Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh ready to begin fall season at Bucknell Invite
9/10/2009 10:30:00 AM | Women's Golf
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The Lehigh women’s golf team will look to build on their recent success in the 2008-09 season which included their seventh straight first place finish at the Kutztown Invitational. Head coach Roger Simpkins has a talented group of experienced golfers to lead the way, along with a strong crop of newcomers to add to the mix. With the loss of only one student-athlete to graduation, the Mountain Hawks will return eight golfers for the coming season, including six experienced letter winners.
Senior Livia Amado was Lehigh’s top finisher seven times throughout the 2008-09 season. She ended last season with a first place tie at the Kutztown Invitational and with a solo win at the Rutgers Invitational with an impressive two rounds of 73, 74. The native of Brazil finished third overall at the always competitive Bucknell Invite with a 150 (76, 74) and she finished fifth at the Princeton Invitational after shooting a 151 (76, 75). She also placed tenth overall at the ECAC Championships with a two-round score of 154 (76, 78). As the team’s 2007-08 and 2008-09 Outstanding Athlete, Amado enters her senior season looking to improve on her already impressive numbers.
Amado’s classmate Jen Nagel had four top-twenty finishes as a junior. Nagel, who was honored with last year’s Scholar-Athlete Award, ended last season with a fifth place finish at the Kutztown Invitational, shooting an 84. She also finished ninth at the Bucknell Invitational with a two-round score of 156 (78, 78). She tied for 36th overall at the ECAC Championships with a two-round score of 162 (79, 83), finishing second for the Mountain Hawks behind Amado.
Also a returning are juniors Ana Nam and Emily Enders. As a sophomore, Nam finished second overall at the ECAC Championships with a score of 146 (73, 73), only five strokes off the lead. She finished sixth overall at the Kutztown Invitational with a score of 86, behind Nagel and Caroline Boyer ‘09, making Lehigh the only team to place each of its golfers in the top-ten overall. Endres also returns for the Mountain Hawks after a sophomore year in which she was Lehigh’s top individual finisher at the First Market Bank Invitational with a score of 155 (75,80); that score placed her in a tie for 11th place overall.
Sophomore Erika Kretschmann also saw plenty of action last year, including a top-65 finish at the ECAC Championships, scoring a 174 (86,88), and a 193 (92,92) in her collegiate debut at the Bucknell Invitational. Kretschmann also tied for 36th at the Lehigh Invitational with a score of 194 (96, 98).
Three other Mountain Hawks return, including sophomores Ashley Amador, Jasmin Hughes, and Taylor Orr. Last season, Amador appeared in the Bucknell Invitational, shooting a 169 (83, 86), and she also totaled a 176 (86,90) at the Rutgers Invitational and a 188 (98,90) at the Lehigh Invitational. Amador also made an appearance at the ECAC Championships, shooting a 163 (83, 80) to place 39th.
Hughes shot a 178 (89, 85) in her collegiate debut at the Bucknell Invitational, placing 45th overall, and she also appeared at the Princeton Invitational, shooting a 172 (88, 84). The Pennsylvania native went onto shoot a 184 (86, 98) at the Lehigh Invitational. Orr shot a 172 in her collegiate debut at the Bucknell invitational, landing her in a tie for 39th place, and she also participated in the Rutgers Invitational where she shot a 170 (88, 82), and the Lehigh Invitational, where she shot a 198 (98, 100).
In addition to the experienced Mountain Hawks returning, four incoming freshman are expected to round out the team in the upcoming season in Rosie Davies, Natalie Lansing, Chelsea Michalek, and Ginette Shapira.
Davies comes from Hank Haney International Golf Academy in South Carolina, where she was a postgraduate student. After graduating from high school last summer, she is ranked third in her class with level “A” examinations. In addition to her successes on the golf course, Davies enjoyed a high level of success on the soccer pitch having played for two of the premier league clubs in Great Britian, Arsenal and Fulham.
Lansing attended Mounds Park Academy in St. Paul, Minnesota. She was an All-State selection, a four-time All-Conference selection, and she won the Class A State Golf Tournament. Lansing is a multi-sport athlete having played soccer and basketball in addition to golf, earning 14 varsity letters throughout high school.
Michalek comes to Lehigh after being ranked as one of the top players in the Chicago area and the entire state of Illinois, where she attended Loyola Academy. Michalek won three tournaments in the summer of 2008 in the Illinois Junior Golf Association, and has two top-ten finishes at the Illinois High School Championships. Michalek shot a 74 at the Illinois State Junior Championships at Cog Hill, and has extensive national junior golf experience.
Shapira rounds out the incoming freshman class. She attended Escuela Integral Uruguay, where she is the reigning Uruguay National Champion and three-time National Junior Champion. She has represented Uruguay in six South American Golf Championships and other various international championships.
Lehigh begins its 2009 fall season on Saturday, September 12 when the Mountain Hawks head to Lewisburg to compete at the Bucknell Invitational.
