Written by Stuart Mason on 24 February 2010
compiled from NCAC and wire reports
The North Coast Athletic Conference softball coaches picked 2009 champion Denison to once again win the 14th edition of the softball championship.
The Big Red, who last spring finished the regular season with an 11-3 league record, a 21-8 overall mark and their sixth NCAC crown, earned three of eight first-place votes from the leagues coaches in the preseason poll for 58 points. Denison edged Ohio Wesleyan, which was voted second with 57 points and four first-place votes. Defending NCAC tournament champion Hiram was predicted to finish third with 48 points.
Last spring the Big Red earned their first NCAC title under the guidance of head coach Tiffany Ozbun, and their sixth overall. Ozbun has accumulated a 49-30 (.620) record in two seasons at Denison and was named NCAC Coach of the Year in 2009. She has a list of senior returnees who are All-NCAC first team performers: Samantha Rumschlag, Brie Berkopec and Alex Murray.
Since the North Coast Athletic Conference began sponsoring softball as a championship sport, Denison has won titles in the years 2001-2003, 2006-2007 and 2009. The Big Red also won the first two NCAC Softball tournaments, which began in 2001 to help determine the league’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament.
Founded in 1983, the NCAC consists of 10 academicallyselective colleges and universities-Allegheny, Denison, Earlham, Hiram, Kenyon, Oberlin, Ohio Wesleyan, Wabash, Wittenberg and Wooster.
The NCAC sponsors 22 championship sports, 11 each for men and women.
Tiffany Ozbun (DU)
Tags: Denison., North Coast Athletic Conference., Tiffany Ozbun.
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Written by Stuart Mason on 24 February 2010
compiled from LPGA and Ohio State reports
Rosie Jones, a 13-time winner on the LPGA Tour who has played on seven different Solheim Cup teams during her long and storied career which spans nearly three decades, has been selected captain of the 2011 U.S. Solheim Cup Team. The 2011 Solheim Cup will be played at Killeen Castle in County Meath, Ireland from Sept. 23-25.
Jones, a playing member on the first U.S. Solheim Cup Team in 1990 who also sank the putt to clinch the 2002 Solheim Cup.
“I am honored and absolutely ecstatic to be chosen as the 2011 Solheim Cup captain,” said Jones. “The Solheim Cup has been a huge part of my career as a player and now I couldn’t be more proud to represent the United States and have the opportunity to lead our players across the pond to Killeen Castle to retain the Cup.”
The 2011 Solheim Cup will be the 12th staging of the biennial, trans-Atlantic team match-play competition featuring the best 12 U.S.-born players from the LPGA and the best 12 European-born players representing the Ladies European Tour (LET). The U.S. leads the series, 8-3. Rosie Jones faces a challenge in Ireland, as the European Team has won all of its three Solheim Cup events on European soil. The European Captain will be the same as in 2009, Alison Nicholas.
In her days as a member of the U.S. squad, Jones recorded 12 points over seven Solheim Cups,including an overall singles record of 3-3-1. Her most recent appearance came at the 2005 competition played at the Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana, where her U.S. team beat the Europeans by three points, tying the closest match in the history of the event.
Rosie Jones has had a very accomplished LPGA career, recording 13 victories and more than $8 million in career earnings. Her best year on Tour came in 1988 where she picked up three victories and finished third on the season-ending LPGA Official Money List. In addition to her 13 wins, highlights of her career include 187 top-10 finishes, five holes-in-ones and a 5-4 playoff record. She currently plays on the Legends Tour of the LPGA, where she has registered three wins.
Rosie Jones (LPGA)
The selection committee which chose Rosie Jones included the past three U.S. team captains, the LPGA Board Chairman, President of the LPGA Executive Committee, and the LPGA Commissioner.
Tags: Alison Nicholas., County Meath Ireland., Crooked Stick Golf Club., Killean Castle., Ladies European Tour., Legends Tour., LPGA Tour., Rosie Jones., Solheim Cup.
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Written by Stuart Mason on 24 February 2010
Every week during the high school football season on WPKO-FM/WBLL-AM in Bellefontaine, we try to feature a football player, whether it be high school, college, the NFL, the Hall of Fame or from coaching.
One of the players we featured during the 2009 season was senior Nathan Weeks from Marysville High School.
Nathan Weeks had to earn his way onto the varsity team in 2007 by playing on the offensive line. Then in 2008, he became the Monarchs workhorse at Fullback, gaining 982 yards, averaging 5.6 yards per carry and scored 12 touchdowns to lead Marysville to the state playoffs for the first time in seven years. The Monarchs were 7-4, 4-3 which tied for fourth in the tough Ohio Capital Conference, Cardinal Division which includes: Dublin Jerome, Dublin Scioto, Olentangy,Olentangy Liberty, Westerville Central,Westerville North and Westerville South. They ended up being a Division I Regional Quarterfinalist.
In 2009 Marysville finished at 3-7, 2-5 in the division. They beat Marion Harding, 39-6; Westerville Central, 27-7 and Westerville North, 37-7.
A throwback Fullback to the days of yesteryear, Weeks is a bruising Fullback who at 6’2, 230 pounds simply punishes tacklers.
A state semifinalist wrestler, who can squat 400 pounds, was voted captain by his teammates for 2009 football season.
Nathaniel Owen Weeks is the son of Scott and Loretta Weeks.
SOUNDS FROM THE FIELD
44 332 Nathan Weeks Marysville playing offensive line in 2007. 44 334 Nathan Weeks Marysville playing fullback and being physical. 44 335 Nathan Weeks Marysville on 2008 and triple option. 44 336 Nathan Weeks Marysville fullback in triple option and College. 
Tags: Bellefontaine., Marysville High School., Nathan Weeks., Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division., WBLL-AM., WPKO-FM.
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Written by StephanieLee on 23 February 2010
The 2010 Nascar season moves into week three this Sunday at 3 p.m. for the Sprint Cup Shelby American on Fox-TV.
This is one of the circuits biggest tracks with a seating capacity of 142,000. The race will go 267 laps (400.5 miles). Mark Martin won the first race at Las Vegas on March 1, 1998. His average speed of 146.554 mph remains the race record.
Last season, in the Shelby 427, Kyle Busch and Clint Boyer duked it out for the final 58 laps, with Busch holding on in the final two restarts to claim the win.
The speedway’s recent $35 million upgrade increased the banking and moved pit road closer to the grandstands. The wide racing surface is fast and driver-friendly.
No driver has won the Las Vegas Cup from the pole. Jeff Burton is the only driver with multiple wins at the track in a Cup and a Nationwide Series car. As far as owners go, Jack Rousch (6) and Rick Hendrick (4) have accounted for 10 wins in the 12 Cup races held at Las Vegas.
This year’s Co-Grand Marshall’s will be Carroll Shelby and Kim Kardashian will give the command, “Drivers, start your engines.”!
Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS)
Tags: Carroll Shelby., Clint Boyer., Jack Rousch., Jeff Burton., Kim Kardashian., Kyle Busch., Las Vegas Motor Speedway., Mark Martin., Nascar., Rick Hendrick., Sprint Cup Shelby American.
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Written by StephanieLee on 23 February 2010
From OSU and wire reports
Sophomore Samantha Prahalis has been named one of eight finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award, which honors the nation’s top collegiate point guard in Division I women’s basketball.
The other final nominees include: Alison Lacey of Iowa State, Nadirah McKenith of St. John’s, DePaul’s Sam Quigley, Oklahoma State’s Andrea Riley, Oklahoma’s Danielle Robinson, Jasmine Thomas of Duke and Courtney Vanedsloot from Gonzaga.
An All-American and Big Ten player of the year candidate, Prahalis leads the Big Ten and ranks second nationally with 8 assists per game. She ranks third in the Big Ten with 18.5 ppg in conference play and has nine games with 20 or more points. The native of Commack, N.Y., scored a career-high 32 points in the win at No. 19 Michigan State January 9, earning Big Ten player of the week honors, an award she has won a team-high four times this season. Samantha is just the second Division I player since 1999-2000 to average at least 16 points and 8 assists per game. Recently, she made a school- record 48 straight free throws, which was the second-best mark all-time in the Big Ten and fifth-longest in NCAA history.
The Nancy Lieberman Award committee announces the final nominees for the 11th Annual Award. The award is a national project of the Rotary Club of Detroit honoring the nation’s top collegiate point guard in women’s Division I basketball. The criteria for the award are for floor leadership, play-making and ball-handling skills that resembled the Hall of Famer, Nancy Lieberman during her career.
Sportswriters from across the country determines the final nominee list. They will select three finalists and one winner from this list at the beginning of August 2010. That announcement of the three finalists and one winner will be made during the Final Four Weekend, April 4-6, 2010.
This year’s award will be presented at a noon luncheon at The Detroit Athletic Club on April 21, 2010 in Detroit.
Samantha Prahalis (OSU)
Tags: Alison Lacey., Andrea Riley., Commack New York, Courtney Vanedsloot., Danielle Robinson., Detroit Athletic Club., Jasmine Thomas., Nadirah McKenith., Nancy Lieberman Award., Nancy Lieberman Hall of Famer., NCAA., Rotary Club of Detroit., Sam Quigley., Samantha Prahalis.
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