In voting by Northwest Conference softball coaches for the 2014 baseball season. senior Kirstin Hicks, a pitcher/first/third baseman from Crestview was named Player of the Year after being runner-up for that honor during the 2013 season. In a close vote, Helm edged out junior Hope Schroeder of Columbus Grove by 3 points with senior Erin Conkle of Allen East finishing another 4 points back.
Ada High School track standout, Brittany Archer, was voted Female Athlete of the Year following the Northwest Conference track and field championships over the weekend at Spencerville.
Archer won three events: (100m Dash, 4x100m Relay, and 200m Dash) while finishing 3rd in the 4x200m Relay.
Columbus Grove won the boys' championship for the 3rd year in a row with Coach Chris Grothaus being voted as Coach of the Year by his peers. Senior Noah Stratton (Bluffton) was voted as the Male Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row. Stratton won first place in both the 400m Dash and the 4x200m Relay while finishing 2nd in the 200m Dash and the 4x400m Relay.
ONU senior Josh Colbert, junior Catie Huber and the men's 4x100-meter relay team qualified for the NCAA III Championships at Ohio Wesleyan, which will be held May 22-24.
The top 22 women, top 20 men and top 16 relay marks qualify for the championships.
Colbert will compete in the long jump on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and will also team with senior Francisque Pierre-Jerome, sophomore Jojuan Fisher and sophomore Christian Rupe in the 4x100-meter relay on Thursday at 5:45 p.m.
Huber will take part in the 1,500-meter run on Thursday at 6 p.m.
The Northwest Conference track meet takes place Thursday and Saturday, May 15 and 17 at Spencerville High School.
On Thursday, the field events will begin at 4:45 p.m. with running events start at 5 p.m. Saturday field events start at 10:30 a.m. and running finals at 12:30 p.m.
Results will be posted on Baum's page as soon as possible following the meet events on Thursday and Saturday.
To follow results of the meet, Icon viewers may click here. This link also provides results from previous NWC track meets back to 2007.
Senior men's swimmer Jordan Breitigam was named the Gale E. Daugherty outstanding senior male athlete and senior women's swimmer Lindsey Rayhill was named the Helen A. Ludwig outstanding female athlete.
The Gale. E Daugherty award is given to the most outstanding Ohio Northern senior male athlete. Daugherty was the legendary head coach of the men's basketball program from the 1971-72 season to the 1991-92 season, amassing a 310-218 career record.
Breitigam, a pharmacy major, is a three time Honorable Mention All-American in the 200-yard butterfly.
