As Ohio State students completed their final exams last week, the school's spring athletic programs continued in regular-season and postseason competition.
In this week's edition of Around the Oval, Eleven Warriors' one-stop shop for coverage of Ohio State's Olympic sports, we look at men's golf's fifth-place finish at the 2024 Big Ten Championships and multiple record-breaking performances from track and field athletes and men's volleyball's NCAA Tournament matchup on Tuesday.
Over the weekend, we also covered Ohio State men's tennis' 4-1 win over Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament championship. The Buckeyes' victory marked the program's 15th Big Ten Tournament title under head coach Ty Tucker and 16th conference tournament championship of all time.
Let's dive in.
Men's Golf
Ohio State finished fifth at the 2024 Big Ten Championship at Scioto Country Club. Five Buckeye golfers, including Neal Shipley, Jackson Chandler, Adam Wallin, Maxwell Moldovan and Jack Vojtko, combined for a team score of 50-over, which ranked behind Northwestern (23-over), Illinois (38-over), Purdue (46-over) and Michigan State (49-over) in the 54-hole tournament.
Final results from Scioto #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/J16hjulTIf
— Ohio State Mens Golf (@OhioStateMGOLF) April 28, 2024
Shipley led Ohio State at the event, shooting 7-over from Friday to Sunday. The 88th Masters' low amateur finished tied for fifth with Herman Sekne (Purdue) and August Meekhof (Michigan State). All three golfers ended the tournament six shots off the winner, Daniel Svard (Northwestern), who claimed the individual Big Ten title at 1-over.
Chandler and Wallin also performed well for Ohio State. Chandler shot 11-over at the event, and Wallin carded a 15-over. The veteran Buckeyes ended the tournament tied for 11th and 19th.
After a top-five finish at the 2023 Big Ten Championship, Moldovan never found his groove at the 2024 tournament. The two-time All-American and three-time All-Big Ten selection shot 74-76-78 at the par-70 course, which resulted in an 18-over finish that put him in a tie for 33rd place.
Vojtko rounded out Ohio State's individual performances with a score of 23-over at his first career Big Ten Championship. The Stow, Ohio, native and Archbishop Hoban graduate enrolled at Ohio State in January as the No. 28 overall recruit in the 2024 class.
Ohio State will learn its NCAA Regional destination on Wednesday. The selection show for the event will start at 2 p.m. on the Golf Channel.
Track and Field
Ohio State competed in two locations over the weekend, with some Buckeyes performing at the Penn Relays and others at the Clark Wood Invitational.
Athletes set Ohio State records at both events.
At the Penn Relays, the Buckeyes' sprint medley team of Nya Bussey, Leah Bertrand, Bryannia Murphy and Aniya Mosley set the program record with a time of 3:43.75. The previous record of 3:47.87 belonged to Aisha Cavin, Aaliyah Barnes, Kambi Walker and Katie Borchers and had stood since the 2015 season.
Shoutout and congratulations to @nyabussey, Leah Bertrand, @soshetete and Aniya Mosley for breaking the program record in the sprint medley relay! #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/dV6ufSo38I
— Ohio State T&F/XC (@OhioStateTFXC) April 26, 2024
At the Clark Wood Invitational, Carlos Aviles won his second consecutive discus competition with a record-breaking throw, recording a program-best 194 feet (or 59.14 meters). The previous record of 193 feet, 7 inches belonged to Dan Taylor and had stood since the 2003 season.
Congratulations to @AvilesCarlos75 on breaking the discus program record - a record that stood for more than 20 years This is his second-consecutive discus win!#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/Qnqskn89sN
— Ohio State T&F/XC (@OhioStateTFXC) April 27, 2024
The Penn Relays and Clark Wood Invitational were Ohio State's final team events before the Big Ten Championships, which will be held May 10-12 in Ann Arbor.
After the Big Ten Championships, the Buckeyes’ qualifying athletes will compete at the NCAA Prelims in Lexington, Kentucky, from May 22-25. The NCAA Championships are scheduled for June 5-8 in Eugene, Oregon.
Men's Volleyball
As a No. 6 seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Ohio State will battle No. 3 seed Grand Canyon on Tuesday at Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid complex.
The Buckeyes are headed West. #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/OpAdHgMASm
— OSU Men's Volleyball (@OhioStateMVB) April 27, 2024
Ohio State won its 19th MIVA Tournament on April 20. Across three MIVA Tournament matches, Jacob Pasteur led the Buckeyes with 57 kills, six aces, seven assists and five blocks. Head coach Kevin Burch also received stellar contributions from Shane Wetzel (48 kills, 11 blocks) and Cole Young (21 kills, 18 blocks) en route to the conference title.
The Buckeyes will make their 24th NCAA Tournament appearance on Tuesday. They have an all-time record of 17-24 in the tournament, winning national championships in 2011, 2016 and 2017 under former head coach Pete Hanson.
Ohio State vs. Grand Canyon will start at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday and will be streamed on NCAA.com. The winner between the Buckeyes and Antelopes will face either No. 7 seed Belmont Abbey or No. 2 seed Long Beach State on Thursday at 9:30 p.m. in the NCAA semifinals.
Other Results
- Ohio State women's tennis lost to Michigan, 4-2, in the Big Ten Championship on Sunday. The Buckeyes lost the doubles point, and Sydni Ratliff, Teah Chavez and Audrey Spencer lost in the singles competition. Luciana Perry and Shelly Bereznyak won their singles matches, while the dual between Irina Cantos Siemers and Kari Miller was called off after the match was clinched.
- Ohio State men's lacrosse lost to Michigan, 15-9, in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals on Saturday. With the loss, the Buckeyes’ 2024 season has ended. Head coach Nick Myers and his squad went 6-9 overall (1-4 Big Ten) in their 15 games this year.
- After losing back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, Ohio State baseball avoided a series sweep from Michigan State with a 10-6 win over the Spartans on Sunday. With a 1-2 record on the weekend, the Buckeyes are now 20-20 in the regular season. This week, they will face Cincinnati and Akron on Tuesday and Wendnes before a three-game series at Illinois from Friday to Sunday.
- Ohio State softball won two of three games against Illinois over the weekend and improved to 29-18 in the regular season. The Buckeyes have one series left before the Big Ten Tournament – a weekend series in Ann Arbor against the Michigan Wolverines.
