Michigan State University Athletics
Women's Golf Prepares for NCAAs
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
May 3, 1999
THE WEEKEND ... The University Club in Columbia, S.C., plays host to the NCAA East Regional May 6-8.
Michigan State is one of 19 teams to receive a bid to the NCAA East Regional and one of four from the Midwest district. Five Big Ten schools -- MSU, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue -- will be at the NCAA East Regional. The 5,996-yard, par-72 course will feature three rounds (one each day), with play beginning at 8 a.m.
Twenty teams received bids to the NCAA West Regional, being played this weekend in Houston. Eight teams from the East and 10 teams from the West -- along with one at-large selection from either region -- will advance to the NCAA Finals in Tulsa, Oklahoma, May 19-22. The top two individuals in each region whose teams do not advance will also move on to the NCAA Finals.
THE SPARTAN SEASON ... Michigan State has enjoyed tremendous success in 1998-99 and posted the best one-year improvement in Big Ten Conference history, moving to third place after finishing ninth last season. It was MSU's best conference finish since taking second in 1987.
The Spartans have finished in the top five of all 11 tournaments this season and had two rounds with team scores under 300, including a school-record 292. They began the year with three consecutive team championships, the first time Michigan State won three straight tournaments since 1978. Michigan State has made several appearances in top-20 rankings this year, as high as third in the nation in Golfweeks fall ranking system and 20th in the Sagarin ratings entering the spring season.
Last week at the Big Ten Championship, Michigan State finished third (320-318-308-312=1258).
THE LINEUP ... (listed with class, hometown and 1998-99 stroke average)
EMILY BASTEL (Fr., Upper Sandusky, Ohio, 77.47): Has made a dramatic impact in her rookie season ... MSU's second consecutive Big Ten Freshman of the Year winner (Kasey Gant won in 1997-98, making MSU the first school to have back-to-back winners) ... named to the All-Big Ten Team ... has led the team in four of the last five tournaments, including sixth place at Big Tens ... finished first or second on the team in nine of 11 tournaments this year ... has fired her career-low of 71 twice in the last four tournaments ... five top-five finishes include runner-up in the Mary Fossum Invitational, three third-place finishes and fifth at the Lady Buckeye Invitational ... her 77.47 stroke average stands third all-time at MSU ... has only been out of the top 20 in one tournament this season ... has had a team-low six rounds in the 80s, with 24 rounds in the 70s ... shot a hole-in-one at the Notre Dame Invitational Oct. 23.
KASEY GANT (So., Fort Wayne, Ind., 77.5): Was the start of MSU's transition to a Big Ten power when she arrived as a freshman last year ... has been in the top 20 in 10 of 11 tournaments this season ... made the All-Big Ten Team for the second straight season ... has been first or second on the team in nine of 11 tournaments on the year ... earned medalist honors at the Mary Fossum Invitational (repeating her 1997 title) and the Wolverine Invitational ... fired a 68 in the opening round of the Big Ten/Big 12 Shootout, the best round in MSU history and the best round in the Big Ten this season ... the only Spartan ever to shoot under 70 in a round, and has done so twice ... finished tied for third with her best three-round score of the year (219) at the Big Ten/Big 12 Shootout ... has been consistently ranked among the top 50 women's golfers in the nation, including a recent No. 33 ranking in Golfweek ... her 77.5 stroke average is the fifth-best in MSU history.
STACY SNIDER (Fr., Grand Rapids, Mich., 79.9): Another of Slobodnik's young guns, Snider enters this weekend on a roll, having finished in the top 15 of the last two tournaments ... MSU's No. 2 finisher at the Big Tens, sharing 12th overall ... posted top-10 finishes in the Mary Fossum Invitational and the Wolverine Invitational ... career-low 73 came in the Fossum Invitational.
ELLEN BISHOP (Sr., New Castle, Ind., 80.9): Her stroke average has been nearly two shots lower than her career average entering 1998-99 ... tied for 22nd at the Big Ten Championship ... posted her best individual finish (tied for sixth) and her career-best round (74) at the Fossum Invitational.
KELLIE DENNIS (Sr., Jackson, Mich., 81.1): Has enjoyed her finest season as a Spartan, producing five top-20 finishes, including a share of 20th at the Big Ten Championship ... had back-to-back top-10 finishes at the Lady Northern (eighth) and the Wolverine Invitational (tied for seventh) ... shot a career-best 70 -- the third-best round in MSU history -- in the final round of the Lady Northern.
THE COACH ... Second-year head coach Stacy Slobodnik has led the Spartans in 1998-99. An outstanding player in her own right, the 1998 Golf Association of Michigan Player of the Year has mixed talented young players with three experienced seniors for tremendous results. Last summer she won the state amateur and the state stroke play championship. Slobodnik was a two-year captain for the Spartans and graduated in 1994. She took over as head coach after spending two years as assistant to long-time coach Mary Fossum.
THE HISTORY ... The Spartans have made two previous appearances in the NCAA Championship as a team, in 1982 and '84, but none since the regional format was adopted. Former Spartan Jenn Kangas did appear in the NCAA East Regional as an individual in 1996, while Syd Wells (1981) and Lisa Marino (1985) also appeared in NCAA Championships individually.
Michigan State's top NCAA Championship finish came in 1984, as head coach Mary Fossum led the Spartans to 16th place. In 1982, the Spartans finished 18th.
THE TURNAROUND ... How big has the Spartan turnaround been since last season? For starters, MSU finished ninth in last year's Big Ten Championship, but took third place this season. That is the biggest one-year improvement by any team since the Big Ten began sponsoring womens golf in 1982.
Next, looking at a won-loss record based on teams beaten and lost to in tournaments, Michigan State was 75-71 (.514) in 1997-98. This year, Michigan State is has 36 more victories with a record of 111-24 (.822). That's a difference of four wins over .500 last year to 87 wins over .500 this season.
THE ROOKIES ... Michigan State's top two freshmen, Emily Bastel and Stacy Snider, stand first and third on the team in stroke average, respectively. In Golfstat's rankings of the nation's top freshman classes based upon impact on this year's team, Michigan State ranks 13th and No. 1 among Big Ten programs.
Bastel and Snider have combined for 15 top-20 finishes in MSU's 11 tournaments this season, including six appearances in the top five.
They have played their best golf of late, finishing 1-2 on the team in each of the last two tournaments (the Lady Buckeye Invitational and the Big Ten Championship).
APRIL SHOWERS ... Michigan State appears to be regaining the form which led to their tremendous success in the fall season. Although the Spartans never fell out of the top five in any tournament they entered, their team stroke average has been better at the beginning and end of the 1998-99 campaign. Take a look at stroke average by month:
Month Sept. Oct. Feb. March April May Team Average 307.0 306.6 326.0 320.0 315.5 310.0 Difference from year average (312.8) -5.8 -6.2 +13.2 +7.2 +2.7 -2.8
THE AWARDS ... Michigan State became the first school to win back-to-back Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors when Emily Bastel captured the award last weekend. That followed Kasey Gant, who in 1997-98 became the first Spartan to win the honor.
Bastel and Gant were also on the All-Big Ten Team, with Gant capturing honors for the second straight season. Michigan State, Ohio State (three) and Purdue (two) were the only schools with more than one selection to the 10-member team. This marks the first time since 1988 (Kelly Holland and Faith Egli) that Michigan State had more than one player selected to the All-Big Ten Team. Gant is the first Spartan to earn the honor twice since Egli (1987, '88).
"To have two All-Big Ten players is special," head coach Stacy Slobodnik said. "It says so much about the program and the performance of those two players. And the best part about it -- they are a freshman and a sophomore, which bodes well for the future."
THE FIELD ... NCAA East Regional participants: Auburn, Campbell, Duke, Florida State, Furman, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana State, Memphis, MICHIGAN STATE, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, South Carolina, South Florida, Tennessee, Wake Forest. Individuals participating: Line Berg (Central Florida), Pam Buff (Tulane), Mallory Crosland (Vanderbilt), Emily Gilley (Northwestern), Lotta Johnson (North Carolina-Greensboro), Sarah Johnston (Alabama), Pia Josefsson (Mississippi State)
MICHIGAN STATE UPDATED RECORD BOOK
LOW SEASON STROKE AVERAGE Player (Year) Avg. 1. Syd Wells (1982-83) 75.9 2. Lisa Marino (1986-87) 77.4 3. EMILY BASTEL (1998-99) 77.47 4. Kasey Gant (1997-98) 77.48 5. KASEY GANT (1998-99) 77.5 6. Lisa Marino (1984-85) 77.6 Syd Wells (1981-82) 77.6LOW 18-HOLE SCORE Player (Date) Score 1. KASEY GANT (10/12/98) 68 2. Kasey Gant (10/10/97) 69 3. KELLIE DENNIS (9/27/98) 70 M. SCHUMAKER (9/12/98) 70 Kasey Gant (9/14/97) 70 Kathy Teichert (9/21/84) 70 Syd Wells (9/25/81) 70
LOW 54-HOLE SCORE Player (Dates) Score 1. Kasey Gant (9/13-14/97) 216 2. KASEY GANT (10/12/-13/98) 219 Barb Mucha (9/30-10/2/83) 219 4. Syd Wells (3/31-4/1/83) 221 Syd Wells (10/1-2/82) 221
LOW 72-HOLE SCORE Player (Dates) Score 1. Kasey Gant (5/1-3/98) 302 2. Kelly Holland (5/8-10/87) 303 3. Barb Mucha (5/23-26/84) 309 4. Lisa Marino (5/8-10/87) 310 5. Syd Wells (5/25-28/83) 311
LOW 18-HOLE TEAM SCORE Date Score 10/12/98, BIG TEN/BIG 12 292 9/12/98, FOSSUM INVIT. 293
MICHIGAN STATE IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
Michigan State has appeared in the NCAA Championship as a team twice before (1982, 84), both before the regional format began. Three individuals have made NCAA appearances as well.
TEAM NCAA APPEARANCES Year Finish 1982 18th 1984 16thNCAA INDIVIDUAL APPEARANCES Player Year Syd Wells 1981 Lisa Marino 1985 Jenn Kangas (East Regional) 1996
