GOLFERS READY TO TEE IT UP

The women open on Thursday, while the men are on a spring trip to Nevada.

Special to The Vindicator

YOUNGSTOWN — Following a five-month hiatus, the Youngstown State men’s and women’s golf teams are slated to return to action in preparation for the Horizon League Championships in April.

The women will kick off their season as they take part in the NIU Snowbird Intercollegiate in Tampa on Thursday, while the men will officially return to action at the Butler Spring Invitational on March 23. The men’s team is in Mesquite, Nev., this week playing tune-up matches against Dixie College at various courses in Southern Utah and Northern Nevada.

During the fall, the women’s team finished first or second in four out of their five events. The Penguins won their own invitational as well as the Robert Morris Invitational where they beat six other teams.

Freshman Samantha Formeck had an impressive fall as she claimed medalist honors three times and was the squad’s top finisher at four events. Formeck averaged a team best 76.9 per 18-hole round.

Formeck took top honors at the Bucknell Fall Invite, Detroit Titans Invite and the Robert Morris Invitational.

Katie Rogner, a sophomore, was the Horizon League player and newcomer of the year last spring. In the fall, Rogner was medalist at the YSU Invitational and had three other top-five finishes. Rogner’s 73 at the YSU Invitational tied for the low round on the team.

Senior Mollie Boney competed in all five fall events, finishing second at Robert Morris and fourth at Bucknell. Boney also shot a round of 73.

Senior Amanda Brindley had a third-place finish at the YSU Invite.

The junior class is made up of Ann Ciavarella, Brittany Stillwagon and Reagan O’Brien. Ciavarella had a third-place finish at the YSU Invitational and was seventh at Robert Morris as she competed in all five fall events. Stillwagon competed in four events, highlighted by a seventh-place finish at Detroit. O’Brien competed in two events in the fall.

Amanda Spitzer and Jamie Berndt are also newcomers to the program this season.

Last season at the league meet, YSU placed second seven strokes behind Butler.

The men’s squad is relatively young as their top finisher from a year ago (and lone senior), Ryan Stocke, did not see action in the fall. He is also going to sit out the spring season and will return next year. In the 2007-08, Stocke was named team MVP and named to the All-Horizon team.

The men are led by junior Tim Morrow (Boardman) who was the Penguins’ top finisher in four out of five fall events. Morrow finished in the top-10 three times in the fall and led the team with a 73.4 average.

Redshirt freshman Joey Santisi finished first or second for YSU in four fall events. He was the top-finisher at the John Piper Intercollegiate and shot a team-low round of 68 at the IPFW Fall Classic.

Also on the team are juniors Ryan Alpeter and sophomores Michael Turner and Spenser Sulzener.

Turner placed sixth at the Horizon League championships with a three-round total of 223. As a team, YSU placed third, finishing four strokes behind champion Cleveland State and three back of second-place Detroit.

Newcomers to the squad are freshmen Michael Lower and Zach Humphries. Lower competed at the Leo Keenan Invitational where he tied for 38th. Humphries did not see action in the fall.

The Horizon League Championships will be held in late April at Kearney Hills Golf Course in Lexington, Ky. The women play four tournaments prior to the conference meet while the men will participate in six.