Spartan Sports Roundup
2/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | General
Feb. 24, 2009
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.
 | Baseball |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartan baseball team traveled to St. Petersburg and Clearwater, Fla., for the BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge where it went 1-2. MSU defeated UConn, 4-2, in its first game of the year on Friday (Feb. 20) but then fell to Seton Hall, 8-4, on Saturday (Feb. 21) and Minnesota, 7-2, on Sunday (Feb. 22).
This Week: MSU heads to Wilmington, N.C., to take on the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks in a four-game set.
Notes: Spartan head coach Jake Boss Jr. became the first MSU head coach since Tom Smith to win his debut game ...Smith defeated South Dakota State in is first game in 1983 ... The Spartans had seven stolen bases in their win over UConn ... East Lansing native Nolan Moody got the win in his first-career collegiate start ... Junior Chris Roberts and sophomore Jonathan Roof are tied for the team lead in batting average as each is hitting .417.
| Softball |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: MSU opened the FGCU Spring Break Invitational with a 10-2 win over Bethune-Cookman before falling to No. 13 DePaul 7-2 on day one ... The Spartans dropped a 5-1 decision to Fairfield and an 8-0 loss to DePaul on Saturday ... MSU wrapped up the tournament with a 6-5 extra-inning loss to host Florida Gulf Coast.
This Week: The Spartans travel to Birmingham, Ala., for the Magic City Classic ... MSU opens play on Saturday, Feb. 28 with Samford at 11 a.m. and Pittsburgh at 3 p.m. ... The Spartans face Northern Illinois at 11 a.m. and host UAB at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 1 to conclude the tournament.
Notes: Sophomore Lindsey Hansen (Valparaiso, Fla.) hit home runs in back-to-back games, beginning with the game against DePaul on Friday, Feb. 20. She leads the team with three home runs and eight RBIs ... Sophomore Jessica Bracamonte (Hacienda Heights, Calif.) recorded a team-high .368 batting average in the five games played during the tournament ... Bracamonte and Hansen led the team with three RBIs each ... Freshman Lauren Kramer (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) posted a team-high 21 putouts through the five games ... Sophomore Shae Bass (Santee, Calif.) picked up her first win of the season in a 10-2 win over Bethune-Cookman and finished with a team-high six strikeouts ... Senior Gina Mondo (Orange, Conn.) leads the team with a .458 batting average and classmate Kara Weigle (Naples, Fla.) is second with a .424 average ... Mondo also leads the team with a .750 slugging percentage ... Bracamonte leads the team with eight runs and two triples ... Weigle has a team-high 14 hits ... Junior Kelly Confer (Tampa, Fla.) leads the team with a 2-1 record ... Senior Megan Hair (Torrance, Calif.) has a team-high nine strikeouts ... The Spartans have 81 hits in 10 games, a .293 team batting average and are 15-for-17 in stolen base attempts.
| Swimming & Diving |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The women's team competed at the Big Ten Championships where it finished in 10th place ... Freshman diver Sarah Clay was MSU's top point-scorer as she placed 11th on the three-meter board and eighth on the one-meter board.
This Week: The men's team travels to Purdue for the Big Ten Championships which begin on Wednesday (Feb. 25) and run through Saturday (Feb. 28).
Notes: Divers Danielle Williams, Alycia Mokedanz, Jordan Jackson and Sarah Clay have all qualified for NCAA Diving Zones which take place March 2-4 ...The women's team set school records in the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays this past weekend at the Big Ten Championships ... Sophomore Becca Ebner set a new school mark in the 200 fly on the final day of the Big Ten Championships with a 2:00.18 ... Sophomore Ricky Forest (Lake Orion, Mich.) won the 200 butterfly (1:51.80) and kevin Puskaric (Mokena, Ill.) won the 200 breaststroke (2:00.27) against Michigan ... Senior Marcus Poteete (Santa Cruz, Calif.) finished second with a 48.97 in the 100 butterfly while Michigan's Chris Brady set the new pool mark in the event with a time of 47.70 - the previous pool record was set in 1972 by Mark Spitz ... Puskaric (200 breaststroke, 1:57.09), junior Jon LaRocque (50 freestyle, 20.13 and 100 backstroke, 48.55) and senior Marcus Poteete (100 butterfly, 47.01) have all set new school records this season ... Senior Heather Kiluk snapped her own MSU record in the 200 IM (2:02.44) at the Shamrock Invitational ... The men's 200 medley relay team, consisting of LaRocque, Poteete, Joe Schmitt and Matt Massman, as well as the women's 400 medley relay team of sophomores Stephanie Fisher and Becca Ebner, freshman Kerry Sodonis and junior Erinn Wertz, both set new school marks ... Poteete's 47.01 in the 100 fly currently ranks as the 18th-fastest time in the nation this year ... Puskaric has posted the nation's eighth-fastest time to date this season in the 200 breast (1:57.0).
| Wrestling |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartans finished their regular season campaign, falling to Purdue and No. 9 Illinois in their final weekend set ... Junior Franklin Gomez (Brandon, Fla.) earned two victories on the weekend - a 17-2 technical fall over Purdue's Carson Beebe and a 9-7 decision over second-ranked Jimmy Kennedy of Illinois ... Senior Rex Kendle (Edwardsburg, Mich.) picked up a 7-4 upset victory over 15th-ranked Roger Smith-Bergsrud of Illinois, his fourth victory over a ranked opponent this season.
This Week: The Spartans have the week off in preparation for the Big Ten Championships March 7-8 in State College, Pa.
Notes: In his final home meet, senior Rex Kendle (Edwardsburg, Mich.) recorded a 6-0 win over Oklahoma's Derek Peperas ... Kendle scored one of the biggest upsets of the season this year when he defeated Iowa's third-ranked 165-pounder Ryan Morningstar, 5-4 ... Sophomore Anthony Jones, Jr. (Highland Park, Mich.), redshirt freshman 174-pounder Ian Hinton (Nappanee, Ind.) and senior Alan O'Donnell (Lakewood, Mich.) also picked up wins against Iowa ... Sixth-ranked 133-pounder Franklin Gomez (Brandon, Fla.) was ranked No. 1 in the country for seven-straight weeks ... Kendle and sophomore Anthony Jones Jr. (Highland Park, Mich.) continue to lead the team in wins as they have each recorded 22 this season.
| Indoor Track & Field |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: MSU earned three event titles and nine top-five finishes after sending a small squad to the Silverston Invite in Ann Arbor, Mich. ... Sophomore Charelise Davis (Pittsburgh, Pa.) took first in the 200m dash and second in the 60m dash in her first competition in nearly a month ... Shane Wells (Romulus, Mich.) won the 60m hurdles with a personal-best time of 7.93, a school record.
This Week: The Spartans will take part in the Big Ten Indoor Championships on Saturday ... The women will compete at Indiana while the men will compete at Penn State ... Both meets are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
Notes: The men's 4x400m relay team, consisting of Jeremy Orr (Detroit, Mich.), Keith Hewlett (Detroit, Mich.), Yury Ratomski (Novi, Mich.) and Michael Smoot (Trenton, Mich.), broke the school record after clocking in at 3:09.59 at the GVSU Big Meet, defeating a team from Western Kentucky that had run 3:07.61 earlier this season by nearly two seconds ... The mark is an NCAA provisional qualifying time ... Lisa Senakiewich (Davison, Mich.) set an NCAA provisional qualifying time by shaving nearly six seconds off of her personal-best time in the mile after finishing the race in 4:40.91 ... Her time breaks a school-record that was set by Anne Pewe back in 1982 when she ran the mile in 4:41.50 ... Senakiewich earned the mile title while three other Spartans finished in the top five in the event ... Knoll set the school-record in the mile run at the Meyo and became only the second Spartan in program history to run a sub-four-minute mile as he won one of the most prestigious mile events in the nation by clocking in at 3:57.36 ... His time automatically qualifies him for the NCAA Indoor Championships as he defeated one of the most competitive fields in the event, defeating three automatic NCAA qualifiers and two provisional qualifiers ... Knoll also broke the school-record in the 800m run at the Grand Valley Big Meet, clocking in at 1:48.97, also an NCAA provisional qualifying time ... Orr broke his own school record in the 400m dash at the Meyo, running an NCAA provisional qualifying time ... His time is currently the fastest in the nation; The win marked Orr's second 400m dash title of the season ... Junior Leah Elenbaas (Greenville, Mich.) also broke a school record, topping her own mark in the 1,000m run after clocking in at 2:50.32 to win the event ... Jay Gillespie (Allen Park, Mich.) notched a weight throw record with a toss of 19.12m (62-8 ¾) at the GVSU Big Meet, topping his previous school-record toss from the MSU Open ... Senior Sarah Price (Mankato, Minn.) and junior Emily MacLeod (Cincinnati, Ohio) also provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the mile run and 3,000m run, respectively; both Price and MacLeod finished sixth in their respective events ... Freshman Beth Rohl (New Buffalo, Mich.) has been a bright spot for the throwers on the women's side as she has put up big marks all season, highlighted by her second-place finish at the Indiana Invitational when she tallied a personal-best toss of 18.10m (59-4 ¾) ... Rohl continued her success at the Notre Dame Invite, finishing second in the weight throw and third in the shot put and she threw a personal-best, 14.00m (45-11 ¼), in the shot put at the Meyo ... The Spartans saw three athletes earn weekly conference honors following the season-opening MSU Open ... Davis took home the school's first ever Big Ten Female Track Athlete of the Week honor after claiming the 60m dash title with a personal-best time of 7.63 seconds; Becca Buchholtz (East Troy, Mich.) was the Big Ten Female Field Athlete of the Week after winning the pentathlon in her first collegiate event while Gillespie took home Male Field Athlete of the Week after his then school-record heave of 18.40m (50-6 ¼) in the weight throw.
| Gymnastics |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The 23rd-ranked Spartans recorded a season-high 194.900 in their first dual meet win of the season over Pittsburgh.
This Week: MSU travels to Columbia, Mo., for the Missouri Cat Classic on Friday, Feb. 27 with the Tigers, Cal-State Fullerton and Western Michigan.
Notes: Junior Nicole Curler (Bay City, Mich.) finished second overall in the all-around for the first time this year with a season-high 39.225; she also recorded a season-high 9.900 on balance beam, taking second overall, and tied her season-high on vault with a 9.800 ... Sophomore Kelsey Morley (Elkhart, Ind.) continued her success on balance beam, recording a 9.950 against Pittsburgh, just one week after setting a program record with a 9.975 ... Freshman Jackie Berg (Tinley Park, Ill.) posted a career-high 9.800 on uneven bars against Pittsburgh, placing third; it was her first career top-three finish ... Junior Emily Lopatofsky (Waymart, Pa.) finished first overall on floor with a 9.900, tying her career-high ... Junior Rochelle Robinson (Chesapeake, Va.) recorded a 9.825 on uneven bars, taking first overall against the Panthers ... Sophomore Nicole Argiros (Livonia, Mich.) was the Spartan's top finishers on vault, tallying a 9.825 and finishing third overall ... Robinson ranks 50th nationally on uneven bars and is eighth in the Big Ten ... Roggensack is 52nd nationally and is third in the conference on vault ... Morley is ranked 32nd nationally, eighth regionally and fifth in the Big Ten on balance beam.
| Women's Tennis |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Michigan State women's tennis team opened Big Ten Conference play as it fell in a mid-week match on Wednesday to Michigan, 7-0, in Ann Arbor ... MSU returned home on Saturday, Feb 21 for a doubleheader against Bowling Green and Cleveland State ... The Spartans opened the day by defeating BGSU, 7-0. In the nightcap, the Spartans defeated Cleveland State, 7-0 ... The Spartans are now 6-4 on the season.
This Week: The Spartans will travel to Kalamazoo, Mich. on Feb. 27 to take on Western Michigan University at 6 p.m. ... The Spartans will then return home on Sunday, March 1 as they play host to Marshall at 11 a.m. at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility.
Notes: Sophomore Whitney Wilson (Evansville, Ind.) leads the Spartans with a 17-5 singles record on the season ... Wilson is 2-0 when in the No. 4 singles slot and 3-1 when in the No. 5 spot and is 8-2 in her last 10 ... The doubles tandem of sophomores Manon Noe (Liancort, France) and Wilson are 5-1 in its last six matches together ... The tandem of senior Stephanie Kebler (Okemos, Mich.) and junior Christine Milliken (Traverse City, Mich.) are a perfect 2-0 when partnered together ... The doubles pairing of freshman Elena Ivanova (Moscow, Russia) and senior Ana Milosavljevic (Johannesburg, South Africa) is currently ridding a four-match win-streak ... As a team, Michigan State has a 35-21 singles record in dual play ... The team has won the doubles point in seven of their 10 matches this season ... Freshman Dana Guentert (Lilburn, Ga.) is currently riding a six-match singles win-streak ... The Spartans are 6-1 against regional opponents this season.
| Men's Tennis |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Michigan State men's tennis team defeated Ball State 5-2 in its second road match of the season on Saturday ... The win improved the Spartans to 9-1 in dual play.
This Week: The Spartans host Illinois State and IUPUI Sat. Feb. 28 in the last doubleheader of the season ... Play begins at 10 a.m. against Illinois State and continues at 4 p.m. against IUPUI.
Notes: The doubles team of Jason Norville and John Allare recorded MSU's only doubles win against Ball State, improving their record 8-0 in duals this season ... With Ball State taking the doubles point, the Spartans came out strong in singles play, picking up wins in all but one position. Senior Alex Forger outplayed Eduardo Pavia at the No. 1 position, 7-6 (6), 6-2, putting him at 6-2 overall in duals ... Allare posted a win over Jose Perdoma, 6-4, 6-2, improving to 7-2 on the season ... Scott Rasmussen fought through to defeat Adres Monroy at the No. 3 position, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1, posting an overall 7-2 season record ... At the No. 4 position, freshman Austin Brooks posted a win over Jorge Rodriguez, 6-4, 6-1, improving to 7-2 overall ... Ronnie Hulewicz defeated Shaun Bussert, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 5; he now has an 8-1 record in singles this spring and has won his last six matches.
| Women's Golf |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The 18th-ranked Michigan State women's golf team took fifth place at the Central District Invitational last week in Parrish, Fla., after carding a team score of 903 (304-297-302) . . . The Spartans hosted the 15-team tournament at the River Wilderness Country Club . . . No. 9 Auburn finished in first with a score of 882 (284-295-303) . . . This year's Central District Invitational featured one of the best fields in the tournament's nine-year history, with 11 teams ranked in the top 50 of the Golfweek ratings, including six in the top 25.
This Week: The Spartans do not compete until March 27-29 at the Liz Murphy Invitational in Athens, Ga.
Notes: Junior Laura Kueny led the way for MSU at the Central District Invitational with her fourth top-10 finish of the season and 11th of her career, placing seventh with a 4-over 220 (76-72-72). Following a first round 76, Kueny shot even-par in her final two rounds, and her 72 in the third round was MSU's top score of the day . . . Kueny leads the Spartans with an 73.78 scoring average and is ranked the 13th golfer in the nation by Golfweek . . . Sophomore Aimee Neff also placed in the top 10, as her total of 223 (77-72-74) tied for ninth...Neff has now finished in the top 10 three times this season and on six occasions during her career....Neff is ranked 60th in the country according to Golfweek.
Players Mentioned
