The SDSU women’s golf team took fifth at the Summit League Championships in Rochester, Mich. April 20-21. The rain-shortened event took place at the 5,899-yard, par-72 Katke-Cousins Golf Course.

The Jackrabbits carded a 36-hole total of 671 (341-330) but finished well behind the winners from Oral Roberts University who shot a 619 (305-314). The lopsided victory was the 12th in a row in the Summit League Championships for the women from ORU.

SDSU was led by Whitney Schrader who finished tied for 20th at 166 (82-84).

Brittany Hanten (88-80) and Sydney Sturdevant (82-86) each carded a 168 and finished tied for 23rd. Amanda Rosol ended the tournament tied for 28th at 172 (90-82) while Rebecca Swords rounded out the scoring for the Jacks with a 174 (87-87).

The individual winner was Christy Carter of Oral Roberts, who successfully defended her championship with a 148 (72-76). Amber Hensley of ORU finished just three strokes behind at 151 (77-74) to take second place.

Kelsey Kipp of UMKC finished in third with a two-round score of 159 (77-82).

There was a four-way tie for fourth at 160 between Kylie Bollenbach (80-80) of Oral Roberts, Liz Ecker (79-81) of Oakland (Mich.), Crystal Reeves (76-84) of Oral Roberts and Chelsey Wongjirad (80-80) of North Dakota State.

With four golfers finishing in the top-7, Oral Roberts ran away with the title. UMKC finished in second place at 657 (331-326) – a full 38 strokes behind ORU.

Oakland carded a 661 (328-333) to take third place while the Westerwinds of Western Illinois grabbed fourth with a 666 (336-330).

The Jackrabbit women finish their season May 2-3 at the Dakota Cup in Morton, Minn.

SDSU men’s golf coach Jared Baszler was straightforward when asked what he wanted to see from his team in the Beu/Mussatto Invitational.

“One thing: beat Western Illinois on their home golf course,” Baszler said. “Trent [Peterson] defending his individual crown would be icing on the cake.”

Coach Baszler got exactly what he asked for. The SDSU men’s golf team shot a 600 (300-300) to take the title at the Beu/Mussatto Invitational, with Peterson finishing the tournament as the top individual golfer.

The event took place April 20-21 in Macomb, Ill. at the 6,862-yard, par-72 Harry Mussatto Golf Course. The tournament was shortened to two rounds due to windy conditions.

The Jackrabbits finished six strokes ahead of the home team Western Illinois. The Leathernecks took second place with a two-round 606 (303-303)

SDSU’s win was the fourth for the team on the season but just the first victory in a spring tournament, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. With the Summit League Championships just around the corner, the Jacks may have finally shaken off the rust from the winter break.

The Jackrabbits were once again lead by Trent Peterson, who won the individual championship for the second year in a row after finishing two-under par at 142 (68-74). The event marks the seventh time this season that Peterson has finished a tournament in the top 10.

Kyle Vandevoort finished in seventh place after shooting a second-round 74 to card a two-round total of 152 (78-74). The top-10 finish was the first of Vandevoort’s career. Tim Kalil also posted a solid score of 153 (75-78) which was good enough to tie for eighth.

Geoff Mead and Justin Jenkins rounded out the scoring for the team with scores of 155 (80-75) and 156 (79-77) respectively. Mead finished in a tie for 19th while Jenkins ended the tournament tied in 25th.

Aaron Pearson (77-69 – 146) of Green Bay and Kyle Peterman (72-74 – 146) of Western Illinois finished tied for second in the individual competition at two-over.

Ben Engle of IUPUI finished in fourth place at 148 (74-74) while Dusty Drenth (71-80) of St. Ambrose and Scott Belcher (71-80) of Illinois-Springfield tied for fifth at 151.

Indian Hills Community College took third place in the team competition (309-304 -613), while Wisconsin-Green Bay finished in fourth (312-307 -619).

Creighton rounded out the top-five with a team score of 624 (311-313).

Next up for the SDSU is the Summit League Championships to be held April 27-28 in Kansas City, Mo. Last year the Jacks finished fifth in the event.

The Jacks will then wrap up the 2008-09 season May 2-3 at the Dakota Cup in Morton, Minn.

The Jackrabbit men’s track team had a solid performance by Ben Jasinski in Des Moines, Iowa on April 25 at the Drake Relays. Jasinski earned a fifth- and sixth-place finish in the triple jump and high jump respectively.

His jump of 48 feet, 9.50 inches in the triple jump led the Jacks. He also jumped 6-08.75 in the high jump.

“Ben competed very well this weekend, 45 degrees in a cold rain, for the most part. The team was probably a bit tired from the California trip and home meet, a tough thing for them, and it showed,” SDSU head coach Rod DeHaven said.

Kip Janvirn Invitational

Marshall Kambestad led the Jacks with a third-place finish in the 5000-meter run when he finished in a time of 15 minutes 32.16 seconds on April 24 in Indianola, Iowa.

Nick Schanaman also recorded a third-place finish when he came in at a time of 14.90 in the 110-meter hurdles for the Jackrabbits.

USF Invitational

Sean Burns led SDSU when he placed first in the hammer throw with a throw of 158-02. His throw was good for third all-time at SDSU.

SDSU Twilight

The Jackrabbit men earned several first-place finishes in front of the home crowd at Brookings High School. The Jacks were led by a first place finish in the 100-meter dash by Cole Tucker who came in at a time of 11.2 seconds.

Dom Thielen, a freshman for the Jackrabbits, earned a first-place finish in the 800-meter run when he crossed the finish line in a time of 1:56.97.

“For Dom, he’s been a very pleasant surprise all year. Walked on the team, and having a personal best. He has really excelled this season, and he has been fun to work with and develop,” DeHaven said.

SDSU’s Jake Schneller, who is also a freshman, took first in the 1500-meter run with a time of 3:57.00.

Ben Jasinski won the long jump for the Jacks with a leap of 23 feet.

Tyler Schiferl won the pole vault for the Jacks with a distance of 15-7.

Another Jackrabbit, Sam McInerney won the javelin throw competing as unattached with a throw of 165-3.The SDSU men will compete in Sioux Falls at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays on May 1 and 2.

The SDSU men’s golf team finished 11th in the Stevinson Ranch Invitational on April 6 to 7 in Stevinson, Calif. The event was hosted by the University of Colorado at the Stevinson Ranch Golf Club – a 7,142 yard, par-72 course.

The Jackrabbits shot a three-round total of 899 (306-294-299) and finished 30 strokes behind the winner Nevada. Given their strong performances this season, an 11th place finish was a bit disappointing, their coach said.

“We are still trying to shake off the remaining cobwebs form the winter,” head coach Jared Baszler said. “We were fourth in the field in par-5 scoring for the tournament but dead last in par-3 scoring. We made a lot of big numbers on the par-3s, which was the biggest factor of our demise.”

SDSU was led by Trent Peterson who turned in another solid performance and ended the tournament tied for 13th in the individual competition with a 220 (74-70-76). Baszler will be looking for big things from Peterson down the stretch.

“Trent is a very steady and consistent player for us like he always has been,” Baszler said. “I expect him to lead our team into the last two regular season tournaments of our year and his career.”

Geoff Mead tied for 31st at 224 (76-73-75), and Tim Kalil ended the tournament tied for 39th, just two strokes behind Mead at 226 (78-75-73).

Justin Jenkins improved each round to finish 54th at 229 (78-76-75), while Kyle Vandevoort finished in a tie for 70th at 233 (81-76-76).

The individual competition was won by Patrick Grady of the University of Colorado with an 8-under par 208 (69-68-71). Grady finished just one stroke better than the second-place finisher Ryan Hallisey of the University of Nevada. Hallisey shot a 209 (71-69-69) to pace the Wolf Pack – winners of the team competition.

The top five in the individual competition was rounded out by Derek Tolan of the University of Colorado at 214 (72-72-70); Robert Karlsson of Liberty University at 215 (75-69-71); and Grant Norton (Sacramento State), Thomas Robertson (Portland) and Trent Sanders (Washington State), who tied for fifth at 216 each.

The team competition was won by the University of Nevada with a team score of 869 (292-288-289).

The University of Colorado finished nine strokes behind at 878 (292-287-299) to take second place.

Rounding out the top five were Washington State (296-284-299 – 879), Loyola Marymount (289-295-296 – 880) and San Francisco (298-303-288 – 889).

The Jackrabbits returned to action on April 20 to 21 in the Beu/Mussatto Invitational in Macomb, Ill., placing first. The Jacks will travel to Kansas City, Mo., for the Summit League Championships on April 27 to 28.

The SDSU women’s golf team finished 11th out of 20 teams at the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic on April 6 to 7. The event took place at the 6,108-yard, par-72 Ocotillo Golf Resort in Chandler, Ariz.

The Jackrabbits got a career performance from senior Amanda Rosol who finished tied for 11th at 231 (78-74-79). The 231 was a career-best for Rosol in a 54-hole tournament. She also shot a career-low 74 in the second round, as well as her personal 36-hole low at 152 after the first two rounds of the tournament.

“Her performance was very steady all week, and something I hope she can continue going into the end of the season,” head coach Jared Baszler said. “Amanda really likes Ocotillo, and this is the third year in a row going to that tournament, which is always beneficial.”

Sydney Sturdevant improved in each round and ended the tournament tied for 48th at 241 (83-80-78). Holly Opatz shot a 248 (79-87-82) to tie for 69th, and Whitney Schrader rounded out the Jackrabbit scoring tied for 75th with a 251 (88-77-86).

Rebecca Swords shot a first-round 81 but was forced to withdraw from the competition due to a severe nosebleed.

Baszler was pleased to see the team rebound from a last-place finish in the Larry Nelson Invitational just one week prior to the Cowgirl Classic.

“Our scores improved greatly, as did our placing, and this field was relatively tougher,” Baszler said. “Considering we did all that with just four golfers was even more impressive.”

Kelly Gillum of Montana State shot a 222 (76-72-74) and won a playoff against Bethany Leclair (77-69-76) of Northern Arizona to take the individual title.

Ali Carter of Northern Arizona carded a 224 (73-78-73) to take third. Taylor Siebert (77-78-70 – 225) of Fresno State and Brooke Green (70-80-76 – 226) of Sacramento State finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

The team competition was won by Northern Arizona with a three-round score of 908 (309-296-303). In second place – and just one stroke behind at 909 – was Fresno State (303-306-300).

Finishing third was Sacramento State at 930 (309-312-309), while UC-Riverside (322-313-301) and Gonzaga (320-309-307) finished tied for fourth place at 936.

SDSU was at the Summit League Championships at the Katke-Cousins Golf Course in Rochester, Mich., on April 20 to 21. The team placed fifth. Last season, the Jackrabbit women finished as runner-up to the champions from Oral Roberts.

The SDSU women’s golf team finished in last place at the Larry Nelson Invitational in Braselton, Ga., with a three-round team score of 1001 (334-332-335). The event was hosted by Kennesaw State and took place March 30 and 31 at the Chateau Elan Resort – a 5,974-yard, par-72 course.

Whitney Schrader finished the tournament tied for 18th place and was the top individual golfer for the Jackrabbits, with a three-round score of 241 (79-78-84).

Freshman Rebecca Swords moved up four spots in the final round to finish tied for 30th at 249 (88-81-80).

Amanda Rosol shot a three-round total of 257 (84-89-84) to finish in a tie for 38th, while Holly Opatz ended the tournament tied for 42nd, with an individual score of 260 (89-84-87).

Junior Erin Bergstrom rounded out the scoring for SDSU tied for 44th place, with a score of 262 (83-91-88).

Nine teams competed in the event, with Gardner-Webb University taking the title with an overall team score of 939 (317-304-318). Gardner-Webb finished the first round in second place but moved into first at the end of the second round after a tournament-best round of 304.

Samford University finished just two strokes behind at 941 (314-309-318).

The top five was rounded out by Belmont Abbey at 951 (323-310-318), Tennessee Tech University at 953 (318-319-316) and USC Upstate at 955 (330-309-316).

The individual champion for the tournament was Carley Warrington from Belmont Abbey, who carded a three-round total of 220 (75-71-74) to finish six strokes ahead of second-place finisher Sara Hunt of Samford University. Hunt finished with a score of 226 (75-74-77).

Rounding out the top five individual golfers were Megan Bradford of Tennessee Tech University at 228 (79-75-74), Courtney Meyer of Gardner-Webb University at 229 (80-71-78) and Julie Miller of USC Upstate at 235 (82-72-81).

The Jackrabbit women’s team will return to action at the Cowgirl Invitational in Chandler, Ariz., on April 6 and 7. The event will take place at the Ocotillo Golf Resort and is hosted by the University of Wyoming.

The regular season is over for the SDSU wrestling team, as they now set their sights on the West Regional Tournament on March 7 in Greeley, Colo.

The Jacks finished with a mark of 9-11-1 in duals this year, but now it is all about individual matches and each wrestler pushing himself as far as he can go. The ultimate goal is to represent SDSU in the NCAA Tournament March 19 through 21 in St. Louis, Mo.

Last year in Fargo, the Jackrabbits finished last among six teams, tallying only 14 points and a record of 5-17. No Jackrabbit wrestler advanced to the NCAA Tournament, though Tyler Sorenson was voted first alternate in the 184-pound class. In last year’s regional, Northern Iowa placed first overall with 119 points and had six individual champions.

In Greeley, the Jackrabbits will try to better last year’s showing, and with senior Jason Stripling’s and Sorenson’s recent wrestling performances, the opportunity is certainly there.

Stripling had an impressive senior season, as he went 31-10 overall in the heavyweight division. With an 82-40 career record, Stripling is currently tied for 22nd on the SDSU all-time wins list. Stripling went 5-1 in matches against conference opponents this season, with two wins by fall, two by decision and one by forfeit. Stripling will look to continue his success this weekend. Stripling redshirted the 2007-08 season and did not wrestle in last year’s regional tournament.

Junior Tyler Sorenson also amassed a record of 5-1 against conference opponents this season, winning three matches by technical fall and two by major decision. His only loss came to No. 14, Andrew Anderson of Northern Iowa by way of a 6-5 decision in the final regular season match. Until that point, Sorenson was undefeated on the season, and he finished the year with a record of 12-1.

As a sophomore last season in Fargo, Sorenson was the best individual wrestler for the Jacks at the regional tournament. Sorenson entered as the top seed and finished in third place, having won three of four matches in the 184-pound class. Sorenson now wrestles in the 197-pound class and is currently No. 14 in the nation.

This year, the NCAA has determined that 13 wrestlers from the West Regional Tournament will receive automatic berths in the NCAA Tournament based on place finishes. Each weight class will receive at least one automatic bid to be given to the class champion. There are two bids up for grabs in each of the 149-, 184- and 197-pound classes.

When all regional tournaments have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet to determine the allocation of 52 at-large tournament bids.

It was a rough week for the SDSU Jackrabbits wrestling squad, as they dropped a pair of conference duals against North Dakota State and the University of Northern Iowa.

On Feb. 20, the Jackrabbits fell to the NDSU Bison 36-5 in Frost Arena. NDSU (5-10-1, 2-4) started strong, as the first two matches ended with Bison pins of Jason Stripling by Tyler Hemmesch in the heavyweight class and of Alan Marvin by Justin Solberg in the 125-pound class.

The 12-0 NDSU lead would triple to 36-0 on the strength of three major decisions and four decisions over the next seven matches.

In the final match of the evening and the lone win for the Jacks, Tyler Sorenson recorded an 18-3 technical fall victory over Drew Ross in the 197-pound class. Sorenson upped his record to 12-0 on the season.

On Feb. 21, the Jackrabbits squared-off against No. 21 Northern Iowa (10-6, 4-0) in Frost Arena. The Jacks would lose the contest by a final score of 33-3.

Things started off well on Senior Night as Jackrabbit senior Jason Stripling won a 3-0 decision over Dustin Bauman in the heavyweight class. Stripling improved to 31-10 on the year and moved into a 22nd place tie in all-time wins at SDSU.

Unfortunately – just like in the dual against the Bison- SDSU would win only one match on the evening.

In the second match, Jackrabbit senior Alan Marvin took on Cruse Aarhus in the 125-pound class in what would be an exciting back-and-forth match. Marvin led 6-4 at the end of the second period and 7-6 in the third but would eventually drop the match 9-7 to Aarhus.

Dustin Walraven also lost a close decision to Trent Washington in the 141-pound class by a score of 8-6. Walraven was down 6-2 entering the third period before battling back to tie the match at six.

The match of the evening paired up No. 13 Sorenson of SDSU against No. 14 Andrew Anderson. Sorenson entered the match a perfect 12-0 on the year. It was tied up at two after two periods and at four with fewer than 30 seconds remaining. However, Anderson would record a late takedown that proved to be the difference in a 6-5 decision in Anderson’s favor.

With the two losses, SDSU falls to 9-11-1 on the season and 0-6 in the Western Wrestling Conference. The Jackrabbits return to action March 7 at the West Regional in Greeley, Colo., for a chance to move on to the NCAA Tournament.

The Jackrabbit wrestling team waits for its first conference victory; the Wolverines of Utah Valley University defeated SDSU 35-14 on Feb. 6 in Frost Arena.

The Wolverines (8-2, 2-0) jumped on the board first to take a 4-0 lead, as Casen Eldredge won a major decision over Zach Blindert 10-2 in the 184-pound class.

Things started looking better for the Jacks (7-9-1, 0-4) after they sent No. 16-rated Tyler Sorenson to the mat against Adam Fager in the 197-pound class. Sorenson advanced his win streak with a technical fall win at 5:33.

The match was never close as Sorenson recorded two takedowns and two near-falls in the first period to lead 10-1. The score was 18-2 by the time Sorenson ended the match with the pin. Sorenson’s record now stands at a perfect 10-0 on the season, and his win gave the Jackrabbits a 5-4 lead.

The lead was soon extended to 11-4 after the Wolverines would forfeit the match in the heavyweight class to Jason Stripling.

The Wolverines responded in the next match when Ben Kjar defeated Alan Marvin by fall at 2:25 in the 125 pound weight class.

The Jacks would be forced to forfeit the following match in the 133 pound class, and Utah Valley then won the next four matches – two by fall and one each by decision and major decision – to take a 35-11 lead, ensuring that the Wolverines would extend their winning streak to eight.

SDSU’s Scott Elliott would finish the night on a high note for the Jacks with a 5-1 decision over Brad Darrington in the 174-pound class. Elliot is now 9-2 in duals and improved to 24-5 on the season.

The Jacks have now dropped their first four Western Wrestling Conference duals of the season and six of their last seven duals overall. SDSU will not face another WWC opponent until North Dakota State comes to Brookings Feb. 20.

Next up for the Jacks is a road trip to Portland, Oregon; they will take on the Boxers of Pacific (Ore.) and the Vikings of Portland State (Ore.) on Feb. 13. in two non-conference matches.

Pacific (1-11) has struggled this season and is 0-4 at home. The Boxers’ lone win on the season was a 30-24 victory over Yakima Community College on Jan. 22. The match against Pacific will start at 3 p.m.

The Portland State Vikings (6-8) had won three of four duals before losing 31-6 to WWC member Wyoming on Feb. 6. SDSU will square off with Portland State at 9 p.m.

Conference matches have not been kind to the SDSU wrestling team this season, as the Jackrabbits dropped a pair of duals over the weekend in their first conference road tests of the season.

On Jan. 30, the Jacks (7-8-1, 0-3 WWC) took on the Cowboys of Wyoming in Laramie and struggled from the start. Wyoming (9-2, 2-0 WCC) won the first seven matches of the evening on their way to a 38-7 victory. The ending was never in doubt, as the Cowboys were up 33-0 before SDSU was able to notch a win.

The first win on the night for the Jacks was a 10-2 major decision for No. 16 Tyler Sorenson in the 197-pound class. Undefeated on the year, Sorenson continues to prove that he deserves to be recognized as one of the nation’s top wrestlers in his class.

SDSU’s Jason Stripling followed Sorenson’s performance with a win of his own in the heavyweight class – a 3-0 decision against Jacob Scharbrough, which made the overall score 33-7.

At 174 pounds, SDSU freshman Scott Elliot came close to taking down a ranked opponent in No. 19 Shane Onufer and was within two points late in the match. But in the end, Onufer managed to do just enough to secure an 8-5 decision.

On Jan. 31, the Jackrabbits fell 31-19 in a match against the Air Force Academy Falcons in Colorado. It was the first conference win for Air Force (4-9, 1-3 WWC), and it left SDSU still seeking their first conference victory on the season.

The Falcons took a quick 12-0, but the Jacks battled back. In the 141-pound class, Dustin Walraven recorded a pin of Derek Gillespie at 3:41 to make the score 12-6. In the next match, Nick Flynn would add to SDSU’s point total with a 5-2 decision in the 149-pound class, running the overall score to 12-9.

That was as close as the Jackrabbits would get as Air Force went on to win the next four matches of the evening to take a 31-9 lead.

The Jackrabbits were not quite done, as once again No. 16 Sorenson impressed with a 19-5 major decision against James Ciccone. With the victory, Sorenson kept his win streak intact and is now an unblemished 9-0 on the season.

In the next match, Stripling would improve to 15-1 in duals with a pin of Stephen Larson at 5:07. Stripling was behind 3-1 in the match after two periods but tied it at 3-3 in the third before recording the fall. Stripling is now 27-9 overall on the year.

SDSU will return home to Frost Arena in search of that illusive conference victory against the Utah Valley Wolverines at 7 p.m. on Feb. 6. Utah Valley (7-2, 1-0 WCC) will come into the match having won their last seven duals on the season.