Gators Head Into the Spring Ranked 9th

Mar 12, 2008

TOP 25 POLL

NEW YORK, N.Y. – After a successful fall campaign in 2007, the Allegheny College women’s golf team heads into the 2008 spring season ranked ninth in Division III according to the latest Golf World/National Golf Coaches Association poll.

The Gators reeled off victories in four of their five events during the fall with their only non-win coming after a third-place showing at the highly competitive DePauw Invitational in late September. The #9 ranking in the nation ties for the highest in the program’s short but successful history.

“Rankings don’t mean a whole lot for getting a National bid,” said Gator head coach Jeff Groff. “It is important though in how we are viewed and how we are measured come time for Nationals.”

Allegheny has qualified for Division III Nationals in each of the first two years of the program’s existence. The Blue and Gold finished 11th out of 20 teams last year after placing ninth out of only 10 teams competing in 2006.

“Because we don’t have a conference championship, we set the bar very high,” noted Groff. “Our goal again this year is to qualify for Nationals, so we will have to get off to a good start at Jekyll Island and continue to play well throughout the spring.”

Heading into the spring, Allegheny will by led by junior Jamie Reints (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East), who owns a team-best 82.56 average after nine rounds of golf. Fellow junior Alison Bruckner (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) is close behind at an even 83.00 per round while sophomore Kristi Archer (Aliquippa, Pa./Center) sits at 84.33.

Reints’ (pictured right) and Bruckner’s averages rank 61st and 85th, respectively, in all of Division III while senior Lisa Coleman (Lakeview, N.Y./Frontier Central) tied for the lowest single round in the nation with her 74 at Gannon in early October.

“We actually have a veteran team despite the fact the program is so young,” said Groff. “Our big strength is our depth that allows for a comfort factor amongst the players. There is no pressure on one player to go out and try to shoot extremely low. We go into each tournament looking to post five good scores and we don’t worry about what everyone else is shooting.”

Allegheny’s depth was a big reason for a successful fall season, as the team had six players with an average of 85 or lower.

“Lisa, Alison, and Jamie have been in our top five since day one of the program and we will look for them to lead us this spring,” said the head coach. “Kristi, our lone sophomore, and our freshmen class also had a very good fall and we expect big contributions from them as well.”

Allegheny opens their spring season at the Jekyll Island Collegiate in Georgia on Friday-Sunday, March 21-23. The squad finished seventh out of the 23 teams competing at the event last year.

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