Spartan Sports Roundup
11/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | General
Nov. 18, 2008
Spartan Sports Roundup provides a brief overview of the Olympic sports teams in action. Read a recap of last week's action, look ahead to this week's action and find key notes on each team in this weekly recap.
 | Community Outreach |
• Twenty-two athletes participated in the Fit Kids Assessment Day, a community-wide collaborative focusing on fitness and nutrition for area middle school students. The athletes helped in the pre-screening assessment day. Athletes represented the sports of football, men's basketball, gymnastics, rowing, men's tennis, men's golf, & women's track and field and cross-country.
| Cross Country |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartan women's team ran to a third place finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet while the men's squad finished sixth. Senior Nicole Bush took first place individually.
This Week: The women received an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships which will take place Nov. 24 in Terre Haute, Ind. The meet will include 31 teams.
Notes: Nicole Bush (Wyoming, Mich.) ran to a first-place finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet with a time of 20:48.5...Finishing not far behind were Lisa Senkiewich (sixth) and Emily Langenberg (15th)...The Spartan women's team is making its 10th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championships...Last week, Bush was named Big Ten Athlete of the Year by the conference office ... She is the fourth Spartan to earn the award and first since Danette Doetzel in 2004 ... The Spartan women's team is currently ranked No. 10 in the nation ... Bush and Lisa Senakiewich (Davison, Mich.) earned first team All-Big Ten honors after finishing in the top 10 at the Big Ten Championships ... Bush finished as the runner-up in last year's meet, making her a first team All-Big Ten honoree in back-to-back seasons ... Bush was the top Spartan finisher at Pre-Nationals on Oct. 18, taking sixth place with a time of 20:19.1 ... The women's team has two first-place finishes this season (Colonia Inter-Regional and Notre Dame Invitational) ... Both Bush and Senakiewich have earned Big Ten Runner of the Week awards this season ... Senakiewich won her first career cross country title at this year's Colonial Inter-Regional ... Sophomore Spencer Beatty (Harbor Springs, Mich.) has been the men's top finisher at the Spartan Invite, Colonial Inter-Regional and the Big Ten Championships... Sophomore Pat Grosskopf (Corunna, Mich.) was the first Spartan to cross the finish line in back-to-back meets to end the season (56th at Pre-Nationals and 26th at NCAA Regionals).
| Field Hockey |
Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Big Ten Standings | Big Ten Statistics | Big Ten Schedule
Last Week: The 10th-ranked Spartans received an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, and were selected to host the first and second rounds. On Saturday, MSU topped North Carolina, the defending National Champions, 3-2, to advance to the second round and a matchup with Iowa. The game began on Sunday, but was halted due to weather conditions. The two teams resumed on Monday morning, and the Hawkeyes scored the game's only goal in the 50th minute to advance to the NCAA semifinals.
Notes: The Spartans finish the season with a 17-6 overall record ... Junior Floor Rijpma (Bunnik, Netherlands) finished as the team leader in goals scored (18) and points (40). She is ranked 35th nationally in points per game and is 28th in goals per game ... Junior Jeamie Deacon (Wexford, Ireland) and freshman Chantae Miller (East Amherst, N.Y.) tied for second on the team in goals (12). Deacon finished with 35 points, while Miller had 34 ... Senior Gwen Riley (Louisville, Ky.) led the team with 14 assists and was fourth in points (28). She will represent MSU in the NFHCA Senior All-Star game on Nov. 22 in Louisville, Ky. ... Sophomore Angela Pagura (Columbus, Ohio) led the team with five game-winning goals, and finished with a career-high 16 points ... Junior Elissa Unger (Reading, Pa.) started and played in all 23 games, posting a .727 save percentage and 1.39 goals against average (GAA). She ranks 14th nationally in GAA, and is 32nd in save percentage ... The Spartans outscored their opponents 79-33, including a 43-16 advantage in the second half. MSU held a 418-177 advantage in shots and a 200-101 lead in penalty corners ... Michigan State is ranked 11th in scoring margin (1.78), ninth in points per game (9.22) and is eighth nationally in goals per game (3.3).
| Men's Soccer |
Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Big Ten Standings | Big Ten Statistics | Big Ten Schedule
Last Week: The No. 1 seed Spartans defeated fourth-seeded Northwestern, 1-0, and No. 3 seed Indiana, 1-0, to win the program's second conference tournament championship. They are first team in school history to win both regular season and tournament titles. Senior Doug DeMartin (Mason, Mich.) was named Offensive Player of the Championship while sophomore goalkeeper Avery Steinlage (Grand Haven, Mich.) was named Defensive Player of the tournament.
This Week: The Spartans are the No. 4 overall seed in this year's NCAA Championship. They received first-round bye and will take on either UIC or Dayton on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 1 p.m. at DeMartin Stadium. The Spartans defeated then-14th-ranked UIC earlier this season, 3-1, and did not play Dayton.
Notes: MSU is 8-0-1 in its last nine games and has surrendered just one goal in that span ... The Spartans' 13 wins this season tie the school record, last achieved in 2001 ... Prior to winning both the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles, the last team to accomplish the feat was Indiana in 2006 ... Senior Doug DeMartin (Mason, Mich.) earned Big Ten Player of the Year and is the first Spartan to win the award since Reid Friedrichs in 1996 ... DeMartin joins sophomore goalkeeper Avery Steinlage (Grand Haven, Mich.), senior defender Dave Hertel (Holland, Mich.) and senior midfielder Zac Scaffidi (Geneva, Ill.) as First Team All-Big Ten selections ... Domenic Barone (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and Cyrus Saydee (Lansing, Mich.) were selected to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team ... In eight games against teams ranked in the NSCAA/adidas Top-25 this season, the Spartans are 6-2 ... DeMartin's 17 goals ranks third in the NCAA and his 37 points rank in a tie for fifth ... DeMartin now has 38 career goals, moving him into fifth place on MSU's career list while his 85 career points also rank fifth ... DeMartin's 17 goals this season are the most since Tony Keyes scored 28 in 1968 ... Steinlage has not allowed a goal in 695:03 of play ... He now has nine shutouts this season and ranks second in the NCAA in save percentage (.919) and eighth in the nation in saves (91) ... Senior Louis Stephens' (Saginaw, Mich.) 12 points this season are good for a tie with fellow senior Scaffidi for second on the team ... Scaffidi is tied for first in the conference in assists with six ... The Spartans 36 goals this year are the most since 2004 when they scored 38 ... MSU is 7-1-1 at home this year and it marks the third time since 2001 they have won seven games at home ... This season marks the third-consecutive year MSU has recorded at least 11 wins ... MSU finished the conference regular-season with their best mark ever, 5-1, and most wins since 2000 when they went 4-1-1 in league play.
| Women's Soccer |
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Big Ten Standings | Big Ten Statistics | Big Ten Schedule
Last Week: The Spartans defeated UW-Milwaukee, 2-1, in the first round of the NCAA Championship and then fell to the No. 1 overall seed, Notre Dame, 1-0, on Sunday.
Notes: This year's NCAA Tournament appearance was the third in program history, all having come since 2002 ... MSU earned its first Tournament win in 2005, in a 4-0 win over Bowling Green in South Bend, Ind. ... Freshman goalkeeper Jill Fliestra (Hudsonville, Mich.) started the last five games for the Spartans and surrendered just four goals ... MSU's 14 wins this season are the second-most in program history and most since 1991 ... Freshman Laura Heyboer (Hudsonville, Mich.) finished the year with 21 goals and 51 points, both rank third on the school's single-season list ... Through just one season, Heyboer already stands in 14th place on MSU's all-time career scoring list ... MSU went 9-0-2 at home this season, their best record in East Lansing since 1989 when it went 10-0 ... The Spartans' 48 goals this season are the most by a MSU team since the 1991 season when they scored 50 ... Junior Lauren Hill (Northville, Mich.) (33 points, 12 goals) ranked second in the conference in goals and points ... Her 12 goals this season and 28 for her career, put her alone in eighth place on MSU's all-time list while her five game-winning goals give her 11 for her career and push her into a tie for second in program history ... Hill's 69 career points places her in eighth on the school's all-time chart ... Lauren Sinacola (Rochester, Mich.) led the Big Ten in assists with 10 and put her in a tie for fourth on the MSU single-season assist list.
| Swimming & Diving |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartan men's and women's teams each defeated Grand Valley State on Friday (Nov. 14) at Jenison High School. The men's team (1-1) earned its first victory of the season, 158.5-82.5, while the women's team, now 2-3, won 169-72. The men's and women's teams combined to win 25 of 26 the meet's total events.
This Week: Both the men's and women's teams will compete Nov. 21-23 at the Northwestern Invitational in Evanston, Ill.
Notes: Sophomore kevin Puskaric (Mokena, Ill.) set a pool record on Friday in the win over GVSU, winning the 100 breaststroke with a time of 56.12 ... Senior Heather Kiluk (Libertyville, Ill.) picked up two wins in MSU's win over Houston, in the 1,000 freestyle and 200 IM ... Sophomore Rebecca Ebner (Okemos, Mich.) has won seven of eight butterfly events she has competed in this year ... Ebner also broke a pool record vs. GVSU, swimming the 100 fly in 56.09 ... Puskaric won both the 100 and 200 breaststroke in his first meet of the season against Iowa ... Six Spartan divers, senior Danielle Williams (Dorchester, Ontario), freshman Sarah Clay (Fishers, Ind.), junior Kayla Kalmbach (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and most recently, Jordan Jackson (Flushing, Mich.), Alycia Mokedanz (Pickering, Ontario) and David Garry (Warren, Mich.) have qualified for NCAA Zones ... Two Spartans, senior Marcus Poteete (Santa Cruz, Calif.), 400 IM and 100 fly, and junior Sho Koba (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 100 and 200 free, each won two events in MSU's win over GVSU ... True freshman Kerry Sodonis (Troy, Mich.) won both the 100 free (vs. Illinois) and the 100 breast (vs. Iowa).
| Wrestling |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The MSU wrestling team traveled to Chapel Hill, N.C., for the ACC-Big Ten Clash on Saturday, Nov. 15. The Spartans took two of three dual meets, defeating North Carolina, 18-12, and North Carolina State, 23-13 before losing to No. 21 Virginia, 23-15. Junior Franklin Gomez (Brandon, Fla.) and redshirt freshman Eric Olanowski (Virginia Beach, Va.) each finished the day with an undefeated 3-0 mark. The Clash was the Spartans' first dual action of the season, and leaves them with a 2-1 record.
This Week: The Spartans take a week off from competition before traveling to State College, Pa., for the Penn State Open on Sunday, Nov. 30.
Notes: With his three wins last weekend, Gomez extended his record to 7-0 on the season ... Coming into the week, the Spartans had two wrestlers ranked in the USA Today/NWCA/InterMat Top-20 in their respective weight classes - Gomez (No. 3, 133) and senior Rex Kendle (Edwardsburg, Mich.) (No. 14, 165) ... Gomez is ranked second in the country by Amateur Wrestling News and third by Intermat in their preseason rankings.
Players Mentioned
