.
Additionally, sophomore Hannah Irmer (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli) added nine digs and three service aces while senior McKenna Jordan (Toledo/St. Ursula) had seven kills on 18 swings.
Freshman Madison Kern (Loveland/Mount Notre Dame) registered five kills and six total blocks and senior All-American Chelsea Huppert (Bremen, Ind.) chipped in six kills and four total blocks.
The Polar Bears hit a season-best .347 with 40 kills, 95 total attacks, and seven errors while the Crusaders hit .034 with 29 kills, 118 total attacks, and 25 errors.
Ohio Northern returns to action Tuesday against Otterbein. The match is set for 7 p.m. in the ONU Sports Center.
Men’s soccer
The Ohio Northern men's soccer team got back on track Wednesday in Tiffin. The Polar Bears snapped their two-game losing streak, toppling Heidelberg 2-1 in overtime.
Sophomore Levi King (Indianapolis/North Central) provided the heroics for Northern. He netted his team-leading ninth goal of 2019 in the 94th minute off an assist from junior Beelal Hasan (Worthington).
The victory improved ONU to 12-4-1 on the season and 4-2-0 in Ohio Athletic Conference play. The loss dropped the Student Princes to 3-10-1 overall and 1-5-0 in conference.
Sophomore Seth Gundlach (Wilmington) opened the scoring in the ninth minute. He scored his seventh goal of the season, unassisted, which staked the Polar Bears to an early 1-0 advantage.
Heidelberg recorded the equalizer in the 59th minute. Jarod Chavez scored off a feed from Kyle Morton, which knotted the game at 1-1.
Northern may have only won by a goal, but it dominated the game. The Polar Bears registered 18 shots, 13 on target, and Heidelberg had just four shots, three of which were on frame.
King boasted four shots on goal, while Hasan, Gundlach and Keagan Shapiro (Liberty Township/Lakota East) had two apiece.
ONU sophomore goaltender John Lombardo (Solon) made his 53rd and 54th save of the season.
The win also improved Northern to 2-0-1 in overtime games this season.
The Polar Bears remain on the road and travel to Capital Saturday for a 7 p.m. contest.
Women’s soccer
Neither the cold nor the rain could cool off the 21st-ranked Ohio Northern women's soccer team. The Polar Bears won their ninth in a row, defeating Capital 2-0 Saturday at Kerscher Stadium.
The victory improved Northern to 13-2-2 on the season and 7-0-0 in Ohio Athletic Conference play, while loss dropped the Crusaders to 12-5-0 overall and 5-2-2 in conference play. The win also guarantees ONU a top-two seed in the OAC tournament in a couple weeks.
Junior Jenna Fuller (Countryside, Ill./Lyons Township) netted both goals for the Polar Bears. It was Fuller's team-leading 15th and 16th scores of 2019 and 43rd and 44th goals of her career which vaults her up to sixth all-time in program history.
Her first score, unassisted, occurred in the 28th minute, and her second — off an assist from Emma Barney (Oak Harbor) — happened in the 51st minute.
Northern registered 15 shots, six of which on target. Capital logged 13 shots, two of which were on frame. ONU senior goaltender Meagan Grierson (Dayton/Miamisburg) needed two saves to record her OAC-best eighth shut out and 40th of her career.
The Polar Bears travel to Otterbein Wednesday for impactful match. Otterbein and Northern sit tied atop the OAC.
Esports
The Ohio Northern Esports team improved to 6-0 in both Overwatch and League of Legends with a pair of victories over Tiffin on Saturday.
The Polar Bears won 2-0 in Overwatch and 2-1 in League of Legends (LOL).
The Dragons fall to 4-2 in OW and 3-2 in LOL.
Ohio Northern has yet to lose a game in Overwatch, winning all six of its contests by 2-0 scores.
In LOL, ONU won the opening game before Tiffin rallied to win game two and even the match at 1-1.
But Northern would grab the deciding third game to remain undefeated on the season.
The Polar Bears will return to action on Nov. 2 with an Overwatch contest against Northwood (Mich.) at 11 am.
Northern's LOL squad will be idle until Nov. 9 with both Overwatch and League of Legends battles with Trine (Ind.).
