College Notebook: Elgin grad Tiffany Hix earns NCAC top scholar-athlete honor
The junior track and field standout was recently given the North Coast Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete Award for 2024-25, an honor given to one male and one female athlete at every NCAC school.
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"Tiffany is a great example of what a student-athlete represents," Wittenberg track coach Paris Hilliard said in a release. "She has done a great job of balancing all aspects of college. I am extremely proud of her and her accomplishments."
Hix is an exercise science major who holds a 3.91 grade point average. Over the winter, she finished second in the women's pole vault at the NCAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, going 10 feet, 10 3/4 inches. During a home meet in December, she went 10-11 3/4. She has missed the spring outdoor season following a knee injury.
"I am very honored and humbled to receive this award that recognizes both my work in the classroom and in the Wittenberg track and field program," Hix said in a release. "This award wouldn't be possible without the incredible support I received from all my coaches and all my professors."
Here are some other Marion-area college athletes who competed in sports over the winter:
Marion Harding grad Jayden Combs , a former Division I state champion bowler for the Presidents, continues to bowl at college powerhouse Indiana Tech. He appeared in 14 games in five events, averaging a 191.29. He posted one top 25 finish in a tournament, averaging a 204.8 at the RotoGrip Keystone Quaker Classic. Combs made all-academic in the Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference and was a Daktronics scholar-athlete.
Highland's Paige Hicks helped Mount Vernon Nazarene's women's bowling team to a sixth place in the Crossroads League Tournament. She was 20th individually with a 147.33 average. Competing for the men's team at MVNU were Christian Phillips of Mount Gilead, Bryce Rinehart of Cardington and Benjamin Brubaker of Marengo.
Grace McCrery of Marion Harding was a junior on the women's swim team at Ripon. She made the 400-yard individual medley finals at the Midwest Conference Championships, ending 16th in 5:09.24. At the Wisconsin Private Championships, she was 14th in the 400 IM in 5:22.11, 17th in the 100 backstroke in 1:12.04, 12th in the 200 back in 2:28.98 and 12th with the 400 freestyle relay in 4:11.96.
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Carter Chase , a redshirt sophomore from Pleasant, was a member of the Ohio State men's wrestling team, competing at 165 pounds. He was Academic All-Big Ten and went 1-2 this season before a knee injury ended his year. He is 13-9 for his career.
Younger brother Daxton Chase was a freshman wrestler at Ohio State. He wrestled at 149 pounds and went 2-3 at the Cleveland State Open and 2-2 at the Edinboro Open. He was 5-6 with one major decision in his first season.
Former Pleasant wrestler Anwar Alli, who transferred to Wyoming Seminary in high school, completed his freshman year at Virginia. He went 3-6 at 165 pounds.
Also at Virginia, River Valley's Hadyn Danals ended his senior year. He was 4-10 at 184 pounds for the Cavaliers and went 19-17 for his career.
Samson St. Germain of Marion Harding, a sophomore at Ferrum College, wrestled at 125 pounds, going 5-18 with a pair of pins, a technical fall and one major decision.
Ashland University wrestler Caleb Wetzel of Highland ended his sophomore year by finishing sixth at 141 pounds at the Great-Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament, helping the Eagles to a fourth G-MAC team title in the last five years.
River Valley's Gabe Thacker was a sophomore wrestler at Otterbein, competing from 125 to 141 pounds. He went 11-12 and 4-1 in the OAC with four pins and two tech falls. He was fourth at 133 pounds at the Adrian Futures and eighth at 133 at Baldwin Wallace's John Summa Invitation. Austin Amens, a graduate student from Northmor, was also on the Otterbein wrestling roster at 157 pounds.
Elgin graduate Tiffany Hix was given the NCAC Scholar-Athlete Award during her junior indoor track and field season this winter.
Ariyah Douglas , a senior from Marion Harding, played women's basketball at Findlay. The 5-foot-8 guard appeared in six games before a season-ending injury. She had six points with three assists in 16 minutes against Saginaw Valley.
Pleasant's Kyla Columber , a 5-5 guard on the women's basketball team at Bluffton, appeared in 17 games, averaging 2.1 points per game. She had seven points in 18 minutes at Anderson.
A 5-8 junior guard at Kentucky Christian, Cardington grad Beth Hardwick played in 22 games, averaging 3.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and shooting 39 percent from the field and 36 percent on 3-pointers. She had high games of 12 points against Union Commonwealth and seven rebounds against Campbellsville University-Harrodsburg.
Pleasant grad Trey Booker was a freshman guard on the men's basketball roster at Marietta.
Anyone with information on a Marion-area college athlete are encouraged to send it to the Marion Star's Rob McCurdy at rmccurdy@gannett.com, 419-610-0998, X @McMotorsport and Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star.
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: College Notebook: Elgin's Tiffany Hix earns high honors at Wittenberg
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