Four Ohio women's soccer players were named All-Ohio last week, and head coach Stacy Strauss was named Division I Coach of the Year based on 2002 efforts.
Midfielder Abby Leopold, forwards Rachael Najjar and Christel Schiering, and defender Crystal Reed all made the second team. Leopold, Najjar and Schiering were also named to the first-team Academic All-Ohio team.
Leopold tied an Ohio single-season record last season with 11 assists and ended her career as Ohio's all-time leader with 23. She also scored seven goals of her own in 2002 earning her first team All-MAC recognition. Leopold was also just the third Ohio player in school history to make the All-Great Lakes Region team.
Najjar scored 11 goals and recorded six assists on the season to account for 28 points. She earned All-MAC second-team honors and is the Bobcats' all-time leader in games played with 81.
Schiering made the All-MAC second team, totaling 33 points on the season. Along with 3 assists, she scored 15 goals to become Ohio's all-time scoring leader with 35 career goals. Schiering set a MAC record when she scored at least one goal in her first eight games of the season.
Reed was named to the All-MAC second team along with teammates Schiering and Najjar. A defender, Reed used her skills to be a serious threat on corner kicks and performed the sweeper role for the Bobcats.
Strauss won her first coaching award after just three seasons as Ohio's head coach. Her 24-9-2 record against the MAC is one of the highest in conference history.
Ohio finished the 2002 season with a 15-5-2 record and appeared in the MAC Tournament championship game for the first time since 1998. Behind leading scorers Leopold, Najjar, and Schiering the Bobcats scored a school-record 52 goals on the year.
Jeff Bleamer added to Ohio football staff
Former East Tennessee State assistant coach Jeff Bleamer was announced as Ohio's new offensive lineman coach last week by head coach Brian Knorr. Bleamer will replace Mike Summers, who left to become the offensive line coach at Louisville.
Bleamer spent had spent the last six years coaching East Tennessee State, helping them to become one of the top-ranked offenses in the Division I-AA Southern Conference.
Bleamer began his coaching career as an assistant at Juniata College in 1978 before moving into the high school ranks with Altoona (Pa.) High in 1979. He coached two Colorado bowl teams in the1985 and 1986 seasons before leaving for The Citadel.
Bleamer has spent most of his career with The Citadel coaching the offensive line. Current Ohio running back coach Everette Sands ran behind Bleamer's unit while he was playing for the Bulldogs. Bleamer's blocking units were very successful under his tutelage as the Bulldogs finished in the top 10 in rushing eight times during a ten-year span at the Division I-AA level.
A graduate of Penn State, Bleamer was drafted in the eighth round of 1975 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. He played two seasons with Philadelphia and one with the New York Jets before starting his coaching career.
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Joe Barrett
