Campus notes: Whitmer graduate captures rookie of the week honor

4/29/2009
BY MARK MONROE
BLADE STAFF WRITER

Whitmer High School graduate Courtney Siebenaller captured her third straight Atlantic 10 Conference rookie of the week honor on April 13.

Siebenaller, who is a freshman at the University of Dayton, earned the latest award after tying her second-best effort of the season in the pole vault on April 11 at the Miami Invitational.

Siebenaller cleared a height of 12-01.50 to finish first in the event. She also placed seventh in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 15.29

The Toledo native holds the Atlantic 10's best mark of the season (12-03.50) in the pole vault which she recorded at the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational on March 28. The mark also is a new Akron record.

Siebenaller was twice named the Atlantic 10 track and field rookie of the week during the indoor season.

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SOFTBALL: The Owens Community College women's softball team will host the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference postseason tournament on May 2.

The OCCAC tournament will be played at the college's softball complex on Oregon Road in Perrysburg Township. Admission to all games is free.

The winner of the tournament advances to the National Junior College Athletic Association regional championships, which will be held May 7-8 in Battle Creek, Mich.

Participating schools are Owens, Cuyahoga Community College, and Lakeland Community College.

The Express will take a 20-8 overall record into the round robin tournament where they will play Cuyahoga (4-16) at 11 a.m. on May 2. Owens will then face Lakeland (10-16) at 12:30 p.m.

The OCCAC championship game will be played at 4 p.m. May 2, pitting the two teams with the best records against each other.

Owens Coach Duane Lanham led the Express to the OCCAC regular season title with an 8-0 record. It was the seventh OCCAC regular season title in the program's history.

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TRACK AND FIELD: Ohio Northern University junior Tony Thomas, who is a Bowsher High School graduate, posted three top five finishes at the Kenyon Invitational on April 16.

Thomas was runner-up in the discus with a heave of 40.28 meters. He also placed fourth in the shot put with a throw of 13.32 meters. Thomas also was fifth in the hammer with a distance of 36.31.

Ohio Northern finished with 128 points, trailing only Ohio Wesleyan, which had 154 points.

ONU senior Justin Linzy, who is a Woodward graduate, was second in the 100-meter dash in 11.24. Linzy also was third in the 200 (23.11).

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BASKETBALL: Owens Community College men's basketball player Justin Manns has signed a national letter of intent to continue his career at Kent State.

Last season, Manns averaged 8.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks shots per game for the Express. The sophomore center from Winston-Salem, N.C., earned honorable mention All-OCCAC honors and was named to the NJCAA All-Region XII tournament team.

Manns is a 2007 graduate of East Forsyth High School in Kernersville, N.C.

The Express men's basketball team finished the 2008-09 campaign with a 15-16 overall record and an 8-6 mark in the OCCAC to finish in third place in the regular season standings.

Owens lost to Cuyahoga Community College in the NJCAA Region XII Championships.

Blade staff writer Zach Silka contributed to this column.

Contact Mark Monroe at:

mmonroe@theblade.com

or 419-304-4760.