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By Jamie Sabau All-American and defending Big Ten high jump champion Tami Smith anchors a strong jump squad this season.

Legendary performances abound at Jesse Owens Classic

By Randy Gammage, onCAMPUS staff

As rich in tradition as the legendary athlete it honors, the Jesse Owens Track Classic will be held on the Ohio State campus May 2 and 3 -- the 18th year the university has hosted the event.

The meet will be held in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, just west of the Schottenstein Center, which also is the site of the NCAA Track and Field Regional Championships May 30 and 31.

Hosting these two big events is somewhat of a christening for the 11,000-seat stadium completed in 2001 to pay tribute to Owens, an Ohio State track legend best remembered for winning four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

"To have a stadium of this magnitude speaks for the character of Jesse Owens, and the greatness of this man's accomplishments," said Head Coach Russ Rogers. "After all these years, people still feel the same admiration for him."

Assistant Coach Jack Warner said the Owens Classic is a great showcase for the Ohio State campus and the flood of NCAA qualifiers, Big Ten champions and Academic All-Americans the program has produced over the years.

"If you look back at the history of the meet, there's been a lot of great performances -- and many of them have been by Ohio State athletes," Warner said.

Among the OSU standouts competing in the meet have been Butch Reynolds, Olympian and world record holder in the 400 meters; Mark Croghan, a three-time Olympian and one of the top steeplechase performers of all time; and Joe Green, two-time Olympic bronze medalist in the long jump.

Owens left some pretty big track shoes to fill. He once set three world records and tied another in one day while competing for the Ohio State track squad.

"Every kid that puts on the Ohio State uniform that day is not only competing in the memory of Jesse Owens, but they're also competing for Buckeye pride, so they want to put on their best performance," Warner said.

As always, the event will feature some of the best college athletes, top open performers, and an Olympic sprint development team featuring athletes tagged as Olympic prospects. For the first time this year, the meet is open to high school performers. That, and the fact that many athletes want to get a feel for the stadium in preparation for the NCAA regionals has OSU track coaches bracing for as many as 2,500 competitors this year, compared to 1,000 in the past.

All-American Dan Taylor heads up a throwing team considered to be one of the strongest ever at Ohio State. Here, he competes in the hammer throw.     By Jamie Sabau

"We're pretty excited about the classic, and we're really trying to make the moves that enable us to make it bigger in the future," Warner said.

One new twist added this year is a Friday night Distance Carnival, with men and women competing in the steeplechase, 5K and 10K under the lights at 8 p.m. Meet promoters are hoping that light winds and a big, energetic crowd will result in some very fast times.

In his 15th year as head coach, Rogers looks to lead the Buckeyes program to its 10th combined title at the Big Ten outdoor championship May 16-18. With four NCAA qualifiers along with six returning All-Big Ten performers, Rogers said that a top four finish in the NCAAs also is a realistic goal.

"If we keep everybody healthy, especially on the men's side, I think we should have a real strong presence at the NCAAs this year," Rogers said.

The Buckeyes will be counting on strong performances by All-American and defending Big Ten high jump champion Tami Smith to anchor a jump squad expected to be one of the team's strengths.

All-Americans Dan Taylor, Krista Keir and Alexis McCall head up a throwing team considered to be one of the strongest ever. Taylor broke the school record in the weight and the discus last year, while Keir was Big Ten champion in the discus and placed third in the NCAA championships.

The sprinters are led by Joel Brown, Big Ten high hurdles champion indoors, while Rob Myers, the first Ohio State athlete to break the four-minute mile indoors, heads an impressive distance squad.

Rogers has met many people over the years while serving as director of the Owens Classic. His most memorable moment?

"Two years ago Jesse Owens' wife Ruth was here for the classic. The stadium was only about 90 percent complete at the time. I drove her around in a golf cart and she told me she would love to come back and see it when it was complete. She never had the opportunity to come back because she died that summer, in July. That's been on my mind a lot ever since because she was so in love with the new stadium."

Ever since, Owens' three daughters have participated in the opening ceremonies, Rogers said.

For details, call 292-0541, e-mail warner.94@osu.edu, or visit the Web at http://ohiostatebuckeyes.ocsn.com/.

Men's cross country team shows that Academic All-Americans can run too

The Ohio State men's cross-country team is living proof that academic and athletic excellence can be achieved at the same time.

As a team they were honored as Academic All-Americans the last six years by maintaining a 3.0 team GPA; the last three years they earned those honors with distinction by maintaining a 3.33 team GPA (the criteria is a 3.25 GPA or higher).

At the same time, the team enjoyed their most successful season in history this year, finishing second in the Big Ten championships and 17th in the NCAA championships.

Men's Cross Country Coach Robert Gary said it is rare for a team to be skilled in both areas. This year there were six other schools that qualified for Academic All-American status; none of them qualified for the NCAA championships.

And the cross-country squad is not taking the easy road either; 75 percent are engineering majors and three of the 14 team members maintain 4.0 GPAs.

Gary credits the four seasons of competition for distance athletes in part for the academic success.

"With the self discipline it takes to be a year-round athlete you really can't afford to be unskilled in time management," Gary said. They also have a strong academic counseling network and often tutor each other.

Gary knows a little about discipline himself. A former Ohio State track and cross country standout, he competed in the 3,000 meter steeplechase at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and still remains competitive in distance events.

SIDELINES

Spring game may attract in excess of 65,000

Ohio State officials expect a crowd that may exceed 65,000 to attend the Buckeyes' spring game that begins at 1:37 p.m. on April 26 in Ohio Stadium. The university printed 80,000 tickets for the annual rite of spring. Gates open at 11:30 a.m. and tickets -- all general admission and priced at $5 -- will be on sale at the Schottenstein Center ticket office the day of the game from 9 a.m.-noon. About 40,000 tickets had been sold as of mid-April.

"We have the potential of attracting our largest crowd ever for a spring game, if not maybe the largest crowd ever for a spring game anywhere in the country," said OSU athletics spokesman Steve Snapp. He said OSU has attracted spring game crowds exceeding 50,000 several times.

OSU returns 18 starters and 51 lettermen off its 14-0 national championship team. The Buckeyes again play eight home games next season, including their first five. They kick off with Washington Aug. 30.

41 Bucks make Academic All-Big Ten

Forty-one OSU student-athletes were named to the All-Big Ten Academic Team for winter quarter. To be eligible for selection, student-athletes must be a letter winner in at least their second academic year at their school and maintain a 3.0 or higher GPA. The women's swimming and diving team led OSU with 16 students on the list, followed by the women's and men's gymnastics teams with seven and six honorees, respectively.

Mitchell Richeson, a sophomore member of the men's swimming and diving team, was one of five Big Ten athletes who maintained a 4.0 GPA. Penn State led the Big Ten winter quarter with 52 Academic All-Conference performers, followed by Iowa (45), Minnesota (42) and OSU.

Prenger tosses OSU's first perfect game

OSU right-handed pitcher Greg Prenger retired all 21 batters he faced to post a 2-0 perfect game victory over Oakland University April 9. It is believed to be the first perfect game in Ohio State's 120-year baseball history, and was the first no-hitter by an OSU pitcher since 1998.

Prenger, a senior from Upper Sandusky, and Scott Lewis, a sophomore left-hander from Washington Court House, were both named National Players of the Week April 14 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and College Baseball Insider. Lewis struck out 20, equaling Steve Arlin's 38-year-old school record set in 15 innings, in a 4-1 home victory over Iowa on April 11. Lewis struck out 16 in a 9-3 win over Indiana April 18. The Buckeyes were 22-12 overall and in second place in the Big Ten race at 10-6 entering their April 23 game against Shawnee State.  

Synchronized swimming claims another title

The Buckeye football team needs to move over and make room for more OSU national champions. The synchronized swimming team captured first-place honors at the U.S. Collegiate National Championships March 20-22 at the University of Arizona, claiming its fourth consecutive national title and 23rd in the 27-year history of the event. Ohio State senior Victoria Bowen earned her first collegiate solo title, while Suzanna Hyatt and freshman Chelsea Luker teamed up to win the duet event. Coach Linda Witter was selected Collegiate Coach of the Year.

Other national champions in March included Adam Crompton in the men's sabre at the NCAA Fencing Championships and Natalia Diea in the women's platform diving event at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Austin, Texas.

Buckeye Bits -- Ohio State men's hockey goalie Mike Betz won the 2003 Mike and Marian Ilitch Humanitarian Award from the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), given to the league's top citizen based on contributions on and off the ice. He was recognized for his missionary work with children of Tanzania last summer and for a charity dinner he organized that raised $9,200 for the same cause ... victories over seventh-ranked Cornell and California left the OSU women's lacrosse team with its highest national ranking ever, No. 9 in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association poll April 15. The Bucks fell to 10-3 overall and 3-1 in the American Lacrosse Association with a 12-11 overtime loss to Vanderbilt April 20 … a 7-6 loss at the University of Denver April 20 snapped a six-game win streak for the then-14th-ranked men's lacrosse team, dropping them to 7-3 overall and 3-1 in the league ... the 17th-ranked women's golf team will defend its Big Ten tournament championship April 25-27 at Iowa. The Buckeyes are coming off a victory in the Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational April 20 … the men's golf team topped 17 schools to win the Kepler Intercollegiate title at OSU Scarlet April 13 for the 23rd time in the tournament's 34 years … the men's tennis team finished the regular season 19-5 overall, 9-1 in Big Ten play and 24th ranked. The Bucks, led by senior co-captain Vincent Ng, play in the Big Ten tourney April 24-27 at Northwestern. Ng recently broke the OSU career singles record after picking up his 127th victory … the men's gymnastics team finished second at both the Big Ten and NCAA Championships. OSU's defending all-around national champion, Raj Bhavsar, placed second at the NCAA meet.

Krenzel named Socrates Award winner

This year's recipient of the fourth annual Sporting News Radio Socrates Award is Craig Krenzel, quarterback of the 2002 National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes. The award is given to a college athlete who best embodies the creed "mens sana in corpore sano" or "a strong mind in a strong body."

The March of Dimes National Athletic Award was presented by Sporting News Radio March 11 in Detroit.

Krenzel was chosen by Sporting News Radio listeners and members of the Sporting News Radio Socrates panel to win this award based on his outstanding athletic and academic achievements, as well as his community service.

Vincent Ng, a star player on the Ohio State men's tennis team, also was a finalist for the 2003 award.

Krenzel led the Buckeyes to their first National Championship in 34 years with a 31-24 double overtime win over the Miami Hurricanes in the 2003 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

The only Michigan native on the Buckeyes roster also handed archrival Michigan Wolverines a loss in their final game of the season as the Big Ten champion Buckeyes wrapped up a perfect 14-0 season.

Krenzel is characterized as an extremely smart athlete, strong and accurate. When he's not being pursued on the football field, he is in the classroom pursuing a degree in molecular genetics while maintaining a 3.71 GPA. Krenzel would like to attend medical school after he graduates from Ohio State. His hobbies include golf and fishing.

Marion's Scarlet Wave

Courtesy of OSU Marion The Ohio State Marion men's basketball program, as well as other university athletic teams, adopted the team name "Scarlet Wave" during the 2002-03 season. First year Head Coach Matt Fisher, center, guided the team through a grueling 31-game season. Optimism is high for the 2003-04 season as the coach hits the recruiting trail.

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