University of South Carolina Libraries
Lake, sophomores set for cross-country glory Men’s golf readies key players BY STEPHEN FASTENAU TIIK (IAMECOCK The USC men’s golf team will look to build on last year’s success when it kicks off its fall season. Last year, head coach Puggy Blackmon’s Gamecocks won a school record-tying three team ti tles and also added two individual titles. In November last year, USC won the Hawaii/Turtle Bay Intercollegiate with a 12-over-par 300 on the last day. Then-sopho more Robert Svensson finished first overall with a score of two under-par 214. The Gamecocks added anoth er team title in February, oblit erating one of the strongest fields of the year at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate en route to winning by a tournament-record 27 shots.' The team captured its third and final title in March, winning the Palmetto Intercollegiate in Aiken with a three-under-par 861. Eirik Johansen took the individual ti tle with an overall score of nine under par. USC finished seventh in the SEC Championship and ended the season by failing to qualify for the NCAA Championships by finishing 17th in the team’s ninth straight NCAA East Regional. The Gamecocks ended the year ranked 15th by Golfweek after be ing ranked as high as eighth. Gamecock golfers stayed busy over the summer as Johansen finished second in a local British Open qualifier in Scotland, two strokes from earning a berth into the major championship. Senior Jake Thompson qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship by sharing medalist honors at the sectional qualifier at Spring Valley Country Club in Columbia. The championship will be held August 16-22 at Winged Foot Golf Club in New York. USC returns a solid core of players from last year’s team look ing to build on its regular season success and improve its perfor mance in the season-ending NCAA Championships. Last year’s All-SEC selections Johansen and seniors Martin Rominger and Alex Hamilton will be back. They will be joined by senior Jake Thompson and junior Robert Svensson, who round out an ex perienced tournament lineup. Johansen led the Gamecocks with a 72.35 regular season scoring av erage and six top-10 finishes last season. Rominger was second with a 72.45 scoring average and four top-10 finishes. Hamilton av eraged 73.34 strokes and was third. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu Women’s golf returns 5 starters BY JAY POU TIIEOAMKCOCK The USC women’s golf team will be looking for another suc cessful season this fall after a strong finish in the spring. “We’re really excited about the upcoming season,” said head coach Kristi Coggins. “We’ve got some great talent coming back, and I feel like all of our players had great summers.” The Gamecocks return five starters from the 2003-04 season, led by junior Erica Battle and sophomore Jenna Pearson. Both players had strong offseasons, with Battle claiming a city cham pionship and Pearson advancing to the quarterfinals of the Public Links Tournament. The other returning starters in clude Tiffany Catafygiotu, the team’s only senior, and a pair of redshirt players, junior Laura McCaslin and sophomore Megan Miller. Look for this group to provide leadership to the younger players. Coggins said the team will be joined this season by a group of six talented freshmen, and she expects all the players to compete for play ing time, but expects the biggest contribution from Bly Worley. The Gamecocks will need all the help they can get from the new players considering the quality players from last year’s team that were lost to graduation. The golf cleats of Donna Shore Award win ner Adrienne Gautreaux will be particularly hard to fill, as she posted USC’s best individual fin ish last year, coming in 22nd at the NCAA National Championships. Departing seniors Marci Robinson and Kory Thompson will be missed as well. USC will be looking to improve upon last year’s season, which saw some success but was cut short by a 15th place finish at the NCAA East Regional tournament. Only the top eight teams from each re gional advance to the NCAA Championships. The Gamecocks’ chances at a championship appearance are looking bright this season, espe cially if you ask the NCAA selec tion committee, who has already extended an invitation to USC to compete in the NCAA Fall Preview Tournament in Oregon. The field is composed of teams that are ex pected to compete for art NCAA Championship in the spring. The field at the Fall Preview will be very competitive, but don’t ex pect the competition to slack off as USC’s season progresses. Coggins said the Gamecocks consistently face the toughest competition in the country, and she expects spring’s Lady Gator tournament and Lady Gamecock Classic to be two important events for her team. Coggins will be assisted this year by volunteer assistant Clarissa Childs and newcomer Marci Komegay, who joined the coaching staff in July as an assistant coach. The Gamecocks will begin their season in Oregon, where they will take the first step in what they hope will be a championship season. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@gwm. sc. edu BY WES WOLFE Till-: CAM HOICK The USC cross country team has one major advantage going into this season — returning se nior Jenny Lake. As a junior last year, Lake led by example by tak ing three no. 1 finishes at the USC Invitational, the Great American Cross Country Festival and the Clemson Invitational. She was also the top runner on the team in each meet. Lake managed to notch the best finish of any USC runner ever at the SEC Championships in Athens, Ga., and the Illinois na tive also recorded a personal-best time at the 5-kilometer mark of the 6K race at the NCAA Southeast Regional. “If Jenny stays injury free, it is possible that she will improve her place at SEC’s and at NCAA Regionals and hopefully earn a spot at cross country nationals,” USC cross country head coach Stan Rosenthal said. As a team, the Gamecocks had a few good finishes last year by winning the USC Invitational and taking third at the Charlotte Invitational and the Clemson Invitational. Though taking third at Clemson, USC won the South Carolina Collegiate Championship by beating out Clemson, Charleston Southern and S.C. State. However, with half the team made up of freshmen, Carolina was still limited. USC ended up taking sixth place in the Bulldog Stampede at Georgia, seventh place out of 18 teams at the Great American Cross Country Festival in North Carolina, 10th at the SEC Championships and 18th out of 26 teams at the NCAA Southeast Regional. At the SEC Championships, USC only fin ished above LSU and Ole Miss out of the 12 SEC teams. However, 14 out of the 25 runners on this year’s squad will be freshmen, and runners returning from last PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK USC’s Jenny Lake looks to have a stellar senior year. year’s team will need to step up. Three sophomores will be ex pected to improve upon their per formances last year to help the team move up the table at Carolina’s meets this season. Karen Wigal of West Virginia, Tristan Rackow of Illinois and Nicki Breves of Connecticut often finished in two-three-four order on the team behind Lake, and to|» results from the sophomore trio should place the Gamecocks in the running for more top three finishes. The incoming freshmen are also expected to have an impact this year. Amy Wike of Wisconsin has the fastest times of the freshman class, while Rebecca Chain of Connecticut and Callie Rabun of Georgia should compete for a starting spot on the team. The 2004 schedule for Carolina will see the Gamecocks starting the season at home with the USC Invitational on Sept. 3, followed by the Clemson Invitational on Sept. 18 and a trip by the B Team to Winthrop on Sept. 25. USC will head back to the Great American Cross Country Festival on Oct. 1 and travel to Auburn on Oct. 11. The B Team will then go back to Winthrop on Oct. 24. Carolina will round up the year by competing in the SEC Championships at Fayetteville, Ark., on Nov. 1 and the NCAA Southeast Regional at East Carolina on Nov. 13 with hopes of landing a spot at the NCAA Championships at Indiana State on Nov. 22. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu warn mm n&p ifm mm wym Season starts early; so get yourself ready " , '■ ' : . ■■ : , " ..... M mmmwmmat ? ' ***% fris'iQ; *$£ -W& **?'M >>*''' ’S Georgia Aug. 30 _ I BbUt Sept. 1,6, 7, 8 \ South Flotfi Sept. 6,7, 8,13,14,15 Troy State Sept. 13,14,15, 20,21,22 I Ole Miss. Sept. 20,21,22 Oct. 4, 5, 6 Tennessee Oct. 4, 5, 6, 25,26, 27 Arkansas Oct. 25,26, 27 Nov. 1, 2, 3 UPPER LEVEL ! I SEC ROW SEAT \ \ 3BU 0 3 \ i Ab»» m ihs nn gfcv Students must have your I.D. Card with you to get into the Stadium with a Student Ticket. > The Student Section is located in the North ^ Section of the Stadium Sections 23 - 34. ' : Vi , For more complete information about student tickets, pick up a copy of the ‘ Student Football Information Book at the Russell House lobby information Desk. Student Tickets will be distributed at the Russell House, rooifi 205 9am - 4pm wmmmmm mm wma mm hi mm wmm mmi hb mm f‘udents are not guaranteed a student ticket to each game, only the right to a ticket as long as student tickets are available. # Handicapped or disabled students can get assistance bw calling 777-6742. i