They say that all good things must come to an end, and last weekend the Ohio Northern University women’s basketball team learned that the same holds for truly great things.
The 2016-17 Polar Bears will go down in ONU sports history as the school’s greatest women’s basketball team.
The Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) champions were dominant, going undefeated in the regular season (28-0) for the first time in school history.
They parlayed that success to a No. 5 ranking and an invitation to the NCAA Division III Tournament, where they reached two more milestones in advancing to the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds for the first time.
Emily Richards won two national championships at the NCAA Division III indoor track and field championships in Naperville, Ill., last weekend. She won the 800-meter and 1-mile runs. She is the first athlete in ONU history to win two national titles at one meet. Emily is a junior chemistry major from Delaware, Ohio.
ADA — Junior Kirsten Lightel(Tallmadge) was named the Ohio Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week and sophomore Hailee Loughman (Brookville) was named OAC Hitter of the Week for the week of Mar. 5-11.
Lightel led the Polar Bears in the circle during the Spring Break trip as she posted a 6-0 record and struck out 42 batters.
The junior tossed six complete games, two of which were shutouts, and posted a team-best ERA of 0.33 during the week.
Loughman led ONU at the plate during the Spring Break trip with 14 RBI, two home runs, and four doubles.
ADA — Sophomore Ashley Ochsenhirt(Birmingham, Ala./Briarwood Christian) has been named the Ohio Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Week for the week of Mar. 5-11.
Ochsenhirt earned the honor for the first time in her career.
The sophomore posted a perfect 5-0 record at No. 2 doubles play during the Spring Break trip in Hilton Head, S.C.
Ochsenhirt also posted a 4-1 record in singles play at No. 1 singles to lead ONU.
Junior Emily Richards(Delaware/Hayes) became the first athlete in Ohio Northern school history to win titles in two events at the same NCAA Championship meet on Saturday afternoon at the NCAA Div. III Indoor Track & Field Championships at North Central (Ill.) College.
The Polar Bears finished tied for fifth place with 26 points in the team standings.
After qualifying for both the 800-meter run and 1-mile run finals on Friday afternoon, Richards opened Day 2 of the meet with a first place finish in the 1-mile run in 4:51.51, beating the next closest competitor by nearly three seconds.
The Ohio Northern baseball game with area-rival Bluffton, scheduled for Tuesday at Wander Field, has been postponed due to the impending snowstorm expected to hit the area on Monday.
The makeup date has yet to be determined.
The Polar Bears posted a 6-4 record on their Spring Break trip to the Orlando, Fla., area last week and are scheduled to return to action Friday-Saturday with a 3-game series at Thomas More (Ky.)
