Spencerville’s Gabi Groft signed a letter of intert to play basketball at Ohio Northern University. Pictured: Left to right: Jodi Croft, Gabi Croft, Wes Croft, coach Greg Ekis Attending Ohio Northern University and continuing her basketball career.
COLLEGE
Women’s basketball
ADA — The No. 18-ranked Ohio Northern women’s basketball team will host the first two rounds of the 2023 NCAA III Tournament Friday and Saturday at the ONU Sports Center.
Northern (23-4 overall) will host Berea (Ky.) on Friday.
Wisconsin-Oshkosh (19-8) and Washington & Lee (Va.) (22-6) will play in the other first round match.
The two winners will play in the second round on Saturday.
The game times will be announced later in the week.
The Polar Bears are making their eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
Ohio Northern earned the Ohio Athletic Conference’s automatic bid by winning the OAC Tournament title with a 60-45 victory over Marietta on Feb. 25.
The Polar Bears also won the OAC Regular Season title with a 14-4 record and were the No. 1-ranked team in the Region 7.
ONU has now won five OAC Tournament titles and eight OAC Regular Season crowns.
Tennis
ONU player honored
ADA — Ohio Northern sophomore Peyton Specht (Munster, Ind.) was named the Ohio Athletic Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Week, sponsored by Midstream Lighting, for the week of Feb. 20-26.
This is Specht’s third career OAC Player of the Week accolade after earning the honor twice as a freshman last season.
The latest recognition comes after Specht went 2-0 to help the Polar Bears claim a 5-4 win over NAIA foe Spring Arbor (Mich.) on Saturday.
Specht won 8-6 at No. 2 doubles with sophomore Drew Swisher (Findlay) and won 6-7, 6-1, 10-5 at No. 2 singles.
An All-OAC Second Team selection in 2022, Specht is 9-8 overall this season, including 5-4 in singles and 4-4 in doubles.
The Polar Bears (2-2 overall) return to action on Saturday when they host Wooster at 2 p.m. at the Westwood Tennis Center in Lima.
Track and field
Bluffton wraps up indoor season
CINCINNATI, Ohio- The Bluffton University men placed third and the women finished eighth at HCAC championship meet.
In the men’s high jump, junior Desmond Gist (Detroit, Mich./Trenton) was fourth with a big jump of 1.87m. Making the podium and bringing home the bronze was sophomore Joey Bonham (Vanlue), securing third place with a jump of 1.90m. Standing in the second-place spot on the podium and earning silver with an outstanding leap of 1.93m was sophomore Kyle Manns (Ottoville).
In the women’s high jump, sophomore Olivia Rider (Celina) scored a point for her team, placing 8th with a jump of 1.42m.
In the long jump, junior Malik Waters (Lima/Perry) had a quality jump, securing 4th place in the HCAC (6.30m). In addition, Gist placed 2nd (6.67m), taking home the silver medal.
The running events kicked off with the women’s 5k Race. Junior Jenia Freewalt (Delphos/St. John’s) left it all out on the track, placing ninth with a time of 20:48 which established a new season best.
The women’s distance medley relay team earned points, placing 7th overall with a time of 15:56. The unit was comprised of junior Miranda Billman (Castalia/Margaretta), sophomore Kinsey Myers (Stryker), junior Brooke Barnes (Ashland/Crestview) and sophomore Sammie Unger. (Kenton).
After the final scores were tallied, the results showed the Bluffton men’s team placing 3rd and the women’s team taking 8th overall! Happy with some great performances but never satisfied, the Beavers returned home to take some time to recover before beginning training for the 2023 outdoor track and field season!
