Big Ten Weekly and Season Honors: MLax does well

Most seasons are wrapping up, and the men's lacrosse team did not make the four team B1G Championships. But LAX players still earned conference recognition.

By rvc73@scarknight May 7, 2015, 1:00pm EDT

Men's Lacrosse - End of Season awards

The inaugural Big Ten men's lacrosse All-Conference teams and individual award winners were announced. While all the athletes deserve recognition, we're most interested in Rutgers' senior midfielder Joe Nardella, who collected Big Ten Specialist of the Year honors. Along with Nardella, Johns Hopkins' Ryan Brown earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year honors from the conference's coaches. Maryland's Casey Ikeda was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Year, while the Blue Jays' Joel Tinney was named Freshman of the Year. Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala received Big Ten Coach of the Year honors.

Two Rutgers players made First Team All-Big Ten in the inaugural season and one more was named Honorable Mention. Joe Nardella was selected as First Team All-Big Ten along with Junior attacker Scott Bieda. Junior midfielder Zack Sikora was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten. Additionally, senior midfielder Brian Goss was selected as the Sportsmanship Award honoree.

First-Team All-Big Ten
RYAN BROWN, Johns Hopkins
Wells Stanwick, Johns Hopkins
Kyle Bernlohr, Maryland
Casey Ikeda, Maryland
Joe LoCascio, Maryland
Matt Rambo, Maryland
Carter Brown, Ohio State
JESSE KING, Ohio State
Scott Bieda, Rutgers
Joe Nardella, Rutgers

Honorable Mention All-Big Ten*
Nick Fields, Johns Hopkins
Joel Tinney, Johns Hopkins
Ian King, Michigan
Gerald Logan, Michigan
Jay Carlson, Maryland
Charlie Raffa, Maryland
Tom Carey, Ohio State
Robby Haus, Ohio State
Christopher May, Ohio State
TJ Sanders, Penn State
Mike Sutton, Penn State
Zack Sikora, Rutgers

Women's Lacrosse - End of Season awards

Attack Player of the Year: Brooke Griffin, Maryland

Midfielder of the Year: Taylor Cummings, Maryland

Defensive Player of the Year: Megan Douty, Maryland

Goaltender of the Year: EMI SMITH, Penn State

Freshman of the Year: Selena Lasota, Northwestern

Coach of the Year: MISSY DOHERTY, Penn State

Softball

Player of the Week
Anna Kirk, Ohio State, So., 2B/3B, Groveport, Ohio

Led the conference with a 2.143 slugging percentage, while driving in six runs and belting three home runs to guide Ohio State to a series sweep of Indiana
Compiled a .714 batting average and .778 on-base percentage, both of which ranked second in the conference

Pitcher of the Week
Sara Groenewegen, Minnesota, So., RHP, White Rock, British Columbia

Recorded three complete-game conference victories last week, while notching a conference-leading 47 strikeouts in games against Wisconsin and Purdue
Established a school record with 19 strikeouts against Purdue on Saturday
Scattered nine hits and allowed only three earned runs over 22.0 innings

Freshman of the Week
Sabrina Rabin, Northwestern, OF, St. Charles, Ill.

Notched eight hits and scored five runs to lead Northwestern to a series win against Iowa, as well as a non-conference victory over DePaul
Recorded at least one hit in each game, as well as a stolen base in each contest
Led all Big Ten players with 18 stolen bases in conference play

Baseball

Player of the Week
David Kerian, Illinois, Sr., 1B, Dakota Dunes, S.D.
•   Helped Illinois remain atop the conference standings and extend the nation's longest-active winning streak to 21 games, batting .636 (7-for-11) in a series sweep of nationally ranked Ohio State
•   Recorded multi-hit games and scored a run in all four games, including three hits, three RBI and a pair of runs in the series finale versus the Buckeyes
•   Tallied a .625 on-base percentage and 1.000 slugging percentage for the week

Pitcher of the Week
Matt Portland, Northwestern , LHP, Jr., Victor, N.Y.
•   Pitched his first career complete-game shutout against Nebraska
•   Recorded a career-best eight strikeouts, walking only one batter

Freshman of the Week
Luis Alvarado, Nebraska , OF, Salinas, Puerto Rico
•   Hit .571 (4-for-7) with a pair of multi-hit games in a series win over Northwestern
•   Batted 2-for-3, including a three-run double with two outs in the series finale against the Wildcats
•   Recorded a .625 on-base percentage and a .714 slugging percentage in Big Ten play

Men's Golf - NCAA Edition

Six Big Ten teams and two individuals were selected to compete in the 2015 NCAA Men's Golf Regionals. The regional field is divided among six sites and will be held May 14-16.

Big Ten Champion Illinois earned the No. 1 seed in the Sagamore Regional, and will compete at The Sagamore Club in Noblesville, Ind. The Illini's No. 1 seed marks the highest in program history in the current regional format, which began in 2009. Seventh-seeded Iowa and ninth-seeded Ohio State will travel to The Course at Yale in New Haven Conn., while Michigan will compete at the Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash. The Wolverines earned a No. 9 seed.

Penn State earned a No. 11 seed, and will compete at the University of North Carolina Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill, N.C. Tenth-seeded Purdue will play at The Rawls Course in Lubbock, Texas. Maryland's David Kocher and Minnesota's Jose Mendez qualified for NCAA Regionals as individual competitors.

The Fighting Illini tied for fifth at last season's NCAA Championships for the second time in the last four years, giving them three top-five finishes in that span. Fifteen Big Ten golfers have won the individual national championship, including two in the last five years.

Rowing

Boat of the Week

Wisconsin First Varsity Eight

Collected wins over Michigan State and Minnesota on Saturday at the Devil's Lake Challenge, hosted by Wisconsin
Boat won the event with a time of 6:55.341, besting second-place Minnesota (7:03.971) and third-place Michigan State (7:11.529)
Badgers claimed their fourth Burnin' Blade trophy in its five year history, awarded to the annual winner of the varsity race between Minnesota and Wisconsin

Women's Track

Track Athlete of the Week

Leah O'Connor, Michigan State, Sr. - Croswell, Mich.

Finished first in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:11.04 at the Jesse Owens Classic
Time currently ranks first in the nation, according to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association

Field Athlete of the Week

Kandie Bloch-Jones, Illinois, So. - Argenta-Oreana, Ill.

Collected a first-place finish in the high jump with a mark of 1.84 meters at the Rankin/Poehlein Invitational
Mark currently ranks 13^th in the nation

Men's Track