Female Scholar Athlete of the Week: Brittany Petzold, Central Michigan (gymnastics)
Brittany Petzold (all-around, So., 3.89, undecided) put together the best all-around performance of her career Sunday, matching or beating season-bests in every event to score a 39.300. Petzold set new season highs on vault (9.825), beam (9.750) and floor (9.875) and matched her season-best score on uneven bars (9.850) to post the first 39-plus of the season in the Mid-American Conference. The sophomore’s 9.875 on the floor also set a career-high while her 9.825 on vault matched her career-high set a year ago. All together, Petzold racked up five first place finishes over the weekend, as took first on the vault and uneven bars Friday night at Eastern Michigan to help the Chippewas post their 25th-straight victory over a MAC opponent and took first in the uneven bars, floor and all-around Sunday versus Texas Woman’s University.
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:
Akron: Valerie Fraizer (Wert) (indoor track and field, throws, Sr., 3.857, art education) won the women's weight throw for the third time in as many weeks, posting a mark of 63-01.50 last Saturday at the Mark Colligan Memorial, hosted by the University of Nebraska. Fraizer was the easy winner in the event, beating Nebraska's Victoria Zimmerman, who finished second, by four full feet.
Bowling Green: Jessica Slagle (basketball, Sr., guard, 3.46, visual communication technology (VCT)) had arguably the best week of her collegiate career, leading the Falcons in scoring in both games as BGSU went 2-0 on the road. She averaged 20.5 points and also led the team in assists (4.5 apg) and steals (3.0 spg) in the Falcons’ wins at Ball State and Central Michigan. Slagle’s career scoring best was 18 points entering the week, but she surpassed that total in each game. The senior captain had 22 points in a 63-52 win at Ball State, adding four assists and a career-high five steals. She scored 13 points in the first half of that win, and keyed a 10-0 run late in the period that opened up a 17-point lead for the Falcons. At CMU, Slagle scored 19 points in a 77-72 overtime victory. She also had five assists in that win. Slagle hit a go-ahead layup with just 7.9 seconds remaining in regulation. After the Chippewas tied the contest to send it to overtime, she converted another layup on the first possession of OT to give the Falcons a lead they would never relinquish. She shot a team-best 57.1 percent last week, making a career-high eight field goals in the BSU game and matching that total with eight more FGM vs. CMU. On the season, Slagle is averaging 11.6 points this season, and also has 4.7 rebounds per contest. She leads the team in assists, with 2.3 per game, and is tied for second in steals (1.8 spg). In MAC games, Slagle is second on the team with 14.5 ppg, and she also has 5.6 rpg and team-best averages of 3.3 assists and 2.4 steals. BGSU is now 18-3 overall and 8-0 in the MAC, and the Falcons have won 11 games in a row and 18-of-19 contests after an 0-2 start.
Buffalo: Rebecca O'Brien (indoor track and field, throws, Sr., 3.292, communication) at the SPIRE Midwest Open, O'Brien broke her own UB record to win the women's shot put. O'Brien threw 57-5.75 (17.52m) to eclipse the record she set last season by more than 16 inches, breaking the facility and Mid-American Conference marks as well and automatically qualifying her for the NCAA National Championships in Nampa, ID this March. The throw is also the third best in the nation this year.
Eastern Michigan: Miranda Jarvis (gymnastics, floor, vault, beam, So., 3.18, undecided) helped the Eagles to a second place finish this week when they hosted Central Michigan University and Texas Woman’s University Friday, Jan. 27. Jarvis tied for first on the floor exercise with fellow Eagle Jamie Radermacher posting a 9.775, a season best for Jarvis. The Westminster, Md. native also had a standout performance on the vault, recording a fifth place tie earning a 9.675. Jarvis continued to help the Green and White tallying a 9.500 on the balance beam.
Miami: Leah Thornton (swimming, backstroke, Jr., 3.67, zoology) had one of the best weeks of her career, winning five individual events and a relay to help Miami defeat both Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green on the road in dual meets last weekend. On Friday, Thornton captured first in both the 100-yard backstroke in 57.25, winning by over a second, and the 200-yard backstroke in 2:05.65, winning by over two seconds, to score 18 points in Miami’s 167-132 win over EMU, which was EMU’s first MAC dual meet loss of the year. She also swam the lead leg (backstroke) on Miami’s 200-yard medley relay team that won in 1:45.87 while she clocked a split of 27.00, earning another 11 points for the ‘Hawks. Saturday at Bowling Green, she won the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke again, doing so in 58.15 and 2:06.37, respectively, winning the 200 back by over three seconds. She also touched first in the 200 individual medley in 2:09.30 and helped the RedHawks take second in the 400-yard medley relay in 3:54.27 with Thornton swimming the lead leg (backstroke) as Miami won the meet178-111.
Northern Illinois: Courtney Shelton (basketball, guard, Sr., 3.128, communication) played a crucial role as the floor general for the Huskies during a 2-0 week with wins at Akron (first since 2006) and over Kent State (first since 2008), averaging 15.0 points, 5.0 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game. She also was 8-for-20 from the floor, 6-for-15 on three-pointers, and 8-for-10 from the free throw line. In a 72-66 win at Akron, she tied a season high of seven assists while also scoring seven points and grabbing four rebounds. In a 66-55 win at home over Kent State, she scored a season-high 23 points, adding four rebounds and three assists. She hit her first three treys of the game and was 5-for-10 on the day.
Ohio: Kristin Capcik (diving, diver, So., 4.00, bios pre-professional) had a very strong week for the Bobcats, diving well in dual-meet victories over West Virginia and Ball State. She finished no lower than third in all competitions, placing second from the three-meter board (285.76) and third from the one meter (232.87) against West Virginia. She then followed these performances up with a first-place finish from the three-meter board (285.76) and a second-place finish from the one-meter board (265.95) against Ball State. Were she not already qualified for the 2012 NCAA Diving Zones competition, three of Capcik’s weekend diving scores would have met the criteria for the competition.
Toledo: Carly Harter (swimming, freestyle, Jr., 3.563, education) won the 200 freestyle (1:50.76) and 100 freestyle (51.92) to lead Toledo (5-2, 4-0 MAC) to a 188.5-107.5 victory over Eastern Michigan in its final regular-season meet before the Mid-American Conference championships.
Western Michigan: Taylor Zondervan (gymnastics, all-around, Sr., 4.0, exercise science) won the all-around title with a career-high and team season-best 38.950 in Sunday's win against Bowling Green. All four of her event scores were counted towards the team total, as Western Michigan posted its second highest overall score in the program's 37-year history. WMU recorded a 195.300, going over 195 for just the second time ever, while also recording the highest team total in the MAC this season. In addition to her all-around title, Zondervan finished second on floor with a 9.800, third on balance beam (9.700) and fourth on the uneven bars (9.750). It was just Zondervan’s second time competing as an all-arounder in four meets this season. With the victory, WMU improved to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the MAC.
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)
Week 20 (Feb. 1) Brittany Petzold, CMU (gymnastics)