The University of Akron Athletics
Read the Latest Edition of Zips Line – February 27, 2015
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SEE YOU ON OUR SENIOR NIGHTS
One of the many things that makes college athletics so special is Senior Night, and we hope you will join us at James A. Rhodes Arena tonight and Wednesday as our Men’s and Women’s Basketball programs, respectively, will honor some special student-athletes. With three games to play in the regular season for both programs, these games will go a long way in determining where we finish in the Mid-American Conference standings. Tickets are available here.
At 8 p.m. tonight, Men’s Basketball hosts Ohio in a game televised on ESPNU, and seniors Nyles Evans and Deji Ibitayo will be recognized pre-game. We have blue pom-poms and light-sticks so you can show your Zips pride on national television. We are in sixth place, just one game out of fifth and two games from a tie for second, so we’re battling for a top-four spot and a bye to the “Q”.
At 7 p.m. Wednesday (March 4), Women’s Basketball faces Miami for our final home game of the season. Our only senior, Sina King, fresh off a game-winning lay-up in the final seconds of our 54-53 come-from-behind victory Wednesday night at Kent State, will be honored pre-game. Beats by Dre headphones are among the prizes that will be given out to fans at this contest. Head Coach Jodi Kest has our squad in third place, just one game out of second, which would offer a triple-bye to the semifinals, so they’re looking to close strong.
MAC-TION HEATING UP
Swimming and Diving is off to a fast start in the MAC Championships in Ypsilanti, Michigan, as our team tied for first after Day One with a first-place finish and MAC record for the 200-yard medley relay. The Zips made a move on Thursday to take the day-two lead thanks to three podium finishes from the Zips' divers and a win in the 200 freestyle relay.
Track and Field, now atop the Great Lakes Regional rankings and both in the top 16 nationally, competes today and tomorrow in Mount Pleasant, Mich., for the MAC Indoor Championships, as our Men look to repeat and earn their fourth indoor title and ninth overall, while the Women are looking for their sixth indoor title and 11th overall, but their first since 2009.
Outside of the MAC, but Rifle also has another conference championship this weekend, as we compete at the Great America Rifle Conference Championship in Oxford, Miss., tomorrow through Sunday. We won the Western intercollegiate Rifle Conference Championship earlier this season.
Good luck to all of our Zips!
ZIPS TRIPS
The next bus trip heads to Bowling Green for our Women’s Basketball game on Saturday, March 7 – we will leave the JAR at 11 a.m. for the 2 p.m. tip-off and return immediately afterward. Click here to sign up!
It will be time to head to Cleveland for the MAC Tournament soon enough … please plan on joining us to support our Basketball teams. We are obligated to purchase tickets, so it is critical that everyone buys the tickets from our allotment. Besides, it’s more fun to sit in the Zips sections! Here is the order form, and you also can call 888-99-AKRON (25766) to purchase.
MOTHER NATURE IMPACTS OUR SCHEDULE
Baseball, now 4-2 and hot off of winning two of three games at Charlotte, was supposed to play a three-game series at UNC-Greensboro starting today, but instead will travel to Macon, Ga., to face Mercer, Belmont and Notre Dame in the Mercer Baseball Tournament.
Women’s Tennis, following two wins last week, has had to move its match against East Tennessee State to 9 a.m. tomorrow at LaTuchie Tennis Center in Stow, and our match against Cornell was canceled.
Softball is on schedule, with three games this weekend at Lipscomb’s Purple/Gold Challenge in Nashville, Tenn.
Good luck and safe travels to all of our teams!
TIMEOUT WITH RIFLE COACH NEWT ENGLE ...
Newt Engle is the longest-tenured head coach in Akron's history, as he is now completing his 38th season at the helm of the rifle program. Engle credits his road to becoming Akron's longest-running head coach to a series of accidental happenings as his career path has involved the likes of dairy farming, photography, helping out at a steel mill, teaching college classes, and working as an Assistant Chief of Police in UA's Police Department.
How did you get started in rifle as a student-athlete?
During first year as an undergrad at Akron, which was actually my second year of college, my high school buddy Dave said, 'They're having tryouts for this rifle team thing, you want to try it?' I wasn't sure, because I was just a trap shooter. It's shooting, but it's a completely different discipline. Then Dave said, 'They're going to give us bullets,' and I said, 'I'm in!' So long story short, we came down, and both of us made the team, and we both started traveling and shooting with the team.
You worked your way up from student-athlete to head coach. How did that happen?
Well, when I was an athlete here, Nancy Worsencroft was our coach. She was actually the first female coach of an all-male sports team in the United States starting in 1968, but I didn't join the team until 1974. It was my third year on the team, and I was the captain. Then, she was in a bad accident and asked me to run the team. She had to leave the area following the accident and asked me to coach, and I said, 'I'm a junior in college; I'm not a coach!' But, she was afraid that if we didn't have someone to take over, we might not have had a team anymore. So I agreed and told her I'd coach just until she could come back, and that was 1977, so I'm still waiting...
But she actually did come back. We're good friends, and she lives in the area. It was her team, but she insisted that I keep coaching, so I did.
Did you initially expect to make a career out of it?
No, not at all. As a matter of fact, I started here in 1977, then in 1978 I started with the police department here so I had parallel careers. I just did it at first, because I promised Nancy I would then I kind of fell in love with working with the collegiate athletes and seeing them develop; not only shooting wise, but with picking careers, changing majors, whatever it is. It's been a heck of a ride.
Read the full feature story on Newt Engle visit the Zips Insider blog.
… Alexis Cooks, Jordan Latimer and Clayton Murphy, named MAC Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Athletics of the Week, after standout performances at the Zips Invitational …
… our 2014 Hall of Fame class, and the 300-some people who came out to celebrate their accomplishments at the Banquet on Friday …
… Dom Iero, the GoZips.com Student-Athlete of the Week after tallying four RBI last weekend …
… Rifle's Matt Chezem, who was invited to compete at the 2015 NCAA Championships on March 13-14 in Fairbanks, Alaska …
… the latest versions of Z360 and Zips Weekly highlight all of our accomplishments …
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
