Horizon League releases men’s, women’s basketball schedules
The Horizon League announced its full men’s and women’s basketball conference schedule on Thursday, with the Norse set to open the conference season in early December.
The Norse men begin Dec. 2 at Oakland and Dec. 5 at Detroit Mercy. NKU hosts IU-Indianapolis in its first home game on Dec. 30 and Cleveland State on Jan. 3.
For the complete schedule, visit nkunorse.com (bit.ly/4j1XqIX).
The The Norse women open league play Dec. 31 at home against Oakland and Jan. 3 against Youngstown State.
Visit nkunorse.com (bit.ly/4cIls7W) for the complete schedules. Tip times will be announced later.
A happy day in Hanover
Thomas More’s men’s and women’s cross country teams won their respective team titles at Saturday’s Hanover (Indiana) Invitational.
The women defeated Rose-Hulman, 30-66, and the men defeated Hanover, 44-55.
The Saints’ Campbell Gerling won the women’s 5K in 18:55.24. Sophie Crider was sixth, Jordyn Brockman was seventh, Faith Harmeyer was ninth, Jade Green was 11th, Kelsey Weil was Kelsey Weil was 12th, and Elizabeth Jackson was 13th.
In the men’s 6K, freshman Mark Antrobus finished second in 20:30.4. Grayson Dye was ninth, Noah Miller was 11th, Nicholas Kopp was 12th, and Andrew Carskadon was 15th.
Visit tfrrs.org for complete results (bit.ly/4xmMvNo).
Biddle, Towne pick up weekly awards
NKU’s Grace Biddle and Noah Towne each earned a Horizon League cross country award last week.
Biddle, a senior from Morrow, Ohio, earned Runner of the Week honors for winning the 5-kilometer Mike Baumer Invitational race Set. 4 in Fairborn, Ohio in a time of 17 minutes, 57.4 seconds.
It marked Biddle’s third weekly award of her college career and first Runner of the Week award; she became the first Norse to win a league award since Megan Cole did it on Feb. 23, 2021.
“Grace ran the textbook, perfect cross country race,” Norse assistant coach PJ Ball said in a media release. “She started conservatively, patiently competed through the middle miles, and then unleashed a ferocious kick to earn the victory. It was a great example of her racing maturity, confidence, and toughness.”
Biddle said running at a conservative pace has not always been her forte.
“That is something I’ve had to work on and learn throughout my time here,” she said. “Coach PJ’s put a lot of time into helping me learn, which is just, you know, pacing yourself and being conservative in a race and running it smart. So yeah, that is definitely something newer for me.”
Towne, a freshman and 2026 Turpin High School graduate, won the league Freshman of the Week at the Mike Baumer. He finished his 5K in 33rd place (16:20.5) and became the first NKU man to win the award since it was introduced in 2021.
Towne has easily transitioned to college-level running.
“I liked it (college) a lot more here than in high school,” Towne said. “I feel like all of our coaches are more focused on us rather than a team, and I feel like I get a lot more attention.”
NKU’s men and women are off until the Crimson Pride Invite Sept. 18 in Shelbyville, Indiana.
NKU women’s volleyball breaks five-game skid
Friday was a good day for the Norse. They snapped the streak with two wins at the Steve Baumrind Invitational in Charleston, South Carolina.
NKU (3-6) beat Duquesne, 3-2 (26-24, 25-23, 18-25, 16-25, 15-12) and Notre Dame, 3-1 (26-24, 25-16, 26-28, 27-25). The Norse lost to College of Charleston,
Against Duquesne, Sydney Bray led the Norse (3-6), with 14 kills and four aces. Ivey Stocks had seven blocks, Abby Pickard had 39 assists, and Daisy Cluxton added 24 digs.
Against the Irish, Bray, Stocks and Luci Heid led NKU with 15, 13 and 13 kills, respectively. Stocks had six blocks, Pickard had 58 assists, and Cluxton added 28 digs.
NKU (3-6) lost to College of Charleston, 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 16-25, 20-25). Stocks had 15 kills and two blocks, Allison Risley served three aces, Pickard and Ashley Sess also had two blocks, Pickard had 45 assists, and Cluxton added 20 digs.
The Norse and Miami-Ohio have a home-and-home series at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Oxford and 4 p.m. Saturday at Regents Hall in Highland Heights.
Thomas More football falls at Dayton
Dayton gained 416 total yards to Thomas More’s 222 in Saturday’s, 30-7 loss. Two other TMU statistics were equally troublesome: just 82 rushing yards and 2-for-11 on third down conversions.
Ben Chesser scored the Saints’ (0-2) lone touchdown, a 12-yard run with 4:19 left in the first quarter. He was 19-of-42 for 142 yards and an interception.
Martavious Smith led the Saints with 42 rushing yards, and Numehenne Gwilley caught five passes for another 40.
Thomas More opens its Great Midwest Athletic Conference schedule at 4 p.m. next Saturday at Tiffin University.
NKU men’s soccer loses fourth straight, women ties EKU
NKU’s men (0-5-1, 0-2 in the Horizon League) also dropped its first two Horizon League match, 3-1 at Green Bay and 1-0 at home to Milwaukee.
Bennett Gerak scored the Norse’s lone goal of the week against the Phoenix.
NKU is off until a 5 p.m. Saturday match at IU-Indianapolis.
The Norse women overcame a 0-2 deficit and tied Eastern Kentucky, 2-2, last Thursday at NKU Soccer Stadium.
NKU’s Camryn Koski converted Erykah Cornett’s assist in the 40th minute, and Cornett scored in the 82nd.
The Norse open Horizon League play at home against Youngstown State at 12 p.m. Saturday.
NKU men collect five wins
Five Norse men’s tennis players won their matches in this weekend’s NKU Fall Invitational tournament.
The singles winners: Arnau Puig over Southern Indiana’s Kalani Hibbert, 6-6, 6-3, 1-0 (11-9); and Mateus Ranciaro over Eastern Kentucky’s Will Roberts, 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (12-10).
Winning doubles teams included: Dugan Fowler and Dylan Dethridge; Ranciaro and Zaid Shalbaya; and Dethridge and Isaac Smyth.
The women’s Fall Invitational takes place Friday and Saturday at NKU.
Thomas More women’s golf finishes seventh
The Saints placed seventh of 10 teams at Sunday’s Champions of Women’s Golf Classic this weekend in Columbus, Ohio.
Junior Cambria Burke tied for second with a 3-over-par 73. Junior Lauryn Lambert tied for 18th with an 81, senior Megan Childs was 26th with an 83, sophomore Emma Laker tied for 50th with a 90, and senior Elena Beck tied for 91st with a 91.