Cardinal Pride in Action

by Adam Prescott

Cardinal pride can have a lot of different meanings. But to today’s Otterbein student athletes, Cardinal pride often means excellence, success and achievement, not just on the playing field but in the classroom as well. Listed below are some of Otterbein’s and the Ohio Athletic Conference’s (OAC) shining stars for the past year.

Football

Trey Fairchild ’13 received third-team All-American, and was the Ed Sherman Award recipient for OAC’s top wide receiver. Aaron Kingcade ’13 was an Academic All-America.

Volleyball

Lindsey Russell ’12 was the OAC “Libero of the Year,” and became the ninth Otterbein athlete to earn Academic All-America and All-American for their respective sports in the same season. Ally Nagle ’13 received honorable mention All-American. Nagle and Russell are Otterbein’s first two volleyball All-Americans. Kristen Bennett ’13, an Academic All-America, became the first Otterbein athlete to earn Academic All-America in two different sports (also earned in track and field).

Men’s Basketball

Seniors Chris Davis ’12 and Brice Rausch ‘12, teammates since high school, each surpassed 1,000 career points in the same game, a 68-66 win over Ohio Northern that also gave head coach Dick Reynolds ’65 career win 650.

Women’s Basketball

Seniors Shea McCoy ’12 and Kristi Kotterman ’12 each reached the 1,000-point-plateau for their careers. Women’s basketball reached 20 wins for first time since 2003-04 season. Tabatha Piper ’15 became the first conference athlete to earn OAC “Freshman of the Year” honors in two different sports (basketball and volleyball).

Men’s Golf

Ben Adams ’11 earned OAC Medalist honors by winning the individual title at the 2012 conference championships. The men’s golf team earned its 16th OAC championship in the last 21 years.

Men’s Track and Field

Austin Curbow ’12 set a new school and OAC record with a time of 7.98 seconds in the 55-meter hurdles (indoor). He finished third at the NCAA Championships to become a three-time All-American.

Women’s Tennis

Julie Stroyne ’14 earned her second-straight OAC Player of the Year award.

Softball

Casey Clarridge ’12 broke the Otterbein softball all-time records for most hits (187) and runs scored (127). Laura Basford ’14 set an Otterbein softball single-season record for at-bats (148), runs scored (46), hits (68), total bases (100), and stolen bases (33), while also tying the career mark for most triples (14). The team posted a new program record of 26 wins in a single season.