HottyToddy Sports Round Up

The round up highlights sports on the Ole Miss campus ending the week of Sunday, June 23, 2013.

Compiled from Ole Miss Press Releases

Women’s Golf

Schneider Bows Out In Round of 32 at WAPL

Schneider falls 3 & 2 in round of 32

Ericka Schneider fell 3 and 2 in the round of 32 Thursday at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship. Photo courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

OXFORD, Miss. – Ericka Schneider again got off to a strong start Thursday at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship in Norman, Okla., but unlike Wednesday Schneider was not able to hold off her opponent and fell 3 and 2 to Lauren Diaz-Yi in the round of 32.

Schneider, who exhausted her eligibility with the Ole Miss women’s golf team in May following the NCAA East Regional, went 2 up through the opening six holes at the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club (6,287/6,342 yards, par 72), but Diaz-Yi came back and took the match by a 3 and 2 score to advance to the round of 16.

Schneider advanced to the second round of match play after winning 2 and 1 Wednesday in the opening round. She qualified for the match play portion of the tournament after advancing through a sudden victory playoff to break a 10-way tie at the end of 36 holes of stroke play.

The Bradenton, Fla., native birdied three of her opening six holes Thursday, including two par 3s, however, the consistent play of Diaz-Yi proved to be too much.

Rising sophomores Alison Hovatter and Abby Newton joined Schneider in the match play portion of the Public Links, but lost in the round of 64 Wednesday.

The U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship began in 1977. It is one of 10 individual amateur championships organized by the United States Golf Association. The tournament is a championship for female amateur golfers who play on public courses and are not members of private clubs.

The Rebels have had a strong summer season thus far. On May 23, Hovatter advanced to the semifinals of the 98th Women’s Southern Golf Association Amateur Championship, and rising senior Kathryn Fowler advanced to the quarterfinals of the same tournament.

For all Ole Miss women’s golf news and information, go to OleMissSports.com.

37th U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links

Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club

Norman, Okla.

Par 72 – 6,287/6,342 yards

Stroke Play – Two Rounds

T17 – Abby Newton – 76-71 – 147 (+3)

T51 – Alison Hovatter – 75-77 – 152 (+8)

*T59 – Ericka Schneider – 74-79 – 153 (+9)

*Advanced to championship on first tiebreaker hole

Match Play – Round of 64

Louise Yi (Nevada) def. Abby Newton (Ole Miss) – 6 & 4

Ericka Schneider (Ole Miss) def. Mariel Galdiano – 2 & 1

Kelly Shon (Princeton) def. Alison Hovatter (Ole Miss) – 6 & 5

Match Play – Round of 32

Lauren Diaz-Yi (Virginia) def. Ericka Schneider (Ole Miss) – 3 & 2

Track / Field

Ole Miss’ Kendricks Named A Bowerman Semifinalist

NEW ORLEANS – He has only just completed his second year of college in his small hometown of Oxford, Miss., but Sam Kendricks is already ascending to the pinnacle of his sport.

Not quite two weeks after his NCAA pole vault title in Eugene, Ore., the Ole Miss sophomore was named one of 10 male semifinalists for The Bowerman on Monday.

The Bowerman is awarded annually to the most outstanding male and female collegiate track & field athletes in the nation. Kendricks and the other semifinalists will be considered for selection as a finalist to attend the award ceremony at the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) convention in December.

The three finalists will be announced July 10. Voting for the final winner — including an online fan vote — will take place from late July to mid-August.

Kendricks is currently ranked seventh in the world in the pole vault. He won the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championship with a first-attempt clearance at 18-8.25 (5.70m) to defeat defending champion Jack Whitt of Oral Roberts. Kendricks cleared seven heights in nine attempts and passed on one other height. He was the SEC runner-up this year behind Arkansas’ Andrew Irwin.

At the Texas Relays in late March, Kendricks made the eighth-highest in-season clearance in collegiate history and the best since 1998 when he jumped 19-0.75 (5.81m), becoming the fifth-best in-season performer in collegiate history and the eighth collegian to surpass 19 feet during the outdoor season. He placed third at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

“This honor is a testament to the hard work that Sam has put in this year,” Ole Miss head coach Brian O’Neal said. “Not only has he been recognized as an NCAA Champion, but he’s also been noticed by the Bowerman Committee. He is a great ambassador for Ole Miss.”

Rebel senior sprinter Isiah Young, the SEC Men’s Runner of the Year, had been on the Bowerman watch list, but did not make the semifinalist cut after placing top three in the 100 and 200 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and helping Ole Miss to an eighth-place team finish.

THE BOWERMAN MEN’S SEMIFINALISTS

(Updated June 17, 2013. Listed in alphabetical order by last name.)

ABOUT THE BOWERMAN

The Bowerman, which debuted in 2009, is presented annually by the USTFCCCA to the most outstanding male and female collegiate track & field athletes in the nation.

Southern Utah’s Cam Levins and LSU’s Kimberlyn Duncan are the reigning winners of The Bowerman, which is named for legendary Oregon track & field and cross country coach Bill Bowerman.