Powerful Duke expects to add to crowded trophy case

By STEVE WILLIAMS

The sting of last season’s disappointing finish to an otherwise spectacular 2002-03 campaign may make the Duke women’s golf team even more formidable. Extra incentives can go a long way sometimes.

The Blue Devils had won five of six spring events, including the ACC and East Regional championships, when they took their No. 1 ranking to West Lafayette, Ind., to try to make it back-to-back NCAA titles. But Duke shot itself out of contention with a 318-314 start and eventually settled for 10th.

“We came here to win this and we didn’t get that done,” said Duke coach Dan Brooks after the four May days. “We will come out OK from this. You never know, sometimes these kind of things make you stronger in the future.”

A stronger Duke team indeed.

Although Kristina Engstrom, the No. 5 player in the Blue Devil line-up graduated, Brooks welcomes back four stars. Two freshmen with dazzling resumes will fill the void left by Engstrom and Maria Garcia-Estrada, a former All-America selection who couldn’t find a spot in Duke’s fivesome last spring.

The Duke line-up starts with Virada Nirapathpongporn, who solidified her claim as the best player in Duke’s illustrious history by winning the United States Amateur in August.

Nirapathpongporn – call her “Oui” for short – already ranks third on the Duke charts for career victories with five. The Thailand native owns school marks for the individual low scores after 18, 54 and 72 holes.

She won the NCAA title in 2002 and finished tied for 11th last spring.

Leigh Ann Hardin is Duke’s other senior. She’s a three-time All-ACC performer.

“Both Oui and Leigh Anne are natural leaders,” Brooks said. “They work hard and are very positive, which is something we stress on this team – keeping things in the positive.”

The supporting cast isn’t too shabby. Junior Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh was the 2002 ACC Rookie of the Year and had another solid campaign as a soph. Liz Janangelo made an immediate impact last season as a freshman, averaging 73.5 per round, winning two tournaments and earning first-team All-America honors.

Two AJGA All-America selections – Brittany Lang of Texas and Anna Grzebien of Rhode Island – figure to step right in and contribute.

“We are very excited about the upcoming season,” Brooks said. “We have all the ingredients to keep us going in he right direction.”

Duke’s biggest competition in the ACC – now with seven schools fielding women’s golf teams (Virginia debuts this year) – will probably come from UNC-Chapel Hill.

The Tar Heels finished third in the ACC Tournament, sixth in the East Regional and 13th in the NCAA last season and have their top two players back as seniors.

Ashley Prange, a two-time All-ACC selection and honorable mention All-America, had six top-10s including one victory last season.

Meaghan Francella, who arrived at UNC after playing two years at Memphis, captured the ACC individual championship, one of six times in the spring that she was low scorer for the Tar Heels.

Soph Beth Marushak also returns after starting in Carolina’s final seven events of the season. Senior Stacy Hilton of Lexington also adds tournament experience.

“I am excited about the coming year,” said UNC coach Sally Austin. “Meaghan and Ashley are returning for their senior years after a good junior year and strong play this summer. Stacy has played well this summer. The prospects for their senior years look good and they will be joined by promising underclassmen.”

Wake Forest, which finished second in the ACC but failed to make it out of the East Regional, rebuilds after the loss of four-year standout Nuria Clau and number two player Maria Beautell.

Senior Deborah Means and juniors Ashley Hoagland and Christine Hallstrom, who played well at times in 2002-03, are the Deacs’ veteran leaders.

Jessica Castle, a freshman from Florida, tops coach Dianne Dailey’s potentially strong recruiting class.

“We’ll be doing a bit of rebuilding in the fall, but I think we’ll be in good shape for the spring,” Dailey said. “It will be fun to see how we do, and I think we have the potential to do well.”

N.C. State, which finished fourth in the ACC, returns all five starters. Coach Page Marsh will look to seniors Briana Vega and Courtney Pomeranz and juniors Colby Cobb, Sarah Bonner and Eric Wein to lead the way. UNC-Greensboro transfer Ashlee Dean and a promising group of sophomores and freshmen will push for playing time.

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Western Carolina, fresh off its best season ever, which included breaking every individual and team record, a Southern Conference championship and a trip to the NCAA East Regional, should be strong again.

Brandy Anderson, who won the SoCon individual title as a freshman, heads the list of returnees that also includes senior Rebecca Twiner (All-Conference) and sophomore Ashley Hovda.

Coach Steve Lott feels he has able replacements for two starters who transferred.

 “I’m looking for big things from our returning starters,” Lott said. “Plus we have a group of young players that can come in and make an immediate impact.”

WCU’s title last year ended a nine-year reign by Furman in the SoCon and those two teams will again be the teams to beat.

UNC-Greensboro is rebuilding and Elon is entering its first year in the loop.

The Spartans lost three of their top five players, including star Jenny Gleason.

New coach Emily Marron will build around returning starters Polly Willett and Jenna Schmidt.

Elon enters its first year in the Southern Conference with four returning starters – senior Sammy Sue Wilson and juniors Becky Poindexter, Morgan Olds and Alison Mangini.

Phoenix coach Chris Dockrill will look for six freshmen to push for playing time.

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East Carolina and UNC-Wilmington also have NCAA aspirations this season.

The Pirates have all five starters back from a team that made the NCAA regional, among them All-Conference USA players Jessica Krasny and Adrienne Millican. Germanton’s Jessica Hauser will look to break into the lineup.

The Seahawks return four starters that also made an NCAA Regional appearance last season. All-Big South Conference performers Becky Berzonski, Amelie Farrah, Audrey Gale and Michelle Jarman give the Seahawks potential to do it again.

 End of Article

Division II door now open as Pfeiffer rebuilds

 By CRAIG DISTL

        There’s actually discussion this season about which Division II men’s golf team is tops in North Carolina.

Pfeiffer University has dominated the last four years, advancing to the Division II national championship each spring and holding down a spot in the top 10 national rankings.

While Pfeiffer may again be the state’s premier team, the situation is not as cut and dried. The Falcons lost three key players to graduation – NCAA Division II individual champ Andrew McArthur, plus four-year starters Luke Poulter and Russ Jones – and long-time coach Dave Davis has stepped down to concentrate on coaching basketball.

“With the coaching change and some key losses, it would be awfully difficult for them to continue on like they haven’t skipped a beat,” Catawba coach Sam Gealy said of Pfeiffer. “I think you’ll see a little more parity across the state.”

Last spring, Barton College served notice it’s ready to vie for statewide dominance. The Bulldogs defeated Pfeiffer to win the Division II Atlantic Regional and earn the automatic bid to nationals, forcing Pfeiffer to rely on an at-large bid.

Barton should be strong again in 2003-04. The Bulldogs return four of five starters, including in-state products Courtney Faircloth of Wilson, Josh Talton of Smithfield and Jonathan Woodall of Rock Ridge.

“We’ve got a lot of depth and I’m really pleased with the guys coming back,” said Barton coach John Hackney. “They got their appetites whetted at the nationals last year and I think they want to go back and win.”

Don’t expect Pfeiffer to roll over and play dead. The Falcons avenged their regional loss to Barton by finishing 12th in the national championship and beating Barton, which finished 14th. And first-year coach Jim Haughey, a PGA Class A professional, is no stranger to the program. He’s been the assistant the past two years.

The Falcons return two solid players in senior Will Cannon of Valdese and junior Jordan Stelmach from England. The Falcons also reloaded on recruits from a familiar source – overseas. Two incoming freshmen are from England, with one each from Scotland and Australia.

“With this recruiting class, I think this team overall will be better than last year’s team. We’re 10 deep and I think this group of young freshmen are as good or better than the three that we lost,” said Haughey. “Because we are so young with one senior and one junior, we’re going to go through ups and down, but in the long run when it comes to March and April, I think it will show that these kids are that good.”

Another team that could make noise is UNC Pembroke. The Braves have made steady progress the last couple of years under head coach John Haskins. They have three starters returning, including No. 1 player Rex Willoughby, a junior from Chapel Hill. Junior Greg Dobbins of Bostic, N.C., played No. 2 last year, while sophomore Kyle Covington of Lumberton was also a key contributor.

Add to that a solid recruiting class and a transfer from powerhouse USC Aiken, and suddenly Pembroke looks to be a force.

Two other teams that might be ready for prime time are Lenoir-Rhyne and Belmont Abbey. Lenoir-Rhyne returns two key players: junior Kenny Hiatt from Hillsville, Va., and sophomore Matt Davis from Camber, Australia, but the Bears will have to find help from five freshmen to replace departed starters Bum Young Ko and Jason Loehrs.

At Belmont Abbey, the Crusaders return junior Ryan Bates of Ashland, Mass. Bates was honorable-mention all-conference last year and led the team with a 75.35 stroke average. Another junior, Rick Audette of Warwick, R.I., was also honorable mention all-conference.

Crusader coach Doug Ehmann is hopeful that sophomore Kent Cherry of Gastonia will pick up where he left off last season. Cherry finished fifth individually at the Atlantic Regional and nearly qualified for the national championship. The Abbey looks for good production from recruit Alex Brown of Richmond, Va., who won the Virginia AAA state championship as a junior.

       On the women’s side, the battle for the best Division II team in the state will come down to Catawba and Wingate. Both were strong last year and return key players.

       Catawba will be led by sophomore Paige Haverty of Greenville, N.C. She was an honorable mention All-American as a freshman and Player of the Year in the South Atlantic Conference. Joining Haverty is all-conference performer Kristen Kyle, a senior from Greer, S.C.

Wingate will counter with three all-conference players – Senior Daniela Kessler of Southern Pines, senior Audrey Morgan of Midland and sophomore Martina Moo Young of Mount Pleasant.

Lenior-Rhyne’s women will also battle Catawba and Wingate in the South Atlantic Conference, while Pfeiffer launches a women’s team this year in the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference.