The DU women’s golf team captured its third consecutive Sun Belt Conference Championship last weekend at PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
The Pioneers entered the final round in fourth place, but shot an 8-over-par 295 in the final round and finished three strokes ahead of second-place finisher, North Texas. DU shot a 54-hole score of 909 (45-over-par) over the weekend.
The icing on the cake from the weekend was when Head Coach Sammie Chergo was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year, which is the second time she has won the award.
The Pioneers almost won both the team and individual titles, as freshman Katie Kempter shot a final round, 1-under par-72 and finished the tournament tied with Middle Tennessee’s Taryn Durham. Both players shot 5-over-par scores of 221 for the 54-hole tourney and played a playoff in which Durham won on the second hole.
Next on the leader board for DU was Sara Djos, who opened the tourney with a 9-over-par 82 followed by scores of 76 and a season-best 72 in the final round to finish in a two-way tie for 11th. The success of the younger golfers continued as freshman Dawn Shockley shot a 3-over-par 75 in the final round and finished in a tie for 13th with a 54-hole score of 231.
DU leader junior Emily Hoeper finished fourth for Denver and in a tie for 24th with a tournament score of 19-over- par 235. The final scorer for the Pioneers was freshman Jessica Yam who finished 27th with a 54-hole score of 236.
To finish off the awards, three DU players were named to the All-Sun Belt Conference team: Kempter, Shockley and Hoeper.
The Pioneers will play again May 11-13 at the NCAA West Regional in Auburn, Wash.
Women’s Tennis
The Pioneers advanced to the championship match of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament over the weekend, but fell to top seed, No. 42 ranked, Florida International 4-1 on Sunday. DU entered the tournament as the no. 2 seed and defeated Arkansas State in the first round 4-0 and followed with a 4-3 victory over the Jaguars of South Alabama to advance to the finals.
In the finals, the Panthers took all three double matches to take the early lead in the match heading into singles play. In singles, the strong play of FIU continued as No. 1 Paula Zabala defeated DU senior Suzana Maksovic 6-2 and 6-3.
Denver’s lone victory of the day was in No. 3 singles as junior Rachel Sackmaster won 6-4 and 6-2.
The Pioneers finished the 2006 season with an 11-11 record and last captured the SBC title in 2004. FIU has now won the last two championships.
DU will hear tomorrow if it has been awarded an at-large bid to compete in the NCAA tournament.
Men’s Golf
The mendid not share the same success as the women in the SBC Championship, but did succed in last weekend’s Fossum Invitational in East Lansing, Mich. DU finished in a disappointing seventh place at the SBC tournament, but turned around and finished in a tie for fifth place out of 12 teams at the Fossum Invitational. DU junior Charlie Soule won the invitational title with a 54-hole score of 9-under-par 207, good for a seven-shot win.
At the SBC Championships in Port St. Lucie, Fla., DU finished with a 54-hole score of 14-over-par 888 and finished 13-strokes behind winner Western Kentucky. Senior James Love was the low scorer for Denver with a 54-hole finish of 2-under par 214 and a three-way tie for third place. Next for the Pioneers, Soule shot a 4-over 220 for a 16th place finish and freshman Chris Gilman shot a 12-over par 228.
In the Fossum Invitational, DU finished in a tie with Northwestern for fifth place, eight shots behind champion Indiana.
Soule was tied for the lead heading into the final round, but shot a 3-under-par 69 to pull out in front and hold on for his third career individual title.
The Pioneers will now wait to see if they have earned an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament which will be held May 18-20 in Tucson, Ariz.
Women’s Lacrosse
The women’s lacrosse team will play its final home game of the season tomorrow when they host rival Colorado College at the Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium at 7 p.m. DU will then finish off the regular season when it travels to take on No. 1 ranked Northwestern this Sunday.
