BEREA, Ohio – Baldwin Wallace University had a spectacular spring season with a number of its outstanding student-athletes receiving some exceptional honors. And, the exceptional performances are continuing with high hopes at the upcoming NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field National Meet from May 26-28 at Wartburg College in Iowa.
Leading the way with spectacular individual seasons were senior pitcher and shortstop Mark Zimmerman (Akron/ Green) of the baseball team, seniors Tyler Burdorff (Painesville/ Riverside) and Melanie Winters (Stow/ Stow-Munroe Falls), junior men’s lacrosse player Josiah Greve (Milford), junior women’s lacrosse student-athlete Maddie Russell (Rocky River) and senior men’s tennis players Peter Harris (Akron/ Revere), Doug Ganim (Westerville/ Olentangy Liberty) and Kyle Patterson (Wooster/ Triway).
In addition to their excellence on the field of competition each student-athlete has equally achieved excellence in the classroom.
Zimmerman led the baseball squad to a 23-20 record and into the OAC Championship Game. It marked BW’s fifth straight season with 23 or more wins. Zimmerman was named as the 2016 Dr. Bob Fisher Ohio Athletic Conference Most Valuable Player and as a first-team All-OAC selection for the fourth straight season. He is just the third OAC and first-ever BW baseball player to earn first-team All-OAC honors for four straight year. Zimmerman graduated on May 7 with a 3.39 grade point average in pre-physical therapy. During his four years, he helped the baseball team achieve a 111-65 record, three OAC Tournament appearances, two NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, one NCAA Regional title and the school’s first-ever berth in the Div. III College World Series in 2014.
Burdorff and Winters dominated this year’s OAC Track & Field Championship Meet. The NCAA Division III runner-up this winter in the indoor weight throw pulled off a rare triple by winning the discus, shot put and hammer throws, and Winters won four events and set OAC records in two.
Burdorff was named as the Sparky Adams Most Outstanding Field Athlete and is one of a number of Yellow Jackets currently who are qualified for this spring’s NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championship Meet. In the classroom, he carries a 3.42 grade point average in pre-physical therapy and exercise science. Last fall, Burdorff earned his fourth letter in football as a four-year starter at middle linebacker.
Winters, a 10-time Division III All-American and the most celebrated female student-athlete in school history, was selected as the Marcia French Most Outstanding Sprinter/Hurdler and Guido Ricevutto Co-Most Outstanding Field Athlete. It was the second time she captured each award and marks the first time in OAC history that a student-athlete won both awards at the same meet. In addition, Winters carries a 3.45 grade point average in English. In March, Winters led the BW women to the 2016 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field National Championship.
Greve is this year’s OAC Men’s Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Year and helped to lead the Yellow Jackets to a 14-3 record, their first-ever Co-OAC Regular Season Title and into the semifinals of the OAC Tournament for the third straight year. He is now a three-time first-team All-OAC selection. Greve also excels academically and carries a 3.48 grade average in film studies. He returns next season to a team he has led to a 33-13 record the past three years.
Russell was the 2015 OAC Women’s Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Year. This year she led the team to its third straight winning season with an 11-7 mark and into the OAC semifinals for the third straight year. In addition to being a first-team All-OAC choice for the third straight year, she earned second-team All-Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) All-Great Lakes Region honors and first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District 7 Division III At-Large accolades and currently appears on the CoSIDA Division III Academic All-America At-Large national ballot. In the classroom, Russell carries a 3.95 grade point average in chemistry.
Excellence on the tennis court and in the classroom is nothing new to veteran Head Coach Brian Rector ‘89. A CoSIDA Academic All-American and former BW singles and doubles record-setter himself, he stresses the Division III philosophy of the student-athlete to each and every recruit he brings to campus. Harris, Ganim and Patterson truly embody that philosophy.
Harris and Ganim end their careers having led BW to an 81-16 four-year record, including a 24-5 record this spring. In the case of Patterson, who missed the 2015 season, BW compiled an amazing 95-11 mark. The trio also are among the all-time winningest players in program history in singles and doubles. Harris, the 2015 OAC Men’s Tennis Player of the Year, a four-time first-team All-OAC selection and is fourth all-time in singles with a 92-21 career mark. In doubles, he combined with Ganim as the No.1 duo for four straight years to rank third all-time with an 89-26 record. Patterson, a four-time All-OAC and three-time Academic All-OAC selection, set a single-season record this spring with 30 victories and a 30-2 record in singles. He ranks third all-time in singles with a 96-19 record and is sixth all-time in doubles with an 87-26 mark.
In the classroom, the trio also were exceptional. Harris graduated with a 3.45 grade average in marketing and management. Ganim, who earned CoSIDA Academic All-District 7 At-Large honors and currently appears on the Academic All-America ballot, carried a 3.8 grade average in finance. Patterson graduated with a 3.81 grade average in business administration and criminal justice.
The combination of academic and athletics success is nothing new for BW. The University boasts 95 all-time CoSIDA Academic All-America student-athletes, which is the second most of any Division III school in the state of Ohio and among the most of any Division III school in the nation.