Bowling Green State University Athletics
Dukate Honored By MAC
March 27, 2001 | Baseball
March 27, 2001
Cleveland, Ohio - Akron's Mary Varga (track and field) and Bowling Green's Scott Dukate (baseball) were named the MAC Scholar Athletes of the Week on March 27, 2001.
Varga (Jr., 3.86, education, Tallmadge, Ohio) won all three events in which she competed at the Alabama Relays. She provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championship in two of the events with a 5'8-3/4 mark in the high jump and by scoring 5,375 points in the heptathlon. She broke her own school record in the javelin with a throw of 150'1".
Scott Dukate (Sr., 3.56, special education, Temperance, Mich.) hit .538 as the Falcons went 3-1 last week. He had seven hits in 13 at-bats, with a pair of doubles and a home run. He earned a .923 slugging percentage and a .600 on-base percentage. Dukate double and hit a home run in a 10-7, come-from-behind win at West Virginia. He hit a team-best .556 in the weekend series with EMU going 5-of-9 as BG took two of the three games. Dukate is hitting .366 on the year with a .610 slugging percentage and a .471 on-base percentage.
The MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week honor is presented to a MAC male and female student-athlete who has a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and performs well during that week's competition. The winners are selected by one of the conference's faculty athletic representatives.
Female Nominees:
Ball State: Susie Miller (tennis, Sr., 3.74, sports management, Des Moines, Iowa) was a perfect 4-0 in her two singles and two doubles matches to lead BSU to a pair of wins in its MAC openers. Miller surrendered just one game in her four matches as the Cardinals defeated Buffalo 7-0 Friday and Akron 7-0 Saturday. She posted a 6-0, 6-1 win over UB's Jen Wong at No. 4 singles after combining with Shareen Korving for an 8-0 win at No. 2 doubles. Against Akron, she defeated UA's Rachael Stein 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4 singles and then combined again with Korving for an 8-0 win at No. 2 doubles. On the season, Miller is 17-11 in doubles plus has combined for a team-leading 19-9 mark in doubles. Her 83 doubles victories during her career tie her for fourth on BSU all-time lists.
Bowling Green: Tracy Howitt (tennis, Sr., 3.48, child & family community services, Westlake, Ohio) lost only one game (in both singles and doubles play) as the Falcons swept a pair of MAC home matches. She posted a 6-0, 6-0 win over Akron's Sara Hirschy at No. 5 singles on Friday and teamed with classmate Meghan Rhodes for an 8-0 win at No. 2 doubles. Against Buffalo on Saturday, Howitt bested Jennifer Wong 6-0, 6-1 at No. 4 singles and teamed with Rhodes for another 8-0 win at No. 2 doubles. Central Michigan: Laura Chow (gymnastics, Sr., 3.96, biology/pre-medicine, Mississauga, Ontario) was named the MAC Senior Gymnast of the Year and won the balance beam title at the MAC Championships with a 9.925. She also took second on the vault with a 9.90 and tied for fifth on the bars with a 9.825. She helped the Chippewas to a second-place finish at the MAC finals.
Miami: Amber Arnold (softball, Jr., 3.19, sport organizatioin, Dana Point, Calif.) went 2-0 this weekend to even her record in the circle to 6-6 as the RedHawks went 2-1 against Eastern Michigan to open conference play. This is the first time since 1992 that Miami has opened league action above .500 and is the first time since 1993 that Miami has taken two games from EMU. She pitched two complete games to up her season sum to eight. In Miami,s 1-0 triumph, Arnold earned her first complete shutout of the season and gave Miami its fourth. She gave up no runs off five hits, struck out five and walked just one en route to the shutout. Over 16.1 innings of work, she gave up just three runs off 13 hits, walked three, posted 11 strikeouts and had a 1.29 ERA. In addition to her work in the circle, Amber posted .429 batting average, scored one run and knocked in Miami,s game-winning run in the 1-0 shutout against the Eagles. Ohio: Melody Royster (track and field, Jr., 3.51, exercise physiology, Heath, Ohio) helped Ohio to a first-place finish at Navy's Meet (five teams) with three first-place finishes and a second-place finish. She won the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.76. Royster won the 100 meter hurdles by an entire second with a time of 14.60 and finished second behind teammate Jen Martin in the 200 meter dash with a time of 25.50. She was also a member of Ohio's 4x100 relay that won the meet with a time of 48.17. MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week, March 27, 2001, page 2
Western Michigan: Nikki Thompson-Douglass (tennis, Jr., 3.60, education, Mattawan, Mich.) went a combined 4-0 to help Western Michigan win two matches last week. She downed Ilse Meyer of Miami 7-5, 6-3 to win the No. 4 match on March 23. Thompson-Douglass also teamed with Melanie Remynse to beat Kadija Richards and Meyer in the No. 2 doubles match. WMU won the match 5-2. Thompson-Douglass beat Vicky Lee of Marshall 6-3, 6-2 at No. 4 singles on March 24. She was a member of the No. 2 doubles team that defeated Alice Sukner and Lee, 8-2 to improve her records to 12-5 overall in doubles and 8-9 in singles. WMU is 7-7 overall and 2-0 in the MAC. The Broncos are currently ranked No. 56 in the country.
Male Nominees:
Central Michigan: Jason Helps (baseball, Sr., 3.40, health fitness, Wyoming, Ontario) had an incredible week for the Chippewas. Not only did he field all 40 chances without an error but he hit .429 (12-for-28) at the plate with five homers and 15 runs-batted-in. Helps led the Chippewas to a 3-1 weekend series win over Ohio. The Chippewas also posted a doubleheader sweep over Oakland on March 19 and won a single game against Saginaw Valley on March 20.
Toledo: Andy Stetka (baseball, Sr., 3.11, economics, North Royalton, Ohio) hit .429 (6-for-14) last week with seven runs, one double and eight RBI. He earned a .714 slugging percentage with a .529 on base percentage. He also stole one base to help the Rockets post a 3-0 mark last week. Stetka notched a career-high seven RBI and a grand slam home run in the Rockets' 19-7 win over Akron on Sunday. UT trailed 7-0 after three innings and Stetka's grand slam tied the game at 7-7.
Western Michigan: Fernando Garcia (tennis, Sr., 3.63, electical engineering, Cali, Colombia) earned three wins last week. He downed Jan Talian of Ferris State 6-4, 6-2 at No. 1 singles on March 22. He also teamed with Christian Brattstrom to beat Francisco Valencia and Matt Cole 8-1 at No. 3 doubles. Garcia helped the Broncos earn a 7-0 seep over Ferris State. He won the No. 1 singles match against Tvrtko Kujundzic of Louisville 7-6, 6-1. WMU lost 4-3 to No. 54 Louisville. Garcia has now won six straight singles matches, all in straight sets. His singles record for the season is 17-14. His combined doubles mark is 14-12. The Broncos are 8-9 overall, having won five of their last six and seven of their last nine outings.
Previous Winners Female Week 1 (9/5) Ashlie Case, UA (volleyball) Week 2 (9/11) Julie Zylka, BSU (volleyball) Week 3 (9/19) Sara Schaub, EMU (volleyball) Week 4 (9/26) Erika Flanders, BGSU (soccer) Week 5 (10/3) Amber Vorst, BGSU (volleyball) Week 6 (10/10) Jacki Waller, Ohio (cross country) Week 7 (10/17) Kristin Gamby, BGSU (volleyball) Week 8 (10/24) Colleen Conway, BSU (field hockey) Week 9 (10/31) Beth Young, MIA (field hockey) Week 10 (11/7) Emily Bresser, Ohio (swimming) Week 11 (11/14) Cassie Eakins, MIA (diving) Week 12 (11/21) Mari McClure, UB (basketball) Week 13 (11/28) Heather Cusick, MIA (basketball) Week 14 (12/5) Shani Charles, EMU (basketball) Week 15 (12/12) Tiffany Bell, UB (basketball) Week 16 (1/9) Amy Bodus, BSU (gymnastics) Week 17 (1/16) Jenny Martin, MIA (basketball) Week 18 (1/23) Emily Nayes, MIA (swimming) Week 19 (1/30) Tiffany Bell, UB (basketball) Week 20 (2/6) Julie Studer, KSU (basketball) Week 21 (2/13) Cheryl Bowles, UA (basketball) Week 22 (2/20) Laura Chow, CMU (gymnastics) Week 23 (2/27) Kim van Selm, Ohio (swimming) Mary Varga, UA (track & field) Week 24 (3/6) Laura Chow, CMU (gymnastics) Week 25 (3/13) Renee Planck, BSU (gymnastics) Week 26 (3/20) Marny Oestreng, BGSU (gymnastics) Week 27 (3/27) Mary Varga, UA (track & field)Previous Winners Male Week 1 (9/5) Jim Harding, UT (football) Week 2 (9/11) Eddie Tillitz, MIA (football) Week 3 (9/19) Todd France, UT (football) Week 4 (9/26) Brian Godsey, MIA (cross country) Week 5 (10/3) Brian Godsey, MIA (cross country) Zac Derr, UA (football) Week 6 (10/10) Kevin Kornowa, UT (golf) Week 7 (10/17) Kevin Kornowa, UT (golf) Week 8 (10/24) Ørjan Bj†nesø, UA (soccer) Week 9 (10/31) Karoly Bozan, KSU (cross country) Week 10 (11/7) Brian Potter, MIA (football) Week 11 (11/14) Blake McDowell, EMU (cross country) Week 12 (11/21) Rich Allendorf, MIA (basketball) Week 13 (11/28) Jon Sanderson, OH (basketball) Week 14 (12/5) Greg Stempin, UT (basketball) Week 15 (12/12) Mike Ensminger, MIA (basketball) Week 16 (1/9) David Webber, CMU (basketball) Week 17 (1/16) Dale Cowper, WMU (track & field) Week 18 (1/23) Dale Cowper, WMU (track & field) Week 19 (1/30) Kevin Mulgrew, MIA (swimming) Week 20 (2/6) Shane Hartzler, Ohio (wrestling) Week 21 (2/13) J.R. VanHoose, MAR (basketball) Week 22 (2/20) Brandon Gabel, BGSU (tennis) Week 23 (2/27) Fernando Garcia, WMU (tennis) Week 24 (3/6) John Kirk, MIA (swimming) Week 25 (3/13) Trevor Huffman, KSU (basketball) Week 26 (3/20) Demetric Shaw, KSU (basketball) Week 27 (3/27) Scott Dukate, BGSU (baseball)
