Nine student-athletes honored for dual roles in classroom and in competition
By: Monique Bowman
ADA — Seven swimmers and two golfers have been named 2011 Academic All-OAC Women's At-Large recipients, as voted by the Ohio Athletic Conference faculty representatives.
Golfers Lauren Miller (Tipp City/Tippecanoe) and Ashley Johnson (Covington), along with swimmers Hannah Bukowy (North Canton/Hoover), Lacey Shumate (Bucyrus/Colonel Crawford), Michelle Eggers (Leawood, Kan./Olathe East), Sarah Fiffick(Strongsville) and Kaitlyn Early (Upper Arlington) have been named Academic All-OAC, while swimmers Alison Garbash (St. Clairsville) and Mackenzie Hoffman (Strongsville) have been named Honorable Mention.
Academic All-OAC At-Large winners consist of student-athletes from golf, swimming & diving and tennis teams. Individuals must have earned at least a 3.25 cumulative grade point average and be a key starter or reserve with sophomore status or higher.
Miller, a senior pharmacy student, finished the 2010-11 season with a 91.4 scoring average in 20 rounds. She entered the season ranked 11th all time at ONU with a 94.03 average in 29 rounds and has finished her collegiate career 10th all-time at 92.93.
Her best outing in her final season was a ninth-place tie out of 40 golfers at the Ohio Wesleyan Invitational in mid-April.
Johnson, a senior management major, is a four-time All-Conference honoree and ranked second all-time on Northern's career scoring list entering the season. She finished her senior season with the lowest career average at 83.0 in 20 rounds.
She earned medalist twice this season, the first at the Heidelberg Fall Invitational (80-83—162) of 42 golfers and again out of 40 golfers at the Ohio Wesleyan Invite (83-82—165). Johnson was also named OAC golfer of the week three times this season.
Bukowy is a senior nursing major and finished out the 2010-11 season as a two-time All-OAC swimmer and an OAC champion in the 100 breaststroke. She ends her collegiate career as an 11-time champion in five different events and a 16-time All-OAC honoree.
Shumate is a senior pharmacy major who ends her collegiate career as another decorated Northern swimmer. This season, she twice earned All-Conference, status as well as two titles in the 400 individual medley and in the 400 medley relay.
For her career, she has earned 13 conference championship event titles and 18 All-OAC nods. She was named conference Swimmer of the Week twice and was named Swimmer of the Year in 2007.
Eggers, a junior pharmacy major, notched four top-8 finishes at this year's OAC Swimming & Diving championships, including two titles in the 1,650 free and 800 free relay.
For her career, she has earned 10 individual titles and has been named All-OAC nine times. She has also been named OAC Swimmer of the year in her freshman year and holds several OAC and ONU records.
A junior mechanical engineering major, Fiffick had three top-8 finishes at this season's conference swimming & diving championships, including an All-OAC second-place finish in the 400 free relay.
She is a five-time OAC champion and an eight-time All-Conference swimmer.
Early, a junior pharmaceutical business student, had a career that ended with six top-8 finishes at the conference meet, including three titles and three All-Conference honors. She tied the OAC record in the 100 free and was a member of the 800 free relay that broke the school and conference record.
Early finishes her career as a six-time champion and 11 All-Conference nods.
Garbash, a junior mechanical engineering student, earned six top-8 finishes this past season at the conference championships, including three All-OAC finishes and one event title in the 400 free relay.
In her three college years, Garbash is an eight-time champion and an 11-time All-Conference swimmer.
As a sophomore psychology major, Hoffman notched another successful season as an ONU swimmer. She earned four All-OAC finishes at the conference championship meet as well as was a member of the 800 free relay the posted an OAC and ONU record.
For her career, Hoffman is a two-time conference champion and has earned six All-Conference awards.