The University of Akron Athletics
Read the Latest Edition of Zips Line – June 18, 2014
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OUR NEWEST NATIONAL CHAMPION
Congratulations to Annika Roloff from our Women's Outdoor Track and Field program, who won the national championship in the pole vault last week at the NCAA Championship meet in Eugene, Oregon!
Annika is the fifth individual national champion in school history, joining Christi Smith (2000, women's heptathlon), Stevi Large (2009, women's hammer throw), Jenna Compton (2009, air rifle) and her teammate, Shawn Barber, who earned the men's indoor pole vault title earlier this year. It's time to starting referring to us as "Pole Vault U"! Head Coach Dennis Mitchell and his staff certainly will use this to further their already-strong case that Akron is, as they describe it, the Summit of Track and Field.
Annika's individual national title was the crowning achievement during a wonderful week of success for our Track and Field programs, as both our Women (10th) and Men (20th) earned their best-ever team finishes at the NCAA Championship meet. Earlier this year during indoor season, both programs were each ranked in the top 25 nationally in the same week for the first time, so this was a fitting way to cap a memorable year.
In addition to Annika, four other Zips posted First-Team All-America performances (meaning they finished among the top 8 in their disciplines):
- Alex McCune broke his own school record with a sixth-place finish in the men's decathlon;
- Alexis Cooks finished fourth in the women's discus (and 17th in the women's hammer throw);
- Shawn Barber nearly swept the men's indoor and outdoor pole vault crowns, as he was the runner-up last week after capturing the title in the indoor season; and
- Brittany Funk placed fourth in the women's hammer throw
Congratulations to all of our incredible student-athletes for finishing the 2013-14 academic year with more record-setting performances. We can't wait to see how you'll top it in 2014-15!
NEW IN 2014-15 ... WOMEN'S BASKETBALL RESERVED FLOOR SEATS!
Coming off the best season in program history, our Women's Basketball program is better than ever, and for the first time we are offering a premium seat for our home games. Starting in 2014-15, the floor seats at Women's Basketball will be reserved each game. The rest of the arena will remain general admission.
Starting today through July 3, these will be offered exclusively to our Men's Basketball Floor Seat season ticketholders. After their right-of-first-refusal period, we will have a two-week window for everyone who participates in our new Z-Fund Priority Points program, during which time we will take deposits and then rank accordingly. The price is $100, which includes a $25 Z-Fund contribution.
Please click here for more information – if you're interested, call our ticket office at 888-99-AKRON (888-992-5766) and we'll be happy to help you!
KICKOFF IS COMING!
Football season will be here before we know it – just 10 weeks from Thursday night – so make sure you've renewed or bought your season tickets. Head Coach Terry Bowden and our team kick off the 2014 campaign at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 28, vs. Howard at InfoCision Stadium – Summa Field. We already have announced game times for four of our six home games.
We have packages at all price points and with every amenity imaginable – just click here or call our staff at 888-99-AKRON (888-992-5766) and we'll be happy to help you find the right fit for your family and/or friends. Plus, if you purchase before July 3, you automatically will be signed up for the chance to win an all-inclusive trip for two to our road games at Ohio, Ball State and Kent State.
SAVE THE DATES
Our Varsity "A" Association is hosting a new event, a Beer and Wine Tasting, on Friday, July 25, at 7 p.m. at Prime 93 restaurant on Manchester Road in Akron. Please click here or contact Alexa Doutt at 330-972-2695 or asd9@uakron.edu for more information.
The annual Summer Classic Golf Outing for our Men's Basketball program will be held on Friday, Aug. 15, at the Shale Creek Golf Club in Medina – contact Amanda Baird at 330-972-7781 or ama38@uakron.edu to register.
CONGRATS TO ...
... sophomore Frida Fougberg, who played in the Delsjo Ladies Open professional event in Sweden, the second pro event of her golfing career ...
... George Baylis and Yann Pfeiffer, for joining our Men's Golf team ...
... fourth-year junior outfielder Devan Ahart, who was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 16th round of the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft – our fourth draftee in the last four years and 12th overall ...
... Ryan Harris of Men's Golf, for being named to the Academic All-MAC Team, and Louis Birchall of Men's Golf and Sara Chaves, Frida Fougberg and Laura Murray of Women's Golf for receiving Honorable Mention ...
ZIPS CLIPS
... Men's Soccer Head Coach Jared Embick offers a colorful Zips Insider Blog entry about his experiences in Brazil to watch the 2014 World Cup ...
... Speaking of Embick, Michael Beaven of the Akron Beacon Journal looks at how he is "like a proud papa" regarding the World Cup debut of former Zips star DeAndre Yedlin, and TopDrawerSoccer.com's Travis Clark checks in with him on this topic as well ...
... our Zips in the Pros weekly feature looks at where and how our former Zip soccer stars are faring in MLS ...
... Terry Bowden believes we're Zip-ping along toward establishing a winning program, writes Tommy Hicks of the Birmingham News ...
... Tim Warsinskey of The Plain Dealer talks to Dennis Mitchell about our newest national champion ...
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
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