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AU student getting jump on her career in sports broadcasting with Cleveland camera crews
Ashland University student Olivia Pliske shouldn’t be on track to graduate early. She started college during the COVID pandemic, changed her major three times and sometimes skipped classes to go to Cavs and Guardians games. Taking College Credit Plus courses in high school helped Pliske overcome switching majors and the COVID pandemic so she can graduate this December in 3 ½ years and really start focusing on her career.…
AU grad Mackenzie Pflum working her way to sideline reporter goal with sports radio job
Recent Ashland University graduate Mackenzie Pflum has wanted to be a sideline reporter since she was 12 years old. At that age, she had attended a Cleveland Guardians (Indians back then) baseball game with her family and, due to a long rain delay, they were able to make their way down to the front row by the time the game resumed because so many fans had left. “There ended up being a walk-off home run in the 12th inning and I…
Ashland University grad student/employee Cass Ponzi competing in Miss USA program
Picture the movie “Miss Congeniality,” specifically the scenes of Sandra Bullock’s character, tomboy FBI agent Gracie Hart, learning things she never dreamed of doing - dressing, walking and talking like a pageant contestant. Before she goes undercover as “Miss New Jersey” after a terrorist threatens to bomb the fictional Miss United States event, Hart struggles mightily in her preparation with a pageant coach. Ashland University student/employee Cass Ponzi…
Advanced degrees from AU help Steve Paramore become Ashland City Schools' superintendent
Among the hundreds of graduate-level education students he taught during his nearly 15 years with Ashland University, Robert Thiede said Steve Paramore was one who stood out. “You knew he was going to do well as an educational leader,” said Thiede, who retired in 2021. Paramore, who earned two master’s degrees from AU in curriculum and instruction (2009) and educational administration (2014), officially became the superintendent of Ashland City Schools on…
Ashland University STUNT team making a name for itself on way to national tournament
Ashland University’s STUNT team will be making its first national tournament appearance April 27-29 at the University of Texas at Dallas beginning against … what’s that? You don’t know what STUNT is? Don’t worry you’re not alone. “It’s still so new that a lot of people have no clue what it is,” said Denise Farnsworth, AU’s STUNT head coach since the university started it during the 2019-20 academic year. “It’s so easy to understand once you see it in person…
Four AU baseball players earn 4.0 GPAs, team boasts 3.44 GPA
In his 36 years of coaching college baseball, John Schaly has never had a team grade point average as high as the 3.44 his Ashland University squad earned in the fall semester. “It was by far my best semester ever. Honestly, it’s not even close,” said Schaly, who is in his 26th year as AU’s head baseball coach after coaching the previous six years at St. Leo University in Florida and his first four seasons at Berry College in Georgia. Not only did 42 of the…
Administrative licenses from AU help Jeff Jones land director of player development job with University of South Florida's football program
Jeff Jones liked that a big emphasis with Ashland University’s administrative and superintendent licensure programs was learning to work with others. That will come in handy in his new job as the director of player development for the University of South Florida’s football program. According to a news release from USF, Jones will oversee the football players’ development and growth in community and campus engagement, leadership development and off-the-field…
Family ties among AU’s championship-wrestling program
Ashland University Wrestling Coach Colt Sponseller sees only one problem with having his nephew, Walker Uhl, on the team. That’s Uhl stealing his clothes for practices and workouts even though the redshirt sophomore is 6-foot-3 and Sponseller is, well, quite a bit shorter. “I’ll see something that is a medium on a guy who should be wearing XLs,” Sponseller said with a laugh. And the other wrestlers only have one “issue” with the team’s uncle-nephew dynamic…
Athletics Update
Ashland University's athletic department is heading toward another "crossover season" – winter sports coming down the home stretch of their seasons and spring sports ramping up theirs. The Eagles have upcoming Great Midwest Athletic Conference Championships in swimming and diving (Feb. 16-19 in Canton, Ohio), indoor track and field (Feb. 25-26 in Findlay, Ohio) and women's and men's basketball (both March 1 and 4-5 at sites to be determined).
National champion head coach, U.S. Olympian Jud Logan passes away
ASHLAND, Ohio – Ashland University and the world of track and field suffered a significant loss with the passing of Eagle track and field head coach and four-time United States Olympian Jud Logan on Monday. He was 62. “Jud Logan personified our mission and vision at Ashland University,” said Ashland University President Carlos Campo. “We promise a transformative experience for students, and Jud delivered that every day in his interactions with student-…
