Female Scholar Athlete of the Week: Holly Anderson, Central Michigan (indoor track and field)
Holly Anderson (distance, Sr., 3.54, health fitness) broke the 25-year-old indoor 5,000m record in her season debut Friday at the Meyo Inviatational in Notre Dame, Ind., crossing the finish line in 16:49.93, eclipsing the previous record of 17:01.3 set in 1987 by Chris Cooper. Her performance Friday replaces a previous career best of 17:14.84 set during the 011 season and is the first sub-17:00 5,000m run in CMU indoor track and field history.
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: Zara Harutyunyan (tennis, Sr., 3.06, communication) posted a 6-0 record (3-0 doubles, 3-0 singles) in leading the Akron tennis team to a 3-0 mark this weekend and improving the squad's dual-match record to 5-0. The Zips topped IUPUI (6-1) and Wright State (7-0) at home, and West Virginia (7-0) on the road. Harutyunyan, a three-time Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, tallied three wins at No. 1 singles (all in straight sets), two victories at No. 1 doubles and one decision at No. 2 doubles. Four of those wins (2 in doubles, 2 in singles) came during a Saturday home doubleheader, with the other two coming on Sunday afternoon on the road.
Bowling Green: Emily Reuland (tennis, #3 singles, #3 doubles, So., 3.93, exercise science) went a perfect 4-0 on the weekend, as the Falcons opened the home portion of the dual-match schedule … won at the third flight in both singles and doubles, against both Chicago State and UIC … against Chicago State on Saturday, combined with junior Katie Grubb for a dominant 8-0 win in doubles … then, lost only five total games in her straight-sets sweep of Karyn Emeralda in singles play … the Falcons posted a 7-0 win over CSU … the following day, teamed up with Grubb for an 8-3 doubles win, then lost just three total games in a singles sweep of Elisa Simonetti … won that singles match by scores of 6-3, 6-0 … is now a perfect 4-0 in dual-match play, with all four matches coming at the third flight … on the year, Reuland has a team-best 15-3 singles record this season to date … also leads the team in doubles and overall wins … is 14-4 in doubles play, and has an overall mark of 29-7 this season … the Falcons are 3-1 in dual-match play this year to date.
Buffalo: Brynn Marecki (swimming, breaststroke, Sr., 3.004, speech and hearing science) in the women's meet at St. Bonaventure won by the Bulls, 149-92, Brynn Marecki was the lone Bull to record more than one individual victory. Marecki won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:12.42 and later took the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:24.05. She also swam the breaststroke portion of the UB's women's victorious 200-yard medley relay as the Bulls finished in 1:47.89. Joining Marecki were Melissa Trail, Marissa Murphy and Brittney Kuras.
Eastern Michigan: Natachia Watkins (basketball, forward, So., 3.21, simulation, animation & gaming) continued to impress in leading the Eagles to a perfect 2-0 week with wins over Ohio and Miami. In turning in her second and third double-doubles of her career, she averaged 15.5 points, 12.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.0 steals in 36.0 minutes per game. Watkins hauled down a personal-best 14 caroms to go along with 21 points against the RedHawks after a 10 rebound, 10 point performance at Ohio.
Miami: Courtney Osborn (basketball, guard, Jr., 3.58, finance (minor: coaching)) was once again Miami’s leading scorer for the week, averaging 15.5 points per game. She nearly had the second triple-double in school history on Wednesday at Central Michigan, when she scored 12 points, brought down 10 rebounds and had nine assists in the RedHawks’ 22-point victory. The 10 rebounds were a career high. Against Eastern Michigan, she was Miami’s leading scorer with 19 points, and also had four assists while playing all 40 minutes. Courtney hit six 3-point baskets in the two games this week, including four against CMU, and also had three steals on the week.
Northern Illinois: Haley Dekkinga (tennis, So., 3.864, Undecided) was one of the most successful Huskies during NIU's 2-1 road weekend that saw the sophomore play six matches in three days for a 4-2 record. In a 6-1 win over North Dakota, Dekkinga teamed with Stephanie McDonald at No. 3 doubles for an 8-3 win over UND's Viegut/Lawrence to help NIU earn the doubles point. In singles play, she won the No. 4 match-up in straight sets over Sarah Stejskal, 6-0, 6-0. During a 7-0 win at Bradley, Dekkinga and McDonald topped Bertino/McDonagh 8-0 at No. 3 doubles to help NIU take another doubles point. At No. 4 singles, she took down Meredith McDonagh, 6-2, 6-0, to improve to 4-2 in singles play this spring.
Ohio: Juli Accurso (indoor track and field, distance, So., 3.87, french) had an incredible weekend at the prestigious Notre Dame Meyo Invitational, placing first in the 3000 meter run in a school and Mid-American Conference record time of 9:21.89. Not only did it break former Bobcat Annie Beecham’s previous school record by 11 seconds, but it is the 26th fastest time in the 3K this season by an NCAA Division One female student-athlete. Juli beat the second-place finisher in the event by more than two full seconds.
Toledo: Courtney Ingersoll (basketball, guard, Sr., 3.462, education) averaged a team-high 21.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in two Toledo victories last week. Ingersoll shot an impressive 61.5 percent (16-of-26) from the field, including a stellar 58.8 percent (10-of-17) from beyond the arc in a squad-best 35.5 minutes per contest. She opened the week with a career-tying best 23 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals vs. Akron on Wednesday. Three days later at Kent State, Ingersoll contributed a game-high 20 points and five caroms. The Massillon, OH native equaled her career high with five triples in both games. Ingersoll has now scored in double figures in 14 games in 2011-12.
Western Michigan: Iris Campbell (indoor track & field, sprinter/jumper, Jr., 3.67, nursing)broke her own school record in the 200 meter dash at the prestigious Meyo Invitational on Saturday afternoon. Her time of 24.18 seconds, broke her previous record by .10 seconds as she took second place in the event. Campbell also nearly broke the school record in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.60, just .08 off the record and third best in WMU history. Campbell also led the 4x400 meter relay team to a first place finish with a time of 3:40.05.
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)
Week 21 (Feb. 8) Holly Anderson, CMU (indoor track and field)