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Johnson receives award of excellence
Women’s hockey coach Mark Johnson will receive the Vince
Lombardi Charitable Funds’ “Award of Excellence” for his contributions to both
men’s and women’s hockey this Saturday in Milwaukee.
The award, presented by the Lombardi Funds, recognizes a
person who has made outstanding contributions to a sport, business, profession
or a community through leadership, positive influences and “an appreciation of
God, country, family and self” to the organization or community and to the
people whose lives are enhanced by those actions and standards, according to the
Lombardi Funds Web site.
“I am humbled and honored,” Johnson said. “If you look at
the past recipients, it’s very impressive, so to be in that company, it’s a very
big honor. Having lost my dad to cancer in the early 90s, it’s a very special
award.”
Johnson played hockey at Wisconsin under his father, Bob
Johnson, before playing on the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team. He also had an
11-year NHL career and now heads the women’s hockey team at Wisconsin.
Previous award winners include Peggy Flemming, Bart Starr,
Bob Hope, George H. Bush and John Wooden, among other notable Americans.
Nuttycombe chosen as Big Ten Indoor Coach of the Year
After leading the men’s track team to a dominating win in the Big Ten Indoor
Championship, head coach Ed Nuttycombe was selected as the Big Ten Indoor Coach
of the Year. He also won the award in 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000 and 2003.
Wisconsin won its fourth straight indoor championship last
weekend and racked up a meet record 174.5 points. This accomplishment is not a
first for the Badgers, who have won eight indoor championships under Nuttycombe.
In his storied career, he has coached 114 individuals to Big Ten Champions.
Illinois gets share of Big Ten Championship
With an 81-79 overtime against Purdue on the road, No. 18
Illinois claims a share of the Big Ten Championship. The Illini (21-5 overall,
12-3 Big Ten) are currently a half-game ahead of Michigan State (12-4 Big Ten)
and a game ahead of Wisconsin (11-4).
Boilermaker senior guard Kenneth Lowe led all scorers with
23 points while Illinois junior guard Luther Head had 19.
Illinois will play Ohio State in Columbus for its final
game of the season with a chance to wrap up sole possession of first place.
Purdue (17-11, 7-8), a bubble team which lost to Wisconsin
82-46 in Madison Sunday, will need to play well at the Big Ten Tournament in
order to make it into the NCAA Tournament.
Badgers defeat Golden Eagles on road
The Wisconsin men’s tennis team easily took down the
Marquette Golden Eagles 5-2 Wednesday in Milwaukee.
Wisconsin won the singles point by sweeping all three
matches and went on to win four of six in singles as well. Wisconsin (4-4
overall) picked up wins from junior Alex Kasarov, senior David Hippee, sophomore
Ward Bortz and sophomore Mark Weinig. Only senior Scott Green and sophomore Alex
Conti dropped their matches. Marquette, with the loss, dropped to 4-6.