The Cleveland State Vikings defeated the top-ranked team in the country, Akron, 2-1, on Saturday at Krenzler Field.

Jordan Hart notched the game winner with just seven minutes to go in the game.

"This is a historic night for our program," head coach Ali Kazemaini said. "The win shows that the team has perseverance, having faith, and that we are humble. This is for Cleveland and hopefully this can make some noise about Cleveland and our program.

"I told the guys before the game to go out there and have fun and don’t regret afterwards. I told them to play their hearts out. I think we were able to make them off balance them was a combination of pressing them in their own end."

The Vikings improve to 8-9 on the year. The loss is the first for the Zips on the year and is now 14-1-1.

As much excitement there was leading up to the matchup of Northeast Ohio, both teams concluded the first half with a scoreless draw. Aslinn Rodas had the only Cleveland State shot on goal and the Viking defense held the high-powered Zips to just three shots on goal, none of which troubled Vikings goalkeeper Brad Stuver.
The Vikings took the lead just 12 minutes from time. At the 11:31 mark, Caleb Eastham crossed the ball into the middle of the box. Rodas flew into the box and buried the ball with his right foot into the back of the net.

"I thought when we scored, although we gave up the goal, we knew that we have gotten under their skin," Kazemaini said.

The top ranked team in the country was able to get the equalizer just minutes later. With 8:51 left in the second half, Akron’s John Gulden was taken down in the box just as he got into it and was awarded the penalty.

Michael Nanchoff took the penalty and beat goalkeeper Stuver into the bottom right hand corner. Stuver guessed correctly, dove to his left, but was unable to get the well-struck penalty.

"Even though they scored, we wanted to get the next goal because we knew that the game was going to be over with the next goal with such little time left," Kazemaini said.

The Vikings too the lead and got the eventual game winner from Hart. Hart’s first goal of the year came when he gathered the ball from the cross and put the winner in the back of the net with just 6:49 left in the match.

"It started just like any other play," Hart said. "I had so many things running through my head. I tried to just place the ball and I did not try to do anything special with it. I did not know what to do; I was in so much shock."

Akron pushed the equalizer, but was unable to find it. After the final whistle blew, Krenzler Field and the Viking bench erupted with emotion.

"The emotion was crazy," Kazemaini said. "I have not cried at a soccer game since I played professionally."

courtesty of Cleveland State Vikings athletic website

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Baldwin-Wallace scored 20 unanswered points in the second half as it defeated Ohio Athletic Conference rival Muskingum University, 27-16, on Saturday at McConagha Stadium in New Concord.

With the win, the Yellow Jackets improved to 7-1 overall and 6-1 in the OAC and reached the seven-win plateau for the first time since 2006. B-W is now tied for second place with No.12-ranked Ohio Northern University at 6-1 in the OAC and one game behind first place Mount Union (8-0, 7-0 OAC).

B-W piled up 211 total yards on the ground, including 100-plus yard games from North Ridgeville’s John McGraw and Parma Senior’s Tim Miker.

In the first quarter, B-W opened up the scoring at the 10:36 mark when Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke connected on a 27-yard touchdown pass to cap a 6-play, 84-yard drive. The key play on the drive was 41-yard completion on third down from O’Rourke.

O’Rourke threw his second touchdown of the game to Ashland’s Anthony Fairhurst on the first play of the fourth quarter.

B-W was led offensively by McGraw who carried the ball 19 times for 125 yards. Through the air, O’Rourke was 9 of 19 passing for 147 yards including three TD passes.

Elyria’s Mitch Tulk had three tackles for loss totaling 14 lost yards.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Wearing a Kent State University jacket, Cleveland Browns wide receiver/kick returner Josh Cribbs was joined by his parents, wife and two kids as he listened to his career stats that were read over the loud speaker during a halftime ceremony at Dix Stadium on Saturday night as Kent State defeated Ball State, 33-14.

Cribbs also presented a check for $100,000 to the university.

His number will hang along side NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Lambert, running back Eric Wilkerson and Canadian Football Hall of Fame member Jim Corrigall.

Cribbs graduated from Kent State in the spring of 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in communication studies with a concentration in public communication.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Elyria’s Danny Noble caught a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Terrance Owens, as Toledo rolled past Eastern Michigan, 42-7 on Saturday.

Owens, who replaced injured starter Austin Dantin in the first quarter, found Noble for scores of 74- and 6-yards in the first half as the Rockets (6-3, 5-0 Mid-American) led 15-7 at halftime.

Eagles quarterback Alex Gillett, who graduated from Clyde, was 15 of 26 for 170 yards but was intercepted twice and sacked four times.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Two-time National Player of the Year and current Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy will become the sixth Longhorn football player to have his jersey retired.

McCoy, the two-time Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) National Player of the Year and Heisman Trophy finalist, is returning to Austin to see his Texas jersey No. 12 retired on Saturday.

McCoy joined five other Longhorns football national players of the year to have their jerseys retired: No. 20 Earl Campbell (1974-77), No. 22 Bobby Layne (1944-47), No. 60 Tommy Nobis (1963-65), No. 34 Ricky Williams (1995-98) and No. 10 Vince Young (2003-05).

"I was just overwhelmed, humbled and psyched when I was told about this," McCoy said. "It’s a dream come true!

"This is such a tremendous honor, but it’s not about me. It’s about all of the great coaches that helped me develop as a player and a man, the tremendous teammates that made my job so much easier and the most supportive family anyone could ask for. I can’t thank Coach (Mack) Brown enough for bringing me to Texas and Coach (Greg) Davis and all of the staff for pushing me and helping me to improve each and every day.

"Having grown up in Texas and playing for my dad in high school makes this extra special. Hopefully it’s something every coach who helped me along the way — from Pop Warner, Little League, junior high and high school — can be proud of and a tribute to everything coaches do in developing young players all across this great state."

McCoy led Texas to a perfect 13-0 regular season record and the Big 12 Championship before being injured early in the BCS title game as a senior in 2009. McCoy also claimed the AT&T Player of the Year Award, Davey O’Brien Award (nation’s top QB), Manning Award (nation’s top QB) and Unitas Golden Arm Award (nation’s top senior QB). He was a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award and the Wooden Cup (nation’s top athlete/community), and was also named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year by both The Associated Press and the league’s coaches.

McCoy became the all-time winningest quarterback in NCAA history when he won his 43rd game as a starter against Kansas. He ended with a 45-8 record, bettering David Greene’s (Georgia) mark of 42 victories. He is the first QB in major college football history to lead a team to four 10-win seasons and is also the first QB in Texas history to lead his team to consecutive 12-win seasons and just the second Longhorn, joining Vince Young, to lead his team to consecutive 11-win seasons.

"I can remember when I started following the Longhorns growing up, and then when I came here, seeing Earl (Campbell) and Ricky’s (Williams) numbers up there on the stadium and dreaming of one day accomplishing something like that," McCoy added. "To join a group like Earl, Ricky and now Vince (Young), Tommy (Nobis) and Bobby (Layne) is just unbelievably humbling. I couldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams a day like this coming, but I worked really hard, overcame a lot and was blessed to have so many great people helping me along the way.

"I’m really looking forward to getting down there in a couple of weeks and sharing the moment with my coaches, teammates and the great Longhorn fans."

McCoy holds 47 school records including 16 career, 13 single-season, five single-game, six freshman and seven miscellaneous marks. During his 53-game career, McCoy completed 1,157 of 1,645 passes (70.3%) for 13,253 yards and 112 TDs (45 INTs) for a passer rating of 155.0. His 13,253 yards are sixth on the NCAA all-time list, his 112 TD passes are seventh and his 70.3 career completion percentage is just shy of the NCAA record of 70.4 percent, which is held by Colt Brennan (Hawaii).

His 1,157 completions, 1,645 attempts, 70.3 completion percentage, 13,253 yards, 112 TDs and 155.0 passer rating rank first on UT’s all-time list and he is the first Longhorn to pass for more than 10,000 yards. He is one of just five QBs in NCAA history to pass for at least 2,500 yards in each of his four seasons.

In addition, McCoy has rushed for 1,571 yards and 20 TDs on 447 carries (3.5 ypc) and has rushed and passed for a TD in the same game 14 times during his career. In combining his passing (112) and rushing (20) TDs, McCoy ranks sixth on the NCAA list and first on UT’s TD responsible for list with 132. He had scored at least one TD in 30 straight games entering the BCS National Championship Game. McCoy is UT’s all-time leader in total offense and ranks fourth on the NCAA all-time list, having produced 14,824 yards (13,253p/1,571r) on 2,092 plays (7.1 ypp).

courtesy of the University of Texas athletic website

Cleveland Browns wide receiver and kick returner Joshua Cribbs, a two-time Pro Bowler, will have his No. 9 retired by Kent State this Saturday in a halftime ceremony.
“I would just like to say that it’s a great honor to be part of a legacy,” Cribbs said. “Getting your jersey retired is something that people dream of. It means I’m doing the right thing to get to where I am today. It’s great for me, it puts me at great peace. Kent State has been playing football for a long time and for me to be remembered as a great there — I’ll remember for years to come.”

Cribbs is joining Jim Corrigall, Jack Lambert and Eric Wilkerson as the only players in the 88-year history of the program to have their number retired. Lambert is one of only five former Mid-American Conference players in the NFL Hall of Fame, Corrigall is a member of the CFL Hall of Fame and Wilkerson finished his career as all-time leading rusher in Kent State history by more than 1,200 yards (he currently stands second).

“This is a well-deserved honor for a player who brought great recognition to Kent State University when he competed here and continues to do so on an almost daily basis in the National Football League,” Kent State Director of Athletics Joel Nielsen said. “Joshua exemplifies our commitment to excellence both on and off the field and we’re proud to announce today that we will be permanently enshrining him among our all-time greats.”

During his standout four-year career with the Golden Flashes (2001-04), Cribbs redefined the quarterback position, becoming just the second player in NCAA history with two “double-1,000 seasons” (1,000 yards passing and rushing). He set the school career passing mark with 7,169 yards, while his career rushing total of 3,670 yards ranks third.

In addition, Cribbs still holds the career records for rushing touchdowns (38), completions (616), attempts (1,123), total plays (1,755), total yards (10,839), points (246) and total touchdowns (41). The first three-time captain in school history, he was an honorable mention All-American as a senior in 2004.

The game vs. Ball State will air on WJW Fox 8 with the kickoff time moving from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. to accommodate the broadcast.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Huron graduate Kirsta Solberg entered her fourth season at Indiana Tech where she has led the Lady Warriors to a 92-35 record her first three seasons.

The Lady Warriors are currently 29-5 overall (12-1 WHAC).

Last season, she led her team to a 34-11 overall record, including a 14-0 mark in the WHAC. She also led the team to its first WHAC Conference Tournament Championship in 2009 as well as back-to-back WHAC Conference Regular Season Championships in 2008 and 2009. The team qualified for its 2nd NAIA National Tournament Appearance since 2008, where they finished their best yet at the final site in 2009, landing in the top 12 of the country.

Solberg was named WHAC Coach of the Year and in 2007, she was named WHAC Coach of Character. Solberg also helped lead a successful team in the classroom as the Varsity squad has maintained a team GPA of a 3.45 as well as eight NAIA Academic All-Americans in the past three years.

At Huron, she helped lead her team to its first ever Division III State Volleyball Championship in 1999. She was also named 1st Team All-Ohio, District Player of the Year and was runner-up for Ohio Player of the Year.

Solberg then went on to play at Indiana University-Purdue University in Fort Wayne, Indiana where she received her Bachelor in Fine Arts for Visual Communication and Design while playing 4 years with the Mastodons.

While at IPFW, she took the role of captain and helped lead the team to the Division I Independent Tournament Championship in 2002 and Runner-ups in 2003. She was also named on the All-Independent team as well as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2004.

After her four years with IPFW, she continued her career playing professionally with Holte IF in Copenhagen, Denmark. There she was the first American in the league as well as helped lead her team to the Danish National Finals.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Huron graduate Sara Schaub is in her second season as head coach at Montana State. Her team is currently 10-12 overall.

In just one season, Schaub has made improvements off the court, as the Bobcats won the athletic department’s A.L.L. award for the best overall performance in academics and service.

Previously, Schaub served one season at MSU Billings, where she guided the Yellowjackets to an 18-10 overall mark and a fifth place finish in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. MSU Billings ranked as high as ninth in the NCAA Division II Pacific Region.

Prior to Billings, she served five seasons as an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan, where she graduated from. During her tenure, she helped the Eagles to a 99-56 overall record, including a 2005 Mid-American Conference West Division title — a first in the school’s history.

Schaub was a four-year starter and two-year captain at Eastern Michigan, and was the first player in MAC history to average over 4.00 kills and 4.00 digs in a single season.
She finished her career second on EMU’s all-time kill chart (1,405) and third in digs (1,388).

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Amherst's Ryan Kish has eclipsed more than 200 tackles in his college career at Baldwin-Wallace.

Kish is just one of 15 Yellow Jackets to surpass that total. He currently has 247 career tackles.

Kish had seven tackles in Saturday's 38-0 win over Wilmington.

Baldwin-Wallace will travel to Muskingum this Saturday before hosting Mount Union on Nov. 6.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Clearview’s Anthony Hitchens is playing as a true freshman at Iowa, registering three tackles, along with three assist tackles on the Hawkeyes, who dropped to 5-2 with a 31-30 loss to Wisconsin Saturday.

At Clearview, Hitchens finished with 166 tackles, including 13 for loss, 12 sacks, five interceptions, six forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries.

Hitchens was a two-time All-Ohio player, also winning Lorain County’s Golden Helmet award. He was also named the Division IV offensive co-player of the year, along with Clearview’s Scholar Athlete award, the Captain’s award and the Offensive Player of the Year.

He also scored a total of 62 touchdowns at Clearview, which include four defensive touchdowns.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke threw four touchdown passes, leading Baldwin-Wallace to an Ohio Athletic Conference shutout over Wilmington College on Tressel Field at The George Finnie Stadium.

O’Rourke completed 19 of 26 passes for 259 yards and the four TDs, and the Yellow Jacket offense outgained the Quakers, 433-145.

B-W opened the scoring at 4:40 mark of the first quarter when O’Rourke threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Tiffin Columbian’s Aaron Hurd to cap a 6-play, 54-yard drive.

B-W increased its lead to 14-0 when O’Rourke threw a 28-yard TD pass to Devin Woods (Naples, Fla./ Golden Gate) on a ball that deflected off of a Wilmington players hands.

B-W’s lead grew to 24-0 before halftime when O’Rourke threw his third TD pass of the game, this one a 23-yarder to junior Dan Turner (Youngstown/Ursuline).

O’Rourke tossed his career-high fourth TD pass to Westerville North’s Troy Van Meter, who caught a career-high nine passes for 113 yards.

North Ridgeville’s John McGraw led the running game with 59 yards in 11 attempts.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Admiral King graduate Cameron Bryant led Lake Erie’s defense with 11 tackles and Sam Marcotte kicked a 22-yard game-winning field goal as time expired, giving Lake Erie College a 48-45 win over the University of Findlay on Saturday at Donnell Stadium. The win is the program’s first ever Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory.

Mentor’s Brandon James, Eastlake North’s David Romeo and VASJ’s Andre Wells all went over 100 yards receiving, part of a school-record 441-yard passing day by Brunswick’s Sean Bedevelsky, as the Storm (1-7, 1-6 GLIAC) rolled up 634 yards of total offense in rallying from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit.

Bedevelsky threw a pair of touchdown passes to James and scored on a one-yard run in the first half, but the Oilers (1-7, 1-6 GLIAC) got a pair of touchdown runs from Monterae Williams and two touchdown passes from John Soli to Dustin Zielakiewicz and lead 31-21 at halftime.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Lorain native Steve Newton, who left Admiral King and moved to Arizona (graduated from Tucson Rincon High School), signed a scholarship last month to play basketball at Abilene Christian University.

Newton returned to the area in 2008 and played basketball for a year at Lorain County Community College, averaging 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists per game, and was touted as one of the top Junior College guards in the country.

Newton had offers out of high school after starring at Tucson Rincon but decided he needed a break from the sport and took off several years before heading back to Lorain.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Wellington’s Christian Huelsman was named the Ohio Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Player of the Week for his play for Ohio Northern last week.

Huelsman led the Polar Bears (12-3-1 overall, 4-0-1 OAC) to a 7-0 victory over Otterbein and a 1-1 tie at Baldwin-Wallace last week.

He scored twice in the shutout win over Otterbein.

This marks the second time this season and the fourth time in his career that Huelsman has won the award.

Through 16 matches this season, Huelsman leads the squad in scoring with 26 points on 10 goals and six assists.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Amherst’s Austin Meggitt has been selected into The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

At the Convocation for Entering Medical Students, Austin was presented his White Coat during a ceremony honoring incoming medical students. His grandmother, Anne White, from Sharpsville, Pa, presented him his first stethescope engraved with his name.

Meggitt graduated cum laude from The Ohio State University (in May) with a Bachelor of Science Degree in The College of Biological Sciences. He is a 2006 graduate of Amherst Steele High School, Amherst, Ohio.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Amherst’s Angelica Meggitt scored her second goal of the season for Baldwin-Wallace in a 3-1 loss to the fifth-ranked Otterbein last Saturday.

B-W closed the gap to 2-1 at the 75:54 mark when Meggitt dribbled the ball 30 yards with a tough defender on her the entire time, but got the shot off near horizontal to the goal box. She crossed it in front of the net, but it took an odd approach angle and went over the head of the goalie into the corner of the net.

The goal was only the third goal that Otterbein’s goalkeeper Tara Carter has allowed in 11 games.

Meggitt is a junior at Baldwin Wallace studying Middle Childhood Education. She has recently been accepted in the study abroad program where she will spend her spring junior year in Australia.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Amherst’s Abbie Hornyak is running cross country at Otterbein, who are prepping for the Ohio Athletic Conference championships in two weeks. The Cardinals turned in another solid performance, finishing third at the Wilmington College Fall Classic last Friday.

Hornyak finished in 98th place (21:00.11) in the event.
Otterbein recorded 119 points to place third among 31 teams. The University of Findlay led all teams with 103 points.
Hornyak took 92nd (22:24) at Xavier, 96th (22:10.76) at Cedarville, 141st (22:10.4) at Otterbein Invite and she didn’t run in the All-Ohio.

The Cardinals will be back in action when they host the Ohio Athletic Conference championships on Oct. 30 at the Otterbein cross country course in Westerville.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Baldwin-Wallace lost to Ohio Athletic Conference rival and 13th-ranked Ohio Northern University, 41-21 at Dial-Roberson Stadium in Ada. The loss snapped a five-game Yellow Jacket win streak.

With its win, Ohio Northern is now 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the OAC. The Yellow Jackets are now 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the OAC.

Down 7-0, Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to St. Ignatius’ Kevin Johnson to tie the game at 7.

Down 14-7, O’Rourke scored on a 7-yard TD run, capping a 13-play, 60-yard drive.
Ohio Northern then scored 21-straight points to close out the half with a 35-14 lead.
In the third quarter, North Ridgeville’s John McGraw scored on a 1-yard TD run, capping a 12 play 93-yard drive, making the score 35-21.

O’Rourke completed 12 of 23 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown. McGraw rushed for 44 yards and one TD. Midview’s Josiah Holt caught four passes for 33 yards.

On defense, Amherst’s Ryan Kish led the Yellow Jackets with nine tackles and two tackles for loss.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Amherst’s Lauren Percival, a member of the Mount Vernon Nazarene University women’s volleyball team, was named both the American Mideast Conference Player of the Week and the National Christian College Athletic Association Player of the Week for her performance last week.

Percival, a sophomore setter, led the Lady Cougars to a 2-0 week with a pair of AMC sweeps to extend the team’s winning streak to 10-straight matches. She averaged 11.67 assists, 5.67 digs, 1.00 kills, and 0.67 blocks for the week while posting a .400 attack percentage.

In a sweep of Ursuline College, Percival handed out 29 assists while matching her career high with three blocks and posting 21 digs. Percival, who was the NCCAA National Player of the Week for the second-straight week and the first setter to earn AMC Player of the Week honors this fall, finished the week with 41 assists in a sweep of Houghton (N.Y.) College — the most assists for her in a three-set match this year.
For the season, Percival has played in all 102 sets for MVNU and has posted 1,048 assists. She is tied for the team lead with 33 aces, ranks second on the team with 386 digs, and has registered 27 blocks and 61 kills.

The Lady Cougars, who received votes in the latest NAIA poll, are currently 27-2 overall and 5-0 in the AMC.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Bowling Green State University tennis coach Penny Dean has announced that Avon Lake’s Christine Chiricosta has been named team captain for the 2010-11 season.

"I am proud of Christine," Dean said. "She is a natural leader, and has been such an important part of this team for over three years. She is more than deserving of being named team captain."

Chiricosta is entering her second year as the Falcons’ top singles player, after playing at the No. 2 flight during her freshman and sophomore season. She has played at the No. 1 doubles flight in every year at BGSU.

On the court, Chiricosta currently has a total of 139 combined victories, including 70 singles wins and 69 doubles wins, at BGSU. She is tied for ninth on the BG career list for total wins, and ranks 10th in doubles victories and 12th in singles wins. Chiricosta is within striking distance of the BGSU career records (81 singles wins, 84 doubles wins, 153 combined wins) in all three categories.

Chiricosta was chosen to the All-Mid-American Conference First Team last season, after being named to the All-MAC Second Team as both a freshman and a sophomore.

Off the court, Chiricosta has a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average in the classroom, as an adolescent/young adult/secondary education major. The first student-athlete in BGSU women’s tennis history to be named an ESPN Academic All-American, she has earned that honor in each of the last two seasons. Chiricosta was named to the ESPN Academic All-America Third Team as a sophomore, and earned second-team accolades as a junior.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Midview’s Josiah Holt returned one of two kickoffs and Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke threw for a touchdown as Baldwin-Wallace pulled out a one-point victory over Ohio Athletic Conference rival Otterbein University, 35-34 Saturday on Tressel Field at The George Finnie Stadium.

With the Yellow Jackets trailing 34-28, B-W went on an 8-play, 59-yard game-winning drive that was capped when Parma’s Tim Miker scored on a 23-yard run to tie the score at 34-34. Then, following an Otterbein timeout, Brecksville’s Brad Pollock kicked the game-winning point for the win.

With its victory, B-W is now 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the OAC. The 5-0 start is B-W’s first since 2004.

The Yellow Jackets opened the scoring in the first quarter, taking a 7-0 lead when O’Rourke threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Edison’s Josh Oswald.

Holt returned a kickoff 90 yards for the third kick return for a touchdown of the game. That gave the Yellow Jackets a 21-20 lead.

The Yellow Jackets were led offensively by Miker with 70 rushing yards in 10 attempts, including the game-tying TD, North Ridgeville’s John McGraw with 53 yards in 12 attempts and O’Rourke who completed 9 of 18 passes for 103 yards and a TD.

The defense was led by Amherst’s Ryan Kish, the reigning OAC Defensive Player of the Week, with nine tackles, three tackles for loss and one quarterback sack.

The Yellow Jackets are back in action next Saturday, Oct. 16 when they travel to Ada, Ohio to play 16th-ranked Ohio Northern University at Dials-Roberson Stadium at 1:30 p.m.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

St. Paul’s Hannah Livengood, a freshman on the Ohio Northern volleyball team, helped the Polar Bears move up to No. 21 nationally in the fifth weekly American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, released Tuesday.

The Polar Bears (12-9 overall, 2-0 Ohio Athletic Conference) moved up one spot from last week’s AVCA poll, which had Ohio Northern at No. 22.

Livengood is playing a lot in just her freshman season. She has played in 84 games (21 matches, five starts) and has been playing as an outside hitter and in the back row. She has 143 digs, 15 service aces and six kills.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Elyria Catholic’s Evann Heidersbach is entering her sophomore season on the prestige swim team at Ohio State after a successful freshman season.

OSU’s first meet is Oct. 22 in the Scarlet and Gray annual swimming event on the campus at 5 p.m. The very next day, they’ll hold the Alumni Meet at 9 a.m. before starting a competitive schedule Oct. 30 against Kenyon.

At EC, Heidersbach was the highest point scorer, North Coast League Most Valuable Player, 12-time All-Ohio district record holder, sectional record holder, MVP, YMCA short course national finalist, two-time All-American, zone champion and team captain. She was also named Women of Compassion Rising Star and Athlete of the Year, among other accolades.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Amherst’s Ryan Kish was named the Ohio Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week after his outstanding game last Saturday in a 39-9 win over Marietta.

Kish had a game-high 12 tackles, including 2.5 quarterback sacks for minus 14 yards and three total tackles for minus 16 yards. Kish also forced a Pioneer quarterback to hurry a pass that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown.

This season, Kish tops B-W in tackles with 35, QB sacks with 3.5 and tackles for loss with 5.5. He also returned a fumble 23 yards for a touchdown in B-W’s 35-20 win versus Heidelberg University on Sept. 18.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Avon’s Garrett Gronowski is playing linebacker at Eastern Michigan, after redshirting last season, and despite the Eagles not winning a game, Gronowski is learning on the go and has recorded five tackles.

At Avon High School, Gronowski was a four-sport athlete, earning a total of nine letters in football, basketball, track and baseball.

Gronowski was named the MVP in the state of Ohio North-South All-Star Game at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, where he had two interceptions to help lead the North Team to a 49-7 win in the 64th Annual All-Star Game. He was named All-Ohio First Team as well as All-District and All-Lorain County.

His senior season, he recorded 88 tackles, caused two fumbles and had two interceptions on defense, and on the offensive side of the ball he caught 43 passes for 702 yards with nine touchdowns.

In track, he had a strong senior season, winning four events in the West Shore Conference tournament, winning both the 200 meters and long jump while also running on the victorious 400 and 800-meter relay teams. He was a regional finalist in the long jump and the 200-meter dash and part of the relay team that broke the school-record in the 4x100 and 4x200.

His junior season, he was selected first-team All-Lorain County with a .417 batting average, tallying a .557 on base percentage with 18 stolen bases.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Prita Kidder, shown, and Amy Schlessman, front right with racket

Perkins’ Amy Schlessman and her partner Prita Kidder each made lengthy runs through the singles and doubles brackets while playing in the annual Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Central Regional.

The longest of those runs came in the doubles bracket, where Schlessman and Kidder, an All-American tandem, took a bye through the first round and went on to defeat their next three opponents. That got them a spot in the semifinal, but once there the Kenyon duo was eliminated by the eventual champions, Kendra Higgins and Chrissy Hu from the University of Chicago. Kidder’s and Schlessman’s spot in the semifinal round made them the first Kenyon pairing to play that deep into the regional tournament since 2002.

In singles play, Schlessman forged into the fourth round of the singles bracket before being eliminated by the No. 2-seeded Janelle Arita from DePauw. For the tournament, Schlessman was 2-1 in singles and 3-1 in doubles.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Westlake’s Brooke Henderson tied for the team-high with four shots as Valparaiso outshot Loyola, 18-9 on Friday afternoon at Eastgate Field, but it was the Ramblers that pushed a goal across midway through the second half on the way to a 1-0 victory over the Crusaders.

Last year, Henderson appeared in 20 matches, making 19 starts, for the Crusaders as a sophomore. She was named to the Horizon League All-Tournament Team. She scored the match-winning goal in a 1-0 victory over Liberty on Sept. 18. She also scored a goal and added an assist on the match-winner against Wright State in the Horizon League semifinal on Nov. 6.

As a freshman, she played in all 19 matches, including 15 starts.

At Westlake, she was a three-time All-Southwestern Conference First Teamer and was named the SWC Most Valuable Player as a senior. She was named All-Ohio Third Team as a junior and a senior. She was also named an Adidas Scholastic All-American as a senior.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke completed 20 of 29 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown, while also running for another as Baldwin-Wallace remained unbeaten at 4-0 overall with a 39-9 victory on Saturday over Marietta on Tressel Field at The George Finnie Stadium in Berea.

The Yellow Jackets remained in first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 3-0 league mark.

O’Rourke put the Yellow Jackets up 16-3 with a one-yard quarterback sneak then helped extend the lead to 26-9 when he threw a 25-yard TD pass to North Ridgeville’s John McGraw.

Midview’s Josiah Holt tied for the team lead with six catches. Amherst’s Ryan Kish was the leader defensively with 12 tackles, including 2.5 quarterback sacks and 3.5 tackles for lost yardage.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Kayla Kmiecik, an Avon native who graduated from Magnificat, is enjoying competing in gymnastics at Ball State University.

This past season, as a sophomore, Kmiecik recorded a career high 9.700 on the bars at Northern Illinois. She tallied a season high 9.675 at New Hampshire on the beam and was Ball State’s top gymnast in the event. She scored a career high 9.775 on the floor at New Hampshire and had a chance to compete on the floor at the Mid-American Conference Championships.

As a freshman, she competed in 10 meets for the Cardinals, including the Mid-American Conference Championships. She scored a previous career high 9.725 on beam at Michigan State and had a previous career best 9.5 on floor at Northern Illinois.

Before college, she competed for Lauren Dunn and Joe Gura at Great Lakes Gymnastics. She was a Level 10 national qualifier in 2006 and 2007 and an Ohio State Champion on bars in 2006 and 2007. She was also high school state champion in all-around, bars and floor in 2008. She was Magnificat’s Most Valuable Player as a junior and senior.

swalker@MorningJournal.com