- Last Day of Classes
- School of Music | Student Recitals | Bailey Performance Center Morgan Concert Hall | 2:00 - 9:00 p.m.
- KSU Owls vs Western Carolina Baseball Game | Stillwell Baseball Statium | 5:00 p.m.
- First Day of Final Exams
- Student Government Association | General Meeting | Student Center University Rooms | 3:30-4:45 p.m.
- Student Recital : Zac Evans, Saxophone | Bailey Performance Center Morgan Concert Hall | 8:00 - 9:00 p.m.
- KSU Community and Alumni Choir Performance | Bailey Performance Center Morgan Concert Hall | 8:00-10:00 p.m.
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On Tuesday, the KSU men’s golf team started the final round of the 2013 Atlantic Sun Conference Championships just one shot off the lead. The Owls played well early on and were in the thick of it through the first nine holes. However, the team had their share of struggles on the backside of The Legends at Chateau Elan course.
“I told the guys to just go out and play with confidence and that they’re good enough to play well out here and that’s what I think we saw on the back nine,” said KSU head coach Jay Moseley. “The guys just played fearless golf and played the way I know they’re capable of and they believe in themselves.”
The team’s struggles knocked them out of claiming their second A-Sun conference tournament title. KSU shot a finishing round of 18 over par 306 to close out 54 hole championship contest with a 33 over par 897 and a third place finish overall.
The seventeenth ranked North Florida team captured their second straight conference championship, finishing the tournament with a 17 over par total of 881 and 14 shots better than East Tennessee State (881). M.J. Maguire turned in a 4-under par performance for the Ospreys which was the low round of the day. As a team they were 3-over par 291, which distanced them from the rest of the teams in the tournament.
M.J. Maguire’s third round showing allowed him to be an individual medalist with a 1-under total of 215. Maguire shot two shots better than ETSU’s Rhys Pugh who finished the tournament at 1-over 217.
KSU sophomore Austin Vick was the tournament leader after the first two days and nine holes on Tuesday, ultimately finishing eighth with an 8-over par 224 total. He began the backside of the course with a nine on the par 5 10th hole and shot a 9-over par 45 in his final nine holes to record an 81.
KSU sophomore Jonathan Klotz shot a third round 2-over par 74 to lead the Owls. Klotz finished tied for 25th with a 17-over total for a score of 223. Both Jimmy Beck and Peter Lunde Hermansson shot 5-over par 77s to tie for 13th with 12-over par totals of 228. KSU senior Ben Greene tied for 16th in the tournament with a 13- over par 229. The Owls will now wait for the NCAA Championship field to be announced on May 6 at 9 p.m. The tournament begins with six regionals scheduled for May 16-18, with selected sites located in Baton Rouge, La. (LSU), Tallahassee, Fla. (Florida State), Columbus, Ohio (Ohio State), Fayetteville, Ark. (Arkansas), Pullman, Wash. (Washington State) and Tempe, Ariz. (Arizona State). The NCAA Championships are set for May 28 – June 2 at the Capital City Club Crabapple Course in Atlanta, with Georgia Tech serving as the host school.
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Going into the final hole of the National Collegiate Disc Golf tournament, Brett Wishon didn’t know how close to victory he was. All he knew was that his opponent had just bogeyed the 18th hole, and a conservative approach would help him shoot one better.
The KSU disc golfer defeated Mike Sale of the University of California, Santa Barbara by one stroke and won the Individual National Collegiate Disc Golf Championship on April 7 at North Augusta, SC. Behind the kind of conservative play that defined his tournament, Wishon shot a 38 in the final round of play, finishing with a score of 150.
“I think I tied for the best score on the final round. I felt like I played good, but I didn’t feel like I played the best,” Wishon said. “I was happy I won though. It felt awesome.”
A pole stood in the middle of the fairway on the final hole that required the disc golfers to throw to the right side of it. Wishon watched as Sale failed to drive his disc to the mandatory side, forcing it left and eventually causing him to bogey the hole.
“He had to re-tee, and ended up getting a four on the hole,” Wishon said. “I just made sure I threw it inbounds.”
Wishon was able to shoot a three on the 18th, carefully coordinating his drive as to not miss the mandatory side of the fairway. The chain basket he was aiming for sat directly in front of a small pond. He made sure not to overthrow his second shot, and laid his disc up near the basket, allowing for an easy putt for par.
Wishon is not known for this conservative style of play, but it was that exact style that allowed him to outduel Sale on the final hole and stay in the hunt for first throughout the tournament.
“I normally don’t play as conservative as I did. This course is a lot tougher than most courses I’m used to,” Wishon said. “The baskets are elevated, so if you go for a putt you could end up throwing your disc 15 to 20 feet past the hole.”
Wishon had the opportunity to play the course earlier in the week during team play. Distance and terrain made for a challenging course. Wishon had to rely on his long drives, combined with precision throws to best the heavily wooded course.
“Most of the courses around here [Kennesaw] aren’t as wooded as the course we played,” Wishon said. “All the baskets were elevated so it made it hard to putt. If you miss-putt you go way past it.”
Wishon finished the first round of play tied for 4th with a score of 56, just 3 shots behind the leaders. Sale shot an excellent first round, finishing tied for 2nd with a score of 54. Wishon hung around in the second round, and then came alive in the third, besting Sale’s final round by 3 shots.
Wishon’s stellar play in the final round had him tied with Sale. As the two approached the 18th hole, one throw would prove to be the difference.
“We were tied up until that last hole. He bogeyed and I got a par. I ended up winning because of that,”Wishon said.
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When you start with nothing, check into a dirty hotel and still place fourth in a national tournament, you are part of the KSU paintball team.
On April 19-21, the KSU paintball team competed in nationals at the University of Central Florida. For the past four years the team has encountered trials building the club team, but this year they placed fourth in nationals and first place in the conference.
In 2009, Spencer Lloyd started the team, and they have faced drastic changes over the years. Lloyd has been competing in tournaments across the country since 2005. Without a full roster, the team began competing at the highest collegiate club level.
A Motel 8 was awaiting the team’s arrival on one of their first tournaments, as they pulled into the parking lot and approached the dark and dirty run down hotel.
“There was a stray dog outside the room that barked nonstop and in the middle of the night someone banged on the door and yelled “cops open up”, but eventually they left,” Lloyd said.
The people in the town were also not accommodating. The team went to the local Walmart for help and the employees assumed they were in town for a “Harry Potter Convention”.
This was four years ago and the team has come a long way since this incident.
At the beginning of this season the team was predicted to be the worst team in the league, but they quickly disproved all assumptions.
“Essentially we went from worst to top four in the nation. We took a lot of people by surprise because we ended up flying under the radar,” Lloyd said.
The KSU team has been so successful this year because they have a fast paced offense with immense depth.
“Depth helps us overcome fatigue, when you don’t have that depth that’s when teams drop the ball and get gassed,” Lloyd said.
The team clinched a first round bye at Nationals and advanced to the quarterfinals, where they upset Florida Atlantic University.
The team plans to improve and have a larger recruiting class next year despite some setbacks, as Lloyd and some other seniors are leaving the team. Some of the younger players are going to have to step up and fill his shoes.
“Definitely it is a turning point; I started the club in 09 and have been running it by myself. Guys have kind of learned that if we are going to keep going they are going to have to step up,” Lloyd said.
Lloyd will be studying abroad in China this summer but plans to stay involved in the team as much as possible. The team only has high expectations for next year with the plans of winning the National Championship.
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The KSU club tennis team accomplished a big feat to conclude its season, placing 49th in the nation at the United States Tennis Association’s Tennis on Campus National Championship in Surprise, Ariz. on April 13.
In its first ever appearance, KSU was one of 62 teams from around the country competing for the National Championship crown at the Surprise Tennis and Racquett Complex. KSU club tennis participated in the copper bracket, one of four brackets, and eventually finished second. Using the World Team Tennis format, KSU defeated Western Washington in the first round 29-19, cruised past Villanova 30-12 in the second round, snuck by DePaul 27-22 in the third round and then fell short to Boston College 19-25 in the final.
“The competition was exceptional and every team there was really good,” Senior Club Tennis President Josh Bramblett said. “It was just a lot of fun going out there and having a chance to compete with that high talent level of players.”
On the final day of play, KSU was able to witness the University of Georgia defeat the University of Florida in the gold bracket final to win the National Championship. For Bramblett, witnessing UGA’s club team win the title felt like an accomplishment for his team as well, because KSU faced UGA numerous times in tournaments throughout the season, coming close to defeating UGA once.
“It was just an awesome feeling to know that you hung in there with the team that took the national title home with them, and that you played with the national champs all year long, so it’s a pretty good feeling,” Bramblett said.
Despite not coming home with a trophy, club tennis saw the experience as the real victory. At the beginning of the season, KSU set a few goals. One was to continue to build on its reputation as a major competitor, but the number one priority was to qualify for Nationals. According to Bramblett, the journey was tough due to KSU being in such a strong region of competitors, which includes Georgia Tech, Georgia State and UGA.
Leading up to Nationals, Both the A and B teams for KSU were able to make deep runs in their brackets at the Tennis on Campus Southern Championship at Auburn University on Feb. 23-24. KSU went up against powerhouse schools from all over the region, defeating LSU, Clemson and Auburn in the process. On the final day of play, KSU lost to a familiar foe UGA, and their seventh place finish out of 52 teams was enough to earn a bid for Nationals.
“I’m very, very satisfied,” Bramblett said. “I am very proud of what we accomplished this year, and I had so much fun doing it too. Making it to Nationals was our goal, and we didn’t come in last at Nationals either, so 49th in the nation is actually pretty good.”
Club tennis has come a long way since beginning their program two years ago. Bramblett mentioned the team has really grown in numbers, but more importantly, he feels the enthusiasm each player brings to the club has created more of a team environment.
To junior Kimberly Williams the easy-going attitudes of her teammates made her first season more enjoyable.
“I felt like our team got really close, so we had a lot of fun,” Williams said. “I like that it was really relaxed and it took a lot of pressure off.”
“I think having more of a centralized goal led us all to bond in that way and to really succeed at something as a team,” sophomore teammate Alex O’Neill said. “I think it was a great year compared to our first and second year.”
Now that club tennis can say it has competed for the National Championship, it looks like the next step for this team would be to keep moving forward and continue to raise the bar. O’Neill, who will be returning next season, can speak for Williams, Bramblett and her remaining teammates, as she expects them to achieve the same objective for the next year, and for more years to come.
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The KSU handball team has learned through competition that handball is not all about winning, but instead about improving. The team finished eighth at nationals recently, only winning two games this season due to a slow start.
Martin Branick and Trevor Sands started the club and began teaching recruits the basics of the game. They are powerful starters, hoping to turn the tables around for the handball team in the future.
“The first two or three months was difficult and challenging because we had to teach people basics like how to pass. Later as people became more experienced we were able to run plays,” Branick said.
The team improved offensively as well as defensively throughout the season, which will help the team drastically next year.
“Offensively one of the things that changed was we started running plays. We didn’t have any plays when we started.
We were able to communicate with the team and that’s when we were able to put up point after point. Defensively we were able to get more physical in the game. Once everyone built confidence, our defense improved and was much better over the past month,” Sands said.
The team may not have done well in the season, but they developed character. Sands and Branick said that going to tournaments was where the team developed relationships and became a family.
“The best thing about this team is we are more of a family than a team. The entire sport of Handball is like a big family. We hang out with other teams despite the game on the court. When you walk off the court you are friends,” Sands said.
The team is currently recruiting players for next year from many different sports, including a six-foot player that previously played basketball.
The handball team plans on becoming more competitive, adding depth and carrying over their improvement to next season despite a minor setback.
“We are losing our best player. He is Danish as well. We lose him and a couple of our starting wing players, but I think the rest of the team is going to improve. We are working on more depth. So I feel like we are going to be a stronger team and it will be a better year,” Branick said.
The team has met their goal this year of improving. Two people started with the team and it has grown into a team of 11. The team has not only seen growth within themselves, they have also grown throughout the handball community, developing relationships that they will have for the rest of their lives.
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The KSU women’s golf traveled to Jekyll Island, Ga. to compete in the Atlantic-Sun Conference Championship in efforts of a second straight title, but fell short to East Tennessee State University on April 17, finishing second.
As a team, The Owls capped off the final round at 22-over par at the Jekyll Island Golf Club, but could not match ETSU’s steady play, as the Bucs had a collective score of 16-over par and defeated the Owls by six strokes. Owls head coach Ryll Brinsmead could only give credit to ETSU for their steady play, and noted that the injuries suffered on her roster last fall played a bit of a factor.
“I said to the girls afterwards that it’s not like we lost, we really got beaten fair and square,” Brinsmead said. “Obviously at full strength we would have challenged them for the title, but props to ETSU, and they did play really well for three days.”
Individually, the Owls managed to produce two top-10 finishes. Senior Ket Preamchuen concluded her career as an Owl with her 16th top-10 finish at one-under par 71 on the day and with an 8th place at 2-over par score for the tournament. Sophomore Ines Lescudier dominated the field in the final round to claim A-Sun individual medalist honors at 6-under par.
Lescudier played the best tournament of her short career as an Owl thus far, and on the final day of play, put on a back-nine performance that was one for the ages, sinking an NCAA record seven-consecutive birdies on holes 11 through 17 and becoming the first player from Kennesaw State to win a 54-hole title. Coach Brinsmead was very impressed with Lescudier’s performance.
“Ines had a great tournament,” Brinsmead said. “She just kind-of got in the groove, made a couple of birdies and went from there. It’s really good for us, I mean obviously, to not win the team title, but to win individually is a nice compliment to that, Brinsmead added.”
As for the remaining players on the KSU roster, senior Molly Winnett ended her KSU career with a final round score of five-over par 77 and a 16-over par 232 score overall, placing 26th. Freshman Brittany Jarrett tied for 23rd with a 15-over par 231 score overall in her first career A-Sun Championship appearance, and sophomore Kaew Preamchuen tied for 31st with an 18-over par 234 score for the tournament.
“Overall, I am pretty proud of the results that we finished with in the tournament,” Brinsmead said.
Despite not coming home with a second straight A-Sun title, coach Brinsmead fully expects every player that will return next year to return as 100 percent and pick up where they left off. Brinsmead also noted that with the signings of two new recruits, which includes England native Dulcie Sverdloff, her team will be even stronger next season.
“Obviously, with what I know from the players we’re bringing in, and the existing players we have, we are going to be very competitive,” Brinsmead said. “I expect to win the championship again next year, and I know the team is going to absolutely want that as well.”
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Yes, the Yankees and Red Sox are rivals. Above all else, they are human beings.
Mere hours after the horrendous bombing that took place at the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15, the Yankees hung a banner from their stadium that read, “United We Stand.” On one side of the banner was their own logo, and on the other side, the logo of the Boston Red Sox.
It is considered by many to be the greatest rivalry in sports. Whether you are fan of either team or not, if you know baseball, you know that the striped team from The Bronx despises the red-clad batters of Fenway.
For over 100 years, these teams have battled for the lead in the American League’s East Division. From their first meeting in 1901, to 1999 where they met in the AL Championship Series for the first time, they have become the focus of rivalries in the sporting world.
However, what the Yankees did on the morning after the Boston Marathon bombing goes far beyond sports and rivalries. It goes beyond the hatred that connects the cities of New York and Boston. Through the hardships and the struggles, great rivalries do more than just divide cities. Sometimes, they unite them.
After the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, and last year’s aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the Red Sox honored the Yankees and the city of New York by playing the classic Frank Sinatra song, “New York, New York.”
And on the night after the marathon bombings, the Yankees returned the favor by playing Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” during the third inning of their home game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. According to Boston.com, the Red Sox having been playing Diamond’s song during the eighth inning of home games since 2002.
“When you think about that being a song that is a tradition there, it’s special to Fenway Park and the people of Boston, but we are behind them and put the baseball teams aside,”Yankees manager Joe Girardi told the New York Post.
What the Yankees and Red Sox have done for each other in the wake of tragedy is what defines sports. Sports unite people, and through the grief and mourning, they can be a symbol of support and understanding.
Rivalries are often seen as two teams hatred for one another, however, the history behind the Yankees, Red Sox rivalry is not enough to dehumanize them. They have earned great respect for one another throughout the many years they have been rivals. In the event of great tragedy, that respect has cultivated a common bond between these two ball clubs.
One day, they will return to the greatest rivalry in sports. For now, they show greater respect to each other.
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The NBA playoffs are coming up and the Los Angeles Lakers are not going to make the cut deep down the stretch.
Recently they beat the Rockets in overtime while fighting for their lives. Mike D’Antoni has finally realized his wrong doings and taken Pau Gasol off of the bench, however the loss of Kobe Bryant is going to affect them drastically.
Gasol and Howard together, will be able to dominate inside the paint during the first round of the playoffs, but outside the key is a different story.
These two are not three point shooters and will not be able to control the clock like Bryant.
Byant was averaging 27.3 points per night during the season while Gasol and Howard are currently averaging 13.7 and 17.7 points per night, accounting for an overall loss of 10 points per game. Even with the two big centers they will not be able to carry the team like their past leader.
Bryant was also able to play decent defense outside the key, which now leaves the key open for outside shooters.
Steve Nash will be back for the playoffs and will be the Lakers best chance for success. Nash averages around 43 percent of his shots from the three point line. He will give LA the best chance to control the outside of the key.
Nash is still recovering from an injury and will not be 100 percent first round. He will need to control the game by averaging at least 20 points a game from outside the key to guarantee a Lakers victory. The odds are stacked against him, and he is not a consistent defensive player and he will not be able to guard the outside as well as Bryant.
D’Antoni has removed Steve Blake from the bench to replace Nash during his injury, who has played well, but when Nash returns, Blake will make his home back on the bench.
The Lakers are playing the San Antonio Spurs in the first round. The Spurs average 37 percent from the 3 point line and Tony Parker averages 20.3 points per game with 35 percent from the 3 point line. It will be immensely difficult for the Lakers to guard Parker and other shooters outside the key. D’Antoni’s lack of defense does not help this situation.
The two big men are going to help, but with the high powered offense of the Spurs and lack of Laker’s defense it will force Nash to try to control the game like Bryant. Due to Nash coming off an injury it will prove to be too much pressure on his shoulders and the Lakers will fail.
Despite D’Antoni realizing his mistakes and trying to fix them with Gasol and Howard at the tail end of the season, he will fail.
The Lakers will say goodbye to the opportunity of a 2013 NBA Championship, and Mike D’Antoni will be searching for a new basketball career.
Los Angeles will be overshadowed with Clippers fans next year leaving the Lakers Dynasty nowhere to go but up.
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The KSU women’s track and field team finished in first place in the Sea Relays on April 13. The women’s 4×100 relay team performed at a very high level.
The 4×100 relay team is made up of Cynthia Davis, Alicia Whittle, Kentrell White and Hannah Wood. The team won the event for the fourth time in five meets this season and took home the title with a top time of 45.59 while beating out Tennessee and Purdue.
Davis placed fourth in the 200m dash, and Wood achieved a personal best with a time of 24.15 in the same event.
The KSU men’s track and field team was very successful at the 200m event. Sadio Diallo narrowly missed finishing in first place by less than two-tenths of a second with a time of 21.27.
Sophomore Andre Dorsey finished third, and freshman Bilal Abdullah finished fifth in the high jump. Robert Darvey placed 12th in the discus with the fourth best toss (44.82 147- 00) in KSU history.
“Our teams performed really well this weekend,” said KSU head coach Andy Eggerth. “They are at the most fatiguing part of the training year, and they just continue to break records. We will gradually unload the training throughout the championship season so we can definitely be ready to turn it up at the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships.”
The men’s and women’s track and field teams have two weeks to rest and prepare before they compete in the Samford Multi and Invitational III April 26-27
in Birmingham, Ala. finished in first place in the Sea Relays on April 13. The women’s 4×100 relay team performed at a very high level.
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Jimmy Beck was named Golfer of the Week Sunday after claiming individual medalist honors at the Irish Creek Intercollegiate in Kannapolis, N.C.
“It’s a great honor. It was just a special week last week so I am thankful and humble to receive the honor,” Beck said about his achievements.
The tournament kicked off neck and neck, despite clinging on to the win by a thread, Beck beat out Franco Castro by one stroke. “I knew it was going to be a tough finish with the players that were there. So I knew I was gonna have to finish low so I was glad I did,” said Beck.
Beck has improved his short game dramatically this season as a direct result of hard work and dedication in the offseason.
“Well since I kind of had a year of experience already I knew what to look forward to. I really focused in the off season on my short game. It is a skill that is really vital to have and it is what kept my game on the level that it needed to be this weekend,” stated Beck.
Beck did not expect to have improved this much and be as skilled as he is currently as only a second year player.
“I never expected to get my second win this year. I had a goal to at least win one, so winning a few is very surprising and I am pleased with it,” said Beck.
Beck expects, with the experience of his team this year, they can win nationals. They have had problems in the past with shooting low consistently but they are improving with every tournament.
“I really expect our team to really finish out the season well. We haven’t really come together as a team and played well together. I think it is about time we did it. I feel that our team is playing well right now, so in the post season we will really show what we are made of,” stated Beck. Last year the team fell short of winning the conference by only a few strokes but because of experience the team’s luck is subject to change.
“Hopefully we all can come together and win the conference this year because last year we fell a few strokes short. Individually I hope to keep on winning tournaments and building on my resume,” said Beck.
Beck strives to be like professional golfers that are successful and maintain positive attitudes on and off the course. He believes this is the key that is the building block to his future.