Oct. 12, 2002
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Coming off a sixth-place finish at the Nittany Lion Invitational last weekend, the Maryland women's golf team next travels to Greenville, N.C., for the second annual Lady Pirate Fall Intercollegiate. The three-round tournament will take place Oct. 14-15 at the par-71, 5,850-yard Greenville Country Club. "We're familiar with the course, and we played well there last year, so we should do well," said head coach Jason Rodenhaver.
The Terps will face several familiar foes at the Lady Pirate. Host East Carolina, James Madison, Longwood and William & Mary played at last weekend's Nittany Lion Invitational, and Richmond participated in the Lady Kat Invitational Sept. 13-15. The 16 teams competing are: Augusta State, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, Elon, James Madison, Longwood, Maryland, Mercer, Methodist, Radford, Richmond, West Florida, Western Carolina, William & Mary and Xavier.
The lineup for the Lady Pirate barely resembles the one the Terps used to open the season in Lexington. Seniors Erin Clasper (North Patomac, Md.) and Carter Crowther (Kilmarnock, Va.), juniors Marie Harper (West Point, Va.) and Stacey Wolejko (Hatfield, Mass.), and sophomore Kristen Shew (Hockessin, Del.) will compete for the Terps. Clasper and Harper have played in both previous tournaments this fall, while Shew and Crowther sat out the Lady Kat Invitational before participating at Penn State. The Lady Pirate will be Wolejko's first action of the fall.
Last year, the Terps finished fifth in Greenville behind East Carolina, Elon, Charleston Southern and Coastal Carolina, four teams which they will face again this year. Crowther led the Terps, tying for eighth place.
Terps At Penn State
The Terps finished sixth at the Nittany Lion Invitational Oct. 5-6, just seven strokes away from their first top-five finish of the season. "We played okay, but not to our capabilities," Rodenhaver said.
Clasper led the Terps with 236 finishing in a tie for 24th place. After firing a 78 in the first round, she shot an 80 in the second before returning to 78 again in the third and final round.
Harper shot a 10-over-par 82 in the final round after carding two 79's in the first two rounds for a combined score of 240, landing tied for 34th place.
Junior Katie Redeker (Pepper Pike, Ohio) shot a combined 241 to finish tied for 40th place, just one stroke behind Harper.
Crowther and Shew each totaled 242, placing them in a tie for 43rd. Shew carded a team-low two-over-par 74 in the second round.
Freshman Alex Casi (East Palestine, Ohio) was just one stroke behind them at 243 for sole possession of 47th place.
Terps At A Glance
This is the first full four-year senior class for the Terps, who began play just four years ago. Jennifer Gibson (Havertown, Pa.) and Holly Thornton (Delran, N.J.) join Crowther and Clasper.
Maryland finished in ninth place at the season-opening Lady Kat Invitational in Lexington, Ky. Harper and Redeker tied for 30th place to lead the Terps.
After five rounds spanning two tournaments, Harper boasts the lowest stroke average on the team at 79.6. Redeker and Clasper are just percentage points behind at 79.8
About Coach Rodenhaver
In his fourth season as head coach, Jason Rodenhaver is the only coach the Maryland women's golf team has ever known, and built the program from scratch.
Rodenhaver played three years for Maryland after transferring from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where he played one season. As team captain in 1994, his senior year, Rodenhaver led the Terps to a fifth place finish at the ACC Tournament, and played in the 1994 NCAA Tournament.
In his eighth year of coaching, Rodenhaver was named head coach of the women's team on November 19, 1998 after serving as the assistant coach of the men's team for four-and-a-half seasons.
Rodenhaver says his most memorable moment as a coach was leading the women's team to victory at the James Madison Lady Dukes Invitational in spring 2001. It was the first team victory in Maryland women's golf history.
Follow The Terrapins In 2002
Terps on the Web - For up-to-date tournament stories, statistics, schedules and results, and other Maryland athletic department information, please locate www.umterps.com on the Internet. Check it out today for the most recent women's golf player and coach bios and the 2002 season recaps.
E-mail Straight To You - If you would like the latest Maryland women's golf news e-mailed directly to you as soon as it breaks, e-mail women's golf contact Jessica Bernheim at jessicab@wam.umd.edu with the message "Golf E-mail" as the subject and you will receive every update released about the team.
Terrapin Fan Phone - For up-to-date reports, comments from coaches and other Maryland athletic department information, call the Terrapin Fan Phone at 301-314-TERP.
