The University of Akron Athletics
Read the Latest Edition of Zips Line – January 9, 2015
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HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Hope everyone in Zip Nation enjoyed the holiday season, had the opportunity to spend time with family and friends, and are just as excited as I am for what 2015 has in store for the Akron Zips.
I am pleased to report that all grades from last semester are final, and our 472 student-athletes collectively posted an impressive 3.111 GPA for Fall 2014. Extra praise goes to our 51 Academic All-MAC Selections, which included 13 from Cross Country, seven from Men’s Soccer, 15 from Women’s Soccer, seven from Volleyball and nine from football.
MUST-SEE TV TONIGHT
Tune in to ESPNU tonight at 7 p.m. to watch our Men’s Basketball team look to start conference play 2-0 with a road game at Toledo. With a win, Head Coach Keith Dambrot and our team already will have beaten the defending MAC regular season (Toledo) and tournament champs, as we came to play against Western Michigan in the conference opener and took home a 20-point victory Tuesday. Our team is back home Wednesday at 7 p.m. vs. Bowling Green, and we'd love for you to join us – it’s a perfect time to get a mini plan for MAC play. They start at $48 for three games, and we have other options available as well for the remaining eight home games (including Kent State and Ohio). Please visit GoZips.com/tickets or call 888-992-5766 (99-AKRON) for more information.
CONGRATS TO OUR WOMEN
Head Coach Jodi Kest has our Women’s Basketball team on a terrific start to the season, as we started the year winning our first 10 and most recently knocked off Bowling Green, 67-59, Wednesday night at home. We return to the JAR at 2 p.m. Saturday vs. Eastern Michigan with an 11-2 overall record and a 1-1 slate in the MAC. How about this for a stat? In the 2014 calendar year, we went 27-6!!! We’re young, we’re fun to watch, and we’re good with the potential to get even better … come see for yourself!
THIRD-ANNUAL POLE VAULT CONVENTION
Head Coach Dennis Mitchell and our Track and Field program will host the third-annual Akron Pole Vault Convention, which starts tonight and runs all weekend in Stile Athletics Field House.
Among the top participants are our own junior Shawn Barber, the defending NCAA Indoor Champion, who was named to the 2015 Bowerman Preseason Watch List after establishing a new career-high mark that surpassed the collegiate pole vault record. He will face his rival, Sam Kendricks formerly of Ole Miss and to whom Shawn was runner up for the NCAA Outdoor title, at 7 p.m. tomorrow. If you have never seen pole vaulting, it’s well worth it – it is absolutely incredible, and I promise you that you will walk away with a greater appreciation for the strength, concentration and speed possessed by these student-athletes who receive less publicity but are as deserving as any for their athletic abilities.
There’s much more to come throughout the indoor season, which starts with us at No. 17 nationally in the men’s preseason rankings. Our Men are preseason MAC favorites and the Women were selected second in the coaches’ poll.
NCAA CONVENTION AHEAD
Next week I am headed to Washington, D.C., for the annual NCAA Convention, which promises to be monumental with change to what benefits are permitted to be provided to student-athletes. This is an issue that we – and everyone in college athletics – are following closely, as discussions will occur about cost of attendance.
I am honored to have been selected to be the MAC’s representative to the newly former NCAA Council, and our first meetings will be held at the Convention. Our mission will be to conduct the day-to-day business of Division I athletics. Our committee is comprised of not only athletic directors, conference commissioners and faculty athletics representatives, but also for the first time student-athletes will serve in this capacity and have an active voice in our governing process.
2015 FOOTBALL OPPONENTS ANNOUNCED
We learned yesterday who our Football team will play during the 2015 season, as the MAC released our home and away conference opponents.
Coming to InfoCision Stadium – Summa Field will be Buffalo, Central Michigan, Kent State and Ohio, and we will visit Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Massachusetts and Miami (Ohio). Dates, times and broadcast information will be released at a later time. Of course, we’ve previously announced our non-conference schedule, which includes home contests against Pittsburgh (Sept. 12) and Savannah State (Sept. 19) as well as road contests at Oklahoma (Sept. 5) and Louisiana-Lafayette (Sept. 26).
Season tickets for 2015 will start at just $60 for the six-game schedule, and we will begin renewing season ticketholders online starting Feb. 1.
WHAT TO WATCH
… The latest editions of Zips Weekly: Jan. 7
… The last Z-360 of 2014, which features Women’s Basketball breakout performer Anita Brown, our two Men’s Basketball freshmen and fall bloopers …
… If you missed it, our own holiday version of “Let It Snow” …
… Our 2015 schedules for Baseball and Softball, which were released last month …
CONGRATS TO …
… Noreen Herlihy, who we named as the next Head Coach of our Women’s Soccer program. She comes from Slippery Rock and brings with her 250 career wins and 19 consecutive winning seasons. Welcome, Coach Herlihy! Our next edition of Z-360 will profile her …
… the 40th Annual Varsity “A” Sports Hall of Fame inductees, announced Wednesday: Charlie Frye of football, Joel Hawthorne of baseball, Brande Lamb of basketball and track, Dan McGrath of wrestling, Track and Field Head Coach Dennis Mitchell and Kim Schaper of Volleyball. In addition to this fine class, we will honor the 1963-64 Men’s Basketball team that finished in second place in the NCAA College Division National Tournament. We also will recognize an incredibly loyal Zip in Mike Dowling, a former basketball student-athlete and current Senior Vice President at FirstEnergy, as the Mike Krino Varsity “A” Achievement Award recipient, and our dear friends and generous Z-Fund donors Vincent and Nancy DiGirolamo as the Kenneth “Red” Cochrane Meritorious Service Award winners. Join us on Feb. 20 to celebrate all of these Zips!
… senior Lani Smith, who was named to the first-team All-Ohio Women’s Soccer team …
… Saad Abdul-Salaam, Adam Najem, Victor Souto and Andrew Souders, named to the first-team All-Ohio Men’s Soccer squad …
… Abdul-Salaam also was selected to participate in the MLS Player Combine …
… junior college transfers Chris Bivins and Michael Means, Jr., who signed National Letters of Intent to play for our Football team next season, as did eight Track and Field student-athletes-to-be – welcome to the Zips family!
… sophomore Luka Szynal was named MAC Swimmer of the Week and our Student-Athlete of the Week after our victorious performance in the Zippy Invitational …
… sophomore Clayton Murphy and senior Kayla Whitlow were named Cross Country’s most valuable runners, and six more awards were handed out at the team’s 2014 banquet …
… Jatavis Brown and Cody Grice of Football were named to the first-team All-MAC team, while Nordly Capi and Zach Paul earned second-team honors …
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
