Wingate University Athletics

Wingate sophomore guard Nikki Burton averaged 22.5 points per game and 9.0 rebounds per game as the Bulldogs won twice last week, extending their winning streak to six games. She hit 60 percent of her field goals (15-of-25) in the two victories. Burton had her first Wingate double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds as the Bulldogs defeated Anderson 61-51 Wednesday. She recorded 22 points and six rebounds in a 76-66 victory over Lincoln Memorial Saturday. Burton has 20+ points in four of Wingate’s last five games.
 
On the season, Burton leads the Bulldogs in scoring (15.9 points per game), field goal percentage (49.1 percent), free throw percentage (82.5 percent), steals (59) and blocked shots (219). She is ranked in the SAC top 10 in each of the aforementioned categories. Burton recorded a season-high 25 points in her Bulldog debut, an 84-59 victory over Winston-Salem State on Nov. 18.

Wingate sophomore Liubomyr Lemeshko won two events and recorded a second-place relay finish in a dual meet at UNC Wilmington Saturday. Lemeshko won the 100 Butterfly (49.23) and the 200 Butterfly (1:51.87) at the Seahawk Natatorium. He swam a leg on Wingate’s second-place 400 Freestyle Relay team. The host Seahawks edged Wingate by five-tenths of a second (3:05.35 to 3:05.86) in the day’s final event. Lemeshko was joined on the relay by junior Rory Julyan (Cape Town, South Africa), sophomore Iaroslav Denysenko (Poltava, Ukraine) and freshman newcomer Issam Zeraidi (Brussels, Belgium).

Lemeshko and his teammates won the Bulldogs’ fourth straight Bluegrass Mountain Conference championship in 2011. He was an All-BMC selection in the 100 Butterfly, the 200 and 800 Freestyle relays and the 200 and 400 Medley Relay events. At the NCAA national championship meet in San Antonio, Lemeshko was an All-American selection in the 100 and 200 Butterfly events as well as the 800 Freestyle Relay. He received honorable mention All-American status in the 400 Freestyle Relay and the 200 and 400 Medley Relay competitions.