Around the Oval on Wednesday, November 27th

  
All-American Katie Borchers

Around the Oval is Eleven Warriors' weekly love letter to Ohio State sports that don't get the coverage they should.

It’s rivalry week in Columbus as the football Buckeyes prepare to take on their rivals from up north. But while much of the focus is on the football team right now, it was a historic week for the women’s cross country team.

Junior Katie Borchers finished in 40th place in the NCAA Cross Country Championships this past weekend and earned All-American honors.  With the performance, Borchers became the first Ohio State women’s cross country All-American in school history.  Competing at the Lavern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Indiana, Borchers competed the 6k run with a time of 20:46, just nine seconds slower than her personal best.

The NCAA championships capped off a fantastic year for Borchers, who also finished 12th in the Great Lakes regional championships and earned 1st team All-Big Ten honors.

Join us after the jump for the latest on Ohio State’s other sports.

SWIMMING

Both Buckeye swim teams competed in the Ohio State Swimming and Diving Invitational this past weekend, as the men took first place while the women finished third in their respective divisions.

McDonald breaks school record

Led by Connor McDonald, who set a school record time in the 200 backstroke, the men defeated No. 2 Florida, No. 12 Virginia, Kentucky and Purdue.  With the school record-setting time of 1:40.83, McDonald also automatically qualified for the NCAA Swimming Championships in July 2014.

Other first place finishers for the men were Michael DiSalle (200 freestyle), McDonald (100 backstroke), Christian Holstein (3 meter diving) and the 200 yard medley relay team of Josh Fleagle, Keanu Stevenson, McDonald and Matt McHugh.

Meanwhile, the women finished third in their division, behind Florida and Virginia but ahead of Purdue and Kentucky.  Top finishers for the women were Taylor Vargo (3rd place in 100 breaststroke), Taylor Ford (3rd place in platform dive) and the 400 freestyle relay team of Michelle Williams, Aliena Schmidtke, Alex Norris and Phoebe Cater (2nd place).

The men return to action on January 17th, when they travel to the Kenyon Winter Invitational, while the women next travels to Toledo on January 11th.

Women's basketball

Coach Kevin McGuff's Lady Buckeyes went 2-1 on the weekend, defeating Old Dominion and Marist before falling to Bowling Green.

On Friday, Ohio State defeated Old Dominion 75-60 behind Ameryst Alston's 19 points. Raven Ferguson chipped in 14 points while Darryce Moore added 11 points and 10 rebounds. In a complete team effort, every Buckeye scored and the Ohio State bench outscored the opposing bench 29-9.

The game against Marist was a bit closer, as the Buckeyes escaped with a 62-59 win. Alston converted a three-point play with 44 seconds in regulation which proved to be the difference.  Darryce Moore led the scoreing with 17 points, while adding 5 rebounds before fouling out. Bench points were once again a major factor, as the Buckeye bench outscored Marist's 20-5 and once again, every Buckeye scored.

On Sunday, the Buckeye winning streak came to a halt, falling to the Bowling Green Falcons 64-52. Ferguson led the way with 12 points and 6 boards off the bench, while Moore added 10 points and five rebounds.

Ohio State currently sits at 5-2 on the season, next returning to action on Sunday when they travel Springfield, Massachusetts to take on the top-ranked UCONN Huskies.

Wrestling

The Buckeye wrestling team improved to 4-0 on the season this week, winning a pair of matches at the Davidson Duals in Davidson, North Carolina. With the victories, Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan earned his 200th career victory, with a career record of 200-117-1.

The Buckeyes were dominant in their three victories, defeating Duke (25-10), Davidson (40-6) and George Mason (29-6) by a combined score of 94-22.  Logan Stieber, Mark Martin and Johnni DiJulius all went undefeated on the weekend for Ohio State.

The Buckeyes are off for Thanksgiving before traveling to Las Vegas on December 6th for the CKLV Wrestling Invitational.

UPCOMING Home EVENTS

Monday: Men's Ice Hockey vs. Michigan, 7:05 pm, Schottenstein Center