Five earn Women's At-Large Academic All-OAC, two earn Honorable Mention

By Steven Wright

ADA — Five Polar Bears were named to the 2009 Women's At-Large Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference team, while two were Honorable Mention At-Large Academic All-OAC in voting conducted by the league's 10 faculty advisors.

The women at-large winners consist of student-athletes from the sports of golf, swimming and diving and tennis.

Senior tennis players Bridget Larson (Hudson) and Kaitlyn Macdonald (Warsaw, Ind.), junior swimmers Jillian Huber (Glandorf/Ottawa-Glandorf) and Lacey Shumate (Bucyrus/Colonel Crawford) and junior diver and golfer Terri Lynn Shigle (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) were all At-Large Academic All-OAC.

Junior swimmer Katherine Moore (Chicago, Ill./Marian Catholic) and junior golfer Kaylea Thresher (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) were Honorable Mention At-Large Academic All-OAC.

Macdonald and Larson most recently guided the ONU women's tennis team to its first ever appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament where the Polar Bears were knocked out in the First Round by SUNU-Geneseo 5-3.

This year the duo etched their names in the ONU record books by claiming the top two spots on the all-time wins list.

Macdonald is the all-time leader in total wins with 159 and doubles wins with 84 for her career. Larson is in second place in both categories with 152 doubles wins and 82 overall wins.

Macdonald is a four-time First Team All-OAC selection, a three-time Academic All-OAC selection and was named the OAC Player of the Year this season.

Larson is also a two-time First Team All-OAC honoree, a Second Team All-OAC honoree, a two-time Academic All-OAC recipient and a one time Honorable Mention Academic All-OAC award winner.

After winning three conference titles in swimming this season, Huber is now a seven-time OAC Champion. In addition she is a 14-time All-OAC selection.

This season, Huber took home first place in the 400 I.M., 400 Free Relay and 800 Free Relay, while taking third place in the 100 back.

Shumate continued her successful swimming career this season by winning two more OAC Championships and earning All-OAC honors four times.

She was named OAC Swimmer of the Year as a freshman in 2007 and is tied for second on ONU's all-time list with 12 OAC Championships to her name. She has also earned All-OAC accolades 17 times.

Shumate won both the 400 I.M. and the 400 Medley Relay this season. 

Both Huber and Shumate were Honorable Mention At-Large Academic All-OAC as sophomores in 2008. 

Shigle earned her award after competing for both the diving and golf teams at Ohio Northern.

She was the OAC Champion in 1-meter diving as a freshman in 2007 and is a four-time All-OAC honoree in her three seasons on the diving board, including a second-place finish on 1-meter and a third-place finish in 3-meter at the OAC Championships this season.

For the golf team, Shigle competed primarily at the No. 6 position throughout the year, ending the season with a scoring average of 92.2 and a low round of 84.

This is the second consecutive year that Shigle has been named At-Large Academic All-OAC.

Moore has also put her name in the ONU record books by winning four more OAC Championships this year for the swim team, taking her total up to 12 and a tie for second all-time with Shumate.

She is also a 17-time All-OAC selection after winning the 100 Fly, 200 Fly, 200 Medley Relay and 400 Medley Relay and finishing 2nd in the 200 I.M. this season.

This is the second straight year that Moore has been Honorable Mention At-Large Academic All-OAC.

Thresher is being honored as Honorable Mention At-Large Academic All-OAC for the first time of her career.

Thresher helped lead the women's golf team to a second-place finish in the OAC Tournament and competed as the No. 2 golfer for the majority of the season.

She earned First Team All-OAC and was the medalist at the Defiance Fall Invitational on Sept. 22. For the season, her scoring average was 86.5 and her low round was a 78.