Bearcats Well-Rounded Sports Report
By Mel Payne
October 12, 2011; Louisville, KY, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats defender Mike Brizzi (21) heads the ball past Louisville Cardinals midfielder Greg Cochrane (2) during the first half of play at Cardinal Park. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-US PRESSWIRE
With the weekend approaching, college football is on everyone’s mind. However, there is a lot more going on in sports in Cincinnati’s major universities. Let’s take a look at the week in sports around UC’s campus.
Bearcat’s track and field coach, Bill Schnier, for the past 33 years announced his retirement in September after a stellar career at UC. During his tenure, the track and field and cross country programs produced 136 individual conference champions, 25 NCAA national championship meet qualifiers, 10 All-Americans, and 2 Olympic medalists. Schnier was named the Conference USA coach of the decade in both cross country and track and field. The Bearcats have won 12 conference titles and 47 of the programs’ 53 school records were set during his time with the school. It was fitting that he top off his career off this week with an induction into the Cincinnati’s James P. Kelly Athletics Hall of Fame.
UC’s men’s soccer team kicked off Big East Championship play on Halloween. The number 5 seed in the Big East Red Division Bearcats headed to play a number 4 seed Marquette team in the first round of play. The Bearcats dropped the game to Marquette 0-3 and finished the regular season with a record of 7-8-4.
Halloween wasn’t so lucky for the UC Women’s volleyball team either. The team dropped a 3-0 decision to the number 14 University of Dayton Fliers Wednesday. The loss was the second to a ranked opponent this season for the Bearcats. The team was led by seniors Jordanne Scott and Becca Revenes with 11 and kill respectively. Junior Emily MacIntyre put together a match-high performance with 23 digs for a 7.67 digs/set ratio. The loss places the team at 9-16 in conference play.
The Bearcat women are set to kick off their basketball season on Sunday against Kentucky-Wesleyan at 7:00 pm in Fifth Third Arena. The team is currently ranked 102, which is a five place jump from their previous position in the RPI poll. Cincinnati is returning eight letter winners, three of which started 20 games or more last season. Head coach Jamelle Elliott will return to lead the team in her fourth season after leading Cincinnati to its most successful season in school history last year with a record 16-16.
The 1961-62 Men’s Basketball team was inducted into the 2012 UC Athletics Hall of Fame. The team was led by head coach Ed Jucker and assistant coach Tay Baker. The team played and defeated Ohio State for the National Title 71-59 for the second time in a row that year. They will now be immortalized forever in UC history.