NCAC 20th Anniversary

Edited: 5/26/04

OHIO WESLEYAN'S SCHWAB, STURTZ HEAD NORTH COAST'S 20TH ANNIVERSARY
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAMS

Ohio Wesleyan’s Travis Schwab and Katy Sturtz head a list of stellar student-athletes named to the North Coast Athletic Conference’s 20th Anniversary men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Schwab, the first men’s basketball player in NCAC history to be named to the All-NCAC first team as a freshman, sophomore and junior, is the only active player on the two special anniversary rosters. The senior post led the league in both scoring (21.2 ppg) and offensive rebounds (3.12 rpg) last season. He was the 2001 Newcomer of the Year as a freshman. Schwab is the league’s active career leader in points (1,484), field goals (566), free throws (314), rebounds (571) and blocked shots (55).

Schwab is the single Bishop representative on the 10-man squad, and is one of two Newcomers of the Year. Defending NCAC champion Wooster leads the way with three players on the squad. A pair of forwards, John Ellenwood and Bryan Nelson, along with center Ryan Gorman make up the Fighting Scot contingent. All three were three-time, first-team all-conference honorees. Nelson, last season’s Player of the Year, also earned second team honors in 2000. That same year he was named the league’s top newcomer. Last winter Nelson led the Fighting Scots to a 30-3 record and a trip to the NCAA Division III tournament semifinals. Wooster finished third in the national tournament. Gorman was also an honorable mention pick in 1996 and was the NCAC Player of the Year in 1999.

Kenyon and Wittenberg each have two players named to the squad. The Lords are represented by guard Jamie Harless and forward Chris Donovan. Harless, who returned to his alma mater as a head coach for a brief period, was a two-time All-NCAC first-team member between the 1993-94 and the 2002-03 seasons. Donovan also earned first-team all-league honors over the same span. He was voted the 1995 Player of the Year. The Tigers are represented by a pair of guards, Matt Croci and Ryan Taylor. Each earned Player of the Year honors, Croci in 1994 and Taylor in 2001. Croci was named head men’s basketball coach at Kenyon in May. Croci, Harless and Donovan are three of four players on the men’s squad whose careers spanned the two decades of NCAC play. They began their college careers before the 1993-94 season.

Denison guard Brian Malinowski and Wabash forward Joe DesJean round out the men’s anniversary team. Both made three consecutive appearances on the All-NCAC first team during their careers. Malinowski is the fourth player on the squad to begin NCAC play before the 1993-94 season. DesJean was named Player of the Year as a junior in 2002.

Sturtz is one of two women on the 20th anniversary team to be named to the All-NCAC first team for four consecutive years. She is one of two players, both women, to earn Player of the Year honors in back-to-back years. Sturtz was voted the league’s best player as a junior and as a senior (2001, 2002). In 2001, she led the Battling Bishops to the NCAA Div. III tournament semifinals - the deepest any NCAC women’s team has ever advanced in the national tournament. The Bishops finished third. Sturtz owns the NCAC single-season rebound record with 360 (2000-01). She is also a member of the 20th anniversary team in women’s soccer.

Fellow Bishop Megan Coughlin joins Sturtz on the second-decade women’s basketball squad. The 1997 Newcomer of the Year, Coughlin was a four-time All-NCAC honoree. She appeared on the first team her first three years at OWU, then finished with a second team appearance as a senior.

Kenyon leads all schools with a trio of former players on the team. Guard Stephany Dunmyer (2000), and forward Kim Graf (1997) and Karen Schell (1999) each concluded their college careers as the league’s top player. Graf, a four-time All-league selection, holds the North Coast single-season (110, 1996-97) and career (365) records for three-point field goals.

Wittenberg has two representatives on the team, forward Beth Green and center Sara Jurewicz. Green made one appearance on the All-NCAC first team over the past 10 years - she began NCAC play before the 1993-94 season. Jurewicz, 1995’s top Newcomer, earned a second-team selection and three first-team nods.

Allegheny forward Kim Huber, Denison guard Christi Clay and Oberlin guard Nzinga Broussard round out the 10-person women’s team. Huber, a two-time, All-NCAC first-team pick between 1993-94 and 1995-96, is the conference’s all-time leading scorer with 2,53 points. Not surprisingly, she also holds the career record for field goals with 822. She was a two-time NCAC Player of the Year for her efforts (1995, 1996). Broussard, the 1999 Newcomer of the Year, made an appearance on the All-NCAC first team in each of her four playing seasons. She holds the NCAC records for steals in a season (129, 2001-02) and for her career (404). Clay finished her career on the All-NCAC first team as a senior. She was the 1994 Player of the Year.

The North Coast Athletic Conference will be announcing 20th Anniversary teams in all 22 sports during the 2003-04 academic year. The NCAC was founded in 1983 and began competition in the fall of 1984. The North Coast’s commitment to equity, its broad base of athletic programs and an unwavering insistence on excellence in academics has served as a model for conferences throughout the country.

The NCAC’s 20th Anniversary teams were selected in each sport through balloting by present and former coaches and administrators. Athletes who participated in conference competition between the fall of 1993 through the spring of 2003 were eligible for selection.