Terps Prepare For Final Fall Tournament

Nov. 1, 2002

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - After three weeks off, the Maryland women's golf team travels to Kiawah Island, S.C., for the final tournament of the fall. The Edwin Watts/Palmetto Intercollegiate will take place Nov. 4-5 at the 6,759-yard, par-72 Oak Point Golf Course. "Our goal is to finish in the top 10," head coach Jason Rodenhaver said. "This is the best field we've played in since Kentucky."

The College of Charleston hosts the 16-team field. Appalachian State, Campbell, College of Charleston, Charleston Southern, Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina, Jacksonville State, Kansas State, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, UNC-Greensboro, Oklahoma, Tulane and Winthrop will participate in the tournament.

Seniors Erin Clasper (North Potomac, Md.) and Carter Crowther (Kilmarnock, Va.) and juniors Marie Harper (West Point, Va.), Katie Redeker (Pepper Pike, Ohio) and Stacey Wolejko (Hatfield, Mass.) will compete for the Terps.

Last year the Terps finished 12th at Kiawah Island in a field that included nine of the teams which they will face again on Monday. Crowther led the Terps, tying for 27th place.

Terps At The Lady Pirate

Maryland finished ninth at the Lady Pirate Fall Intercollegiate in Greenville, N.C., three weeks ago. Despite shooting 314 and 313 in the second and third rounds, respectively, the Terps were plagued by a first-round 327.

Team captain Clasper claimed the Terps' first individual top-20 finish of the season, placing 15th with a three-round total of 230, including a four-over-par 75 in the second round.

Harper fired a 78 in the final round to finish with a combined 241, tying for 38th place.

Wolejko carded a collective 244 with three rounds in the 80s, finishing in a tie for 45th place. Crowther was just one stroke behind, tying for 48th place.

Sophomore Kristen Shew (Hockessin, Del.), who will not compete this week, finished tied for 52nd place with a three-round total of 248. Redeker will take Shew's place in the lineup.

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.

The Terps were forced to withdraw from their second fall tournament, the ACC/SEC Challenge, in Destin, Fla., due to Tropical Storm Isidor. Led by a 24th-place finish from Clasper, they returned to the course to finish sixth at the Nittany Lion Invitational in State College, Pa.

After eight rounds spanning three tournaments, Clasper boasts the lowest stroke average on the team with a 78.6. Harper, the only other player to participate in all three tournaments, averages 79.9 strokes per 18 holes.

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.

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