Minnich again a national champion

A Jay County native is a national champion.

Again.

Emi Minnich, a former Jay County Patriot and 2016 Burris graduate, helped the Moody Bible Institute women’s cross country team win the National Christian College Athletic Association Division II national championship on Saturday at Chochtaw Trails.

It was the fifth consecutive national title for the Archers.

Minnich finished the 5-kilometer race in 20 minutes, 29.46 seconds to finish fifth overall, helping Moody earn four of the top five positions. 

The Archers totaled 33 points, leaving Bob Jones University a distant second with 62 points and Alice Lloyd third with 66.

Travis Sutter

Fort Recovery – 2017

Competed for the Ohio Northern University men’s cross country team as it was third in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional on Saturday at Ohio Wesleyan.

Sutter, a freshman, was 90th overall and sixth on the squad for the Polar Bears, who totaled 123 points. He had a time of 27 minutes, 19.2 seconds, in the 8K race. 

Calvin scored 61 to win the team title, and DePauw scored 111 to finish runner-up.

Sutter’s teammate Ian McVey was the individual champion in 25:11, as 18th-ranked ONU received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Men’s Cross

Country Championships on Saturday in Elsah, Illinois.

Abby Wendel

Jay County – 2016

Notched career highs in three statistical categories for the University of Rio Grande women’s basketball team on Monday in a 95-74 win over Wright State-Lake.

The sophomore was 8-of-13 from the field and made all four of her free throw attempts to finish with 20 points, besting her previous career high of 16.

She also had nine rebounds and five assists against the Lakers.

On Friday, she had 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting while adding five rebounds, four steals and two assists as the Red Storm (4-1) dropped the opening game of the Union College Classic 97-85 to Bryan.

A day later against Union College, Wendel had 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals in helping URG win 83-68.

Cassidy Rammel

Fort Recovery – 2015

Capped a stellar junior season by earning first team all-conference in the Crossroads League as a member of the University of Saint Francis volleyball team.

Rammel, who had eight digs, two kills, two assists and a pair of blocks on Saturday as the Cougars lost 24-19, 25-15, 25-17 to Indiana Wesleyan University in the Crossroads League tournament championship, was the lone USF first-team representative.

She led the team with 420 kills this season, an average of 3.18 kills per set. She was third on the team with 46 blocks and fourth with 260 digs.

Kendra Siefring

Fort Recovery – 2016

Earned a pair of postseason honors as a member of the University of Saint Francis volleyball team.

She was named second team all-conference in the Crossroads League, as well as earning a spot on the CL all-freshman team.

Siefring had five kills to finish third as the Cougars (14-21) lost 3-0 to Indiana Wesleyan in the CL tournament final on Saturday. She also had three blocks, two digs and an assist.

She finished the season with a team-best 90 blocks to go with her 270 kills, which ranked third.

Ava Kunkler

Jay County – 2016

Led the University of Saint Francis volleyball team as its season came to a close Saturday with a loss to Indiana Wesleyan in the Crossroads League tournament championship.

The sophomore had eight kills on 22 attacks. Defensively she also had one dig.

Kunkler ended the year with 286 kills to finish second on the team. She also had 31 blocks.

Sophie Bader

Anne Vormohr

Jay County – 2016

Helped the Ball State University women’s swim team defeat Illinois State 152-148 on Friday and Tiffin 176-46 on Saturday.

Against Illinois State, Bader was first in both the 100- and 200-yard butterfly races in 57.89 seconds and 2 minutes, 7.79 seconds respectively. She was also third in the 200 individual medley.

Vormohr was second in the 50 freestyle and, third in the 100 freestyle, and helped the 400 freestyle relay finish second. The cousins swam in the 200 medley relay that was third.

On Saturday, Bader was first in the 200 breaststroke in 2:33.28, while Vormohr won the 200 backstroke in 2:09.47. They swam the third and fourth legs respectively in the 200 freestyle relay, helping it win in 1:39.07 seconds.

Ashton Klopp

Brette Klopp

South Adams – 2017

Competed for the University of Findlay women’s swim team as it earned three victories over the weekend.

The Oilers, which are No. 22 in the Division II poll, beat Ashland 149-87 on Friday, then picked up wins Saturday over Hillsdale (175-87) and Lewis (187-75).

On Saturday, Ashton was first in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly events in 1 minute, 0.1 seconds, and 2:13.38 respectively. She also swam the butterfly leg of the 400 medley relay squad that was first in 3:58.83.

Brette’s best race Saturday resulted in a fourth-place finish in the 200 backstroke.

A day earlier, Ashton won the 100 freestyle in 56.13 seconds, and her sister was second in the 200 IM.

Elijah Kahlig

Fort Recovery – 2014

Was second in scoring for the University of Findlay men’s basketball team as it edged Fairmount on Wednesday at home, 84-82.

He made five of his eight shots, including half of his four 3-point attempts, to finish with 14 points. He also sank both of his free throws. His five rebounds was second on the squad, and he also had an assist and a steal for the Oilers (3-0).

Kahlig has started all three games and is averaging 13.7 points per game while shooting 48 percent from the field.

Scott Schwieterman

Jay County – 2013

Helped the Indiana Tech men’s basketball team win its fifth game in a row to start the season Wednesday in a 97-58 win over Madonna in the team’s home and conference opener.

The senior started, and went 3-of-9 for the field for six points. He missed both of his 3-point attempts. The former Patriot grabbed four rebounds, had an assist and blocked one shot for the Warriors (5-0, 1-0 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference) in 21 minutes.

Catherine Dunn

Jay County – 2015

Was one of two players to reach double figures for the Brescia University women’s basketball team in a 78-53 loss to Indiana Wesleyan on Tuesday.

Dunn came off the bench and went 2-of-7 from the field and 2-of-4 from long range. She made four of her six free-throw attempts to finish with 10 points for the Bearcats (2-2). The junior had two rebounds, a block and an assist before fouling out.

It was the second time this season Dunn scored in double figures, and she averages 7.3 points per game.

Sawyer Miller

South Adams – 2015

Finished second in the 125-pound weight class for the Indiana Tech wrestling team in the Grand View Open on Saturday.

The junior got pinned by Northern Iowa’s Jacob Schwarm 84 seconds into the title match. Miller (3-1), who is ranked third in the nation in NAIA, received an opening-round bye before pinning Grand View’s Joel Timmons 38 seconds into the third period.

In the semifinal, Miller beat Matthew Nguyen of Grand View in sudden victory, 12-10.

Tyler Leonhard

Jay County – 2017

Went 4-2 for the Manchester University wrestling team Saturday in Trine University’s Thunder Invitational.

The 165-pound freshman pinned his way to the tournament semifinal before he lost a 5-1 decision to North Central College of Illinois’ Cam Hayes.

He then earned another pin to reach the consolation quarterfinals, where he fell short of the consolation’s final four.

Leonhard moved to 6-4 on the year.

Abby Barcus

Jay County – 2017

Tied for second on the team for the Wright State University women’s volleyball squad as it had its season come to an end with a 25-19, 19-25, 25-15, 25-23 victory over Milwaukee.

Barcus had nine kills on a team-high 37 attacks. She also contributed four digs and assisted on a pair of blocks for the Raiders, who ended the year 11-18 (5-11 Horizon League).

She finished her freshman campaign third on the team with 281 kills, just 15 behind Katie Klusman for the team lead. She played in all 29 matches, including eight starts. She added 73 digs and 33 blocks.

Whitney Will

Fort Recovery – 2017

Played for the University of Saint Francis women’s basketball team in a pair of victories.

She came off the bench to go 1-of-2 from the field and had the same margin at the free-throw line to score three points in a 71-63 win Saturday over IU-Kokomo. She also had a pair of rebounds.

The freshman made all four of her free throws and made one shot from the field to finish with six points in a 58-43 win Monday over Siena Heights.

The former Indian also grabbed two rebounds, dished two assists and had one block for the Cougars (5-1).

Drew LeFever

South Adams – 2016

Played for the Taylor University football team Saturday in its 21-13 victory over Missouri Baptist in the season finale for both teams.

He had eight carries for 31 yards, including one rush for 10 yards. 

The sophomore tailback finished the season having played in nine games of 10 games for the Trojans (4-6) with three starts. He had 56 carries for 170 yards and four touchdowns. He also had seven catches for 52 yards.

Matt Bihn

Fort Recovery – 2017

Made his first career start for the Wright State-Lake men’s basketball team on Tuesday in a 92-68 loss to Huntington University.

He took one shot, a 3-pointer, but missed in only seven minutes of action for the Lakers (1-5).

Derek Wanner

South Adams – 2015

Also played for the Taylor football team in the season finale Saturday.

The junior defensive back had a season-high four tackles to finish fifth on the team. 

Wanner played in all 10 games and made seven starts. He had nine tackles. 

Wes Wenning

Fort Recovery – 2016

Saw the field for the Ashland University football team on Saturday as it defeated Saginaw Valley State University 31-19 to clinch the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship.

Wenning did not record any stats for the NCAA Division II No. 9 Eagles (10-1, 9-0 GLIAC), who host No. 18 Northwest Missouri State in the Super Region Three quarterfinal Saturday.