By GARY R. RASBERRY
grasberry@dailystandard.com
The college basketball and swimming season is just underway
and a number of area athletes have been busy in both areas.
One that has been seeing plenty of playing time as the season
has started is Bowling Green junior Cory Eyink.
The 6-8 Marion Local product has averaged over 30 minutes per
game as the Falcons start the season 2-1 after losing to Missouri
Valley Conference power Bradley 69-56 last Saturday night.
Eyink has started two of those games, leading the Falcons in
rebounds with 7.3 boards per game and averaging 4.7 points per
game.
One of the newest Falcons, 6-11 freshman Matt Lefeld (Coldwater)
has been seeing some time off the bench for coach Dan Dakich,
averaging 2.7 points and 0.3 rebounds in 7.3 minutes per game.
Shellabarger big for 3-0 Rockets
The University of Toledo has started the season 3-0 after beating
Mid-American Conference rival Ohio 72-66 on Sunday down in Athens.
Rocket senior center A.J. Shellabarger (Celina) led the team
in rebounding in the win over the Bobcats with five. Shellabarger
has come off the bench in all three games, averaging 12 minutes
per game and 3.7 rebounds per contest.
Killian pacing Bears
Ohio Northern has jumped out to a 2-1 record, losing its Ohio
Athletic Conference opener to Muskingum 47-37 last week.
Polar Bear center Mark Killian (New Bremen) has been a force
in the middle for the Bears, averaging a team-high 7.7 rebounds
per game and averaging four points in 25.7 minutes per contest.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
VanderHorst logging key minutes
Defiance has jumped out to a 4-0 start after destroying Case
Western 90-48 on Tuesday.
Celina grad Kelly VanderHorst led the way for the Yellow Jackets,
scoring 16 points.
VanderHorst has started all four games this season, averaging
19.5 minutes for a team that has eight players averaging 15
minutes or better a game. VanderHorst is averaging 8.8 points
and three rebounds per game. VanderHorst also is shooting a
strong 52.2 percent from the field.
Heitkamp back to her dominating ways
Capital sophomore Sara Heitkamp (Fort Recovery) has picked up
from her successful freshman season for the 2-2 Crusaders, doing
just about everything the team needs to win.
Heitkamp is second on the team in scoring at 12.3 points per
game, second in rebounding at 5.5 — impressive considering
she’s just 5-6 — and averages a team-high five steals
and 4.3 assists per game.
Everman paces Eagles to 5-1 opening
Ashland has opened the season at 5-1 after losing the opener
to Clarion.
Eagle junior Beth Everman (Marion Local) has come off the bench
to spark Ashland. The 6-0 forward averages 18 minutes per game,
scoring 8.5 points and pulling down 5.2 rebounds for the Eagles.
SWIMMING AND DIVING
Grapner jumps in for Seahawks
The University of North Carolina at Wilmington returns to competition
in January after competing in the Patriot Invitational last
month at George Mason University.
Seahawk freshman Michael Grapner (Celina) competed in the men’s
three-meter diving competition, placing ninth with a score of
322.95. Grapner also finished sixth in the one-meter competition.
UNCW finished fourth overall in the men’s standings and
the team won the diving competition as sophomore Dean Berman
won with a meet record 512.50 in three-meter and dominated the
one-meter.
Locals helping out the Raiders
A group of area swimmers representing Wright State have made
the Horizon League honor roll for top times during the first
half of the swim season.
Senior Todd Benanzer (Coldwater) is currently 22nd in the HL
in the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.71 seconds and in the
100 free with a time of 49.92.
Freshman Andrew Tolan (Celina) cracked the top 25 in the 200
freestyle with a time of 1:51.71 and in the 500 free in 5:13.63.
Matt Mangen (Celina) is fourth in the league tables right now
in the 200 backstroke while former fellow Waterdog Dan Fleck
is standing 14th in the 200 breaststroke. St. Marys grad Amy
Cron is currently seventh in the HL in the 200 backstroke.
VOLLEYBALL
Buschur heading to tournament
Northwestern received an at-large bid to the 2003 NCAA Division
I tournament after finishing the season 18-14.
The Wildcats travel to the University of Washington for its
first-round match with the 14th-ranked Huskies on Friday. The
match will be played at 10 p.m. Ohio time (7 p.m. Pacific time).
Seven Big Ten teams earned an invitation to the 64-team field.
Northwestern junior Jill Buschur (New Bremen) has been a big
part of the success of the Wildcats, ranking third on the team
in kills with 3.09 per contest.
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