COLLEGE NOTEBOOK: PEPPERDINE GOLFERS THINK TITLE.Byline: Scott French Staff Writer Pepperdine has come so close to winning national championships in women's golf twice in the past three years. Might this term's team be the one that finally breaks through? That's what the Waves are hoping, and their start to the 2005-06 season - victories in their first two tournaments - indicates they'll likely be battling at the end, next May in Columbus, Ohio Columbus is the capital and the largest city of the American state of Ohio. Named for explorer Christopher Columbus, the city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and assumed the functions of state capital in 1816. . Pepperdine already has been ranked No. 1 for a spell this season, and coach Laurie Gibbs, in her 13th year in charge, has a deep, talented group that figures to contend with the likes of defending champion defending champion n (SPORT) → defensor/a m/f del título defending champion n (Sport) → champion(ne) en titre Duke and preseason No. 1 UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX for the NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association hardware. ``We were right there - we know how difficult it is to win a national championship,'' said Gibbs, whose teams finished second in 2003 and fourth after leading following the second round last spring. ``I call it the 'X factor.' You can have everyone playing great, and things don't go your way.'' Things have gone the Waves' way this fall, with triumphs last month at the Dick McGuire Richard Joseph "Dick" McGuire (born January 25 1926 in Rockaway, New York) is a former pro basketball player and coach. One of the premier guards of the 1950s, McGuire spent eleven seasons in the NBA (1949-60), eight with the New York Knicks and three with the Detroit Pistons. Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., and last week at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational in Sammamish, Wash. Junior Eileen Vargas was medalist at the McGuire, and three golfers finished among the top five last week. Vargas, ranked sixth in the country by Golfweek, was an honorable mention All-American last year, and she qualified for the U.S. Women's Open and won the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. City Women's Championship last summer. Two-time All-American Carolina Llano lla·no n. pl. lla·nos A large, grassy, almost treeless plain, especially one in Latin America. [Spanish, plain, from Latin pl , like Vargas a Colombian, tied for second at the McGuire and is ranked ninth. Australian Leanne Bowditch, ranked 48th, used a superb short game for a third-place finish at the Ihlanfeldt. The Waves will take on the nation's other top programs - Duke and UCLA included - at the Stanford Intercollegiate this weekend. --Also: Slovakian Olympian Juraj Zatovic scored four goals to lead USC's past host Cal 9-8 in the final of the NorCal Open, one of two big events on the college men's water polo calendar. The Trojans (13-1) also won the SoCal tournament, the other regular-season highlight. ... Pepperdine held top-ranked Portland to a 1-1 tie in women's soccer, with Chatsworth High product Lindsey Redlin scoring her team-best eighth goal for Pepperdine. ... UCLA's Ashley Caldwell finished eighth at the Pre-National Invitational cross country meet in Terre Haute, Ind., a preliminary to next month's NCAA championships. ... UCLA's men's golf team won Chico State's Wells Fargo Invitational. ... West Coast Conference women's basketball coaches picked Loyola Marymount to win the title. ... Cal Lutheran's women's volleyball team climbed into the NCAA Division III top 25, at 21st, after snapping then-No. 4 La Verne's 56-match SCIAC SCIAC SIGINT Correlation Integration & Analysis Capability winning streak. Scott French, (818) 713-3627 scott.french(at)dailynews.com |
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