Who is your favorite Falcon?

Monday, May 3, 2010

Gymnastics Day of Hope

I was able to catch an interview with Senior Megan Chronister and make a short video of the BGSU Gymnastics Team's All-Cancer Awareness Day.


Men's Golf Finishes Ninth in MAC

The school year is coming to an end, meaning the athletic season is wrapping up as well. The Men’s Golf team competed in the 2010 Mac Championships this weekend.

With mediocre weather making the competition less than desirable, Bowling Green completed Sunday's 18 holes with a composite score of 314, over 26 and finished their season in ninth place… of nine teams.

Kent State University took first with their two-under-par 1150, 22 shots over Eastern Michigan. BGSU fell 10 shots behind Ball State and 13 behind Toledo, who came in seventh on Sunday.

The season had been a rollercoaster for the guys, starting off strong, ending up in the top- five tournament standings and then coming in last place of the tournament. Four seniors will be leaving the team.

Senior Matt Schneider topped off his career with a two-over-par 74 with his tournament total at 302. Schneider has earned a top-20 finish in all four MAC Championships as a Falcon. Schneider was named 2nd Team All-MAC.

John Powers also played the full 36 rounds in 2009-10 and averaged 75.36 in that span. For his career, Powers leaves BGSU with an average of 75.17 over 123 rounds.

Scott Blackburn played in two tournaments in 2009-10. In his six rounds, Blackburn averaged 78.83, the best average since his freshman year. His senior year action also brought his career average under 80, as Blackburn leaves BGSU after shooting 79.76 over 29 rounds.

Chad Walker completed nine rounds this season for an average of 78.78. Those results improved Walker's career average to a solid 79.13 over 30 rounds.

*bgsufalcons.com

Women's Basketball Awards

Their season is over, but their success cannot be stopped. The BGSU Women’s Basketball team had an excellent season, and excellent may or may not be an understatement. Not only was this season such an success, the four-year seniors experienced an 113-24 record, a post season WNIT and two NCAA Tournament appearances with the Falcons.

Saturday the team gathered on campus for their annual banquet where they recognized each player for a different award. And I don’t think the results will shock you…

Player of the Year went to Lauren Prochaska

Falcon Award went to Maggie Hennegan

Power Player of the Year went to Tara Breske

Playmaker of the Year went to Tracy Pontius

Impact Player of the Year went to Tamika Nurse

Most Improved Player went to Kelly Zuercher

Scholar-Athletes of the Year went to Laura Bugher & Jen Uhl

Prochaska has been named Player of the Year twice consecutively. She ended up averaging 17.9 points a game this last season, scoring a new school-record 609 points. Prochaska also set a single-season record with 92 three-point shots made. That is the second highest total in Mid-American Conference History. Prochaska was also named team captain for the 2010-2011 season next Fall.

Team captain Breske has held Power Player of the Year for three years in a row. Ending her career with 916 points, 561 rebounds and 104 blocked shots Breske was an all-around player for the Falcons.

Nurse, as a new addition to the team a year ago, started all 34 games this past season and led the team in assists. Nurse also came in third on scoring for the orange and brown.

BGSU Falcon Jerseys to be Recognized

Bowling Green Athletics is asking students and alumni to start nominating former Falcon athletes’ jersey numbers. The jerseys will not be retired, just recognized. The criteria are very specific. The nominee must already be a member of the BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame and has been out of BGS for a minimum of 10 years. Among those requirements, the candidate must have outstanding athletics credentials, either by National award recognition, All-American status or a conference player-of-the-year status.

“Bowling Green has a long and distinguished athletic history,” Greg Christopher, Director of Athletics, said for the BGSU athletics website. “While we already recognize individuals who have excelled through the Athletics Hall of Fame, we wanted to take it another step forward. Retiring the jerseys of our legends is a great way to honor and recognize Falcon greats.”

I did my research and looked to see which former Falcons have already had their numbers recognized by the school. I found four that had their jerseys retired.

#29 Paul Miles (Football)
#9 George McPhee ‘82 (Hockey)
#19 Nelson Emerson, Brian Holzinger (Hockey)
#42 Nate Thurmond ‘63 (Men’s Basketball)


George McPhee- At BGSU McPhee was a four-year letter winner and won the Hobey Baker Award in 1982, which is given to the top collegiate hockey player. After being a Falcon, McPhee went on to play with the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils. Seven years in the NHL led McPhee to obtain his law degree from Rutgers and since 1997, McPhee is the General Manager of the Washington Capitals.


Nate Thurmond – At 6’10” Thurmond was recognized as one of the best defensive players to ever come through BGSU. After being named an NCAA Basketball All-American, Thurmond went on to have a 14-year career in the NBA after being drafted to the San Francisco Warriors. His number #42 was retired by BGSU, the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.