Concussions - Not to be Shaken Off

Ohio Wesleyan Athletic Trainer Todd Miller recently spoke on the dangers of concussions and concussion management to WOSUColumbus.

Also interviewed was OWU student-athlete Sarah Ingles, a member of the OWU golf team. Sarah was a three-sport athlete in field hockey, basketball and softball, but due to her history of seven concussions, she must not participate in contact sports. Sarah's injuries have touched other parts of her life, but she manages to find her silver lining - including having the opportunity to educate others using her situation.

In the Polls

Men's Cross Country

Allegheny moved into the fifth spot in the USTFCCCA national poll and tops the Mideast Region, while Denison is eighth and Oberlin 10th in the Great Lakes.

Women's Cross Country

Oberlin is 27th in the USTFCCCA national poll and is fourth in the Great Lakes Region, followed by Wittenberg in ninth and Denison in 10th. Allegheny is seventh in the Mideast Region.

Football

Wabash is ninth in the first AFCA Coaches poll of 2009. Wittenberg and Wooster also received votes, but did not crack the top 25. The Little Giants are 14th in the latest D3football.com Top 25.

Golf
Ohio Wesleyan is ranked 12th in the season's first Golf World Division III Coaches' Poll.

Men's Soccer

Ohio Wesleyan is third in the NSCAA national poll. The Battling Bishops top the Great Lakes Region, followed by Kenyon in fourth. OWU sits fourth in the D3soccer.com men's Top 25.

Women's Soccer

Wittenberg is third in the NSCAA Great Lakes Regional poll. Wooster is sixth and Denison is eighth. Denison and Wittenberg received votes in the latest D3soccer.com women's Top 25.

Volleyball

Wittenberg is ninth in the latest AVCA Top 25

NCAC Alums in the News

** Allegheny grad Nathan Smith (2001) is one of the 10 amateur golfers who will comprise the 2009 USA Walker Cup Team, and is the only Div. III athlete selected to the team. The 42nd Walker Cup Match, which features the finest amateur golfers from the USA against those from Great Britain and Ireland, will be played Sept. 12-13 at the Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa.

Read more here and here

Smith was a four-time All-America and all-Region player for the Gators from 1998-2001. A three-time NCAC tournament medalist and a two-time regional player of the year, he helped Allegheny advance to the NCAA tournament all four years and was an individual national runner-up as a senior. He won the 2003 U.S. Mid-Amateur at 25 to become the youngest winner in the event's history and as a result, earned an invitation to the 2004 Masters Tournament. So far this season, Smith has won the Western Pennsylvania Amateur and the Pennsylvania Amateur Match Play.

** Millsaps hired Ohio Wesleyan alum Tracy Cepnio as the first head women's lacrosse coach in school history. A four-year letterwinner and two-year starter on defense for the Battling Bishops, she helped OWU claim the NCAC title and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2005. Cepnio joins Millsaps from Washington & Jefferson where she spent two seasons as the assistant women's lacrosse coach and also served as the assistant coach for the Presidents' field hockey team.

Around the NCAC

** Allegheny's volleyball and women's soccer teams leave today for a european tour. A few student-athletes from each team will blog about their experiences, which will be featured at alleghenysports.com throughout the trip.

** On July 16, Allegheny's Alex Herrnberger was signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks and assigned to the Missoula (Mont.) Osprey, a short-season league designated as rookie advanced. Through July 31, Herrnberger appeared in three games for the Osprey, the first-place team in the Pioneer North at 20-15. He is 0-for-1 with a pair of walks and has scored two runs with one RBI.

** Hiram Head Swimming and Diving Coach Jack Groselle continued his assault on the Masters' Swimming record books at the USA Swimming Sectionals held in Oxford, Ohio. He clocked a 2:05.39 in the men’s 200-yard free to lower his FINA Masters age division record in the 55-59 age group. He previously set the record with a 2:07.21 at the last sectional meet in the area held in March. He then posted a U.S. Masters Swimming national record in the 100-yard breaststroke with a mark of 1:12.84. Groselle competes this week at the U.S. Masters Swimming Nationals in Indianapolis, Ind. beginning on Thursday.

** Follow progress on the Ohio Wesleyan Meeks Aquatic & Recreation Center here.

** Wittenberg's Katherine Hueter reflects on her basketball trip to the Adriatic Coast earlier this summer with USA Athletes International.

** Wittenberg will host its seventh annual Rosy's Golf Outing to honor the legacy of former Tiger student-athlete, coach and athletics department administrator Bob Rosencrans '58. Proceeds from the event, scheduled for 11 a.m. at Windy Knoll Golf Club in Springfield, will be split between the Central and Southern Ohio Chapter of the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Association, Driving 4 Life and Wittenberg, which will use the money to continue to make improvements in and around the Bob Rosencrans Fitness Center. Proceeds raised for the Central and Southern Ohio Chapter of the ALS Association are used for research for a cure for the deadly disease, better known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. Rosencrans died of ALS in 2003, just two months after the inaugural Rosy's Golf Outing.

Little Giant Golfer Interns at NCAA

Wabash golfer Kyle Nagdeman is spending his summer at the NCAA interning with the statistics department. He shares his adventures in a post on the Wabash website.

Obviously for the sports fanatics out there like me this number crunching and ranking players and teams is what keeps you up at night wondering who will win this week’s football game or who holds the record for career assists in men’s basketball at the Division I level. This is where my own interests in sports and a career in athletics stand out.

Around the NCAC

** Athletic Director Betsy Mitchell talks about how tradition, commitment and excellence combine together into the Allegheny Advantage in her latest From the Athletic Director's Desk.

** Allegheny senior golfer Chris Moore and sophomore soccer player Jessica Boyle will share what it's like to be a student-athlete with the readers of the Erie Times-News. The two have been selected, along with two student-athletes from each of the Erie area's local colleges, to blog about their daily life this fall on paper's online home: goerie.com/blogs/sports.

** The second installment of the Jeff Ramsey Show will air tomorrow on AM-1320 WOBL and LorainCounty.com. The broadcast features Yeomen head football coach Jeff Ramsey and select players. It airs from 8:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

** Ohio Wesleyan men's soccer was predicted to finish atop the NCAC standings in preseason balloting by league coaches and the Battling Bishops are off to a 4-1 start. A big part of the team's success can be attributed to brothers Travis and Tyler Wall. Read about the brother's chemistry and how they're following in sister Sarah's success at OWU in the latest edition of Connect2 OWU.

** Former Ohio Wesleyan women's basketball player Summer Quesenberry has been named the assistant coach at Vassar.

** For the third straight year HDNet will broadcast the Monon Bell, the annual season-ending football game between Wabash and DePauw, live to a national audience. The 115th game of the long-running rivalry will be played Saturday, November 15 at Wabash. Kickoff is set for 1:05 p.m. The Little Giants hold a 53-52-9 edge in the overall series. Read the details here.

** Wabash football is set to host its annual Youth Day Football clinic. The event, for kids in kindergarten through sixth grade, will be held at Byron P. Hollett Little Giant Stadium on Sept. 19 from 5-6:30 p.m. As meaningful as the day might be for the kids, it might be even more important to the college "kids".

** Wittenberg will celebrate Dave Maurer Day on Nov. 1 in to honor the legendary coach's 40 years as a Tiger. Maurer coached track and field, swimming and diving, and golf at various points during his Wittenberg career, in addition to his well-known exploits on the football sidelines. He also served as the university's director of men's athletics and was a professor of health and physical education. Like many other Wittenberg coaches of his era, Maurer did it all. For details of the special day, click here. For more information, or to register for the event, contact Beckie Baker in Wittenberg's Office of Advancement at (937) 327-7423. The cost of the reunion dinner is $40 per person. You can also share your thoughts and memories on a special tribute page.

Golf All-America Scholars

The Golf Coaches Association of America announced the 2008 Cleveland Golf All-America Scholars for Division III. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be a junior or senior and compete in at least two full years at the collegiate level, participate in 70 percent of his team's competitive rounds or compete in the NCAA Championships, have a stroke average under 79.0 in Division III and maintain a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.2. A recipient must also be of high moral character and be in good standing at his academic institution.

Division III Cleveland Gold All-America Scholars
Kyle Martin, Ohio Wesleyan
Andy Schillig, Ohio Wesleyan
Corey Shemelya, Allegheny
William Wisniewski, Allegheny

Golf Awards

The Golf Coaches Association of America named its All-Region and All-America Teams.

Division III PING All-America Teams

Third Team
Jordan Brenner, Ohio Wesleyan
Tom Harman, Ohio Wesleyan
Jeff Nieman, Ohio Weleyan

Division III PING All-Region Teams

Mid-Atlantic Region
Christian Goetz, Allegheny
Kyle Jastromb, Allegheny
Mike Wolfe, Allegheny

Great Lakes Region
Kyle Bates, Denison
Jordan Brenner, Ohio Wesleyan
Tommy Harman, Ohio Wesleyan
Jeff Nieman, Ohio Wesleyan
Andy Schillig, Ohio Wesleyan

Wittenberg Voices of the Hollow Series Interviews Maurer

Wittenberg's Voices of the Hollow series returns to the athletic department for an interview with Tiger coaching legend Dave Maurer.

Maurer did a little bit of everything in his time at Wittenberg. He coached football, track, swimming and golf at various points during his career. He also served as the director of men's athletics and was a professor of health and physical education, but is probably most well-known for his exploits on the gridiron sidelines.

After more than a decade as an assistant football coach, Maurer took the reins in 1969 from National College of Football Hall of Famer Bill Edwards, his mentor. By the time he stepped down after the 1983 season, Maurer had posted a record of 129-23-3, good for an astounding .842 winning percentage, best among active coaches at that time. He had directed three teams to national championships (and was an assistant coach for two other national titlists) and two teams to NCAA Division III Tournament runner-up finishes. The Tigers went undefeated three times and won seven OAC championships in his 15 years as head coach.

Click here for excerpts - you can listen to the audio, or download an MP3 of the interview