Junior defenseman Matt Fleming has been named the recipient of the Elite 89 Award for the 2012 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championships.
The Elite 89, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers.
The Elite 89 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's Championships.
Junior Branden Rushton scored a game-high 22 points and sophomore Isaiah Roux added 13 points to lead Ohio Northern in a 67-56 men's basketball loss to No. 16-ranked Wooster Wednesday night at the ONU Sports Center.
The Polar Bears fall to 4-2 with the loss, while the Scots improve to 4-1.
Northern came out of the lockerroom cold in the second half, making just 1 of its first 10 shots as Wooster turned a 28-all tie into a 44-31 advantage with 11:26 left in the game.
Wooster's lead grew to as large as 52-37 with 6:43 remaining when the Polar Bears began to rally.
The Ohio Northern women's basketball team is ranked No. 24 in the first D3hoops.com poll and received votes in the second weekly USA Today Sports Coaches Poll on Wednesday.
In the D3hoops.com poll, Northern received 80 points which was good for a No. 24 ranking.
DePauw (Ind.) is ranked No. 1, OAC foe Mount Union is ranked No. 2 and UW-Stevens Point rounds out the top three.
In the USA Today Sports Coaches Poll, Northern received six votes in voting conducted by nine head coaches across Division III.
DePauw (Ind.) owns the top ranking, followed by Mount Union and Calvin (Mich.).
The No. 5 Ohio Northern's men soccer team will make the program's first ever appearance in the Final Four on Friday against No. 7 Williams (Mass.) at 2:30 pm EST at Blossom Soccer Stadium in San Antonio, Texas.
In the other semifinal, No.1 Messiah (Pa.) will face No. 2 Loras (Ia.) at noon EST.
The Polar Bears have had an impressive run through the NCAA III Tournament, knocking off three Top 10 teams. In the First Round, ONU defeated Thomas More (Ky.) by a 1-0 score.
Northern was then victorious over No. 6 Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) by a 3-1 score in the Second Round.
Senior Nate Bascom became the first player in program history to be named Division III Academic All-American in men's soccer, in voting conducted by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Bascom also was named to the Capital One Academic All-America First Team.
Senior Austin Windsor also earned a Capital One Academic All-America Second Team selection.
Bascom, a biology major, has put together a solid season with 17 goals, a team high 16 assists and 50 points. This is the second time Bascom has been a Captial One Acadmemic All-American honoree.
Three Ohio Northern seniors will represent their school and Team Stars & Stripes in the fourth annual Tazon deEstrellas all-star football bowl game on Dec. 17 in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Offensive guard Tyler Joseph, defensive tackle Cody Kelly and safety Cory Spelman were all selected to play in the game, which pits a team of NCAA Division III All-Stars against a team of Mexican collegiate all-stars.
This year's game will be played at 1 pm EST (Noon CST) at La Fortaleza Azul (The Blue Fortress) in Guadalajara.
