Cross Country Ends Fall in Kennesaw

Adam Hunt
Sport Columnist / Reporter

Kacie Niemann continued her run of scintillating form to clinch fourth at the Kennesaw State Owl Invitational.

The freshman posted the best finish of any Mercer runner, male or female, at the event hosted by the Bear’s biggest Atlantic Sun rivals.
The Crestwood, KY native completed the two mile race with a time of 12:23.94. Niemann was followed by junior Clara Densmore who finished 20th with a time of 13:45.98. Sophomore Christina Kivi came in third for Mercer and 24th overall, posting a time of 14:07.83.

Rounding out the women's team was Kasie Knapper (26th - 14:12.71), Karen Dorris (27th - 14:31.10), Alesa Webber (29th - 15:11.28), Rebecca Broome (31st - 15:20.44), Hannah Stark (32nd - 15:23.08) and Jenna Jackson (34th - 16:12.28).

Head coach Ryan Bailey was full of praise for his team. “Kacie has been running fantastic times and has been able to do that consistently which is never easy as a freshman,’’ he said. “But this is a team sport and our work ethic has been fantastic going into the Conference Championships, I expect us to do well.”

On the men's side, six Bears approached the starting line knowing that only the top three runners would qualify for the remaining spots on Conference Championship team.
Freshman Taylor Snyder found his form, finishing 13th in the 5k race with a time of 17:24.04. He was followed by sophomore Sean Herring (29th - 18:23.93). Another sophomore, Geremy Skeen (31st - 18:26.28) rounded out the qualifiers.

Despite a valiant burst of speed in the closing meters, Nick Huguenard failed to overtake Skeen and finished just one place back in 32nd with a time of 18:29.54. Tom Dorwaldt (34th - 18:47.35) and Chris Crook (35th - 18:57.72) claimed the final two positions.

“It was a very exciting finish with only five spots separating four of our runners,” commented Coach Bailey. “It just goes to show the strength in depth we have in this team.”

Other teams involved in the race were Jacksonville State, Savannah College of Art and Design, and fellow Conference rivals Lipscomb.
Mercer will travel to DeLand, Fla. for the Atlantic Sun Conference championship on Saturday, Oct. 31.

Dolphins End Mercer's A-Sun Run

J. Andrew Lockwood
Senior Editor / Columnist

In a heartbreaking loss to the Jacksonville Dolphins (8-6-5, 5-1-5), the Mercer women’s soccer team saw their 2009 campaign come to a close after 3-2 double-overtime shootout loss in north Florida last Friday night. Despite scoring the opening goal and then tying the game back up with five minutes to play, head coach Grant Serafy’s Bears ran out of gas in the chase for the Atlantic Sun Championship while Dolphins advanced to take on Belmont in the second round.

Feeding off of the momentum from the past several games that catapulted Mercer into the tournament, the Bears started the game off on the right foot with an Olivia Tucker goal in the 11th minute, courtesy of a Lizzy Shaughnessy. Tucker’s only goal of the game would be her 8th and final for the year as she’d finish 2009 as Mercer’s leading scoring with 8 goals, 1 assists, and 17 points. Even more impressive, her early goal broke Jacksonville goalkeeper Alexa Rooney’s 547 minute goalless streak on the first shot of the game. Her header into the right corner of the goal gave Mercer a sigh of relief until Jacksonville responded with their own 22nd minute goal by Lisa Hensley. Coming off of a free kick following an injury on the field, Arianne Healton’s kick would find Hensley in the middle of the box where she’d deposit it past Mercer’s Jean Worts for the equalizer.

Taking the 1-1 tie into the intermission, the game appeared to be a stalemate until Lisa Hensley took another long pass from teammate Jessica Hurtado and hit a low shot to the right to give the Dolphins the advantage. Ferociously fighting, the Mercer women clawed their way back and tied the game with less than five minutes to go on a Kacie Hudson penalty kick.

With a 2-2 tie, both teams played hard during the two 10 minute overtime periods but still no winner emerged. Due to tournament play rules, one of the teams had to advance to the second round so the game was ultimately decided by the shootout after the game. Jacksonville took the win after outscoring Mercer 2-0 on penalty kicks to advance to the next round of the Atlantic Sun tournament.

Finishing 9-7-2 overall and 5-4-2 in regular season conference play, 2009 marked yet another year the Bears fell agonizingly short in the tournament. Despite being one of the hottest team in the league by winning their last four regular season games, Mercer will look towards the 2010 A-Sun title run for the next few months, banking off of the many talented young players on the roster.

Freshmen Lead Men's Golf in Chattanooga

Adam Hunt
Sports Reporter / Columnist

Mercers’ stellar freshmen fired the men’s golf team to a 15th place finish at the Aldila Scenic City Invitational hosted by the University of Tennessee – Chattanooga.
Matt Kocolowski shot a one under par 71 on the final day to lead the Bears. “Koco”, as he is known, turned in the best overall performance, finishing on 225 (+9) and placing 49th individually.

Fellow freshman William Meason carded a combined 230 (+14) en route to tying for 62nd place. Alex Street turned in a 233 (+17) while Matt Smith recorded a 238 (+22). Matt Tribby rounded out Mercer’s participants with a 240 (+24).

Head coach Andrew Tredway had mixed views about the event. “We were just very inconsistent,” he said. “This was one of the easier courses we will play but we didn’t take advantage of that. We had players shooting in the 60s and 80s from one round to the next.”

As a team, the Bears shot a final round 316, jumping up one spot after finishing day one in 16th place.

Mercer combined for a total score of 923, finishing nine strokes behind Francis Marion and five strokes ahead of the College of Charleston. Middle Tennessee State (851) took home the team title, beating Wichita State by just three strokes.

Both the hosts Chattanooga (No. 18) and Middle Tennessee State (No. 39) are currently ranked among Golfweek’s Top 50 programs.

Recently, the Mercer freshman class was ranked 11th in Golfstat’s Top 25 Freshman Class Impact Rankings and once again they lived up to their reputation.
Oregon-native Street said: “As a team we are moving in the right direction. None of us really found our game in this tournament though. Personally, I felt I putted solidly but my driving let me down.”
Mercer returns to action at the Hummingbird Invitational in Sapphire, N.C. on Nov. 2-3. This is the last tournament of the Fall semester for the Bears.

Women's Golf Finishes Fall at Boscobel

J. Andrew Lockwood
Senior Editor / Columnist

Finishing 5th in the Boscobel Intercollegiate in Pendleton, South Carolina, the women’s golf team wrapped up their fall schedule and will take a three month hiatus from tournament play until they return to the links in Miami for mid-February’s Qdoba Invitational. Led by senior Monica Kelsey’s 8th place finish as well as junior Kayli Wicker’s first career top ten, the Bears hope to build on the momentum from the tournament in the coming months.

“This was a fun event for us,” commented head coach Gary Guyer. He continued saying, “It was the last tournament this fall so I decided to take two [5 person] teams to the event. We decided the composition of the teams based on four qualifying rounds.”

With a total of ten golfers traveling, Guyer’s second team consisting of Wicker, Kimmy Graff, Kaitlin Marrin, Alex Quagliata, and Kathryn Cook actually had a lower score 647 (325, 322) than Guyer’s tournament team of Kelsey, Carolyn Levy, Alicia Poole, Leslie Choucard, and Aurelie Wiriath that shot a 656 (320, 336). If Guyer’s second team had been competing as a group rather than individuals (tournament rules allowed only one official team of five golfers) they would’ve posted a 4th place finish in the final standings. “The ten girls had a blast being around each other in a different environment and competing against each other during this tournament,” said Guyer.

Individually, Monica Kelsey’s 74 during the first day of the tournament launched her into a tie for second place with Wofford’s Sarah Herbert, the eventual winner of the tournament 148 (74, 74). Looking for her first collegiate win of her career, Kelsey had putting troubles during the second round, resulting in an 83 in her final round.

“I putted really well the first day and that helped me get off to a good start but if I had putted as well during the second day I would’ve finished much better,” said Kelsey following the tournament.

Following Kelsey, Wicker would have her best tournament as a Bear, carding a 78 and 80 to finish in a tie for tenth place. “I have been pleasantly surprised with Kayli’s game lately. She’s worked hard this summer and added about 25 yards to her tee shots to help drop her scores a bit. She is really playing confidently right now,” Guyer stated on MercerBears.com.

Graff, Quagliata, Wiriath, Levy, and Marrin would all finish in the top 25 while teammates Alicia Poole, Leslie Choucard, and Kathryn Cook would round out Mercer’s field.

After facing tough competition this fall, Mercer will continue to see top-notch players and teams as they travel to Miami, Kiawah Island (S.C.), Augusta, Ocala (Fla.), and New Smyrna Beach in the spring for the final five tournaments of 2009-10.

Men's Soccer Clinches A-Sun Tourney Berth

Adam Hunt
Sports Reporter / Columnist

The Mercer men’s soccer team clinched a spot in the Atlantic Sun Championship with a nailbiting 2-1 victory over Jacksonville.
A bumper crowd filled the Bear Field stands to witness the high octane encounter.
It was do or die for both teams who each knew that a win would solidify their place at the coveted Championships.

With the win, the Bears record moves to 5-9-2 overall and 4-4-0 in A-Sun play. Jacksonville falls to 5-10-1 overall and 3-5-0 in A-Sun action after taking the loss.

Mercer now has 12 points in conference play, meaning that it can finish no worse than sixth when league play concludes.

“We are very happy to make the Atlantic Sun Championship for the second year in a row,” said head coach Brad Ruzzo. “We have been out of form recently but we bounced back tonight and that shows how tough we can be.”

The game began with both teams fighting for every touch. It was clear from the opening whistle that the referee was willing to let the game flow and several heavy challenges flew in as a result.

The Bears were the first to convert a goalscoring opportunity in the 18th minute of play. Freshman striker Bryson Jones, in just his second start of the season, nipped in front of a Jacksonville defender to head home from eight yards.

The score remained 1-0 until half-time with the Mercer defense managing to keep Jacksonville at bay.

Mercer then doubled the lead in the 62nd minute, when sophomore Zach Rall found space just outside the area and curled his shot past Dolphins goalkeeper Joey Sanchez.

A careless challenge from Mercer defender Phillip Thoren gifted Jacksonville redemption just minutes later in the form of a penalty kick.
Senior Stefan Runeman made no mistake, sending Brett Petricek the wrong way to put the Dolphins right back in the game.
You could sense the tension in the final 20 minutes as the away side threw all they had at the hosts in search of an equalizer.
But the Bears fought valiantly and managed to hold on for the all-important win.

Mercer are back in action in their last A-Sun Conference match against UNF on October 31 at Bear Field. Don’t forget to pick up the next issue of The Cluster for a full report from the game.

“We are very happy to be in the Championship, but we still have to keep fighting and play smart,” said Ruzzo. “UNF will be another tough opponent for us and we have to show up and play well if we want to earn a result and improve our tournament seeding.”