Athletics

Go Surge!

Cincinnati State athletics provide opportunities for students to enhance their overall experience at the College by encouraging lifelong wellness, sportsmanship, and academics.

Cincinnati State currently fields teams in six sports: women’s and men’s basketball, women’s and men’s soccer, women's volleyball and golf. All six teams regularly compete under the rules and regulations of the National Junior College Athletic Association Region XII (Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio) and play a very competitive junior college schedule. After playing for Cincinnati State, many student- athletes go on to play for four-year institutions.

The Cincinnati State Athletic Department is under the leadership of athletic director Tom Hathaway. Staff members include Wil Cagle, women’s soccer coach; Mike Combs, men’s soccer coach and fitness center director; Kristy Bailey, women's volleyball coach; Sonya Beeler, women's basketball coach; Andre Tate, men's basketball coach; and Scott Webb, golf coach.

Kristy Bailey hired to coach Cincinnati State's new volleyball program

Cincinnati State has named Kristy Bailey to be the head coach of its new women’s volleyball program.

Bailey will draw upon her experience as a player and a coach to launch women’s volleyball at Cincinnati State. She has the challenge of assembling a program that will begin competition this August when the 2013 season opens.

“Kristy has the qualities we need to launch this program,” said Cincinnati State athletic director Tom Hathaway. “She already has experience in building a team from scratch. She has played in high school and at one of the best community college programs in our region, and she has solid coaching experience.”

A native of Adrian, Mich., Bailey is a 2005 graduate of Lenawee Christian High School, where she was an All-County, All-Region and All-Michigan player in volleyball. She earned an athletic scholarship atOwens Community College, which boasts one of the power programs in the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Region 12. Bailey helped Owens to two conference titles as the program has continued a successful run over the past 12 seasons, winning the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference 11 times.

After playing for a year at Southeastern University (on a team that was the runner-up in the 2007 NCAA national championship) Bailey transferred to Northern Kentucky University. There she organized a highly-competitive club volleyball program and served as the team’s player-coach. The experience gave her broad insight to the responsibilities of coaching and developing a team, Hathaway said, noting that she handled such duties as scheduling, player recruiting and development, practice and game preparation, and event management as well as fund-raising.

While playing and coaching at NKU, Bailey also found time to serve as assistant volleyball coach at Cooper High School in Northern Kentucky and work as an assistant and clinician at the Northern Kentucky Junior Volleyball Club.

Bailey completed her BA in integrated studies at NKU in 2012. For the past year she has been head coach of the Midwest Xtreme Volleyball Club’s U16 White team.

Cincinnati State added volleyball to its intercollegiate program to help increase the college’s visibility, Hathaway said, by tapping into the region’s multitude of successful high school and club programs. Adding volleyball will not involve increasing the athletic department budget, he noted. Cincinnati State currently sponsors teams in men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer and golf.

Cincinnati State honors student-athletes at 2013 banquet

Nick Merhaut was awarded the President’s Award and Justin Mitchell and Cameron Vaughn were named Surge male and female Athletes of the Year at the Cincinnati State athletic awards banquet.

Merhaut, a two-year regular on the men’s soccer team, garnered the college’s top award by earning Deans List honors in each of his five academic terms.  The sophomore(pictured) was also a member of the Student Senate and will complete his associates of arts degree this Spring.

Mitchell earned All-American honors while helping lead the men’s soccer team to conference, regional and district championships and a berth in the NJCAA national championships.  He was the team’s leading scorer and an all-league, all-Ohio and all-region selection.

Vaughn also earned All-American honors while helping the women’s basketball team to a 25-7 record.  In the NJCAA national stats, she ranked second in total rebounds and ninth in rebounding average.  Vaughn was the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference Player of the Year and an all-region choice.

Merhaut and Chelsey Hill-Root were recipients of the Surge Scholar Athlete of the Year awards.  Jake Ripberger received the Academic Comeback Award.

Joyce Rimlinger, program chair and academic advisor in the College of Humanities and Sciences, received the Commitment to Success Award, recognizing a faculty member with outstanding dedication to helping students succeed.  Rimlinger, who also serves as academic advisor for athletics, will retire in June.

Other award recipients:

Men’s Soccer

Most Improved – Tucker Beerman

Unsung Hero – Eduardo Zavala

Most Outstanding – Justin Mitchell

Academic Award – Austin Klueh

Women’s Soccer

Most Improved – Brittany Bollmer

Unsung Hero – Meghan Cook

Most Outstanding – Julie Martin

Academic Award – Danielle Galbraith

Men’s Basketball

Most Improved – Chrisean Marsden

Unsung Hero – Nick Robertson

Most Outstanding – Winston Grays

Academic Award – Chrisean Marsden

Women’s Basketball

Most Improved – Hayle Phillips

Unsung Hero – Kindsay Brandt

Most Outstanding – Cameron Vaughn

Academic Award – Grace McDougall

Theresa Check inducted into Cincinnati State Athletic Hall of Fame

Theresa Check, former athletic director and women’s basketball coach at Cincinnati State, has been inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. The recognition took place at the annual athletic awards banquet on April 11.

Check compiled a 64-23 record in three seasons as head coach at Cincinnati State, directing the Surge to a pair of Ohio Community College Athletic Conference championships and an appearance in the National Junior College Athletic Association national tournament in 2011. She relinquished her coaching responsibilities following the 2010-11 season, but Cincinnati State Athletic Director said her efforts helped pave the way for the team’s 2012 national tournament appearance. (The Cincinnati State women finished fourth in that event.)

During Check’s tenure as Cincinnati State’s athletic director, teams from the college made five NJCAA national tournament appearances in men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s soccer and men’s golf.

Check retired as athletic director in 2012, but continues to teach at Cincinnati State as an adjunct.

Prior to joining Cincinnati State, Check established herself as one of the top women’s basketball coaches in Ohio. Her teams compiled more than 400 victories in 17 seasons as head women’s basketball coach at Central State, earning Converse/NAIA Coach of the Year honors in 1993. She also served as athletic director there for 11 years. Under her leadership, football was reinstated and tennis, volleyball, baseball, softball and bowling were added.

Check is a member of the NAIA Hall of Fame and the Central State Hall of Fame.

Check is the third person to be enshrined in the Cincinnati State Athletic Hall of Fame. She joins John Hurley, former athletic director and men’s basketball coach, and Omar Cummings, an All-American soccer player who is now playing at the professional level.

Cameron Vaughn named NJCAA All-American

Cincinnati State's Cameron Vaughn has been named an NJCAA All-American by the NJCAA Board of Adminstrators.

Vaughn, a sophomore from Xenia, OH, averaged 13.8 points, 13.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. The 5'10 forward finished with 10 or more rebounds in all but five games, recording a season-high 25 rebounds against Columbus State on Jan. 23. She finished the season 6th in the nation in rebounding, 1st in offensive rebounds (6.6), and set Cincinnati State's record for most rebounds in a season with 412.

Last month, Vaughn was named the OCCAC "Player of the Year" and a Region XII 1st Team selection.

2012-13 Women’s Basketball NJCAA All-Americans

For more information on the NJCAA All-Americans, please visit - http://www.njcaa.org/sports_awards.cfm?category=Award%20Winners&sid=24&divid=2&slid=11

Surge soccer reflects on success of 2012 season

2012 was a very good year for the Cincinnati State men’s soccer team. It came close to being a great year.

For the second time in three seasons, the Surge played its way into the National Junior College Athletic Association national tournament. The men won the first game of that tournament before falling to the No. 3 seed, ending the season.

Still, it was another remarkable run for a program that for more than a decade has been consistently among the 20 best in the NJCAA.

“We had a tremendous year. This season was an incredible journey with an incredible group of student-athletes,” Head Coach Mike Combs said.

The 2012 tournament run marked a sharp turnaround for a season that started badly.

Cincinnati State opened the season with a 5-1 road loss to Owens Community College, and went from there to an unaccustomed 4-3 record in the first month.

“It was an early season eye opener. It was the first time Owens had beaten us in quite a while and we also let a few games slip through our fingers,” Combs said. “We had to make major adjustments on both sides of the ball to find a winning formula.”

One of those adjustments was moving freshman Liam Doyle from defense to midfield and placing sophomore Logan Gumbert on the back line. With the lineup change, the Surge rattled off four straight wins as Doyle tallied 3 goals and 6 assists.

The winning streak came to an end when the team traveled to Michigan to take on Schoolcraft College and lost 2-1 in overtime.

“Losing that game was tough, but we knew we would see them again in the postseason,” sophomore Justin Mitchell said.

After a road loss to Jackson Community College (MI) and a 0-0 tie against Muskegon Community College (MI), the Surge made another adjustment, giving freshman Tucker Beerman a chance to play on the back line.

“We needed to shake things up. We had a few injuries and lacked consistent play. Tucker came in and did a good job of stabilizing the position and delivering good fundamental play,” Combs said.

As changes continued on the defensive side of the field, freshman Tyler Gumbert and sophomore Justin Mitchell began to score consistently up front. Mitchell, who finished the season as the team leader in goals and points, recorded at least one goal in the final five remaining games of the regular season, recording 17 points over that span. Tyler Gumbert, who was named NJCAA National Player of the Week in the final weekend of the regular season, finished with 4 goals and 3 assists in the Surge’s final two games of the season. Tyler’s output included the game winner against Owens to give Cincinnati State a share of the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference championship.

Entering the NJCAA Region XII as a No. 3 seed, Cincinnati State defeated Ancilla (Ind.) in the first round of the tournament and Owens in the second, setting the stage for a rematch of the 2011 regional final with Schoolcraft College.

“For us sophomores, it was a big game. We had been 0 for 5 in our two years playing them, including an overtime loss in last year’s tourney. We wanted to get that off our back and move on to districts,” sophomore Jaytoe Teh said.

The Surge were able to earn retribution thanks to goals by freshmen Bradley Gale in the 30th minute and Austin Klueh in the 65th. Schoolcraft quickly countered with a goal in the 70th minute but were unable to even the score as Head Coach Mike Combs and the Surge claimed their second regional title in three seasons. Cincinnati State sophomore Justin Mitchell was named tournament MVP. Goalie Ryan Strunk, defender Austin Klueh, and midfielders Liam Doyle and Joe Bradley were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Moving on to the North Central District title game against the Community College of Baltimore County – Essex with the winner advancing to the national tournament in Albany, Georgia, Cincinnati State found themselves down 1-0 with 10 minutes remaining in regulation. Doyle, a freshman from the Isle of Man, emerged as the man of the match, scoring two late goals in the 83^rd and 84^th minute to give the Surge a national tournament birth.

“Without a doubt, that was two of the biggest goals in our program’s history,” Combs said after the game.

Advancing to the NJCAA national tournament for the second time in the program’s history, the Surge, who earned a No. 6 seed, opened the first game of pool play with a 2-0 win against Northwest College, but were unable to advance any further after a 3-0 loss to an undefeated Louisburg Community College team which ranked among the top in every team offensive category. Cincinnati State finished the season 18-6-1 overall and ranked No. 7 in the National Soccer Coaches’ Athletic Association national poll.

For the departing sophomores, their resume includes two OCCAC conference title, a regional title, district title and a 34-11-1 record – and, of course, the chance to play in the national tournament.

“We have had an unbelievable two years. It was great to share these accomplishments with this group of guys,” sophomore Eduardo Zavala said. “Next year, the freshmen will carry on the tradition of success that has been come to be expected.”

Cincinnati State is expected to return 14 freshmen including forward Tyler Gumbert, midfielders Liam Doyle and Kyle Grothaus, defenders Tucker Beerman and Austin Klueh.

Cincinnati State athletics continue to build a winning tradition

 In recent years, Cincinnati State has proved to be one of the most successful junior college programs in the nation. Women's basketball repeated as champions of the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference in 2009 and 2010. Women's soccer finished 2010 ranked 13th nationally among all junior colleges. The most crowning achievements were earned by the 2010 men's basketball team, the 2010 & 2012 men's soccer team, the 2011 women's basketball team and the 2010 & 2011 men's golf  teams as each program competed in the NJCAA National Tournament and made school history with record breaking results as shown below:

Men's Basketball - 2010 NJCAA National Runners - Up, OCCAC Champions, Overall Record: 27-9, Head Coach: Andre Tate

Women's Basketball - 2011 NJCAA National Tournament Appearance, 2011 NJCAA Region XII Champions, #7 National Ranking, Overall Record: 24-11, Head Coach: Theresa Check, 2012 NJCAA National Tournament Appearance, 2012 NJCAA Region XII District I Champions, 2012 OCCAC Champions, Overall Record: 32-3

Men's Golf - 2010 & 2011 NJCAA National Tournament Qualifier,  2010 & 2011 NJCAA Region XII Champions, Head Coach: Scott Webb

Men's Soccer - 2010 NJCAA National Runners Up, 2012 NJCAA Region XII Champions,  OCCAC Champions,  #2 National Ranking, Overall Record: 22-3-0, 2010 & 2012 NJCAA National Tournament Appearance, 2010 & 2012 NJCAA District Champions; 2012 NJCAA Region XII Champions, 2012 Co- OCCAC Champions, Overall Record: 18-6-1, Head Coach: Mike Combs

Support the Surge!

Everyone is encouraged to attend Cincinnati State’s athletic events. Support the Surge and build pride in the Cincinnati State community. Admission to games is free with a valid SurgeCard.

For the Surge basketball, soccer, and golf schedules, stats, and coach contact information, click here.

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Athlete Spotlight

Learn more about Cincinnati State's talented athletes.

Athletic Hall of Fame

The Cincinnati State Surge Athletic Hall of Fame recognizes and celebrates the outstanding athletic contributions of Cincinnati State coaches, graduates, and administratiors. Click here to download a nomination form.