Zia Cooke has South Carolina rolling into March Madness
Volume 2 Issue 11
The senior guard from Toledo has South Carolina firing on all cylinders just at the right time as the Gamecocks look to repeat as national champions. South Carolina is a perfect 32-0 on the year. They have faced and defeated every ranked opponent on the season and steamrolled through the SEC Tournament.
While much is made of teammate Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke has been a force in her own right. The senior was named to the All-SEC First Team and is nominated for the honor named after her coach, the Dawn Staley Award, which goes to the best guard in the country.
Cooke has played more minutes and averages more minutes than anyone else on the team. She also leads the team in points, scoring average, three-pointers and free throws. In the SEC she ranks 7th in total points, 8th in free throws made and free throw percentage and 9th in three-pointers made.
Cooke is no stranger to the pressure and what it takes to repeat. As a high schooler at Toledo Rogers, she led the Rams to back-to-back state titles in 2018 and 2019.
This tournament season when you’re watching South Carolina, be sure to remember the importance of Zia Cooke and how her role on the team is necessary for the Gamecocks to be able to storm through the tournament again and hopefully hoist another trophy.
Kenna Stimmel finishes 4th at NCAAs
Kenna Stimmel capped off a tremendous first indoor season as the 4th place finisher at the national championships. The freshman was looking to tie her personal best but went out just a bar short to finish with a vault of 14 feet 5.25 inches. Her only misses on the day were at that height which allowed her allowed to break a three-way tie and finish in the fourth spot. She was only two inches behind the top three finishers which all ended up at 14 feet 7.25 inches and whose placements were decided by missess. Stimmel ends the indoor season as the top freshman in the country going into outdoor.
Trista Fintel wins D2 Shot Put Title
Sophomore Trista Fintel hoisted the gold this weekend as she claimed the NCAA division two national title in the shot put. The Patrick Henry alum threw a personal best of 52 feet 7.5 inches to take the competition by more that a foot. Her first threw on the day ended up being enough to win the competition as no other competitor was even close to the 52 ft. mark.
Leading Updates
College basketball awards:
Zia Cooke (Toledo Rogers) - South Carolina - All-SEC First Team
Ivy Wolf (Minster) - Miami OH - All-MAC Third Team
Grace VanSlooten (Toledo Notre Dame) - All-PAC 12 Freshmen Team
Notable Game Updates
On March 5th Zavier Simpson (Lima/Lima Senior) had 21 points in a Lakeland Magic win over Grand Rapids.
On March 8th CJ Gettys (Findlay) had 31 points and 20 rebounds in a Singapore Slingers loss to the Saigon Heat.
On March 8th Nigel Hayes-Davis (Toledo/Whitmer) had 16 points in a Fenerbahce loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv.
On March 9th Cli’ron Hornbeak (Toledo/St. Francis) had 16 points and 9 rebounds in a Kent State win over Northern Illinois.
On March 11th Dantez Walton (Lima/Lima Central Catholic) had 18 points in a Slavia loss to Hradec Kralove.
NCAA Track & Field Results:
D2
3rd - Long Jump - Eliot Cummings (Ottawa Hills) - 24ft. 6.5in. - Findlay
3rd - 4x400m - Ben Ireland (Findlay) - 3:11.07 - GVSU
7th - Weight Throw - Carrol Pauley (Riverdale) - 61ft. 4in. - Ashland
8th - Pole Vault - Gabe Makin (Elida) - 16ft. 4.75in. - Findlay
9th - 200m - Josh Verhoff (Kalida) - 21.44 - Findlay
10th - 60m - Micah Gremling (Findlay) - 6.77 - Walsh
11th - Mile - Jordan Foster (Hopewell-Loudon) - 4:09.27 - Findlay
12th - Shot Put - Brook Boes (Tif. Columbian) - 44ft. 9.5in. - Tiffin
13th - Weight Throw - Trista Fintel (Patrick Henry) - 58ft. 4.75in. - Findlay
13th - Pole Vault - Kassidie Stimmel (Margaretta) - 12ft. 5.5in. - GVSU
14th - Weight Throw - Brook Boes (Tif. Columbian) - 57ft. 0in. - Tiffin
14th - Long Jump - Simone Green (Tol. Cen. Cath.) - 18ft. 2.25in. - Findlay
14th - 4x400m - Dakota Stamm (Archbold) - 3:49.33 - Hillsdale
D3
4th - Shot Put - Keegan Digby (Otsego) - 55ft. 8.5in. - Ohio Northern
9th - DMR - Caleb Correia (Tol. Christian) - 9.51.51 - John Carroll
14th - 800m - Caleb Correia (Tol. Christian) - 1:54.12 - John Carroll
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