Athletes to watch
Men’s Basketball: Senior center Wilbur O’Neal graduated from National Christian Academy in Woodbridge, Va. His freshman year of college was spent at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas. While there, he averaged 7.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
For his sophomore year he was a student at Harcum College in Bryn Mawr, Pa. There, he averaged 6.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. O’Neal shot for 71 percent from the field and helped his team go 26-3 in the 2009-10 season.
Transferring to the University of Indianapolis for his junior and senior years, this 6-foot-7-inch center has started in 23 out of 25 games.
His junior year, he averaged 13.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 20.6 minutes per game. O’Neal’s .674 field goal percentage pushed him to the No. 5 spot in rankings for the NCAA Division II. In scoring, the Great Lakes Valley Conference ranked him 16th, while they ranked him 12th in offensive rebounds per game. O’Neal scored 27 points against King College last December, setting this as his career single-game high.
Wrestling: Four-time state placer and team captain for two years throughout his high school wrestling career at Beech Grove, senior Ethan Harris brought his talent with him to the University of Indianapolis.
Although he went 4-3 his freshman year as a redshirt, he managed to set a record of 24-8, with seven pins in the 133 weight class in the 2008-09 season.
That season, he was named Most Outstanding Wrestler at the Manchester College Spartan Mat Classic. He was the runner-up at the Wheaton Invitational and placed fifth at the Super Regional meet.
In the 2009-10 season, he tied for the team-lead, with just nine falls on the season, and successfully placed third at Little State at Wabash College.
Last year’s season, Harris came out with an 18-4 record at 133 and managed a 7-6 in division record.
This season Harris has set high goals for himself.
“I would love to be All-American and also become the National Champ.”
Women’s Swimming: After finishing sixth at the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships, senior backstroke/sprint freestyle swimmer Meghan Donahue was named All-American in the 800 free relay in her freshman season.
Donahue finished second in the 800 free relay and won the consolation 100 back as well that season.
In 2009-10, Donahue again won All-American in the 800 free relay as well as the 400 medley relay and 400 free relay. Donahue also competed at nationals in the 50 free, 100 back and 200 back.
She was named GLIAC Swimmer of the Week and Counsilman Hunsaker National Collegiate Swimmer of the Week after her performance at Wabash College in October of 2009. She ended her sophomore season by finishing first on the UIndy all-time list in the 200 back, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay.
Her junior year, she set school records in the 800 free relay (7:28.37), 400 free relay (3.25.21) and 200 free relay (1:34.08) at the NCAA Championships. These events again classified her as All-American.
Men’s Swimming: Hailing from Colorado, senior Austin Biefnes competes in the individual medley and backstroke on the UIndy swim team. In his 2009-10 season, he became Academic All-GLIAC.
Biefnes placed third in the 200 medley relay at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships and won the 200 IM and 400 IM at the Woehnker Invitational at Wabash College. He also competed at the NCAA DII Swimming and Diving Championships in the 200 IM, 200 free relay, 400 IM, 200 back and 400 free relay.
At the GLIAC Championships in his 2010-11 season, he finished fourth in the 800 free relay, fifth in the 400 IM, ninth in the 200 back and 11th in the 200 IM.
Biefnes also was named Parker P. Jordan UIndy Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He won 100 back and 400 IM against No. 11 Ashland, the 200 IM in dual at No. 20 Lewis, 200 back and 200 IM in dual against Wabash and the 200 back, 200 IM, and 400 IM at the Patrick Woehnker Invitational at Wabash.
He has earned a letter each season for the past three years.
Women’s Basketball: 5-foot-9-inch senior guard Megan Gardner ended her freshman season being ranked fifth on the team based on minutes played. She played in all 34 games that season and worked her way up to start in each of the final seven games. Six games into the 2009-10 season, Gardner suffered an injury that ended that season for her. She didn’t return until January of the 2010-11 season. She averaged 9.6 minutes in each of the 10 games played after returning. In high school, Gardner earned four varsity letters in basketball and was the program’s all-time leader in steals and assists. Although this is Gardner’s first full season back since her injury she said she doesn’t have any personal goals for the season.
“I make my teammates look good and they make me look good,” Gardner said.
However, Gardner said that the team has a specific goal in mind.
“As a team, our goal is to win conference. From there, we would like to go as far as we can in the NCAA,” she said. “I think we’re going to have a very successful season.”
