Spartan Sports Roundup
11/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | General
Nov. 4, 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 |
• Seven more student-athletes (from field hockey, gymnastics, wrestling, women's tennis, and men's golf) were trained as Spartan Buddies, and will join the existing buddies in visiting sick children at Sparrow Hospital.
• On Nov. 14, student-athletes will be assisting with a Fit Kids Assessment Day at the Michigan Athletic Club (MAC).
| Cross Country |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: Senior Nicole Bush (Wyoming, Mich.) became the fourth Big Ten Women's Cross Country Champion in Michigan State history as she helped the Spartans earn third place at the Big Ten Championships at the University of Michigan. The men finished in sixth place with 138 points, and were led by sophomore Spencer Beatty (Harbor Spring, Mich.), who finished the 8K race 20th overall after clocking in at 25:07.7. Sophomore Patrick Grosskopf (Corunna, Mich.) finished just behind Beatty in 21st with a time of 25:08.2.
This Week: Both the men and women will continue the postseason at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in West Lafayette, Ind. on Nov. 15.
Notes: 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 three first-place finishes this season (Colonia Inter-Regional, Notre Dame Invitational and the Big Ten Championships) ... 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 ... Beatty has been the men's top finisher at the Spartan Invite, Colonial Inter-Regional and the Big Ten Championships.
| Field Hockey |
Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Big Ten Standings | Big Ten Statistics | Big Ten Schedule
Last Week: The 10th-ranked Spartans posted two wins over the weekend. On Friday, Jantine Steinmetz (Amstelveen, Netherlands) recorded the game-winning goal with 26 seconds remaining in regulation to hand Penn State its first conference loss. Steinmetz then assisted on both goals in a 2-0 shutout over Central Michigan, the third shutout of the season for MSU.
This Week: Third-seeded Michigan State opens the 2008 Big Ten Tournament on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. against sixth-seeded Northwestern.
Notes: MSU finished in a tie for second in the Big Ten final regular season standings with a 4-2 record ... Steinmetz earned Offensive Player of the Week honors on Monday (Nov. 3) after recording four points in wins over Penn State and Central Michigan. Four Spartans have garnered Big Ten weekly honors this year ... Floor Rijpma (Bunnik, Netherlands) posted two goals over the weekend, propelling her back into the team lead for points (35). She also leads the team with 16 goals. Rijpma is ranked second in points, goals and goals per game in the Big Ten ... Jeamie Deacon (Wexford, Ireland) and Chantae Miller (East Amherst, N.Y.) are tied for second on the team in goals (11). Deacon has 32 points, while Miller has 31. Deacon is third in the Conference in points and is tied with Miller for seventh in assists ... Senior Gwen Riley (Louisville, Ky.) leads the team with 11 assists and is fourth in points (25). She is tied for third in the Big Ten in assists. Miller leads the team with four game-winning goals and sophomore Angela Pagura (Columbus, Ohio) is second with three ... Junior Elissa Unger (Reading, Pa.) has started and played in all 19 games, posting a .734 save percentage and 1.27 goals against average (GAA). Unger is second in the Big Ten in save percentage, is third in GAA, and is fourth in saves (69). The Spartans have outscored their opponents 70-25, including a 41-12 advantage in the second half. MSU holds a 363-136 advantage in shots and a 168-77 lead in penalty corners ... Michigan State is ranked eighth in scoring margin (2.28), sixth in points per game (10.37) and is eighth nationally in goals per game (3.68). MSU is tied for ninth nationally in winning percentage, and is 11th in the latest NCAA RPI ... The Spartans rank second in scoring margin, first in shots (363) and in goals scored (70) in the Big Ten ... Unger ranks 14th nationally in GAA, and is 31st in save percentage ... Rijpma is tied for 19th nationally in goals per game and is 27th in points per game.
| Men's Golf |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartans finished second at the UNCG Bridgestone Golf Collegiate on Monday and Tuesday in Greensboro, N.C. Sophomore Payne Gniewek (Trenton, Mich.) earned his first collegiate first-place finish, as he tied for medalist honors at three-under-par 213. Junior Jack Newman (Des Moines, Iowa) posted his second top-10 finish of the season, tying for ninth at two-over par 218, while sophomore Graham Baillargeon (Mississauga, Ontario) was the third MSU golfer in the top-15, tying for 13th at four-over 220. This Week: The Spartans host the first annual Rees Jones Intercollegiate on Monday and Tuesday at the Haig Point Club on Daufuskie Island, S.C.
Notes: Michigan State is ranked No. 22 by Golfweek/Sagarin and No. 24 by Golfstat ... Newman is ranked No. 61 in the country by Golfweek/Sagarin ... MSU has four top-four placements in five fall events ... Gniewek was the fourth Spartan to post a first place individual finish this fall.
| Men's Soccer |
Roster | Schedule | Statistics
 Joe Baum and the men's soccer program clinched the Big Ten title on Sunday  | |
Last Week: The 25th-ranked Spartans defeated No. 6 Northwestern, 1-0, on Sunday to win the school's first-ever Big Ten regular-season championship. Earlier in the week, MSU defeated Bowling Green, 4-0.
This Week: The Spartans are idle this week. They return to action as the No. 1 seed at the Big Ten Tournament in Madison, Wis., beginning Nov. 14.
Notes: MSU's regular-season Big Ten championship is the program's first title since it won the 2004 Big Ten Tournament ... The Spartans are undefeated in their last seven games with a 6-0-1 record ... 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 ... This season marks the third-consecutive year MSU has recorded at least 11 wins ... In six games against teams ranked in the NSCAA/adidas Top-25 this season, the Spartans are 4-2 ... Senior Doug DeMartin's (Mason, Mich.) 33 points ranks sixth in the NCAA and continues to lead the Big Ten. His 15 goals are third-best in the nation and top in the conference. With one goal last week against Cincinnati, DeMartin now has 36 career goals, moving him into fifth place on MSU's career list; His 81 career points ranks sixth. DeMartin's 15 goals this season are the most since Tom King scored 15 in 1981 and 1982 ... Sophomore goalkeeper Avery Steinlage (Grand Haven, Mich.) continued his shutout streak in two games last week, and has now not allowed a goal in 515:03 of play ... He now has seven shutouts this season and ranks third in the NCAA in save percentage (.911) and first in the Big Ten in saves per game (5.86) ... Senior Louis Stephens III (Saginaw, Mich.) earned his first-career Big Ten Player of the Week award on Monday (Nov. 3) after scoring three goals in two games. Stephens' 12 points this season are good for a tie with fellow senior Zac Scaffidi (Geneva, Ill.) for second on the team... Scaffidi is tied for first in the conference in assists with six ... The Spartans 34 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.
| Women's Soccer |
Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Big Ten Standings | Big Ten Statistics | Big Ten Schedule
Last Week: The Spartans played to their second-straight draw, tying Michigan, 1-1, on Friday afternoon at DeMartin Stadium.
This Week:MSU travels to Iowa City, Iowa to take on Illinois at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Spartans are the No. 4 seed in the tournament and would take on the winner of the Iowa-Penn State match in the semifinals should they defeat the Illini.
Notes: MSU's 13 wins this season are the most since Big Ten women's soccer began in 1994 and the most since the 1991 season when it won 14 games ... Freshman Laura Heyboer (Hudsonville, Mich.) continues to lead the NCAA in points with 45 and is tied for third nationally with 18 goals. Her 45 points and 18 goals both rank third on the school's single-season list and are the most since Big Ten play began in 1994 ... MSU is a perfect 9-0-1 at home this season, their best record in East Lansing since 1989 when it went 10-0 ... The Spartans' 45 goals this season are the most by a MSU team since the 1994 season when they also scored 45 ... Junior Lauren Hill (Northville, Mich.) (32 points, 12 goals) continues to rank in second in the conference in goals and points. She has 12 goals this season and 28 for her career, putting 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 68 career points, places her in eighth on the school's all-time chart ... Lauren Sinacola's (Rochester, Mich.) 10 assists continue to lead the conference and put her in a tie for fourth on the MSU single-season assist list ...Freshman goalkeeper Jill Fliestra (Hudsonville, Mich.) got her first-career start in a 1-1 tie with South Dakota State last week ... Junior goalkeeper Lindsey Wrege (Portage, Mich.) has seven shutouts
| Men's Tennis |
Roster | Schedule
Last week: Michigan State men's tennis concluded fall play in Madison, Wisc. at the Big Ten Indoor Singles Championships. Sophomore John Stratton (Monroeville, N.J.) and junior Brendan Kinkopf (Cleveland, Ohio) qualified for main draw on opening day and seniors John Allare (Mainville, Ohio) and Alex Forger (Okemos Mich.) advanced to third round play in the main draw. Allare advanced to quarterfinals but fell to Sebastion Gallego of Minnesota. Michigan State's spring season begins on Jan. 17, when it hosts Northern Illinois at 10 a.m..
| Women's Tennis |
Roster | Schedule
This Week: The Michigan State women's tennis team will travel to West Lafayette, Ind., for the Purdue Invite Nov. 7-9. This tournament will conclude fall action. The Spartans open dual play on Jan. 18, at Louisville, Ky.
| Women's Rowing |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartans closed its fall schedule in fine fashion at the Big Ten Challenge Sunday morning on the Cal-Sag Channel on the Calumet River. The Spartans "A" boat earned a second-place finish in the opening varsity head race, topping every Big Ten team in the race. The only team to finish ahead of the Spartans was Virginia, topping MSU by two seconds. The Spartans "B" boat was also strong in the varsity head race, finishing fifth overall, in front of all other "B" boats and the "A" boats from Iowa, Indiana and Notre Dame. MSU will begin its spring schedule and the defense of its Big Ten title on March 11 when they travel to Clemson, S.C.
| Swimming & Diving |
Roster | Schedule
 Becca Ebner | |
This Week:Both the men's and women's teams are idle this week but return to action November 14 against Grand Valley State.
Notes: 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 six of seven butterfly events she has competed in ... Kevin Puskaric (Mokena, Ill.) won both the 100 and 200 breaststroke in his first meet of the season against Iowa ... Three Spartan women's divers, (Williams, freshman Sarah Clay (Fishers, Ind.) and junior Kayla Kalmbach (Grand Rapids, Mich.) have qualified for NCAA Zones ... Freshman Kerry Sodonis (Troy, Mich.) has won both the 100 free (vs. Illinois) and the 100 breast (vs. Iowa).
| Wrestling |
Roster | Schedule
This Week: The Spartans will host the annual MSU Open on Sunday. Last year, MSU played host to more than 300 wrestlers at the Open and finished with seven medal-winners, including a first-place finish from sophomore Franklin Gomez (Brandon, Fla.) in the 133-pound class.
Last Week: The Spartans made the trip to Ypsilanti, Mich., to compete in the Eastern Michigan Open. 13 Spartan wrestlers finished in sixth place or better, with senior Rex Kendle (Edwardsburg, Mich.), true freshman Colby Borchetta (Plantation, Fla.), and redshirt freshmen Ian Hinton (Nappanee, Ind.) and Curran Jacobs (Owosso, Mich.) picking up second-place finishes.
Notes: Gomez is ranked second in the country by Amateur Wrestling News and third by Intermat in their preseason rankings.
Players Mentioned
