Hanover College Athletics

Sixth consecutive win puts Panthers in second
The Hanover College men's basketball squad climbed into second place in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings with a 72-67 victory against Bluffton University (Ohio), Saturday, Feb. 6, in Collier Arena.

The triumph was the sixth in a row for Hanover, which improved to 12-9 overall and 9-4 in the conference. The winning streak is the longest for the team since the latter part of the 2004-05 campaign.

Senior guard Jake Inman (North Vernon, Ind.) and sophomore forward Mike Case (Indianapolis, Ind.) netted 12 points apiece to lead four Panthers in double figures. Junior guard Taylor Dial (Speedway, Ind.) notched 11 points off the bench and freshman guard Ryan Nowicki (Carmel, Ind.) added 10 points.

Mychal Hill scored a game-high 19 points and Rob Luderman added 15 points off the bench for Bluffton. The Beavers dipped to 2-10 overall and 2-11 in the HCAC with the setback.

Both squads shot higher than 50 percent from the field in the first half, which featured eight ties and six lead changes.

Nowicki scored from inside to push Hanover ahead 26-24 with five minutes left in the opening period. The Panthers would not trail again.

Hanover held a 36-32 lead at the intermission and kept Bluffton at arms-length early in the second half. With the Panthers nursing a 45-44 lead nine minutes into the period, Dial canned a jumper to start a 16-5 run. The burst pushed Hanover ahead 61-49 with four minutes remaining in the game.

Hill scored four consecutive points as Bluffton battled to cut the margin to 63-58 with 1:27 to go.

Hanover, however, hit 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to nail down the win. Junior forward Mitchell Meyer (New Albany, Ind.) hit 4-of-4 from the charity stripe in the final 90 seconds.

Meyer finished the outing with eight points, pushing his career total to 997 points.

Hanover finished the game 29-of-57 (50.9%) from the floor. The Panthers, which committed just 10 turnovers, were 10-of-16 from the foul line (62.5%) - including 9-of-12 in the second half.

Hanover vs. Bluffton (Ohio) statistics

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Hanover rolls in HCAC clash with Bluffton
Hanover College's women's basketball team rolled to an 84-44 win against Bluffton University (Ohio) in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference battle Saturday, Feb. 6, in Collier Arena.

Leading 13-12 eight minutes into the game, Hanover limited Bluffton to just three field goals the remainder of the period. The Panthers used the defensive effort to outscore the Beavers 32-6 the rest of the half and build a 45-18 advantage at the break.

Junior guard Micah Whitted (Norman, Ind.) and freshman guard Amanda Trambaugh (Mitchell, Ind.) nailed back-to-back three-pointers to help Hanover push the cushion to 31 points (56-25) five minutes into the second half.

Freshman guard Liz Sparks (Waveland, Ind.) scored seven points to lead an 18-3 run which gave the Panthers a 46-point lead (74-28) with 10 minutes left in the contest.

Hanover, which had 11 players score and log double-digit minutes, led by as many as 48 points down the stretch (81-33).

Junior center Molly Martin (Terre Haute, Ind.) posted game highs with 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead Hanover, which raised its record to 15-6 overall and 9-4 in the HCAC.

Ginny Buckingham and Alicia Amis scored six points apiece to lead Bluffton (7-14; 4-9 HCAC).

Hanover outrebounded Bluffton by a 45-37 margin. Freshman forward Katie Gahimer (St. Paul, Ind.) and junior forward Torin Franz (Bloomington, Ind.) added five boards each for the Panthers. 

Hanover vs. Bluffton (Ohio) statistics

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Softball picked to trail in HCAC race
Hanover College's softball team has been picked to finish ninth in the race for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference's 2010 crown.

Hanover, under first-year head coach Megan Smalley, received 13 points in a balloting of the HCAC's nine head coaches. The Panthers finished eighth in the league in 2009 with a 2-14 mark and were 5-28 overall.

2010 Heartland Conference Preseason Softball Poll

Transylvania University (Ky.) was the coaches' choice to win the Heartland Conference title in 2010. The Pioneers, 13-3 in league play last year, grabbed 79 points in the poll with eight first-place votes. Bluffton University (Ohio) was second in the balloting with 70 points, including one first-place vote. Defiance College (Ohio) notched 60 points to finish third.

Hanover will open the season Sunday, Feb. 28, against the State University of New York College at Oneonta (N.Y.) in Orlando, Fla. The Panthers' home debut will be Wednesday, March 17, against Greenville College (Ill.). Smalley's squad will begin its Heartland Conference slate Saturday, March 20, at home against the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

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Senior trio headlines football honorees
Seniors Corry Stewart (Nashville, Tenn.), Patric Morrison (Lexington, Ind.) and Joe Vormohr (Portland, Ind.) received top honors as the Hanover College football team recently presented postseason awards for the 2009 campaign.

Stewart, a defensive back, earned Hanover's Jim Peterson Most Valuable Player and the Tod Kelly Award as the squad's top defensive player.

Morrison, an offensive lineman, earned the Raymond "Dutch" Struck Mental Attitude Award and also was recognized as the program's most improved offensive player.

Vormohr, an offensive lineman, was presented with the Football Coaches' Appreciation Award for exceptional dedication to the development and well-being of the program.

Stewart earned all-American honors from the Associated Press and D3football.com and was a first-team all-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference selection. He led the nation and set a school single-season record with nine interceptions and was fourth on the squad with 61 tackles.

Stewart also represented Hanover in the D3 Senior Classic in Salem, Va., and the Tazon de Estrellas (Bowl of the Stars) in Mexico.

Sophomore defensive lineman Matt Sieg (Anderson, Ind.) was named Hanover's most improved defensive player. Sieg, a former quarterback, had six tackles, including two tackles for loss, in his first season with the defensive unit.

Freshman linebacker Andy Dalton (Guilford, Ind.) was tabbed the squad's top defensive newcomer. An honorable mention all-HCAC selection, Dalton finished second on the squad with 84 tackles and had four tackles for loss, a sack and two interceptions.

Sophomore lineman Derek Prifogle (Connersville, Ind.) was named the Panthers' defensive scout team player of the year.

Sophomore receiver Daniel Passafiume (Louisville, Ky.) led Hanover's offensive award winners and was selected as the Panthers' most valuable offensive player.

A two-time all-HCAC selection, Passafiume led the nation with 11.4 receptions per game and posted 114 catches for 1,054 yards and a team-leading 14 touchdowns for the Panthers. He highlighted the effort with a NCAA all-divisions' record 25 catches in Hanover's Victory Bell clash with Franklin College.

Freshman receiver Colton Zeck (Galveston, Ind.) was named the team's offensive newcomer of the year. Zeck averaged 4.9 yards per rush on 37 attempts and had 18 receptions for 218 yards and a pair of touchdowns

Freshman running back Darren Bailey (Detroit, Mich.) was named the Panthers' offensive scout team player of the year.

Hanover capped the 2009 season with a 3-7 record. The Panthers won three of seven Heartland Conference games to finish fifth in the league standings.

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Hall of famer Lichtfuss to lead lacrosse program
National lacrosse hall of famer and former all-American athlete Skip Lichtfuss has been hired as the first head coach of Hanover College's men's lacrosse program. Lichtfuss, who was inducted into the U.S. Lacrosse National Hall of Fame in 1993, has been involved at every level of lacrosse in the U.S. for nearly 40 years.

Lichtfuss was an all-American player at Washington & Lee University (Va.) in the early 1970s. He also competed with the U.S. national team in the late 1970s, played in the United State Club Lacrosse Association (USCLA) until the mid-1980s and later played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (MILL).

He was a three-time all-American and four-time all-South Atlantic Conference selection at Washington & Lee from 1971-74. He played in the USCLA from 1975-84, earning all-league honors five times while leading the Mount Washington (Md.) Lacrosse Club to three championships.

He played on the U.S. national team at the World Championships in Manchester, England, in 1978. He later came out of retirement to play for the MILL's Pittsburgh Bulls in 1990.

Lichtfuss has served as a coach at every level of play – from youth leagues to the national team. He served as a member of the U.S. national team's coaching staff for the World Championships in 1994. He guided Mount Washington for nearly 20 years, leading the squad to three USCLA titles as a coach while producing 11 national team players. He also served two seasons as general manager of the MILL's Pittsburgh Bulls and coached six all-pro players while leading the Baltimore Thunder for three seasons.

He served as a member of the U.S. Lacrosse Board of Directors from 2000-08 and has been a member of the organization's hall of fame selection committee since 1999. He is the only coach to be a member of the selection committee for every U.S. national team since 1986.

Lichtfuss is also a member of the Virginia Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Greater Baltimore Chapter of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame and the Washington & Lee Athletic Hall of Fame.

He will recruit Hanover's first lacrosse squad during the current academic year. The Panthers are slated to begin intercollegiate competition during the spring season in 2011.

Hanover will join Trine University as only NCAA III colleges in Indiana to sponsor the sport. Hanover will be the second school in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference with lacrosse, joining the College of Mount St. Joseph (Ohio).

Hanover currently offers eight men's and eight women's varsity sports. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis and track & field. Women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball.

More than 40 percent of Hanover's student body participates in the intercollegiate athletics program.

The last intercollegiate sport added at Hanover was women's soccer, which appeared at the varsity level for the 1995 season.

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