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Western Carolinian Volume 64 (65) Number 01 Fall Sports Preview

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  • August 18, 1999 FALL SPORTS PREVIEW All Men's Golf Let the Boot Camp Commence by Don Costello Editor-in-Chief When the men's golf team had their post-season meeting in the spring of 99, one thing was clear: They weren't happy that they had finished 11th out of 12 in the Southern Conference. "In May, the players had a lot of positive thoughts and they realized they weren't playing to their potential," said head coach Johnny Wike. The solution: Boot camp. Well, a tamed version of it. The players all agreed that a tougher pre-season training program would be in the best interest of the team. AH the golfers will run two miles everyday before they hit the links. They will lift weights routinely. They want more supervised practice. And, in an age of piercings, baggy khakis and goatees, the players wanted a stiffer personal appearance code. The Cats will have eight players returning from last year and coach Wike hopes that a year older will turn into a year wiser Jhe Golf Range in Guffoamm NOW OPEN! Hours 11am'till hr. before dark Bring this ad for $1.00 off any size bucket of balls. Ph.293-35ft and better. Junior golfer Jason Sugg believes it will. "If everyone plays to their potential, we should have one of the top teams in the conference," Sugg said. Wike compared this year's team to the team in 1996 that finished fourth in the conference. Not bad when East Tennessee, Furman, and Georgia Southern have had national rankings in the past few years. "The talent level is there to play with anybody in the conference," said Wike. "I'm not concerned with golf skill but with everyone realizing the level of talent that I know we can play." Sugg said that everyone on the team has high expectations for this year and the team knows what it needs to work on to become one of the top teams in the conference. "A lot of improvement will come if we can improve our mental game and our short game," said Sugg. Mike Bowers, the only senior on the team, will be looked upon as the team leader according to Wike. Bowers, who gave up a college baseball career for college golf, has been the lowest scorer on the team the past couple of years. "He has a great touch, great chipping, putting and creating shots," said Wike. "And he has a great mind for golf." Wike said a key for the team to become more competitive at the tournaments is to play with the same intensity level that the golfers play with in practice. He noted that on numerous occasions the team would go out in practice and play in the 290s (combined score of the top four golfers) and then fail to break 300 in the tournaments. "We usually have high expectations when we get to the tournaments," said Jason Sugg, whose scoring average was around 77 last season, "but then the mental aspects fall apart." The Catamounts begin the fall golf season with a trip to Richmond, Ky., to compete in the Eastern Kentucky Colonel Classic on September 24-25. Two weeks later they trek to Chattanooga for the UTC Fall invitational followed by the Radford Univ. Invitational, the Davidson Invitational and the Charleston Southern Invitational. Wike is please with this year's schedule because the Cats have no back-to-back tournaments. "With the two week spacing between events we'll have time to recover and put in more practice time before we head out again," Wike said. More time for boot camp. Men's Golf Roster Name Mike Bowers Lee Cline Brad Hawkins Andy Humble Clint Johnson Marc Leichtnam Greg Lewis Jason Sugg 1999 Fall Year Hometown Sr. West Lawn, Penn. So. Hickory Sr. Greer, S.C. Jr. Greensboro Fr. Morganton Jr. Kinston So. Stanley Jr. Murphy Men's Golf Schedule Date Event/Site Sept 24-25 Eastern Kentucky Colonel Classic Arlington Golf Course Richmond, Ky. Oct. 4-5 UTC Fall Invitational Valleybrook G.C.C. Chattanooga, Tn. Oct. 18-19 Radford University Invitational Draper Valley C.C. Pulaski, Va. Nov. 1-2 Davidson Fall Invitational Birkdale Golf Course Huntersville Nov. 8-9 Charleston Southern Fall Invitational Coosaw Crk. C.C. N. Charleston, S.C. Baseball Raleigh Takes Over Head Coaching Position by Don Costello Editor-in-Chief For the third time in the 1990s, Western Carolina baseball has looked toward an alumni to take over the head coaching duties for the Catamounts. Todd Raleigh, who played at WCU from 1988- 91, was named head coach on July 26 to fill the void left by Rodney Hennon's departure to Georgia Southern. Raleigh served as an assistant coach at East Carolina in 1999 under former Catamount head coach and player Keith LeClair (1992-1997) . Raleigh helped lead the Pirates to the Colonial Athletic Association championship, a national ranking of 18th and a No.l seed in the NCAA Baseball Tournament. "I've always loved WCU," Raleigh said. "Anytime you can come back to your alma mater and coach it's something special." He was a three-time all Southern Conference selection during his playing tenure at Western Carolina and held the single-season RBI record (78) until this past season. In 1991, Raleigh was named the Catamounts' Most Valuable Player by his teammates. As far as coaching philosophy goes, Raleigh talks a game that is founded on the premise of teaching the players the basic techniques of the game so they easily detect the flaws in their swing, stance, wind-up, etc. "You know you've done a good job when the players can Todd Raleigh coach themselves," Raleigh said. "I am going to lay out a game plan for each individual and the team; where you wanna go and this is how you're gonna get there." He is also planning to play a style of baseball to fit the friendly confines of Western's baseball field. "You gotta play to your ballpark," he said. "Our place is really a hitter's park so we're gonna focus more on the home runs." Prior to his service at ECU, Raleigh was the top assistant at James Madison University including a stint as interim head coach in 1997. At JMU, he was in charge of the hitting, outfield and catching coaching duties as well as being the Colonels recruiting coordinator. Raleigh will have to hit the recruiting trail soon to fill the vacancies left by the departures of Eric Johnson and David Pember, who both decided to pursue a career in pro baseball instead of playing in their final year of eligibility. The new skipper has called every returning member of the team and has met a few of them. "I've never seen any of them play, but from what I hear, we're going to have a good nucleus," he said. "Any time you have a big change in a program it can make the situation a little sticky for the players," said Raleigh. "Being a Western guy has helped smooth that transition so far." The Cats will begin weight training when they return for the fall semester and the team will begin fall workouts in September. ^ A Sports Talk Live Monday Nights 7-8 p.m. Join the Sports Guys! Call 227-7173 KjilflffiBilf m:'■ **&& ^1 ■ ' mY^Jk Hi ^^^ lhk>*.M afl H**J*fti* > 'iff. ~ ,'fA
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