Women’s track and field repeats with Big Ten indoor title

The Ohio State Buckeyes women’s track and field team has been dominant throughout the indoor season, and did not disappoint at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, held in Geneva, Ohio, this past weekend. The Buckeyes put up 104 total points to win their second-straight indoor championship. Ohio State finished ahead of Minnesota, Penn State, Indiana and Michigan.

The Buckeyes won four individual conference titles, led by junior Anavia Battle, who brought home gold in both the 60- and 200-meter dash. Grad transfer Emma Nwofor earned a title in the 60-meter hurdles, and rounding out the first-place finishes was junior Adelaide Aquilla, who won the shot put title. Battle, Nwofor and Aquilla all earned first-team All-Big Ten honors for their efforts.

The Buckeyes continue their indoor postseason run with the NCAA Championships in Albuquerque March 13.

The men’s squad came in fifth place with 57 points, behind conference champ Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska. Highlighting the men’s team’s efforts was junior Tyler Johnson, who earned silver medals in the 200-meter dash, 400-meter dash and 4X400-meter relay. Johnson won the last medal alongside teammates Donnie James, Asa Burke and Ryan Harrington. That quartet, along with freshman Clarence Foote-Talley, who took the silver in the triple jump, earned second-team All-Big Ten honors for their performances.

Men’s swimming and diving posts second-place finish in Big Ten Championships

The Ohio State men’s swimming and diving team brought home a second-place finish in the Big Ten Championships hosted in Bloomington over the weekend, just a week removed from the women’s squad taking the women’s championship. The Buckeyes finished with 1,329 total points, behind champ Michigan and ahead of Indiana, Wisconsin and Northwestern.

Headlining the Buckeyes’ performance was freshman diver Lyle Yost, who won Co-Big Ten Diver of the Championships honors. Senior Andrew Loy, 200-individual medley champ, was a first-team All-Big Ten selection. Five additional swimmers brought home second-team All-conference honors as well.

Women’s ice hockey advances to WCHA Final Faceoff

The No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes women’s hockey team had a strong start to the postseason, sweeping Minnesota State in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association First Round. In the Buckeyes’ opener Friday, Ohio State posted a 4-2 victory on third-period goals from junior forwards Liz Schepers and Emma Maltais. Saturday, the Buckeyes went up early on another goal from Schepers and never looked back, bringing home a 1-0 win and a berth in the WCHA Final Faceoff.

The 22-8-6 Buckeyes head next to Minneapolis for the conference finals.

Wrapping up the regular season…

• Ohio State women’s basketball finished the regular season on a high note, blowing out the Purdue Boilermakers 77-56 in West Lafayette. Sophomore forwards Dorka Juhasz and Aaliyah Patty both had 16 points on the day, with Juhasz adding 13 rebounds for her fourth-straight double-double. With the win, the Buckeyes finish the regular season with an 18-11 overall record, including 11-7 in-conference. The Buckeyes also secure the No. 6 seed for the Big Ten Tournament, scheduled to open Wednesday in Indianapolis.
• 10th-ranked men’s ice hockey, in the team’s final regular season series, went 0-1-1 against Wisconsin in Columbus. Friday, the Buckeyes fell 3-2 in the series opener. Saturday was slightly better, as the teams ended with a three-all tie. Ohio State certainly hopes to fare better in the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals in a three-game series against the Badgers, hosted in Columbus this weekend. The Buckeyes finished the regular season in second place in the Big Ten behind regular season champ Penn State.
• In their final match of the 2020 season, No. 5 Ohio State men’s gymnastics posted a 408.900-397.200 victory over No. 7 Navy. On senior day, the Buckeyes had the top team finishes in pommel horse, rings, parallel bars and high bar.
• Ohio State synchronized swimming swept events on the road at Yale and Wheaton to finish the 2020 campaign undefeated. Next up, the Buckeyes head to Ann Arbor for the North Regionals, scheduled for Saturday.

In other news…

• After defeating Purdue 5-2 in their Big Ten opener, the 10th-ranked Ohio State women’s tennis team followed up with an upset over No. 6 Florida State Sunday as part of College Match Day. The Buckeyes topped the Seminoles 4-3 in a nailbiter that was down to a three-set match on court four.
• Ohio State wrestling opens the Big Ten Championships in Piscataway. After a couple weeks off, the No. 5 Buckeyes look to compete in the most competitive conference championship in the nation. The Big Ten was allocated 79 automatic qualifier spots for the NCAA Championships ahead of the conference championship, but the Big Ten can get more spots after this weekend.
• Women’s gymnastics finished fourth in a quad-meet hosted by No. 20 Missouri Friday, finishing with 194.675 points. However, the Buckeyes posted top-finishes in vault and uneven bars. Ohio State looks to bounce back in a tri-meet with Arizona and Bridgeport Sunday.
• Ohio State baseball went 1-2 in its three-game series against Lipscomb in Nashville this weekend. The Buckeyes took the opener 11-6 Friday before falling 5-4 Saturday and 4-2 Sunday. Next up, Ohio State heads to Florida to take on Stetson, Harvard and Fairfield this weekend.
• Ohio State men’s volleyball opened the weekend with a 3-0 sweep on the road against Quincy. However, the Buckeyes couldn’t carry that momentum through the weekend, falling to Lindenwood 1-3 in Missouri. The 10-7 Buckeyes are scheduled to return home to face Ball State Wednesday.
• Despite the spring-like weather in Columbus, Ohio State golf continues its road trip to the south with the Colleton River Classic, hosted by Michigan State in Bluffton, South Carolina. The squad is scheduled to compete Monday and Tuesday of this week as part of a 15-team field.
• A week after the Buckeyes had to cancel their trip to Notre Dame due to illness, the No. 3 Ohio State men’s tennis team fell 4-0 to Georgia in Athens. The 13-1 squad looks to bounce back when they head to No. 8 Stanford. Wednesday.
• Ohio State women’s lacrosse fell 21-16 to No. 19 UMass in Atlanta Sunday. The Buckeyes, who have lost two-straight, look to right the ship Saturday on the road against Marquette.
• The men’s team didn’t fare much better, as Ohio State men’s lacrosse fell 17-16 in a high-scoring heartbreaker against Cornell in Columbus Sunday, coming up just short in a comeback bid. Despite the loss, junior faceoff specialist Justin Inacio won 30 faceoffs - a Big Ten single-game record.
• Sophomore Ariel Hall earned an invite to the NCAA Rifle Championships, hosted by the University of Kentucky March 14. Hall’s smallbore average of 577.8 was the best on the team.