weekly_051506

WEEKLY ATHLETIC SCHEDULE

Wednesday, May 10

• Women's Golf at NCAA National Championship – Allendale, Mich. (Grand Valley St.) – All Day

• Baseball at Florida Southern – Lakeland, Fla. – 7 p.m.

Thursday, May 11

• Women's Golf at NCAA National Championship – Allendale, Mich. (Grand Valley St.) – All Day

Friday, May 12

• Women's Golf at NCAA National Championship – Allendale, Mich. (Grand Valley St.) – All Day

• Baseball at Florida Gulf Coast – Ft. Myers – 7 p.m.

Saturday, May 13

• Women's Golf at NCAA National Championship – Allendale, Mich. (Grand Valley St.) – All Day

• Baseball at Florida Gulf Coast (DH) – Ft. Myers – 1 p.m.

David Nathanson's complete game shutout victory in the second game of a double-header against Lynn University earned him Sunshine State Conference Pitcher of the Week honors for the week of May 1-7. Nathanson joins Eduardo Chile and Mario Lombardo as Rollins pitchers who have received the award in 2006.

Nathanson went seven innings against the Knights giving up just four hits and walking two while striking out six en route to a complete game shutout. The win was key for the Tars because it gave them their first SSC series win in their last three.

On the season, the junior from Maitland, Fla. is 5-5 with a 3.68 ERA. He's second on the team in strike-outs with 70, and leads the team with 93 innings of work. He now has two complete games and one shutout on the year. Over his three year career at Rollins, Nathanson has 19 wins, a 3.70 ERA, and 184 strike-outs in 248.1 innings pitched. He sits at 15th on the Rollins All-Time list in wins.

Rollins College has recently learned of the passing of 1959 graduate and coaching legend Boyd Coffie. He was 68. Boyd is survived by his wife Linda and children Trey and Ashlie. More information on funeral and memorial arrangements will be posted when available.

Boyd Coffie led the Rollins College baseball team for 19 of the programs' most successful seasons. A legend in every sense of the word, he compiled a record of 586-419-6, making him the winningest coach in Rollins history. The success of his 1989 season still echoes through Alfond Stadium at Harper-Shepherd Field as the Tars advanced to the NCAA Division II World Series in Montgomery, Alabama by beating rival Tampa twice in the South Region Championship. Also during that year, Coffie recorded win number 500 with a victory over the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. He was named Florida Baseball Coach of the Year and South Region Coach of the Year in 1989.

A native of Athens, Tennessee, Coffie became only the second baseball coach in Rollins' modern history as he returned to his alma mater in 1972. He took over for mentor Joe Justice, who guided the Rollins program for the 25 previous seasons. Coffie lettered four years and was a two-time NAIA All-American catcher. He was also selected to All-Florida Intercollegiate Conference teams three times in his playing career. His senior season, Coffie was named MVP and led the Tars to the NAIA national tournament.

Following graduation, Coffie played and managed in the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins organizations. He returned to Rollins in 1963 to become the Tars' head basketball coach for 10 seasons, setting a record for career victories with 94 until current Rollins coach Tom Klusman passed him in 1987.

Coffie is a charter member of the Rollins College Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame in 1994.

The champs charged down the stretch and held off a determined squad from Lynn University as the Rollins women's golf team once again captured the NCAA Division II South Region Championship. The Tars had their 12 shot, day one lead quickly erased, but held on for a final round 297 and seven stroke win over the Fighting Knights.

“The ultimate goal is to move on and second would have been okay, but we are very happy to win this tournament,” said Rollins Head Coach Julie Garner. “Hats off to Lynn for their play in the final two rounds. The pressure was on us to perform and our seniors stepped up to the task.”

Rollins shot 295-307 on day one and came in with a 297 in the final round for a total of 899 strokes. Lynn carded rounds of 315-299 on day one and the best score of the event with a 292 on Tuesday. Nova Southeastern (925), Florida Southern (926) took third and fourth, respectively with West Florida and Barry tying for fifth place (930).

Senior Mariana De Biase led Rollins' attack with a third place finish. She shot 71 in the opening round and 78 in round two, before coming back with a 73 for a total of 222 shots. Fellow senior Charlotte Campbell tied for the second best score of the final round, carding a one under par 71 after rounds of 75-78 on Monday to take fifth place with 224 strokes. Marie-Pierre Bernier tied for sixth place for the Tars, shooting 78 in round one before back to back scores of 74 (226). Vanessa Vela went 74-77-79 (230) to tie for 11 th place while Cristina Gugler carded 75-79-79 (233) and tied for 18 th place.

Lynn's Natasha Morgan took medalist honors, shooting rounds of 75-72-71 for a two stroke win over teammate Liz Whitehouse.

“After this tournament, I think we know what we have to do at Nationals,” added Garner. “The top teams in the country are from the South Region, so we are happy to come out with a win, but will be ready next week.”

The Rollins College women's golf team will go for their unprecedented fourth straight NCAA Division II National Championship on May 10-13 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Rollins senior Dan Walters shot a sizzling 65 in Wednesday's final round and finished one shot out of first as the Tars tied for fourth place at the 2006 South Regional Championship. Rollins shot 293-289 in the first two rounds and 295 on Wednesday for a 13 over par total of 877 strokes.

Florida Southern ran away with the team championship, turning in a score of 857 (-7) while Lynn University took runner up at three under par (861). North Alabama took third place (875, +2) followed by Rollins and West Florida.

Walters was bogey free on Wednesday en route to a tournament best score of 65, but just missed a trip to nationals. He carded 73-71 in the first two rounds before finishing with the stellar seven under par and ending one shot out of first place with 209 strokes. The senior racked up 12 birdies to just five bogies in his 54 holes of golf.

West Florida's Will Grace birdied the 18 th hole on Wednesday to sneak past Walters and UNA's Heath Jones at eight under par (208).

Darren Lundgren shot 75 on Wednesday after rounds of 73-71 to tie for 12 th place with 219 shots. Andrew Pranger turned in rounds of 77-73-76 and tied for 26 th place at 226 shots while Tim Acquaviva was a shot back (74-74-79) and tied for 28 th with 227 strokes. Jeff Golden tied for 32 nd place with 228 shots after rounds of 73-76-79.

The tournament ends another fantastic year for the Rollins men's golf team as they will now gear up for the 2006-07 season.

The Rollins baseball team gained some momentum this weekend, and is looking to finish the season off strong against two quality opponents this week. The Tars won their first SSC series since late March, as they took out Lynn Friday and Saturday 2-1. Rollins took the Friday night match-up 11-7, dropped the first game of a double-header Saturday afternoon 11-8, before finishing the weekend with an 8-0 victory in the rubber match.

Stefano Foggi and Eugene Martinez led the Rollins offense to a big comeback victory on Friday night over Lynn, 11-7. The Tars snapped a 10 game conference losing streak with the win over the Knights. First baseman Stefano Foggi went 2-5 with a double and drove in four runs and catcher Eugene Martinez was a perfect 4-4 with two RBI for the Tars.

The Rollins offense was able to overcome a rough beginning by starter, Eduardo Chile. Chile gave up two homers in the first inning, and the Tars trailed 5-0. Rollins was able to counter in the next two innings by cutting the deficit to one at 5-4. The Tars went up for good with four more runs in the bottom of the fourth. They would add a run in each of the next three innings, and went on to win 11-7. The Tars were able capitalize on four Lynn errors by plating five unearned runs.

Lynn jumped on the Tars right out of the gate for the second day in row in the first game. The Knights plated three runs in the top half of the first inning, and hoped to run away early. The game would switch sides five times before Lynn was able to pull it out with four big runs in the top of the eighth. The Tars held a 5-4 advantage after four innings and also pushed ahead 8-7 in the seventh. However, the bullpen was not able to hold on to the lead and the Tars dropped the game 11-8.

The Tars offense tallied nine hits in the ball game, and were led by their lead-off man Gary Martoccio. The second baseman was 3-4 on the afternoon with two runs scored, a walk, a three run homer, and four RBI. Junior Gene Howard and seniors Brent Magnuson and Rob Cloar all had two hits in the game.

The Tars took control of the second game from the get go. Starter David Nathanson got in a groove early and never let the Lynn hitters get comfortable at the plate. Nathanson went all seven innings giving up just four hits and walking two while striking out six en route to a complete game shutout. The Tars used two big innings to down the Knights. Rollins got two runs in the bottom of the third, and they put Lynn away with a six run fifth.

Seniors Brent Magnuson and Rob Cloar were the stars on the offensive side for the Tars. Magnuson and Cloar both played their final game in Alfond Stadium on Saturday, as the Tars celebrated senior day. Cloar went 2-3 with a run scored and three RBI, while Magnuson went 2-3 with two runs scored and a stolen base. Ryan McKenzie added a single and a run and Jesse More contributed a three RBI stand up triple.

The Tars will finish up their season this week as they will travel to Lakeland for a match-up with SSC rival, Florida Southern on Wednesday. Then they will travel to Ft. Myers for their last two games of the year on Friday and Saturday against Florida Gulf Coast.

Rollins was up 2-1 after doubles competition, but dropped four close singles matches and lost to Eckerd College 5-3 in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Tournament. The match ends Rollins 2006 campaign with a record of 13-12 while Eckerd (20-4) advances to play Barry in the championship match.

As has been the case the entire season, Rollins was tough in doubles, jumping out to a 2-1 advantage. Tasi Purcell and Marnie Mahler won their third straight with an 8-1 romp over Mandora Mak and Julia Lima in the No. 1 match. Anastasiya Shevchenko and Silvia Frandji downed Gina Oliveira and Carolyn Niedermayer 8-6 in the No. 3 position for the Tars second point. The Tritions got on the board behind an Amanda McClure and Rachel Finch 8-3 win over Sonia Bernal and Cassie Webster in the No. 2 match.

The Tars were shocked in the top two singles matches and were only able to grab one point with a win at No. 6. Cassie Webster was the lone winner, taking Niedermayer 6-2, 7-5. Purcell was upset by Mak in a three set No. 1 match, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 while Oliveria downed Mahler 6-4, 6-2 in the No. 2 position. Lima was a 6-2, 6-0 winner over Bernal at No. 3 singles and McClure defeated Frandji 6-1, 7-6(7-5) in the 5 match.

The Rollins women's varsity 8 took part in the 2006 Sunshine State Conference Championship last week and rowed to a fourth place finish. The team of Lisa Knapp, Kim Lucy, Katie Broome, Chelsi Wilkerson, Liza Hussey, Megan Wise, Sarah Pantages, Laura Edwards, and Shannon VanDyke posted a time of 8:04.3 in the event. Barry won the race and took the 2006 SSC team championship as well.

The Rollins College Athletic Department announced its Athletes of the Year at the 2006 Blue & Gold Banquet Wednesday in the Alfond Sports Center. Senior Mariana De Biase of the women's golf team was awarded the Rollins Athletic Association Senior Scholar Athlete Award. Senior Daniell Robertson of the men's soccer team was awarded Male Athlete of the Year and senior Charlotte Campbell of the women's golf team was awarded Female Athlete of the Year.

De Biase is a senior women's golfer from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In her four years at Rollins, De Biase has posted an impressive 3.76 GPA as an International Business major while also helping guide the Tars to three straight NCAA Division II National Championships. This season, Mariana was the 2006 Sunshine State Conference individual champion, she was second on the team in scoring average, and she helped the Tars to another South Region Championship on Tuesday. Academically, the Brazilian made the SSC Commissioner's honor roll and the Rollins AD Fall Honor Roll. She has been a first team All-SSC member three times in her career and made the February and March Sunshine State Conference Commissioner's List of Outstanding Achievement.

Robertson is a senior men's soccer player from Stockton-on-Tees, UK. He has been one of the most tenacious defenders in Rollins soccer history. Robertson is the Rollins' soccer program's first three-time All-American. He's also been a three-time All-South Region first team honoree, a three-time All-SSC honoree (first team in 2004 & 2005, second team in 2003), and the SSC's Defensive Player of the Year in 2004 & 2005. He finished his career third on Rollins' All-Time list with 32 assists and 73 games played. He scored five goals and had 32 assists for a total of 42 points in his four year career. In his senior season, he finished with three goals and six assists.

Campbell is a senior women's golfer from Heathrow, Florida. Campbell is one of the most decorated athletes in Rollins history. This season alone, she has won three tournaments and finished in the top 15 in all eight tournaments the Tars participated in while leading the team in stroke average. She was the runner up at the 2006 Sunshine State Conference Tournament, was the SSC Golfer of the Week on three separate occasions, and found her way onto the SSC's Commissioner's List of Outstanding Achievement in February and March. She is a two-time medalist at the NCAA Division II National Championships, a three-time NCAA Division II National Player of the Year, a four-time first team All-SSC selection, and she's been the SSC Player of the Year twice (2006, 2004).

The Sunshine State Conference issued its April edition of the Commissioner's List of Outstanding Achievement with 15 athletes from Rollins finding their way onto the list. Stefano Foggi and Gene Howard made the list from baseball; Dan Walters represented the men's golf team; Charlotte Campbell and Mariana De Biase represented the women's golf team; the softball team had five players honored: Nicole Anderson, Kelly Cruz, Jennifer Olsen, Jamie Rausch and Stacy Sanders; Brian Compton and Jonathan Gomez were honored from the men's tennis; and the women's team had three players make the list: Marnie Mahler, Tasi Purcell and Anastasiya Shevchenko.

The Commissioner's List of Outstanding Achievement is designed to recognize the top athletic performers at each SSC member institution in a given calendar month.

A total of 131 student-athletes representing all nine member institutions in seven different sports were named to the Sunshine State Conference Commissioner's List of Outstanding Achievement for the month of April.

WEEKLY RELEASE 2005-06 ARCHIVE