Post sports staffers have compiled a list of athletes OU fans should keep their eyes on this fall.
Luke O’Roark | Sports Editor
Athlete to watch: Women’s golfer Angela Codian
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One of Ohio’s most consistent golfers since she joined in 2012, Codian’s final tour with the Bobcats should be bittersweet. She’s played in the previous 22 events for coach Kelly Ovington and has averaged around the mid-70s, in terms of stroke average, during her tenure in Athens.
At the Mid-American Conference Championship this past spring, Codian finished ninth overall with a three-round total of 234 and shot a team-high of 74 in the first round. Her performance helped the Bobcats finish fourth — an all-time best under Ovington. The best is yet to come for Codian and the Bobcats.
Tony Wolfe | Senior Writer
Athlete to watch: Football linebacker Quentin Poling
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One of the biggest snubs of last season’s all-MAC team, all Poling did in his redshirt freshman season was lead the team in tackles (89), sacks (5.0) and interceptions (3) and come in second in tackles-for-loss (8.5). He jumped onto the national radar in the third week of the season against Idaho, with a ridiculous 14 tackle, three interception-performance in a 36-24 Ohio win. This type of production helped Poling add four MAC and national defensive player of the week awards.
There’s plenty of upperclassman leadership on this fall’s Bobcat defense, but Poling could prove to be the centerpiece of it — despite just being a redshirt sophomore. Standing at six-feet tall, Poling won’t tower over many guys in the hole, but he’s a natural-born football player. He should attract even more of the national spotlight in his second full season.
Wynston Wilcox | Staff Writer
Athlete to watch: Soccer forward Holly Harris
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Ohio coach Aaron Rodgers said Harris missed this past season due to a torn ACL. She is a forward and is a great scorer for the Bobcats, he said. The team missed out on a lot of goals due to her absence, with the Bobcats being outscored 35-20 last season.
I haven’t seen her play yet, but Rodgers knows he has a great goal-creator in Harris and looks for her to be central in the Bobcat’s success.
There were many additions in the attacking to the Bobcats roster with the 2015 recruiting class. Rodgers has a lot of options to choose from with Hannah Jaggers, Alexis Milesky and Carly Manso, who have taken turns playing with each other with last years 4-4-2 formation.
This year, Rodgers looks to be more aggressive and attacking in his play style and moving away from the traditional 4-4-2, using only one striker. So look for Harris to work with Milesky, Ohio’s leading goal-scorer a year ago, and lead the Bobcats to a successful, goal-filled season.
Charlie Hatch | Sports Editor
Athlete to watch: Soccer forward Carly Manso
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It’s sounds obvious, but scoring goals is the easiest way to win matches. Yet that was easier said than done for Ohio last season.
Collectively, the Bobcats only scored 20 goals in 19 matches, averaging a goal 8.3 percent (20-242) of the time a shot was attempted. That’s not very high.
But that doesn’t mean lose hope. If anything, it’s an invitation to easily outdo last season’s goal shortage. The team’s beat reporter, Wynston Wilcox, suggests Holly Harris could be a huge help. I’m going with Manso.
Manso, a redshirt junior, started all 19 matches in 2014 as a forward. Sometimes she had a partner, sometimes she played alone. Either way, she said it was a difficult adjustment last year. Her numbers — two goals and three assists — showed.
Yet Manso will be more comfortable this season with previous experience and more attacking options going forward.
Jordan Horrobin | Staff Writer
Athlete to watch: Hockey defenseman Alex Vazquez
One year after being the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s stingiest team, which included a record-setting 1.50 GAA by goalie Ryan Heltion, Ohio is in dire need of some defensive reinforcement. With three of last year’s top four blueliners graduated, the Bobcats could use some experience from a newcomer to keep pucks out of their own end.
Enter Alex Vazquez. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound defenseman from Shelby Township, Michigan, is transferring to the Bobcats to play out his final two years of ACHA eligibility after playing the previous two seasons at Arizona.
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What was one of Vazquez’s main reasons for transferring? To fill the Bobcats’ gaping void on defense and reunite with an old coach, Sean Hogan. Vazquez and Hogan have known each other around the rinks since Vazquez played in Michigan as a kid. They’ve been part of the same team at the junior hockey level in Wyoming, at the collegiate level in Arizona and now will continue that connection at Ohio.
Vazquez’s ACHA experience and familiarity with Hogan should make for a smooth transition into a top four d-man for the Bobcats and easily makes him a player worth watching.
