Winter Sports in Review

The winter sports season proved to be very successful for Oberlin, as three individuals qualified for nationals in their respective sports, and another team qualified for the conference tournament for the first time in four seasons.
The men’s basketball team qualified for the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament for the first time since the 1997-98 season. In the process, they vastly improved upon last season’s record by going 7-18 overall, and 4-12 in conference play. Their seven wins were the most for the Yeomen in a decade.
The team will lose seniors James Knight and Maurice Elrod, and junior Brian Buchanan, who played in his last season of eligibility this year. Knight was named the NCAC player of the week twice during the season, and led the NCAC in scoring by finishing with an average of 20.9 points per game. He was also third in the conference with 1.36 blocks per game and was fifth in the NCAC with 8.0 rebounds per game. Elrod was second on the team with a scoring average of 14.5 points per game. Buchanan and sophomore Djordje Eremic were tied for third in scoring with averages of 8.1 points per game.
Knight was named to the all-NCAC first team and was the only Yeomen to garner all-conference honors. In addition, Knight and Elrod both reached the 1,000 point milestone during the season. Knight, who returned to the team after a one-year absence this season, was the conference’s Newcomer of the Year in his first season as a Yeomen.
“[Elrod] and [Knight] have led us the whole year in just about everything, scoring, leadership, hustle — they set the tone for the rest of us this year,” first-year guard Julius Hill said.
Nzinga Broussard, a guard for the women’s basketball team, also reached the 1,000 point milestone this season for the Yeowomen, and is on pace to break the all-time career scoring record, held by former standout guard and current Oberlin head coach, Ann Gilbert.
Broussard was fourth in the conference in scoring with a 15.7 average, third in assists with 3.7 per game and first in steals with an average of 3.4 picks per game. Senior center Rachael Barbee was second on the team in scoring, with a 10.8 average, and was best on the team and fifth in the conference in rebounding with an average of 9.4 boards per game.
The team finished seventh in the NCAC with a conference record of 5-11 and an overall record of 6-19.
Shannon Houlihan, a first-year jumper for the indoor track and field team, was one of three athletes during the winter to qualify for the NCAA nationals. Houlihan led the women’s team to a third place finish in the NCAC Championships by winning the triple jump with a NCAA provisional qualifying distance of 36’11”. 
In the conference meet, the men’s team finished eighth out of ten teams, and were led by the 4x200 meter relay team of first-year runners Jeremy Lane, Mark Lengel and Quammie Semper, and junior Andre Street.
Sophomore distance runner Laura Feeney picked up a fourth place finish in 5,000 meter run on the opening day of competition and returned the next day to finish second and earn all-conference honors in the 3,000 meter run.
The men’s distance medley team of senior David Bevacqua and Dan Schwartz and first-years Alex Scally and Lane earned points for the team by finishing in fourth place. The relay team set a new Oberlin record of 10:50.26. In addition, junior thrower Dan Blackburn became the first Yeomen in four years to score in the NCAC Championships in the shot-put.
For the men and women’s swimming and diving team, the NCAC Championship meet proved to be a disappointing event, as the men finished eighth out of nine and women finished seventh out of eight teams.
However, senior John Limouze and junior Celeste Mercer both qualifed for national competition again, and Limouze highlighted the swimming season by winning the 200 meter butterfly championship for the second year in a row.
Referring to the conference meet, Head Coach Dick Michaels said, “I’m happy with what they did, they’re happy with what they did. End to end it was one of our best performances.” 
Despite the teams’ finishes, most of the swimmers eclipsed their season best times, which was the goal of the two teams entering the meet.
The Plague, Oberlin’s club sport hockey team, ended their season with a record of 2-3. But regardless of winning and losing, the fan support never died as long the Plague was on the ice.
Tabbed by many as the most fan supported sporting event on campus, the Plague never stopped providing fans with thrills and the fans never stopped providing security with headaches. 
Midway through the short season, rink management required that more security be present at the games because of the rowdy nature of the Plague fans.
Plague fans responded by taking their rowdiness to another level.
The insanity came to its climax in the last home match of the season against rival Baldwin Wallace College. Though the team lost 12-3, the Plague provided fans with more than enough thrills.
Just minutes into the second half, one of the many skirmishes in the match erupted into an all-out brawl. The fans exploded with excitement as the referees on the ice lost control and were forced to sit back and let the fighting end on its own. When the madness finally subsided, 10 players found themselves in the penalty box and one unlucky fan found himself outside.
Sophomore Luke Tracy, who had found himself caught up in all the excitement, found a Baldwin Wallace player in his face. After a brief shouting match Tracy attempted to climb over the glass and go after the player on the ice. Security quickly removed Tracy from the rink and the game was continued.

With just minutes left in the game, the Plague scored their first goal and the crowd erupted. The giant four foot penis that had been circulating around in the stands was tossed onto the ice providing numerous fans with megaphones the opportunity to make sure the referee got an earful as he lugged the massive phallic object across the ice.

There is no doubt that the rink will be rockin’ for many hockey seasons to come.

-Compiled by Zachary Pretzer and Ian Haynes