Around the Oval: Men's Cross Country Finishes 1st at Pre Nationals, Men's Soccer Falters, Volleyball Splits and More

By Jimmy Longo on October 16, 2017 at 3:25 pm
Evan Stifel
via Ohio State Athletics
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Before and after Ohio State's latest blowout Saturday night, other Buckeye sports were in action.

Cross Country Competes at Pre Nationals

Competing in the unseeded race at the Pre Nationals in Louisville, the men's cross country came home with a title Saturday afternoon, finishing in first place with 103 points.

The Buckeyes were paced by Evan Stifel in 13th at 24:36.8 and Aaron Wood in 14th at 24:38.7. That time was a personal best for Wood.

Also contributing to the Buckeyes score were Alex Lomong, Mitch Leitch and Jake Mandel. Lomong finished 24th in 24:52.2, Leitch finished a fraction behind at 25th in 24:52.6 and Mandel finished 41st in 25:04.7.

Women Finish 13th out of 43

Competing in the seeded race, the women's cross country team finished 13th overall in the women's leg of the Pre Nationals race. Led by Emily Stoodley and Christine Frederick, the tandem both finished in the top 100.

Stoodley finished 58th in a personal-best 20:49.8. Frederick was right behind in 61st at 20:50.9.

Sarah Kanney, Caroline Millican and Kalee Soehnlen were the other contributing members towards the Ohio State team score. Kanney went 21:17.2 to finish 109th while Millican finished 21:20.4 in a personal best effort for 115th. Soehnlen finished 126th in a time of 21:26.

Men's Soccer Drops a Pair

After running together a six-match win streak during the month of September, October has not been so kind to the Ohio State men's soccer team thus far. Last week they dropped their third and fourth matches in a row, losing at Oakland Oct. 10 before losing to No.1 Indiana Sunday, 2-0.

The weekday loss for the No.17 Buckeyes came despite having numerous opportunities for scoring chances. Despite OSU maintaining a large portion of possession, it was the Golden Grizzlies who capitalized, scoring the only goal of the match in the 31st minute and holding on for the 1-0 win.

Buckeyes Soccer Can't Get it Going at Indiana

After the tough midweek loss on the road, the Sunday matinee wasn't any easier for Ohio State — they had to play No.1 Indiana in Bloomington on Sunday.

The difference between the two teams was shown early and often, as the Buckeyes were outshot 9-3 in the opening half. A Hoosier goal by Mason Toye in the 21st minute at the right post gave them the lead for good.

After half, Toye would come to get the Buckeye defense again. This time the score came in the 56th minute off a crossing pass, finishing from the right side near the front of the net.

Overall, the Hoosiers heavily overwhelmed Ohio State with a 20-4 shot advantage.

Sitting at 7-5-1, the Buckeyes will next play a midweek matchup against Syracuse Oct. 18 at home.

Volleyball Loses to Illinois before beating NW

After losing to Illinois in straight sets Friday night, the women's volleyball team was able to come back and salvage the road trip, traveling over to Northwestern and defeating the Wildcats in straight sets as well.

In the loss to the Fighting Illini, the Buckeyes were led on the attack by Ashey Wenz and Luisa Schirmer, who contributed 15 kills and 10 kills respectively.

The Buckeyes were close, but couldn't finish any single set against the Illini, and the games finished 25-23, 25-19 and 25-20.

Buckeyes Rebound over Northwestern

The following night went a lot different for the Buckeyes as they defeated Northwestern in straight sets 25-13, 25-18 and 25-15, limiting the Wildcats to a .074 attack percentage.

Wenz led the charge for Ohio State again, tallying 11 kills and three blocks while Schirmer and Lauren Witte chipped in with eight and seven kills each.

After the road trip the Buckeyes are planted in St. John Arena for four matches. They'll begin the stay with a Wednesday contest against Minnesota at 8 p.m.

Other Scores & News

  • Women's soccer split — winning 2-0 at Maryland Oct. 12 before losing at Rutgers Oct. 15
  • Women's hockey beat Minnesota-Duluth on Friday and Saturday.
  • Men's hockey settled for two ties with RPI.
  • Field hockey lost to Maryland 3-1 Oct. 13 before beating Rutgers 2-0 on Oct. 15
  • Women's golf finished 13/18 at the Tar Heel Invitational
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