Heidelberg's Poland proves scout wrong
12/18/2001Heidelberg women's basketball coach Karen McConnell remembers a scouting report she got when her top player, Rachael Poland, was still in high school.
That report said Poland, a Notre Dame Academy grad who now is a senior at Heidelberg, would be a good player but probably not much of a scorer.
How wrong that report was.
This season Poland leads the Ohio Athletic Conference in scoring, averaging 20.4 points per contest. Her 163 points this season give her 1,495 points in her career, good for third on the school's all-time list.
On Dec. 5 Poland scored a career-high 36 points in a win over John Carroll, falling just one shy of the school record.
That effort helped Poland earn OAC player of the week honors last week, marking the sixth time in her four-year career she has won that award.
Poland's other numbers also are impressive. She leads The `Berg in rebounding (6.4 rpg) and field-goal percentage (47.7 percent) and also ranks among the OAC leaders in steals (2.0 spg).
Poland's work in the classroom is impressive as well. This month the senior middle childhood education major was named the OAC's Scholar-Athlete of the Month for December. That award is given to juniors or seniors with a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
Poland's award is just one of the many honors the women's basketball team at The 'Berg has accumulated recently. McConnell claimed her 200th career victory at Heidelberg on Sunday in a two-point win over Notre Dame College, the team's sixth win this season against only one loss.
Last week The 'Berg received votes in the national Division III poll on D3hoops.com, its first-ever appearance on that poll.
While Poland is one of the team's stars, she isn't its only scoring threat. Guard Katie Fazekas, a sophomore from Tiffin Columbian, is averaging 15.9 ppg while another sophomore guard, Central Catholic product Liza Simrell, is close behind at 13.3 ppg.
OAC SOCCER: A pair of Ohio Northern soccer players, seniors Matt Ellis and Melissa Swabb, both were named midfielder of the year by the league.
Ellis, who shared the honor with Otterbein's Bobby Weinberg, was the OAC's co-offensive player of the year a season ago. This year he earned his fourth consecutive All-OAC honor by ranking among the league leaders in points, goals and assists.
Ellis was one of four players from local schools named All-OAC. He was joined by teammate Andy Milby, a senior goalkeeper, as well as Heidelberg's Josh Longdon, a junior defender, and Ryan Wise, a senior midfielder.
St. John's Jesuit grad Keegan Schoen, a junior defender at John Carroll, was named second team All-OAC, while St. Francis product Nick Peters, a sophomore midfielder at Capital, received honorable mention.
On the women's side, Swabb led the OAC in goals, assists and points on the way to earning her third straight all-league award.
Jen Seminerio, a junior forward at Heidelberg, also was named to the first team while St. Ursula grad Sarah Bryan, a sophomore defender at John Carroll, was voted to the second team.
OAC VOLLEYBALL: ONU's Brandi Stover was named the league's player of the year for the second straight season, making her just the second player in league history to turn that trick.
Stover, a senior setter, was joined on the all-league team by teammate Megan Earley, a senior middle hitter.
The second team included Eastwood product Kerry Helm, a sophomore setter at Baldwin-Wallace, as well as Hopewell-Loudon's Erin Hiser, a senior outside hitter at Heidelberg.
GLIAC VOLLEYBALL: Findlay was one of only two schools to have three players named to the All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference volleyball team.
Seniors Deanna Behnfeldt, an outside hitter from Tinora, Holly Foster and Bridgett Hamilton all were voted to the first team. Behnfeldt and Hamilton also were names to the All-Great Lakes Region squad.
Jennifer Cook of Hillsdale also was named to the first team, while teammate Brook Brown was voted to the second team along with Findlay's Jill Zwiebel.
Bedford High School had a pair of former players receive honors as Nicole Salisbury, a sophomore at Wayne State, was voted to the second team and Brooke Burton, a senior at Saginaw Valley State, received honorable mention.
GLIAC SOCCER: Hillsdale girls soccer coach Roy Miller was named the league's coach of the year after guiding the Chargers to school records in wins (10) and league wins (five).
Two of Miller's players, midfielders Brianna Roy and Alisha McCabe, were named to the all-league team, while two players from Findlay - Kristin Dutczak and Erin Finnegan - also earned that honor.
On the men's side the Oilers' Andy Smyth was named coach of the year after leading his team to a 13-2-2 record.
Three of Smyth's players - forwards Luis Cortell, a St. Wendelin grad, and Zach Grieshop as well as 'keeper Dustin Robbins - were named to the all-league team.
NCAC FIELD HOCKEY: Ottawa Hills product Liza Kamke, a senior midfielder at Ohio Wesleyan, was named second team All-North Coast Conference in field hockey for the second straight season.
NCAC SOCCER: St. John's Jesuit grad Barret Bohnegal, a freshman defender at Kenyon, was named second team All-NCAC by the league's coaches.