Sports Briefs

Tony Zontini Receives Bud Metheny Award
Tony Zontini ’68 (M.S.Ed. ’79), a former ODU baseball player who has dedicated much of his life to the sport, was honored as the 29th recipient of the Bud Metheny Award at the GTI Systems “Meet the Stars” banquet in January, part of the annual Greenwich Kitchens/ODU Baseball Clinic weekend.

Zontini starred for the Monarchs from 1964-68 in baseball, track and field and basketball. He was a three-time all-conference selection in baseball and a two-time conference high and intermediate hurdles champion.

He has served as ODU’s alumni baseball player representative for numerous fundraising drives and events, and is well known in the Hampton Roads baseball community for speaking and coaching at camps.

The director of education for the Judeo-Christian Outreach Center in Virginia Beach, Zontini was inducted into the ODU Sports Hall of Fame in 1985. He is a former head baseball coach at Norfolk Catholic High School and William and Mary, and was an assistant at ODU under Bud Metheny.

Field Hockey Team Reaches Final Four
The field hockey team made its 16th Final Four appearance in November, but the third-ranked Lady Monarchs lost 3-2 to top-seeded Maryland in the semifinals, thwarting their bid for a 10th NCAA title. ODU finished the year at 19-6.

Coach Beth Anders, who led ODU to its 13th Colonial Athletic Association title, was selected as CAA Coach of the Year, and Janelle Engle (Mt. Joy, Pa.) was named Player of the Year by the Virginia Sports Information Directors Association.

Engle also earned first team All-America honors. She finished her career with 37 goals, 21 assists and 95 points.

A three-time member of the National Field Hockey Coaches Association academic honor roll, Engle is a concertmaster of the ODU Symphony and first violinist in the Diehn String Quartet. She plans to graduate with a degree in music education in December 2006.

• • •

Former field hockey greats Yogi Hightower ’82 and Marina DiGiacomo ’00 headline the 13-member all-time ODU field hockey squad, announced recently by the athletic department. Fans voted for the players on the university’s sports Web site.

One of the most successful women’s programs of all time, the Lady Monarchs have captured nine NCAA national championships.

Rounding out the first team are: Donna Doyle Smith ’58, Kelli James ’92, Kim Miller ’99, Dawn Hill ’85, Christy Morgan ’84, Kim Decker ’95, Cheryl Van Kuren ’85, Jackie Grady ’86, Maika Hilbrand ’92, Mimi Smith ’98 and Tiffany Snow ’02.

Sally Barkow Named Yachtswoman Of Year
Sally Barkow ’02 of Nashotah, Wis., was named in January as US Sailing’s 2005 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year. She was recognized for her “versatility and consistency, both abroad and at home” after winning a string of noteworthy international events – including two world championships – in four different keelboat classes.

Growing up in a family that counts five generations of sailors, Barkow was exposed to the sport at a young age. At Old Dominion, she twice earned All-America honors and helped her team win the 2002 Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association’s North American Women’s Championship for the third time in school history.

Since graduation, Barkow has moved to the forefront of the pack competing for an Olympic berth in the Yngling class event.