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10 WWW.GU I LFORDIAN.COM SPORTS Ihe Jensen Bench Brian Creghan, junior Peter Latimer, junior By Jasmine Ashton Staff Writer "Eighty-five percent of business deals happen on the golf course. Just ask any business executive," said first-year Dusty Roberts, who has played golf for the past nine years. Knowing this, it's no sur prise that four out of the six-player golf team are busi ness management majors, and the entire team agrees that their knowledge of the white-collar sport will help them in their future career pursuits. "We get along really well as a team," said first-year Andrew Thayer, who chose Guilford for its location and to play golf. "It's also nice that some of us have classes together." Even though golf is a more individual sport, the team's familial closeness is appar ent as they play off each other's joking remarks. It's hard to believe that half the team has only been together for a semester. Three first-years are in the team's lineup: Roberts, who hails from Reidsville, N.C., Jeff Boyen from High Point, N.C., as well as Andrew Thayer from Charlotte, Vt. In addition to new play ers, Guilford welcomes sev eral returning upper-class men, juniors Brian Creghan from Philadelphia, Pa., Peter Latimer from St. Andrews, Scotland, and senior Burton Wood from Siler City, N.C. These three veterans know the team's capabilities best. The team's potential is evidenced by their Jan. 13 Golfstat.com rating, show ing that they are currently the third-ranked NCAA division III team. Despite their nationally recognized success, this devoted group of guys don't receive the recognition awarded to Guilford's other competitive sports teams. "Golf's weird. You can't really have fans when com petitions go, all day and you only have one home tourna ment," said Creghan. "We've had a few people come out "We're not just guys in goofy pants anymore. We're hardworking athletes. The better shape you're in, the better you'll do in the end." Dusty Roberts, first-year but no more than ten ever. You get kind of used to it." In basketball, the fan base, often referred to as "the sixth man," is considered integral to the team's performance. For the Guilford golf team, the "seventh man" is irrel evant to their past successes and losses. "(The lack of fans) doesn't really bother me. It's not really a spectator sport at any skill level," said Latimer, who's been playing the sport since he could practically walk and hopes to one day play professionally. Guilford missed the NCAA tournament last year for the first time in eight years and just the sixth time in Coach Jack Jensen's ten ure. Regardless of last year's misfortune, the team remains confident in their abilities, and is determined to make it to the 2009 national playoffs. "We haven't won a tourna ment yet (this year), but we also haven't finished outside the top three," said Creghan, who believes his strict work out routine contributes to his success as a golfer. "Peter, Burton and I have a lot of experience and having three freshmen doesn't hurt us. They have a lot of experi ence too; they've been play ing their whole lives." "All we want to do is win the national," said senior sports management major Burton Wood. "We just want a trophy. We don't care about the (community) recogni tion." Part of their strategy to win is breaking the old ste reotypes that golfers are out of shape and middle-aged. These young, fit, athletes look up to golf legend Tiger Woods, and are out to prove that they come from a new generation of golfers who put a premium on working out and staying in shape. "We're not just guys in goofy pants anymore. We're hardworking athletes," said Roberts. "The better shape you're in the better you'll do in the end." "1 think of myself as an athlete," said Latimer. "Even though I don't work out, I spend a lot of time practicing. I put as much time into prac ticing as people who work out." By Peter Kostin Staff Writer On Jan. 31 Guilford's swim team had their final Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) regular-season meet against Randolph and Randolph-Macon College in their home pool. Randolph-Macon scored 82 points, Guilford, 59, and Randolph tal lied 33. A win and a loss set the Quaker's record at 4-4. The favored Yellow Jackets from Randolph-Macon entered the pool, hid den under their lettered-hooded robes and accompanied by loud rock-n-roll, which shook the building. Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the pool, Guilford swimmers remained calm. "Do I look nervous?" said sophomore Filka Shalamanova. The Yellow Jackets had noticeably more team members than Guilford. The Quakers were outnumbered 17-9. The pressure of swimming against a stronger team like Macon failed to unnerve the Quaker swimmers. "(Randolph-Macon swimmers) look like they're on steroids," said sophomore Daphne Murphy. Over the next few hours, Randolph- Macon swimmers jokingly flexed their calf muscles for buddies between races. "I think historically we've beat Guilford more times than they've beat us," said senior Randolph-Macon captain Meredith Walters. The truth is that Guilford had never beaten Macon. Coach Steve Kaczmerek reminded his team that the meet was only practice for the ODAC tournament on Valentine's Day weekend. The Quakers didn't come out on top but the team is in liigh spirits after the win over Randolph. However, Kaczmerek knows the limitations of the Quakers in the ODAC tournament. "The teams we can't beat (in the tourna ment) are Sweet Briar College, Washington Lee University and Randolph-Macon," said Kaczmerek. The team's goal is 4th place at the ODAC tournament. Captain Justine Merritt may help lead her young team to that goal. Merritt placed first in the 100 meter, with a time of 1:07.07 against Randolph and second against Macon in 100 meter freestyle, the fastest time of any Guilford swimmer in the meet. Shalamanova placed third in the 100 meter breast with a time of 1:32.74. First- year Kim Abbott swam a 1:29.93, and placed third in the 100 meter backstroke and soph omore Sara Waitsman placed third in the 50 meter freestyle sprint with a 32.78 time. During the meet, Quaker swimmers filled lanes in races that they didn't specialize in. Sophomore Cristen Kennedy swam the grueling 800 meter freestyle even despite being a sprinter. The team strived to have at least two swimmers in each race. In total, the Quaker's stretched nine swimmers into 22 appearances. These Quaker swimmers together make up the youngest team in the history oL Guilford swimming. Their inexperience will be tested at the ODAC tournament in Radford, Va., on Feb. 12. 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