Guilford, Greensboro Have Major Holes to Fill

By STEVE WILLIAMS

When Guilford and Greensboro finished 1-2 in the NCAA Division III Championships last May, it was a fitting swan song for six outstanding seniors.

Guilford, which beat Greensboro by six shots for its first NCAA crown, said graduation good-byes to three-time All-American Andrew Biggadike, two-time All-American Savio Nazareth and one-time All-American Andrew Eversole.

Greensboro’s seniors Kevin Angle, Adam Holowczak and Kevin O’Connell also carried All-American credentials.

Needless to say, Guilford coach Jack Jensen and Greensboro coach Robert Linville have had to do some major rebuilding.

“We should be very talented, very deep and very inexperienced,” Jensen said as he looked over his 2002-03 roster. “But talent is something we like a lot. We are really looking forward to this season.”

It’s not like the Quakers are starting over. Dave Patterson, who led Guilford to its national crown with a second place individual finish, is back for his junior season. Patterson was also medalist in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.

John Riddle, a sophomore who was vital in the Quakers’ national title run, is the other returning starter.

Jensen also welcomes back Ricky Gandhi, who missed the spring portion of the schedule with a back injury. His successful return from the disabled list will be a key factor.

Jensen will also be watching the progress of eight incoming freshmen – including Triad area players Brant Stovall of North Stokes High and Chris Lowman of Siler City Jordan Matthews.

Linville returns starters Jonathan Dudley and Brandon White, a pair of juniors.

Sergio Turbay, Derek Adams and Jamie Hebbel are also returning from last year's team. The list of freshmen is headed by Ryan Wilson of Dayton, OH and James Salerno from Ahoskie.

While Guilford and Greensboro will be hard-pressed to repeat their outstanding seasons, two other area Division III teams bring everybody back.

Averett University coach Jim Gourlay has to put an asterisk around such a statement, however. Janne Mommo and Toni Karjalainen, mainstays in the Cougars’ line-up the last three seasons, are back home in Finland and will miss the fall portion of the schedule. They will return for the second semester to complete their senior years.

In he meantime, Gourlay will turn to Jeff Johnston, Kalle Laukkanen, Bryan Meade, Bret Effird and Sam Hodges. All have been in the Averett line-up at times the last couple of seasons.

Averett finished 12th in the 2002 NCAA Tournament.

Methodist, which did its rebuilding a year ago and still managed a third-place NCAA finish, welcomes everybody back.

Senior Greg Hanna, junior James Stewart (Advance) and sophomores Mike Townsend (Garner) and Matt Cardarelli all averaged slightly above 74 strokes per round last year and form a fantastic front four. 

The Methodist women, working on a sixth consecutive NCAA Division III crown, lost its top two players to graduation but features three returning stars in Jesse Hunter of Sanford, Hope Thomas of Fayetteville and Michelle Meadows of Texas.