Female Scholar Athlete of the Week: Akron Ariane Beaumont-Courteau (indoor track and field)
Ariane Beaumont-Courteau (pole vault, So., 3.986, dietetics) took first place in the women's pole vault at the Kent Duals last weekend with a clearance of 13-05.25. Her vault represents the fourth-best mark in school history and is ranked 10th individually among all Division I athletes in the country. Beaumont-Courteau's clearance is also more than seven inches better than any other mark in the MAC entering the week.
The MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week honor is presented to a MAC male and female student-athlete who has a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and performs well during the week’s competition. The winners are selected by a group of the conference’s faculty athletic representatives.
Other Female Nominees:
Bowling Green: Alexis Rogers (basketball, R-So., forward, 3.11, early childhood education) led the Falcons in scoring and rebounding as BGSU went 2-0 against a pair of division leaders last week. Averaged a double-double, with 23.0 points and 10.0 rebounds, in wins over Miami and Eastern Michigan. Had her fourth double-double in a five-game span with 16 points and 11 rebounds at MU, in a battle of MAC unbeatens. Both teams had entered the game with 4-0 MAC records before BGSU came away with a 61-58 road win. Also had two assists and three steals in that win, and was 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. Then, against EMU, exploded for a career-high 30 points as East Division-leading BG beat the West Division-leading Eagles, 70-54. Was 11-of-17 from the field and a perfect 7-7 from the free-throw line, adding a pair of blocked shots and three steals. In her first playing season at BGSU, is averaging 12.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, leading the team in boards and ranking second in scoring. In the Falcons’ six MAC games to date, is averaging 20.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per contest, leading BG in both categories. Is shooting 52.3% from the field and 74.4% from the stripe in league games. Has 21.8 ppg and 11.3 rpg in the Falcons’ four MAC home games to date.
Buffalo: Brynn Marecki (swimming & diving, breaststroke, Sr., 3.004, speech and hearing science) in UB's 146-123 Senior Day victory over Bowling Green, senior Brynn Marecki swept the breaststroke races and was also part of a relay victory. Marecki won the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:03.95. Marecki chased down Bowling Green's Alexis Kain in the final five yards to touch the wall a tenth of a second ahead of her opponent. Marecki had an easier time in claiming the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:20.61, nearly a half-second ahead of the second-place finishing Kain. Marecki also helped the Bulls to a season-best 1:44.81 in the 200-yard medley relay as she swam the breaststroke portion of the race.
Central Michigan: Holly Anderson (indoor track and field, 3000m, Sr., 3.54, health fitness) won the 3000m at the Red Simmons Invitational Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich., blowing away the field with a career-best time of 9:58.17. Anderson's next closest competitor crossed the finish line 13 seconds later.
Eastern Michigan: Nino Mebuke (Tennis, So., 3.25, undecided) won both singles matches and one of two doubles contests in action last weekend in Wisconsin. Mebuke defeated the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Morgan Weuve, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 2 singles Friday, Jan. 20, and then came back with a 6-3, 6-4 win over the University of Wisconsin’s Sarah Loebel No. 2 singles on Saturday, Jan. 21. Mebuke teamed with Miriam Westerink at No. 1 doubles to defeat their UWGB counterparts, 8-3, before falling to the Wisconsin No. 1 duo, 8-3. The Eagles are now 2-2 on the season.
Miami: Rachael Clay (indoor track & field, 400m, Sr., 3.55, exercise science (minor: coaching)) had a strong showing at the Gladstein Invitational, hosted by Indiana University, Friday and Saturday. On Friday, she won the 400m dash invitational final in a personal-best 55.49, the second-best time in school history and third-best in the MAC this year (43rd nationally). She won the invite-only race in a field of 15, improving her previous best time by over half a second while winning the race by over half a second as well. The race included runners from the host Hoosiers, Memphis, Jacksonville State, Cincinnati, Xavier and Austin Peay. Saturday, Clay helped Miami shatter the school record in the 4x400m relay, running the third leg to help the team finish in 3:43.97, topping the previous record, which she also helped set, by over a second. The RedHawks won the 21-team race as well while the time ranks 38th nationally.
Northern Illinois: Kim Gotlund (gymnastics, all-around, So., 3.793, pre-physical therapy) helped the Huskies reach a new season-high in total points Sunday against Western Michigan. Gotlund earned a season and career best 38.725 by hitting all four of her events. The meet's lone all-arounder, she posted career high scores on bars and floor exercise with a 9.625 and a 9.775, respectively.
Ohio: Tenishia Benson (basketball, guard, Sr., 3.2, communication sciences & disorders) had one of the best games of her Bobcat career on Thursday, almost single-handedly refusing to let Ohio lose to Akron. The senior scored 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting, collected six rebounds, dished out three assists and made three steals. Benson drove to the basket with less than three seconds remaining in overtime and was fouled, sending her to the free-throw line with 0.7 seconds to play. The senior made the first free throw to give Ohio a 72-71 lead then missed the second on purpose, forcing Akron to pick up the rebound as time expired. Benson then scored three points in Ohio’s loss to Toledo on Sunday while collecting eight rebounds, dishing out four assists and swiping two steals. Tenishia leads the team both in scoring (14.2 ppg) and rebounding (7.0 rpg).
Toledo: Yolanda Richardson (basketball, center, Jr., 3.163, recreation therapy) averaged team-highs in points (19.0 ppg), rebounds (9.0 rpg) and blocked shots (4.5 bpg) and shot an outstanding 85.7 percent (18-of-21) to lead Toledo to a pair of victories last week. She opened the week with a season-high 20 points, three boards and three rejections vs. Ball State on Thursday. Three days later at Ohio, Richardson contributed a game-high 18 points, a season-best 15 caroms and a season-high six blocked shots to post her third double-double of the season. The Toledo native has now scored in double figures in five of the six MAC games in 2011-12, shooting a conference-best 75.5 percent (40-of-53) from the floor.
Western Michigan: Taylor Zondervan (gymnastics, floor, bars, beam, Sr., 4.0, exercise science) competed in three events this week, helping Western Michigan defeat Northern Illinois on the road, 194.575 to 193.350. Zonderavan had a first-place, runner-up and fifth place finish in her events. Her contributions helped Western Michigan post the highest team score in the MAC this season, as well as the sixth highest total in school history. Western Michigan is off to a 3-0 overall, 2-0 MAC start in 2012. Zondervan totaled a career and team-season high 9.850 to place first on floor exercise, then tied a career-high with a 9.775 on uneven bars to finish second. Zondervan tallied a solid 9.650 on balance beam to place fifth.
Previous Female Winners
Week 1 (Sept. 9) Kristen Lynn, Toledo (soccer)
Week 2 (Sept. 16) Brigit Reder, BSU (soccer)
Week 3 (Sept. 23) Paige Roback, EMU (volleyball)
Week 4 (Sept. 30) Rachel Iaquaniello, EMU (volleyball) and Nicole Gyurgyik, Toledo (soccer)
Week 5 (Oct. 7) Brigit Reder, BSU (soccer)
Week 6 (Oct. 14) Skylar Chew, BSU (soccer) and Bailey Brandon, CMU (soccer)
Week 7 (Oct. 21) Toye Famodu, Ohio (soccer)
Week 8 (Oct. 28) Kristin Hoffman, NIU (Volleyball)
Week 9 (Nov. 4) Carla Johl, KSU (field hockey)
Week 10 (Nov. 10) Maddy Eccleston, BGSU (tennis)
Week 11 (Nov. 17) Cassie Farrell, Miami (volleyball)
Week 12 (Nov. 26) Trisha Krewson, KSU (basketball)
Week 13 (Nov. 30) Juli Accurso, Ohio (cross country)
Week 14 (Dec. 7) Briana Emig, EMU (swimming & diving)
Week 15 (Dec. 14) Tenishia Benson, Ohio (basketball)
Week 16 (Dec. 22) Courtney Osborn, Miami (basketball)
Week 17 (Jan. 11) Emily Pifer, Ohio (track and field)
Week 18 (Jan. 18) Briana Emig, EMU (swimming & diving)
Week 19 (Jan. 25) Ariane Beaumont-Courteau, Akron (indoor track and field)