NCAC WEEKLY NEWSLETTER & ATHLETES OF THE WEEK 

Men’s Basketball Athlete of the Week – Grant Spicer, Ohio Wesleyan
Ohio Wesleyan sophomore Grant Spicer (Cincinnati, OH/Lakota East) helped the Battling Bishops to a pair of victories over Wittenberg last week. In Thursday’s 66-53 win, Spicer collected 16 points, while also adding eight rebounds, an assist and a steal. He followed that with 14 points, nine rebounds, a steal and a block in a 58-48 victory on Saturday.

Women’s Basketball Athlete of the Week – Mikaila Carpenter, Denison
Denison sophomore Mikaila Carpenter (Orrville, OH/Orrville) averaged 14 points and 10 rebounds per game in a pair of wins over Wooster last week. On Friday, Carpenter posted a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while shooting 8-of-14 from the field and collecting two assists and one steal. On Saturday, she posted 12 points, nine rebounds, three steals and an assist. Carpenter is leading the Big Red in scoring with 13.7 ppg.

Men’s Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Week – Jan Dziadek, Wabash
Wabash senior Jan Dziadek (Warsaw, Poland) scored an individual victory and two second-place finishes at Saturday’s dual meet at Rose-Hulman. He won the 100-yard butterfly with a season-best time of 51.72 and added a second-place finish in the 100 individual medley with another season-best mark of 53.67. Dziadek closed out the meet as the leadoff leg of the 4×400 freestyle relay, helping the Little Giants to a second-place finish with a season-best start of 47.87 over the first 100 yards of the race.

Women’s Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Week – Maddie Hopkins, Denison
Denison senior Maddie Hopkins (Chico, CA/Chico) tied for the team lead with four victories while helping the Big Red to a 172-87 win over Division I Xavier on Saturday in Granville. Hopkins finished first in the 50-yard freestyle (24.36) and the 100 fly (57.55). She also swam on the winning 200 medley relay (1:47.75) and the 400 free relay (3:32.97) teams.

Men’s Indoor Track, Sprints/Hurdles Athlete of the Week – Zeke Bennett, Wittenberg
Wittenberg sophomore Zeke Bennett (Hilliard, OH/Hilliard Bradley) was part of three victories in Saturday’s dual meet against Ohio Wesleyan. Individually, he broke the tape in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.63, the fastest time in the conference so far this season. He also ran legs of the Tigers winning 4×200- (1:33.52) and 4×400- (3:26.25) relay teams. The 4×400 relay time is currently the fastest among conference teams this season.

Men’s Indoor Track, Distance/Mid-Distance Athlete of the Week – Ford Baker, DePauw
DePauw sophomore Ford Baker (Winnetka, IL/New Trier) won the 5,000-meter run at the Tiger’s tri-meet with Centre and St. Mary’s of the Woods. Baker crossed the line in 15:08.71, beating five other competitors and recording the fastest time among conference athletes so far this season.

Men’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week – Jacob Brown, Denison
Denison freshman Jacob Brown (Dover, MA/Dover-Sherborn) recorded a trio of top-two finishes in Saturday’s dual meet with Wabash. In the triple jump, Brown registered a winning leap of 12.86 meters, while finishing second in the long jump with a mark of 6.07 meters. He also ran a leg of the Big Red’s runner-up 4×400 relay (3:35.36).

Women’s Indoor Track, Sprints/Hurdles Athlete of the Week – Erin Anderson, Denison
Denison sophomore Erin Anderson (Elmhurst, IL/Culver Academies) recorded a trio of top-two finishes in a dual meet against Robert Morris. In the 400-meter dash, Anderson recorded a winning time of 1:01.22, a new personal best and fastest among conference athletes so far this season. She also posted a runner-up finish in the 200-meter dash (28.31) and helped Denison’s 4×400 relay team to a second-place finish (4:26.44).

Women’s Indoor Track, Distance/Middle Distance Athlete of the Week – Alexis Gray, Wittenberg
Wittenberg senior Alexis Gray (Washington Courthouse, OH/Washington Courthouse) posted a pair of victories in Saturday’s dual meet with Ohio Wesleyan. In the mile run, Gray crossed the stripe in 5:14.32, beating out six other competitors while recording the fastest among conference athletes so far this season. She also ran a leg of the Tigers winning 4×400 relay, which combined for a time of 4:17.59.

Women’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week – Ari McPheters, Ohio Wesleyan
Ohio Wesleyan senior Ari McPheters (Reynoldsburg, OH/Bishop Hartley) won the women’s shot-put event in Saturday’s dual meet with Wittenberg. McPheters posted a throw of 12.61 meters, the best NCAC mark so far this season. She also finished runner-up in the women’s weight throw, notching a throw of 13.74 meters. Her weight throw mark ranks second-best in the conference so far this season.

Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week – Cole Borden, Wabash
Wabash freshman Cole Borden (Peru, IN/Maconaquah) helped the Little Giants to a 6-3 victory over Manchester in the team’s season opener Saturday. The rookie paired with sophomore Paul Hargitt at number two doubles scored an 8-6 victory in his first collegiate competition. Borden followed with a decisive 6-1, 6-0 straight sets win at number two singles to help Wabash head coach Daniel Bickett earn his first victory at the helm of the Little Giant program.

Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week – Paige Bennett, DePauw
DePauw freshman Paige Bennett (Terre Haute, IN/South Vigo) recorded a pair of victories last week for the Tigers. In Saturday’s 7-2 victory over Rose-Hulman, Bennett won at number four singles, 6-0, 6-0, over the Engineers’ Ella Dorfmueller. She also teamed up with junior Erin Friedrich to win at number one doubles, 8-2, over Rose-Hulman.

NCAC Milestones & Records (Feb. 15 – Feb. 21)

Wabash, Men’s Tennis – Head coach Daniel Bickett earned his first victory at the helm of the Wabash tennis program with the Little Giants’ 6-3 victory over Manchester on Saturday.
Wittenberg, Women’s Basketball – Wittenberg women’s basketball head coach Valerie Driscoll her first career win after the Tigers defeated DePauw, 41-37, on Saturday.  

Wooster, Men’s Basketball – Wooster men’s basketball head coach Doug Cline won his first career game with a 106-101 victory over Wabash on Saturday.

COURTESY OF THE NORTH COAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE