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Virginia Beach, Virginia, proved to be a perfect venue for the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field National Championships this past weekend for Grand Lake area alumni.
A number of area graduates competed over the weekend, all earning podium finishes.
The best performance came from Ashland University freshman Jon Lutz. The Celina graduate became a national champion in the 60-meter hurdles, breaking the Eagles' school record in the event with a blistering time of 7.67 seconds. Lutz had won the Great Midwest Athletic Conference championship in the event at the end of February.
Ashland's Molly Winner, who was a four-time All-American last season in both indoor and outdoor throwing events, earned her fifth accolade with a second-place finish in the weight throw. Her mark of 20.99 meters (68 feet, 10 1/2 inches) was bettered only by her teammate Leslie Pollock, who fired a 21.05 meter try (69- 3/4) on her final throw of the competition to pass Winner to take the title. The Marion Local graduate also competed in the shot put, placing 15th and not qualifying for the final round of throws.
Hillsdale sophomore Amelia Lutz (Celina) did reach the finals of the shot put, earning her first All-American finish with a fourth-place effort of 16.01 meters (52-6 1/2).
Embry-Riddle junior Taylor Roth (Minster) earned All-America honors with her eighth-place finish in the 800 run, finishing in 2:10.7.
Hillsdale freshman Anna Roessner (Fort Recovery) finished 11th in the preliminaries for the 60-meter dash, missing the finals. Roessner did win the G-MAC title in the event.
The outdoor season gets underway this weekend.
Meanwhile, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Iowa freshman Izzy Zahn (Coldwater) earned a podium finish in her first NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field National Championship.
Zahn ran with Alivia Williams, Damaris Mutunga and Chioma Nwachukwu to finish sixth in the 4x400-meter relay, setting a school record in the event with a time of 3:29.63. It was the first time since 2022 that the Hawkeyes' 4x400 relay competed in the championships.
In February, Zahn, Mutunga, Nwachukwu and Olicia Lucas finished second at the Big Ten championships in Indianapolis.
Niekamp earns Heartland honors
Bluffton University freshman Karlie Niekamp (Fort Recovery) earned honors as the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference announced postseason awards.
Niekamp was named to the All-Newcomer team.
Niekamp started 19 of the 25 games she played in this season for the Beavers, averaging 9.4 points and 5.1 rebounds as Bluffton finished 11-15 overall and 7-11 in the HCAC.
Angstmann receives WHAC honors
Defiance College sophomore Evan Angstmann (St. Marys) was named to the All-Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference second team, the first Yellow Jacket to receive all-conference honors since 2022-23.
Angstmann led the Yellow Jackets with 15.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, reaching the top 15 in both categories in the WHAC. A 20-rebound, four-block game against Aquinas earned Angstmann WHAC Defensive Player of the Week honors and he also set a school record with 11 3-pointers as part of a 39-point night against Washington Adventist.
Tate Hisey reaches MAC podium
George Mason freshman Tate Hisey (St. Marys) reached the podium in his first season at the Mid-American Conference championships.
Hisey finished sixth at 141 pounds, losing to Southern Illinois-Edwardsville's Ben Lunn via technical fall.
Hisey ends his season at 15-10.
Hisey twins both reach podium
Tate's older brothers, twins Trevor and Tyler, competed in the WHAC tournament for Indiana Tech. Both wrestled at 125 pounds, meaning a chance to face off in the final.
Instead, Tyler Hisey, seeded third, reached the championship match, losing to Anthony Hughes of Marian University via 7-3 decision.
Trevor Hisey lost his quarterfinal match to Sienna Heights' Maliki Mosher to drop in the consolations. Trevor Hisey won his consol opener 14-0 over Lourdes' Quinton Simmons and then beat Cleary's Jordan Rodriguez to reach the third-place final against Marian's Aidan Woods, who lost to Tyler Hisey in their quarterfinal matchup. Trevor Hisey scored a 10-8 decision to finish third
Heidelberg trying to avoid relegation
With 10 games remaining in Germany's Basketball Bundesliga, MLP Academics Heidelberg stands at 6-18 and in 17th place. Heidelberg and Braunschweig (5-19) are in danger of being relegated to the second-division Pro A next season.
Heidelberg lost at Hamburg 86-83 last Friday. St. Henry graduate Ryan Mikesell, who joined the team he played for last season after negotiating a release from the London Lions in January, finished with 14 points and six rebounds in the loss.
In 10 games since rejoining Heidelberg, Mikesell is averaging 10.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in 34.1 minutes of playing team.
Heidelberg hosts Bamberg on Saturday in Round 25 of BBL action.
