UMO golf teams picked to win league titles

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on February 21, 2014 1:47 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

Respect for one.

Redemption for the other.

And high expectations for both.

The University of Mount Olive men's and women's golf teams start the season ranked No. 1 in their respective 2014 Conference Carolinas coaches preseason polls.

Led by sophomore Sebastian Andersen, the nationally-ranked Trojan men garnered five first-place votes and 44 total points. Erskine (S.C.) finished second in preseason balloting. Limestone took third.

Perennial powerhouse Barton placed fourth, followed by King (Tenn.) and Belmont Abbey. North Greenville and Pfeiffer University rounded out the poll.

"I was glad to see the men's coaches award our guys for the fall season they had," said UMO head coach Chip Spiron, whose team advanced to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional last season.

"(We) beat a lot of good teams. Sebastian is having a great year so far and is our leader. When he plays well, they all seem to play well. There's a comfort knowing he's on your team."

Andersen claimed the Conference Carolinas freshman-of-the-year award last spring. He's ranked No. 17 nationally among Division II players, according to Golfstat.

The sophomore from Norway emerged as the individual champion in the Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Intercollegiate, and shared second place at the Kiawah Island (S.C.) Invitational. Andersen, Dalton Gore and Jesus Valderrama each participated in all four fall tournaments.

UMO enters the spring ranked No. 16 by Golfstat and No. 21 by Golf World/Nike Golf.

"We've got eight guys and they can all play," Spiron said. "I'm looking for our older guys like Mark O'Hara and Gore to step up be a consistent force. We've set our goals a little higher this year and I'm looking forward to seeing how the guys respond."

The Trojan women had the lowest three-day score in team competition during the 2013 Conference Carolinas championship. But a format change proved heart-breaking on the final day.

Since then, UMO has played with a chip on its shoulder.

"(We) hope this is our year," Spiron said. "I've challenged the girls to work harder than they've ever worked the next six weeks to help make that (championship season) happen."

Norwegian Julie Loennechen has stepped into the leadership role. The sophomore was named the Conference Carolinas player-of-the-month for February after sharing 13th place out of 93 golfers at the World Golf Invitational in Orlando, Fla.

Loennechen and her teammates led UMO to a pair of top-four finishes during the fall, including a runner-up performance at the King (Tenn.) University Invitational. Joining Loennechen are seniors Sarah Baniszewski and Emy Ohling; junior Stefany King; and freshmen Anne Barboteau and Lovisa Tillstrom.

"(Julie) is doing everything right and has bigger goals than most," Spiron said. "She's constantly trying to get better."

The Trojan women collected just three first-place votes in the Conference Carolinas preseason poll, but out-pointed Limestone, 57-53, for the top spot. The Saints picked up five first-place votes, while King drew one first-place and tied Converse (S.C.) for third overall with 41 points.

North Greenville, Erskine, Pfeiffer, Barton and Belmont Abbey completed the poll.

"I was actually surprised about the girls' poll," Spiron said. "Limestone is definitely better than we are and you see that other coaches realized that, too, since they got the most first-place votes. But hey, we'll take the positive exposure."