Polidori named Preseason Player of the Year

In anticipation of the softball season that starts next month, Erika Polidori (RIGHT) was named Preseason Field Player of the Year in the Summit League by College Sports Madness.

Polidori, a junior, led Oakland last season with a .379 batting average, a .647 slugging percentage, 44 hits and six home runs.

Track and Field team open 2013 with CMU Open

Oakland started the new year with a strong showing on Saturday night, earning three individual first-place finishes at the CMU Open.

Andrew Stebbins, a junior, won the shot put competition with a throw of 49 feet, 5.75 inches. Sophomore David Koponen took first in the 600m run, finishing with a time of 1:24.15. Jake Scheffler, a freshman, finished third in the high jump with a season-best mark of 6 feet, 3.5 inches.

For the women, freshman Karli Keur won the 800m run with a time of 2:19.28. Senior Brittni Hutton earned two second-place finishes, in the 3,000m run with a time of 10:30.28 and the one mile run in 5:14.40.

Tennis team picked fifth in preseason poll

The Oakland women’s tennis team earned their highest preseason ranking in program history, finishing fifth in the Summit League preseason poll.

Oakland garnered 24 points in the poll, which ranked all eight teams in the conference. Kansas City is the early favorite, earning 46 points, including five first-place votes.

The season opens on Jan. 19 at Michigan State.

Contact Sports Editor Timothy Pontzer via email at [email protected] or following him on Twitter @timothy_pontzer