EDMOND —
Three Oklahoma Christian University student-athletes were honored Tuesday as National Christian College Athletic Association student-athletes of the week.
Anna Arrese Cortadellas (women’s golf), Tara Lewis (women’s cross country) and Martin Poboril (men’s tennis) received their respective weekly honors from the Greenville, S.C.-based NCCAA for performances during the week of Oct. 1-7.
While OC won a handful of national player of the week awards through the years while a member of the NAIA, the university’s student-athletes never had received more than two such national honors in any one week before Tuesday.
OC left the NAIA at the end of June and is in the first year of the NCAA Division II membership process. The university also joined the NCCAA in July, along with a handful of other former top NAIA programs that also have started the NCAA membership process.
OC now is a member of the Heartland Conference and its athletic teams are playing primarily NCAA Division II schedules.
“It’s been an outstanding fall for our OC athletic programs,” OC Athletic Director Curtis Janz said. “We are enjoying across-the-board success as we transition into the Heartland Conference and work toward NCAA Division II membership. It is encouraging to see so many of our student-athletes being recognized by the NCCAA and the Heartland Conference for their hard work and success.”
Poboril, a senior from Pribram, Czech Republic, was honored by the NCCAA for his accomplishments in the U.S. Tennis Association-Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division II South Central Regional, which ended last Monday in Abilene, Texas. He won four matches and reached the semifinals of the 64-player singles bracket that featured top NCAA Division II players from Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Colorado and New Mexico.
With teammate Bruno Tiberti, Poboril also reached the title match in the 32-team doubles bracket, falling 10-6 in a super tiebreaker to a duo from Abilene Christian (Texas) after splitting the first two sets. It was the first time OC – which won the 2012 NAIA team championship in May – had played in an ITA Division II regional.
Lewis, a freshman from Edmond, starred in the Bison Invitational on Saturday in Shawnee. Despite being OC’s only entrant in the five-kilometer race, Lewis posted career-bests for time (18:42) and overall finish (fifth). It was the second time in her four collegiate meets that Lewis had an individual top-10 finish.
Arrese Cortadellas, a sophomore from Barcelona, took the NCCAA honor for the second straight week. She was honored for her play in last week’s RCB Bank Classic at Lincoln Park Golf Club’s East Course. Arrese Cortadellas posted a two-round score of 1-over-par 143 to earn medalist honors in that event, the second straight week she’d taken top individual honors in a tournament.
She received the NCCAA award last week as well after winning the Grand Canyon Fall Invitational in Litchfield Park, Ariz.
In five weeks of competition this fall, five OC student-athletes have combined to win six NCCAA national player of the week awards. In addition to Arrese Cortadellas, Lewis and Poboril, men’s soccer player Sam Guernsey of Broken Arrow and men’s golfer Sam Johnston of San Diego have received national weekly honors.
OC student-athletes also have combined to win 13 Heartland Conference weekly awards during the past five weeks in men’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country and men’s and women’s golf.
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3 OC athletes net NCCAA national honors
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Central Oklahoma softballers make World Series again
Hayley Hudson gave Central Oklahoma a 5-4 lead with a run-scoring single in the fifth inning and the No. 19-ranked Bronchos staved off a seventh-inning Winona State threat to capture the NCAA Division II Central Super Regional championship Saturday afternoon at Edmond North High School.
The Warriors put two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the seventh in a bid to pull out a late win and force a deciding game in the best-of-three series, but left fielder Devyn Frazier made a running catch in foul territory for the final out to set off a wild celebration on the field.
UCO improved to 47-11 — a school-record for wins — with its 23th consecutive home victory and advanced to the Division II World Series for the second straight year. The Bronchos will face Armstrong Atlantic in the eight-team World Series at 11 a.m. Thursday in Salem, Va.
“I’d say that was a nail-biter,” head coach Genny Stidham said. “It was a good game, both teams played well. Winona has a great team and they didn’t give up, but we came up with some big plays and came out on top. -
Central Oklahoma golf coach picks up award
Central Oklahoma’s Michael Bond has been named the NCAA Division II Central Region Coach of the Year by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association, with Aly Seng and Erica Bensch both earning All-Central Region honors.
Bond led the Bronchos to perhaps the best season in school history in 2012-13 with top-five finishes in 10 of their 12 tournaments. UCO won three titles, including the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association crown and its first-ever regional championship, and finished 10th in the Division II national tournament. -
Workman's blast cranks UCO's engine; Bronchos cruise to 5-2 win
Nicole Workman’s solo home run gave Central Oklahoma a lead it would never relinquish and the No. 19-ranked Bronchos went on to topple Winona State 5-2 in the first game of the NCAA Division II Central Super Regional Friday night at the Edmond North High School Softball Complex.
Workman blasted her 14th homer of the season to lead off the second inning, with UCO adding three runs in the third and one more in the fifth to take a commanding 5-0 lead before the Warriors created some anxious moments in their final at bat.
WSU scored two runs and had runners on second and third on with just one out in the top of the seventh, but Kalynn Shrock got the final two batters to close out her fourth straight complete-game outing of the postseason and put the Bronchos in control of the best-of-three series. -
Richters rip competition at KickingBird
The KickingBird 2-man scramble was won by Jeff and Josh Richter, finishing with a 57.9 on May 11.
Jeff Jester and Kevin Wright wrapped up second-place honors with a 59.9 and Rick Morales and Ronnie Roberts placed third (60.1).
In the second flight, the top score was 60.4 by Jerry Bernhardt and Ted Carter. Picking up silver was the tandem of Jerry Fuller and Ramona Jacobi (61.2) and the third-place squad was Dyke Hoppe and Mark VanSickle at 62.0.
Morales was closest to the pin on No. 6 and Jeff Richter landed a dart on hole 14. -
Eagles' season finished; Lopez earns national honor
Southeastern, Fla. eliminated Oklahoma Christian 4-0 om the National Christian College Athletic Association World Series in Mason, Ohio today to advance to the tournament semifinals, while OC closes at 26-26.
OC would have advanced to the semifinals with a win, but completed a terrific turnaround from an 8-34 season in 2012. The Eagles made only the second national-tournament appearance in the program's history, with the other coming in 1972, when OC finished third in the NAIA World Series. -
Multiple baseball camps offered in Edmond
Edmond Schools baseball coaches Kyle Roberts (Edmond Memorial), Jeff Shafer (Edmond Santa Fe) and Karl King (Edmond North) will instruct the Edmond All-Star Baseball Camps starting May 28 at Edmond North High School.
A pair of all-skills camps will take place for kids ages 5 and older from May 28-31 and June 3-6. Times are the same, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
On June 7, a pitcher/catcher camp will be offered for ages 8 and older with the identical time frame. Cost is $35 for the pitcher/catcher camp and $125 for the all-skills camp.
For further inquiries, contact Karl King at 863-3570. -
Arthur Hills eating up Bronchos
Central Oklahoma’s struggles continued at the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla. Friday.
The Bronchos made 10 double bogeys and two triple bogeys en route to a season-high 329 score on the rugged 6,228-yard, par-72 Arthur Hills Legends Course at LPGA International, leaving UCO in 10th place with a three-round total of 975.
Nova Southeastern has an 881 total heading into Saturday’s final round, giving the four-time defending champion Sharks a one-shot lead over second-place Lynn. -
Bronchos will make 12th appearance in national golf championship Monday
No. 18-ranked Central Oklahoma will make its 12th appearance in the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships in Hershey, Pa. next week.
The 54-hole stroke play portion of the tournament runs Monday-Wednesday at the 7,061-yard, par-71 Hershey Country Club East Course, with the top-eight teams from the 20-team field advancing to match play. -
Online registration for 2013 UCO Endeavor Games now open
Registration is now open online for athletes and volunteers for the 2013 University of Central Oklahoma Endeavor Games, June 6-9, the nation’s largest multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities.
Athletes of all ages or sporting experience are invited to register for the event. Community members are also encouraged to register to volunteer with more than 300 volunteer opportunities available.
Similar to the summer Paralympic Games, athletes may register for multiple adaptive sports, which include cycling, indoor archery, outdoor archery, powerlifting, sitting volleyball, shooting, table tennis, track and field, wheelchair basketball, and, for the first time at the UCO Endeavor Games, paratriathlon. The paratriathlon will be limited to athletes over the age of 16 with previous paratriathlon experience. -
Deer Creek drops Carl Albert again for state title
They did it again.
The Deer Creek girls soccer team knocked off rival Carl Albert in the Class 5A state soccer title game for the second consecutive season.
The Lady Antlers, led by freshman Lauren Haivala’s two goals, topped the Titans 2-1 May 10 at Noble High School.
On May 7, Deer Creek blanked Tulsa Edison 2-zip in the semifinals for a chance to play for its fourth state championship in girls soccer. - More Sports Headlines
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