Category | Sports

Owls on the road

Published on February 17, 2009 by Jerome Wooley

MEN’S GOLF

Top 10 finish at Mardi Gras Invitational
Freshman Jeff Karlsson helped to lead the KSU golf team to a tenth place finish as he turned in an impressive card by shooting a two-over par 74 in the final round of the Mardi Gras Invitational, which took place in New Orleans, La. on Tues., Feb. 10.

The inclement weather did not hinder the Gothenburg, Sweden native as he tied for 27th at the complex 7,028-yard, par 72 TPC Louisiana. Karlsson was impressive, but it was his teammate Matthew Nagy who stole the show for KSU.

Nagy finished 17th at the Invitational, just three strokes out of the top ten. The last round appeared a bit difficult for Nagy by him carding his highest round, shooting a 77. The native of Buena Vista, Ga. still remained in the invitational’s top 20 after such a round.

The men’s golf team will return to the fairways on March 9-10 as they go to compete at the Samford Intercollegiate.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Eagles upend Lady Owls
Three members of the Lady Owls scored in the double-digits, but it was not enough for the team as they lost, 88-79, to Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday, Feb. 12 at Alico Arena.

Jennifer Baker dropped a team-high 26 points for KSU while Gretaya Kelley scored 22 points and Britteny Henderson obtained a dominating double-double for the Black and Gold. However, it couldn’t match a powerful 32-point performance by Florida Gulf Coast’s Adrianne McNally.

Baker shot 10-for-14 from the field including 5-for-8 from three point range and Kelley shot 9-for-15 from the floor with six assists. Henderson scored 12 points and pulled down ten rebounds for KSU.

The loss gives the Lady Owls an 11-12 overall record and a record of 8-7 in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Lady Owls top-Hatters
The Lady Owls were anchored by Montinique Nixon who scored 16 points and accumulated 15 rebounds as KSU beat Stetson, 64-51, on Saturday, Feb. 14 at the Edmunds Center in DeLand, Fla.

Nixon shot an outstanding 8-for-15 from the field, including four blocks in 31 minutes on the court. The over-powering center was aided by Jennifer Baker who collected 15 points with nine rebounds in the victory.

KSU (12-12, 9-7 A-Sun) led by as much as 14 points in the second half with clutch three-pointers coming from Angie Smith, Gia Lockett and DeAndrea Bullock. The Black and Gold went on to out-rebound the Hatters, 55-33, including a 25-13 advantage on the offensive boards.

The Lady Owls, sixth in the Atlantic Sun Conference, will return to the court as they host Belmont at the KSU Convocation Center on Thursday, Feb. 19.

TRACK AND FIELD

Strong finish at Clemson Invitational
The men’s track and field team competed in their final meet of the regular season before beginning the Atlantic Sun Indoor Championships after performing spectacularly at the Clemson Invite on Friday, Feb. 13 in Clemson, S.C.

Mid-distance runner Gianni Catalano led the Owls in the 800m run, as he finished first with a time of 1:54.18, giving him his second first place finish of the season. Teammate James Verdi set a KSU school record in the 400m dash when he crossed the line with a time of 49.75, earning him third place in the event.

“We always know what we are getting when James and Gianni race,” said assistant coach Devin West. “It’s always exciting to see what they are going to do next.”

Senior Scott Burley finished third in the one-mile run, and set a school record of 4:14.73. Burley’s running mate Piotr Witczak finished closely behind with a seventh best time of 4:18.02.

“I felt the race went well,” said Burley. “I was very happy for Piotr, setting a new personal record by six seconds.”

The high-jumping Jerome McKinzie placed second by jumping a height of 2.09m and Joshua McNair finished fourth in the weight throw with a distance of 18.30m capping off the Owls success in Clemson.

The men’s track and field team will compete in the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships on February 20-21 in Johnson City, Tenn.

Sutton finishes first
Senior Erin Sutton took first place in the 3000m run for the women’s track and field team as she crossed the line with a time of 10:09.25 at the Clemson Invite on Friday, Feb. 13.

Sutton was also a member of the KSU distance medley relay team which came in second place with a time of 12:23.71. The native of Dallas, Ga. was teamed with Mackenzie Howe, Soibhan Wolcott and Caitlin German.

The women were strong in virtually all of their events at the Clemson Invite. Jill Arthur finished second in the triple jump and Jessica Lumpkin came in second in the weight throw.

“It was another great performance,” said assistant coach Devin West. “They look very strong heading into conference.”

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Tough outing in DeLand
The men’s basketball team could not put things together in DeLand, Fla. as they lost to Stetson, 59-39, at the Edmunds Center on Saturday, Feb. 14.

The Owls (7-17, 3-12) had three players share the team-high in scoring (8) including, Kurtis Woods, Jon Allison and Spencer Dixon. The Black and Gold out-rebounded the Hatters, 43-49, but could not find the needed momentum offensively.

The Owls will be back in action as they travel to Fort Myers, Fla. to take on Florida Gulf Coast.