­­North Coast Athletic Conference Athletes of the Week – Week of Jan. 16, 2024
 
Offensive Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week - Henry Hinkle, Ohio Wesleyan
Ohio Wesleyan junior guard Henry Hinkle (Powell, OH/Olentangy Liberty) helped the Battling Bishops secure a 69-65 win over Wabash on Wednesday. With 21 seconds remaining in regulation and OWU up by one, Hinkle knocked down a jumper to extend the lead to 67-64. After an intentionally missed free throw by the Little Giants, Hinkle snagged the rebound, was fouled and iced the game with a pair of free throws. In 34 minutes of play, the guard recorded a game-high 32 points, to go along with four rebounds, four assists, and one steal.
 
Defensive Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week - Ricky Radtke, Denison
Denison junior forward Ricky Radtke (Willoughby, OH/University School) and the Big Red went 1-1 in league play after a tough overtime loss to Wittenberg (71-68) on Wednesday and a hard-fought win against Kenyon (70-66) on Saturday. Against the Tigers, Radtke grabbed eight defensive rebounds and earned two blocks. He then collected another eight defensive boards and one block against the Owls. On the week, Radtke averaged 15.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game.
 
Offensive Women's Basketball Athlete of the Week - Ava Hassel, DePauw
DePauw junior guard Ava Hassel (Portsmouth, OH/Notre Dame) propelled the Tigers to a 2-0 week with wins over Wittenberg (70-60) and Oberlin (75-60). Against the Ohio Tigers, Hassel tallied 16 points, four rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Additionally, the guard collected 12 points, three rebounds, and three steals while also dishing out three assists in the win over the Yeowomen. For the week, Hassel averaged 14.0 points, shooting 52.6 percent from the floor and 44.4 percent from deep, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.0 steals.
 
Defensive Women's Basketball Athlete of the Week - Krystal Montas, Oberlin
Oberlin first-year forward Krystal Montas (Sarasota, FL/Riverview) and her defensive efforts guided the Yeowomen to a 1-1 week after defeating Kenyon (61-40) and a tough loss to DePauw (75-60). Against the Owls, Montas recorded six steals to go along with three blocks and six defensive rebounds. In only 18 minutes of play against the Tigers, the forward collected three defensive boards, three steals, and one blocked shot. For the week, Montas averaged 7.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.5 steals, and 2.0 blocks.
 
Men's Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Week - Quinn Sweeney, Wabash
Wabash first-year Quinn Sweeney (Carmel, IN/Guerin Catholic) and the Little Giants went head-to-head with Illinois Wesleyan on Friday and NCAA Division I Valparaiso and NCAA Division II University of Indianapolis in a double-dual on Saturday. Over two days, Sweeney captured three individual victories, one first-place relay finish in the 200 medley (1:40.46) and a third-place finish in the 200 butterfly (2:00.84). Individually, the rookie posted top times in the 400 individual medley (4:19.04), 100 breaststroke (1:03.89), and 500 freestyle (4:50.48).
 
Women's Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Week - Emily Harris, Denison
Denison sophomore Emily Harris (Castalian Springs, TN/Ensworth) and the Big Red went undefeated at the Carnegie Mellon Quad Meet on Saturday. Harris brought home individual first-place finishes in the 200 butterfly and 200 backstroke with times of 2:00.92 and 2:01.60, respectively. The sophomore broke the Denison varsity record and CMU pool record in the butterfly. Additionally, Harris, joined by senior Esme Wright (Cincinnati, OH/Walnut Hills) and juniors Grace Kadlecik (Lansing, NY/Lansing) and Maja Palmroos (San Diego, CA/Del Norte), reset the pool record in the 200 freestyle relay after finishing with a national “B” cut time of 1:34.65.
 
Men's Indoor Track Sprints/Hurdles Athlete of the Week - Kambi Obioha, Oberlin
Oberlin junior Kambi Obioha (Wauconda, IL/Northridge Preparatory) and the Yeomen competed at the Wooster Invitational on Saturday. In the 400-meter dash, the junior bested the field of 15 with a time of 49.17 to rank 21st in the nation. Obioha, joined by junior Cole Fuller (Chicago, IL/Latin School of Chicago), junior Ezra Taub (Boston, MA/Boston Latin Academy), and sophomore Treyce Wood (Homerville, OH/Black River), ran the third leg on the record-setting 4x400 relay unit that clocked in at 3:17.85. The quartet set a new Wooster facility record and erased Oberlin's school record in the event, which stood since 2009. Their performance currently ranks fourth in the nation and is five seconds better than Oberlin's previous record of 3:22.77.
 
Men's Indoor Track Distance/Mid-Distance Athlete of the Week - Brayden Curnutt, Wabash
Wabash junior Brayden Curnutt (Kokomo, IN/Western) and the Little Giants hosted the Robert H. Johnson Open on Saturday. Curnutt recorded a career-best performance in the mile after crossing the line in 4:19.22. The junior edged out second place by 56 seconds and shaved off two seconds from his previous best time of 4:21.73.
 
Men's Indoor Field Athlete of the Week - King Jeju, Wooster
Wooster first-year King Jeju (Johannesburg, South Africa/Silver Oaks International) had a record-breaking debut at the Fighting Scots Invitational on Saturday as he reset the program’s long jump mark by 0.85 meters. Jeju’s jump of 7.34 meters breaks Mark Marando’s 1992 record of 6.95 meters and currently ranks fourth in the nation.
 
Women's Indoor Track Sprints/Hurdles Athlete of the Week - Ryley Steggall, Oberlin
Oberlin sophomore Ryley Steggall (Oberlin, OH/Oberlin) recorded a career-best time in the 200-meter dash at the Wooster Invitational. Steggall bested 14 competitors with a time of 27.03, moving up to fourth in the NCAC rankings. The sophomore also placed fourth out of 22 in the 60-meter dash, finishing in 8.17 seconds.
 
Women's Indoor Track Distance/Mid-Distance Athlete of the Week - Maddi Clark, Wittenberg
Wittenberg first-year Maddi Clark (Mentor, OH/Mentor) and the Tigers competed at the Wooster Invitational on Saturday, finishing first out of four teams. Clark started the 2024 season claiming first-place in the mile. The rookie bested the five person field, consisting of NCAC competition, with a time of 5:35.31.
 
Women's Indoor Field Athlete of the Week - Tiffany Hix, Wittenberg
Wittenberg sophomore Tiffany Hix (Prospect, OH/Elgin) and the Tigers finished first at the Wooster Invitational on Saturday. Hix garnered a first-place finish in the pole vault after clearing 3.25 meters. The sophomore also claimed second in the triple jump with a leap of 10.10 meters.
 
NCAC Milestones & Records (Jan. 8 – Jan. 14)
 
Wabash, Men’s Basketball – Senior forward Sam Comer (Danville, IN/Danville) averaged a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds over two games for Wabash last week. Comer grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds, to go along with a team-best 16 points in the Little Giants' 65-59 loss at Ohio Wesleyan on Wednesday. Saturday, he shared team-high honors in both scoring and rebounds by finishing with 18 points and seven boards in the Little Giants' 89-50 home victory over Hiram. Comer's 18 points on Saturday moved him over 500 career points scored in 77 total games at Wabash.
 
Wooster, Men’s Basketball –With one steal in Saturday’s win over Wittenberg, junior Jamir Billings (Lorain, OH/Lorain) became the third player in program history to record 200 steals and the first since Antwyan Reynolds, who logged a school-record 259 from 1998-02.
 
Wooster, Women’s Swimming and Diving – The Fighting Scots won their 28th consecutive dual meet after Friday's 169-66 win over Ohio Northern University and 190-24 win over Bluffton University.