Around Campus is a weekly feature filling you in on the last week in the world of the RedHawks.
Synchronized Skating: The collegiate synchronized skating team won its seventh consecutive national championship, and 13th overall with a score of 96.16 at the U.S. National Championships in Ontario, comfortably ahead of second-place Michigan State's 85.17. No other skating team at any competitive level has ever won so many consecutive championships. Later the same day, the senior team finished in second place with 195.50 points, behind only the Haydenettes' score of 217.41. The finish earns the team a berth in the ISU World Championships in Helsinki, Finland April 8-9, its sixth appearance there in the last seven years following a one-year absence.
Men's Swimming: The 'Hawks finished in fourth place in a seven-team field at the MAC Championship in Carbondale, Illinois, but they were not without individual champions. Jimmy Beres was named MAC Diver of the Year after he won the one-meter dive with a score of 367.45 and then the three-meter with a 399.35, just a single point ahead of the second-place finisher. Last year he also won the one-meter, en route to winning the MAC Diver of the Year award then as well. His diving coach, Kong Rong Li was named MAC Diving Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season. Alex Reinhardt was the 500m champion with a time of 4:28.43. Next up for the RedHawks' seniors will be the Ohio Senior Meet held in Oxford March 4-6.
Tennis: The RedHawks (8-5) beat the nationally-ranked Marshall Thundering Herd on Friday in Hamilton, but was barely edged out by the University of Central Florida Monday night in Orlando. Against #40 Marshall, the 'Hawks won two of three doubles matches and five of six singles matches for a 6-1 victory. It is the first victory in program history against a team so highly ranked. But on Monday, the 'Hawks and Golden Knights battled all the way down to the final match. UCF won the first and third doubles matches to earn that point. The 'Hawks then won the first three singles matches, but the Knights stormed back to win the fourth, fifth and decisive sixth to earn a 4-3 victory for the day. The 'Hawks will remain in Florida for a few more days to at Jacksonville Wednesday. Then they'll have some time off before they play their first games of the year in Oxford March 25-26 when MAC play begins against Toledo and Eastern Michigan.
Track & Field: The indoor track season came to a close for Miami at the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Indiana. Three RedHawks were competing for a last-chance shot at the NCAA Championship Meet, but unfortunately, none were able to qualify. Rachel Patterson did break her own school record in the 5000m run with a time of 16:24.54, finishing fifth in the 18-runner field. Katie Lenahan ran a 2:09.65 in the 800m run, her personal best indoor time, which is third-best in school history. Erica Mudd also competed for Miami in the high jump. With the indoor season complete, the 'Hawks will start the outdoor track season March 25-26 at the Vanderbilt Black & Gold in Nashville, Tennessee.
Softball: The RedHawks' (8-6) appearance in the Buzz Classic in Woodstock, Georgia was a rough one, as the team went just 1-3 and had to deal with unexpected weather elements. On Friday, they dropped a 1-0 pitcher's duel to Penn State that saw Jessica Simpson pitch another complete game, striking out seven Nittany Lions. In Friday's second game, the 'Hawks were outdone 4-2 by Georgia State. Seconbaseman Kristy Arbour and catcher Jenna McGivney were a combined 5-for-6 and drove in both of Miami's runs, including a home run from McGivney. Saturday's scheduled games against Western Kentucky and Mercer were rained out, so the 'Hawks had to move to Kennesaw, Georgia to finish their weekend. On Sunday they faced Georgia State again with no better luck, falling 7-3. Firstbaseman Allie Larrabee had three of Miami's 10 hits. The 'Hawks managed to put an end to their losing streak with a 3-2 win over Connecticut in Sunday's finale. Simpson (7-4) made her third appearance of the weekend, striking out 11 Huskies in her complete game performance.
Women's Basketball: The Lady 'Hawks' uphill battle through the MAC Women's Basketball Tournament came to an early end as they were eliminated in the tournament's opening round by fifth-seeded Eastern Michigan 82-74 Saturday. Kirsten Olowinski tied a Miami single-season record with her 13th double-double of the year, recording 14 points and 11 rebounds. Courtney Osborn scored 17 points, giving her 520 for the season, the fourth-highest single-season total in program history. Miami had enjoyed a 15-point lead at halftime, but in the second half the Eagles shot 54% from the floor and added 20 points from the charity stripe to take command and advance to the quarterfinals. Three days earlier, the 'Hawks lost their regular season finale to archrival Ohio University 76-47. Rachel Hencke was the only 'Hawk to score in double digits with 19 points, though Olowinski grabbed 12 rebounds. The Bobcats had only led by one point at halftime, but started the second half on an 18-2 run that blew the game wide open. The RedHawks finished the year with a disappointing 11-19 overall record and a 3-13 MAC record, the worst in the conference.
Men's Basketball: The eyes of the Miami faithful will be trained on Akron Tuesday night, as the sixth-seeded Zips will host 11th-seeded Eastern Michigan in the opening round of the MAC Men's Basketball Tournament. The winner of the game will face the RedHawks Thursday in the second round when the tournament moves to Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
Ice Hockey: The first round of the CCHA Tournament came to a close with two series sweeps and one very unlikely upset. Lake Superior State eliminated Ohio State in two games, winning 4-0 and 3-2. Alaska also completed a sweep against Michigan State but needed three rounds of overtime to do it, winning 3-2 (OT) and 4-3 (2OT). The shocker was Bowling Green's upset over Northern Michigan in three games, 3-6, 2-0 and 2-1 (2OT). The last-place Falcons had only three regular season conference wins, and just 10 overall, though they were 1-2-1 against the Wildcats in the regular season. What this means for Miami is that the 'Hawks will host Alaska in Oxford in the best-of-three second round. During the regular season, the 'Hawks and Nanooks split their November series in Oxford.
The other second-round matchups will be top-seeded Michigan hosting Bowling Green, Notre Dame hosting Lake Superior and Ferris State at Western Michigan.
In other hockey news, the 'Hawks rose to #7 in both national rankings despite not playing last week. They rose from #10 in the USA Today poll and #8 in the USCHO.com poll. Miami stayed put at #5 in the INCH Power Rankings.
Soccer: The RedHawks announced their seven-game spring practice schedule, which will include six non-conference opponents. On March 26th, the 'Hawks will head to Akron for a tripleheader against Duquesne, the host Zips and Ashland. They will play at Xavier April 2nd and at Louisville April 8th. Indiana State will come to Oxford April 16th for the only home game on the slate, before the spring session ends at Indiana April 20th. The 2010 season saw the 'Hawks win the MAC East Division, but they fell to Central Michigan in the conference semifinals.
Wrestling: In an ongoing project, the RedHawks athletic department is putting together an all-time list of the wrestling program's letterwinners in an effort to recognize and honor the 400+ wrestlers to earn varsity letters from the 1950s to 1980s. Anyone who can provide photographs or corrections to inaccurate entries is encouraged to contact Miami's Athletic Communications office in order to make the list complete. The list can be viewed here.
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