Sinclair Sports Wrap Up for 2013-14

The Sinclair baseball team finished out the season this past weekend (May 30 - June 1) in Regional Tournament, wrapping up the academic athletic year.  The Athletic program has had a successful 2013-2014 year with all five programs qualifying for post-season play and four of the five programs being ranked nationally at some point throughout their seasons.  Sinclair had 13 Student/Athletes named to the Dean's List for the spring semester as well as the Volleyball team being nominated as All-Academic Team for NJCAA.  12 Sinclair Student/Athletes were also named to the 2013-14 Academic All-Conference team and Jessica Thobe (Volleyball) and Mark Carpenter (Baseball) were nominated for NJCAA Academic All-American.

The volleyball team finished the season 35-6 and 10-2 in conference play. They grabbed the top seed in the regional tournament.  The regular season was very successful for Sinclair with many firsts for the team.  It was the first time Sinclair had been the #1 seed in the Regional Tournament in school history.  Sinclair beat Vincennes University for the first time in school history.  Sinclair had its first preseason rank of 16 in NJCAA Division II, and first time the team has been ranked 22nd or 23rd in NJCAA throughout the season.  Sinclair finished fifth in the nation in kills per set (12.92) as well as fifth in digs per set (21.22).  Sinclair was also sixth in assists per set (11.70).   Jessica Thobe was named an All-American again for her sophomore season.  She was named to the First Team All-OCCAC as well as the OCCAC Player of the Year in 2013, both honors that she was awarded in the 2012 season as well. Volleyball had three other student-athletes grab OCCAC honors for Sinclair; Marie Rank, Carly Butler and Tara Eades.

The women's basketball team finished with a 14-17 and 6-6 in conference play.  They qualified for the regional tournament. They had three members receive OCCAC honors; O'Sha Owens was named first team all-OCCAC.  Owens averaged 15.3 points per game as well as 6 rebounds per game.  She shot 68.3 percent from the free throw line. Ashley Morrow and Jenae Curtiss were both named Honorable Mention All-OCCAC.

The men's basketball team finished the season 21-9 overall record and 6-6 in conference, which earned them a 3rd place finish.  They spent a total of 11 weeks being nationally ranked, three consecutive weeks ranked 4th.  Sinclair finished 4th in the nation in defensive rebounds per game with 29.8 and once again was ranked in the Top 25 for team scoring average with 86.0 points per game.  Four members were named to OCCAC All-Conference teams.  Richard Weaver was named to the First Team All-OCCAC team.  Weaver averaged 16.9 points per game in conference play. He also averaged 8.2 rebounds per game.  He shot 60.7 percent from the free throw line, as well as 57.4 from behind the arc.  Trace Cureton was named to the Second Team All-OCCAC team.  Cureton averaged 15.8 points per game in the OCCAC and averaged 5.5 rebounds per game.  He shot 69.8 from the free throw line.  Westley Parr and Charles Sweatt-Washington were both named Honorable Mention All-OCCAC.

The baseball team finished a very spectacular season with a 46-11 overall record and won the conference with a record of 22-2.  They have won 5 of the last 6 OCCAC titles.  They were ranked 3rd in the nation going into the NJCAA Regional tournament where they won the first two games and lost the last two eliminating them from the tournament.  Mitch Roman was named OCCAC Player of the Year.  Steve Dintaman was named Coach of the year. Carlos Pena was named co-pitcher of the year.  Five players were named to the All-OCCAC team including: Pat Boyle, Taylor Huebner, Titus Montgomery, and Mitch Roman.  Carlos Pena made the NJCAA Region XII Division II All-Tournament team.  Taylor Huebner (first team) and Carlos Pena (second team) were also 2014 NJCAA Division II All-Americans.

The softball team finished an impressive second season with a 24-14 overall record and a 6-6 conference record. They played and won their first post-season game after the program was started up last season after a 21 year hiatus.  Sinclair played in and won a one game playoff against Jackson College for the final spot in the District G NJCAA Regional Tournament.  Madison Monnin was named OCCAC co-player of the year as well as named all-region XII player.  Sinclair finished 3rd in the nation in triples with 28 on the season.  This was a season of many firsts for the Sinclair Softball team since the team was brought back to the athletic program after a 21 year hiatus: first post-season win (Sinclair defeated Jackson College in a one game playoff to advance to regionals), first time defeating Owens since the program was brought back to Sinclair (Sinclair was 0-7 going into the second game of the doubleheader on April 19), first time being nationally ranked (ranked 20th), first time sweeping a conference foe in a doubleheader (defeated Lakeland on April 26 17-5 in game one and 18-5 in game two).

This report was prepared by Amy Brown, Assistant to the Athletic Director, (937) 512-2861.

The learn more about Sinclair Athletics, visit www.sinclair.edu/athletics.  Follow Sinclair Athletics on Twitter at www.twitter.com/sinclairathletics.