LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS COMPOSITE CALENDAR
The 2016-17 school year is winding down, but there is plenty of importance in the final week of April.
Ashland's outdoor track and field program has its only home meet with the Ashland Alumni Open, while the Eagle softball and baseball teams will play their final home games of 2017. In addition, the ASHPYs and the NFL Draft, featuring Ashland tight end Adam Shaheen, will finish the week.
OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD (LINK) – The No. 2-ranked Ashland men and the AU women will play host to the Ashland Alumni Open on Friday (April 28) and Saturday (April 29). The hammer throw will take center stage on Friday, and the rest of the action will be on Saturday.
Coming into the meet, the Eagle men and women have combined for four automatic and 28 provisional marks for 2017 NCAA Division II nationals, May 25-27 in Bradenton, Fla.
ONE TO WATCH: Sophomore Natalie Helenthal ranks No. 12 in NCAA Division II in the women's hammer throw (56.80 meters/186-feet-4).
SOFTBALL (LINK) – Ashland (27-20 overall, 12-8 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) will finish the regular season at Brookside Park on Friday at 3:30 p.m. vs. Ohio Dominican on Senior Day. The Eagles, winners of 20 of their last 30 games, will play in their 12th consecutive GLIAC Tournament on May 5-7 at Marathon Diamonds in Findlay, Ohio.
ONE TO WATCH: In the last nine games, sophomore first baseman Kylie Asmus is 11-for-27 (.407) with six RBIs.
BASEBALL (LINK) – The Eagles (14-29, 7-20) will conclude their season with a home game against Cedarville on Wednesday (April 26) at 3 p.m. and a four-game GLIAC set vs. Lake Erie – two games on the road on Saturday at 1 p.m. and two games at Donges Field on Sunday (April 30) at 1 p.m.
ONE TO WATCH: Freshman left fielder Vince Vanata is 12-for-20 (.600) with eight runs scored, two doubles, a triple and two RBIs in the last five games.
THE ASHPY'S (LINK) – The second ASHPY awards will be Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in the Upper Convocation Center. Awards will be presented based on voting by the public which recently concluded. All proceeds from the ASHPY's will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
NFL DRAFT (LINK) – Shaheen is expected to be the highest-drafted player in the history of the Ashland football program during the 2017 NFL Draft, Thursday-Saturday (April 27-29) in Philadelphia, Pa. If and when Shaheen and former Eagle All-American defensive lineman Jamie Meder (Cleveland Browns) play in a regular-season game on the same week, it will be the first time two players who played their entire collegiate careers as Eagles will accomplish the feat.
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