A school record 68 Ohio Northern student/athletes were named Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference in the six fall sports for 2019.
The ONU football, men's soccer, women's soccer and women's cross country teams had record-high totals and the men's cross country team tied its record number of Academic All-OAC honorees.
Football had 16 named Academic All-OAC, men's soccer 15, women's soccer 13, women's cross country nine, men's cross country eight and volleyball seven.
The award winners must be a sophomore or higher in class standing, maintain varsity status and have a cumulative grade-point-average of at least 3.50.
Thio Ohio Northern Esports team won the inaugural Great Lakes Esports Conference League of Legends title with a 2-0 sweep of Lourdes on Sunday evening at the ONU Esports Arena.
The Polar Bears finish their season at 8-0, while The Gray Wolves end at 3-5.
ONU also swept LU 2-0 in Overwatch to wrap up its season at 8-1, good for a second place GLEC finish. Lourdes ends GLEC play at 3-6.
The 15-minute halftime break did wonders for the Ohio Northern men's basketball team Friday night at Denison. The Polar Bears opened the second half on a big scoring run and turned a deficit into a double-digit lead en route to an 80-70 victory.
The win pushed Northern to 2-1 on the season, while the loss dropped the Big Red to 0-2 on the year.
C.J. Napier (Miamisburg/Bishop Fenwick) led the way for ONU with a game-high 27 points. He scored in every which way, going 8-for-15 from the floor, 1-for-3 from 3-point land and 10 of 11 from the free-throw line. He also added six rebounds and two assists.
As fall sports seasons conclude, several ONU athletes receive recognitions from OAC and from other areas. In addition, tournament action continues for some Polar Bear squads.The weekly sports round up follow:
Goalkeeper of the year – 4th consecutive year
A few days ago, Ohio Northern's Meagan Grierson (Dayton/Miamisburg) carved her name into the Ohio Athletic Conference record books becoming the first player to ever win Goalkeeper of the Year honors four consecutive years. On Sunday, Grierson's steady hand extended the Polar Bears' season.
The Ohio Northern women's basketball team brings back its second-, third- and fourth-leading scorers for the 2019-20 season. And while that's plenty of production coming back, the challenge for 19th-year head coach Michele Durand is identifying a new go-to scorer, and that may not be one single player.
"We've had that go-to player for quite a few years now, but I think it's going to be a committee of people this year," Durand said. "… Our motto is, 'Tough and together.' We really have to be tough and really have to be together. If we are together, I think we can win some games."
