March 22, 2003
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COLUMBUS, Ohio - The No. 13 Ohio State women's golf team will travel to Austin, Texas, to compete in the 2003 Betsy Rawls Longhorn Classic March 23-25. The event will be held at The Hills Country Club (par 72; 6,701 yards) and is being hosted by the The University of Texas. The first round will begin at 10 a.m. Sunday while the second and final rounds Monday and Tuesday will start at 7:30 a.m. The event will feature live scoring at www.golfstat.com. Results also can be obtained at the official site of Texas Longhorn athletics, www.texassports.com.
BUCKEYES IN THE TOURNAMENT
Kristen White
Allison Hanna
Lindsay Knowlton
Brittany Adams
Erin Borowiec
Allyson Harvie
Jennifer Selfinger
NOTING THE LONGHORN CLASSIC
The Betsy Rawls Longhorn Classic will feature a field of 12 teams including Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Southern Methodist, Texas, Texas A&M and UNLV. Duke claimed the 2002 team title with a composite score of 920 (297-318-304). The Blue Devils will not return to compete in the event this year. Janice Olivencia of Texas is the defending individual champion. She posted a score of 218 (68-75-75) a year ago.
The Buckeyes finished in fourth place at the event in 2002, shooting a 933 (+81) for the tournament, 13 strokes second-ranked Duke. Third-ranked Texas nabbed runner-up honors (923), while Oklahoma took third (929). Allison Hanna had a stellar tournament, finishing in a sixth-place tie with a 227 (+14). She fired a team-best 74 in the final round. Kristen White also had a fine showing, as she posted a 229 to tie for 10th place.
A CHANGE OF SCENERY
The event will change locations this year, as competition will be held at The Hills Country Club, designed by Ohio State alumnus Jack Nicklaus. The tournament was hosted at the par 71 Barton Creek-Palmer Lakeside Course last year in Austin.
BUCKEYES IN THE RANKINGS
Ohio State is ranked No. 13 in the March 12 National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) coaches poll and No. 20 in the March 18 Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index Poll. Individually, Kristen White ranks 17th, Allison Hanna 38th and Lindsay Knowlton 70th.
BEST IN FINAL ROUND
Ohio State's lowest stroke average as a team comes in the third round, as the Buckeyes have posted a 296.5 stroke average. In addition to having best numbers in the third round as a team, seven Buckeye individuals average the best scores in the third round.
WHITE LEADS SCARLET AND GRAY
Sophomore Kristen White leads the Buckeyes at the No. 1 position in the lineup heading into competition at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Classic. White earned her first career medalist win at the Central District Invitational, posting a career-low round of 69 in the event's final round. White finished the tournament with a score of 218 (77-72-69). A native of Doylestown, Pa., White also has posted five Top 10 finishes this season. She leads the Buckeyes with a 71.5 stroke average and is one of only two Buckeyes (along with Allison Hanna) to compete in all 20 rounds for Ohio State this season.
LAST TIME OUT
The Buckeyes posted a score of 917 (308-304-305) to finish eighth March 11 at the SunTrust Lady Gator Invitational. The event was held at the par 70 University of Florida Golf Course (5,927 yards) in Gainesville, Fla.
The Lady Gators finished first for the second-consecutive year, recording a score of 873 (293-293-286). Florida State's Kristin Tamulis earned top honors individually with a mark of 215 (73-71-71).
Ohio State sophomore Kristen White tied for ninth place, shooting 212 (74-74-74). Teammate Allison Hanna tallied 227 (77-75-75) to tie for 24th. Erin Borowiec also earned a Top 50 finish with a score of 234 (77-79-78).
FALL WRAP-UP
The Buckeyes finished in the Top 7 or better in each of their tournaments during the fall, composing a record of 33-11-1 in four events. Ohio State began the season with a trip across the Pacific to compete in the Topy Cup in Tokyo, Japan. The squad finished second, shooting 875, the lowest team score during the fall season. The Buckeyes posted a fourth-place finish (912) at the NCAA Fall Preview held in West Lafayette, Ind., site of the 2003 NCAA Championships. Ohio State earned third-place finishes at both the Mason Rudolph Championships (902) and Tar Heel Invitational (888). Kristen White recorded a fall season-high second-place finish (212) at the Tar Heel Invitation. White's 212 is the lowest tournament score for the Scarlet and Gray this season. Allison Hanna also had a season-high finish at the event, placing third individually. Hanna is the only Buckeye to post Top 5 finishes in all four fall tournaments.
BUCKEYE CAPTAINS
Juniors Allison Hanna and Jennifer Borowiec will serve as Buckeye co-captains in 2002-03. Hanna is a two-year letterwinner at Ohio State and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2001. Borowiec is a one-year letter winner and was given the Buckeye Power Club Award last year for displaying excellence and leadership in the weight room.
GET TO KNOW COACH HESSION
Therese Hession, the Ohio State women's golf coach, has provided the spark necessary to revitalize the program. The former LPGA tour professional became the seventh head coach in the program's history in 1991, leading the Buckeyes to a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten championships. The following season, her team took the title and Hession received the Big Ten coach of the year award. In the 1994-95 season, Ohio State placed second at the Big Ten championships, advancing to the NCAA east regional. In 1996-97, her finest season as a Buckeye, Hession was voted Big Ten, Midwest District and National coach of the year, steering the team to an 8th-place NCAA finish and five first-place finishes, including the Big Ten tournament and the NCAA Eastern Regional Championship.
In 2001-02, Hession's Buckeyes captured the Big Ten Championship and made an eighth-place finish at the NCAA championships in Auburn, Wash. Hession was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the third time as the head coach at Ohio State.
A full-time professional golfer for 11 years, Hession competed in more than 250 LPGA tournaments. She was among the Top 150 in all-time LPGA career money-winners when she wrapped up her career in 1991. As a collegiate player for SMU, Hession led the Mustangs to a national championship in 1979, while earning All-America laurels. She graduated with honors, acquiring a bachelor's degree in business administration.
19TH HOLE
The Buckeyes return to action April 4-6 at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Challenge in Athens, Ga.
