The University of Akron Athletics
athletics emails tom 2013 14 feb 13 2014
|
|
|
|
BASKETBALL MACtion HEATS
UP
This is one of my favorite times of the year as basketball season
rolls into its final weeks and the battle atop the Mid-American
Conference standings heats up. Once again, both our Men's and
Women's teams are right in the thick of the league race!
Our Men, who are tied for the lead in the MAC's East Division,
play five of their final seven regular-season games at home,
starting with a matchup against Northern Illinois at James A.
Rhodes Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m. We will give away the third
installment of our player trading cards that night and have a
postgame autograph session with select players.
Tickets are available on ZipsTickets.com or by
calling our ticket office at 1-888-99-AKRON (25766). Don't forget
about our mini-plans, which provide a great way to get a
seat for the highly anticipated upcoming games against Kent State,
Buffalo and Ohio.
If you can't make it to JAR, Saturday's game will be video streamed, and broadcast locally on SportsRadio1350.com (1350 AM) and
nationally on iHeartRadio.
Our Women's team, which is in second place in the MAC East, plays
at Ball State on Saturday at noon, but is home against Northern
Illinois on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. That game will be Faculty
and Staff Appreciation Night, featuring a ticket price of just $6
that includes a catered pregame buffet from sponsor Old Carolina
Barbecue. You can RSVP here.
The Women enter Saturday's game enjoying a seven-game win streak
and feature the top scoring duo in the nation, as seniors Rachel
Tecca and Hanna Luburgh combine to average more than 46 points per
game! Their game at Ball State will be televised on Time Warner
Cable Sports Channel, and broadcast locally on SportsRadio1350.com (1350 AM) and
nationally on iHeartRadio.
BASKETBALL TICKET DONATION PROGRAM
James A. Rhodes Arena is one of the toughest places to play in the
MAC as evidenced by our Men's team's superb record at home under
Coach Keith Dambrot over the last nine-plus seasons. We want to
make sure JAR remains a formidable venue for our opponents,
especially as we begin the stretch run of the season.
As a reminder, season ticket holders who are unable to use their
seats for a given game have the option through our Ticket Donation
Program to return them as a 100% tax deductible gift to our
ticket office for use by a variety of groups, including
underprivileged youth and members of the military. This gives
season ticket holders the joy of knowing they are providing others
an experience they might not otherwise have, while helping us
provide our student-athletes with the enthusiastic crowd they
deserve.
You can make arrangements to participate in our Ticket Donation
Program by calling our ticket office at 1-888-99-AKRON
(25766).
MEN'S SOCCER ANNOUNCES 2014 SIGNING CLASS
On Wednesday, Men's Soccer announced the addition of eight student-athletes to the
program. After losing six starters from last season, including
five to Major League Soccer, I know Coach Jared Embick is excited
about the newcomers. That group of eight joins four other players who enrolled at UA in
January.
Last week the team unveiled its spring exhibition schedule, highlighted
by a match against Louisville on Saturday, April 19 at 11 a.m. That
will be the same day as our annual Spring Football Game, for which
we have yet to announce a start time, and should make for a fun day
on campus.
Spring soccer matches and the Football Spring Game are free.
39TH ANNUAL SPORTS HALL OF FAME CLASS
Our
Varsity "A" Association will induct the 39th class into its Sports
Hall of Fame on Friday, Feb. 28 at a banquet at the University's
Quaker Station Ballroom. The nine-person 2013 class includes UA
President Dr. Luis Proenza, who will be awarded the Kenneth "Red"
Cochrane Meritorious Service Award.
The class also includes Rick Holman (football),
Jeffrey Lake (football), Kelli Metzger (softball), Kyle Milligan
(soccer), William Terrell (track) and Mary Varga Stupczy
(track). Our beloved mascot Zippy also will be awarded the
Cochrane Meritorious Service Award and Lawrence Dessart will
be given the Mike Krino Varsity "A" Achievement Award.
The
festivities on the 28th will begin at 6 p.m. with refreshments and
socializing, followed by a sit-down dinner at 7 p.m. and the
induction program at 8 p.m. Tickets can be purchased
for $40 per person and $20 for children age 13 and under. Tables of
eight can be reserved for $300. A cash bar will be
available.
For more information or to buy a ticket, please contact Alexa Doutt
with our Z-Fund, at (330) 972-2695 or via e-mail.
The Class also
will be presented at halftime of the Men's Basketball game against
Bowling Green on Saturday, March 1 at James A. Rhodes Arena at 7
p.m.
TRACK AND FIELD ACHIEVES NATIONAL RANKINGS
Our tradition of excellence with Track and Field continues as for
the first time both our Men's and Women's teams are ranked
in the top 25 nationally. On Tuesday, the Coaches Association
announced that our Women were listed 20th and the Men 21st.
Additionally, this is the highest ranking by either team since
2008. Please join us in congratulating Coach Dennis Mitchell and
his staff on this accomplishment.
A number of Zips are represented in the individual national
rankings as well.
On the men's side, there's Shawn Barber in the pole vault (No. 1),
Alex McCune in the heptathlon (No. 2) and pole vault (No. 13),
Bryan Jones in the heptathlon (No. 14), Jake Hiltner in the 800
meters (No. 15) and Kyle Cochrun in the 5,000 meters (No. 16).
Ranked on the women's team is Annika Roloff in the pole vault (No.
2), Brittany Funk in the weight throw (No. 4), Weronika Gaudyn in
the triple jump (No. 8) and Alexis Crooks in the shot put (No.
21).
After setting numerous records at last weekend's Akron
Invitational, including Shawn Barber's Canadian national record
in the pole vault, the program will send athletes to both the Don
Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., and to the SPIRE
Invitational in Geneva, Ohio, this weekend.
ALSO COMPETING THIS WEEK ...
... After a one-day weather-related delay, Baseball opens its
season this weekend with a three-game series at Winthrop in Rock
Hill, S.C. Watch Head Coach Rick Rembielak talk about his outlook
for the season in the latest
episode of Zips Baseball ...
... Women's Tennis competes at nearby Youngstown State on Saturday
at 5 p.m. ...
... Men's Golf starts its spring schedule on Monday and Tuesday at
the Mobile Bay Invitational in Mobile, Ala. ...
ZIPS CONGRATS TO ...
... Shawn Barber from Track and Field, posted a Canadian national record-setting jump in the pole
vault at last week's Akron Invitational ...
... Jake Hiltner from Track and Field, named MAC Men's Track Athlete of the Week ...
... Alex McCune from Track and Field, named MAC Men's Field Athlete of the Week ...
... Annika Roloff from Track and Field, named MAC Women's Field Athlete of the Week ...
... Rachel Tecca from Women's Basketball, named MAC East Division Player of the Week for the fourth
time this season and 10th time in her career ...
... Quincy Diggs from Men's Basketball, hit
the game-winning jumper in a 65-63 victory at Bowling Green on
Sunday ...
... Nationally-ranked Rifle, set
program records for smallbore score and team aggregate score during
last week's win over nationally-ranked Air Force ...
... Former Men's Basketball student-athlete and assistant coach
John Loyer, named interim head coach of the NBA's Detroit Pistons
...
... Former Football student-athlete Luke Getsy, the starting
quarterback of our 2005 MAC championship team, hired by the Green Bay Packers ...
... Softball, winners of three of five games last weekend,
including a season-opening 4-3
victory over Texas Tech from the Big 12 ...
ZIPS CLIPS …
... Watch the latest episode of Zips
Women's Basketball with Head Coach Jodi Kest ...
... In a GoZips.com video exclusive, Daryl Baptiste and Miles
Coats from Track and Field explain How to
Triple Jump ...
... Tiffany Lankes of the Buffalo News profiled the remarkable life story of Men's Soccer
signee Ezana Kahsay ...
... Andy Harris of The Suburbanite, wrote about Women's Basketball senior Rachel
Tecca's record-setting senior season ..
... Kevin Kleps of Crain's Cleveland Business wrote a two-part
series about the Mid-American Conference's "MACtion" marketing
slogan and hashtag Part 1 | Part 2 ...
ASK THE AD
As always, if you have a question or want to comment about Zips
Athletics, click here now or at any time on the "Ask the
AD" button on the home page of GoZips.com.
Go Zips!
Tom Wistrcill
Director of Athletics
|
