UW golfers playing at high level

Cowgirls Fogerty and Podlesny qualify for the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships; former Cowboy David Hearn will play the U.S. Open

By Wyoming Sports.org

The University of Wyoming golf programs are being represented on the highest amateur and professional levels this summer by current junior Sarah Fogerty, freshman Kelsey Podlesny and former Cowboy David Hearn. Both Fogerty and Podlesny qualified through sectional events to compete in the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships, while Hearn topped a sectional field to earn a berth at the U.S. Open.

Current UW squad members, Fogerty (San Diego and Podlesny (Green River), will play June 16-21, in the 32nd Annual U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship at Erin Hills Golf Course, in Erin, Wis.

To qualify for the USWAPL Championship, Fogerty won the USGA sectional event in Denver, on May 21 with a round of 76 at the Wellshire Golf Course. She had UW’s second best stroke average this past season at 78.36 and earned the first top-five finish of her career at the Cowgirl Classic, where she tied for fourth place. Sarah also finished in seventh place three times this past season. In total, Fogerty now has five top-10 finishes in two seasons, nine in the top 25.

Podlesny secured her spot in the top amateur event by placing third at the sectional qualifier in Layton, Utah, on May 27. She shot a round of 80 at the Valley View Golf Course. She will attend UW this coming fall as a freshman and play for the Cowgirl golf program. She was the Wyoming 4A state high school champion as a junior in 2006 and runner-up in both 2005 and 2007.

Podlesny was named to the Wyoming Junior America’s Cup Team twice, in 2006 and 2007. She was the Wyoming Junior Amateur champion in 2006, a U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier in 2007 and was runner-up at the 2007 Utah Junior Open.

The first two days of the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship consists of stroke play, with the field then reduced and the low 64 scorers moving on to four days of elimination match play. The championships culminate with 36 holes of match play. The USWAPL medalist earns an exemption from local qualifying for the next five U.S. Women’s Open championships, among other things.

The amateur public links events are open to amateur golfers who, since Jan. 1 of the calendar year, have been public course players and have not held privileges at any course that does not extend playing privileges to the general public.

Hearn, of Brantford, Ontario, earned medalist honors at the Beallsville, Md., sectional to qualify for the United States Golf Association’s top event. He shot 137 (71-66) at The Members Club at Four Streams to secure a spot in his second U.S. Open. Hearn also played the event in 2005 as a PGA Tour member. The 2008 U.S. Open is being played June 12-15, at Torrey Pines Golf Course (South Course) in San Diego, Calif.

A player at UW from 1998-2001, Hearn qualified three straight years for the NCAA West Regional Tournament, the only UW golfer to ever accomplish that feat. He was named to the 2001 All-Mountain West Conference team, won two career event titles, has the school record for low stroke average in a season (72.40) and had three top 10 conference tournament finishes during his collegiate career.

Cowboy Joe Club nearing $2 million mark

By Wyoming Sports Information

The Cowboy Joe Club, the fundraising organization for the University of Wyoming Athletics Department, is nearing the $2 million mark in annual fundraising through its first five months of the 2008 calendar year. As of June 1, the Cowboy Joe Club (CJC) had raised $1,788,102 for student-athlete scholarships and other athletic department funding. That is an increase of $349, 687 from the same time a year ago.

Only five months into the 2008 calendar year, CJC needs only $211,898 to achieve its cash fundraising goal for the entire year of $2,000,000.

“I can’t thank our Cowboy Joe Club members enough for the continued support they provide for Cowboy and Cowgirl Athletics,” said Tom Burman, UW Athletics Director. “The generosity of Wyoming fans is second to none. Their increased giving shows the commitment our donors have made to help our student-athletes and coaches succeed at the highest level of collegiate athletics.”

“We are very proud of how our members have stepped up in 2008. Being almost $350,000 ahead of where we were at this time last year, which was also a record -breaking year,” said Josh Rebholz, UW Associate Athletics Director for Development. “We couldn’t be happier right now.

“This year brought many changes in the club’s policies and procedures, which we believe will give members even greater benefits for their contributions. Our donors have embraced the change and stepped up to the plate at higher levels than we’ve ever seen.

“I can’t say enough about our staff, the Cowboy Joe Club Board of Directors and the many volunteers who work so hard all year long to make this club more and more successful. We will reach our goal of raising $3.3 million annually in a few short years, because we have the greatest supporters in the country and they wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The goal of raising $3.3 million annually through private donations grew out of a desire to raise the entire cost of athletic scholarships for nearly 400 UW student-athletes which totaled approximately $3.3 million in 2007-08. The funds raised by the Cowboy Joe Club help defray many of those educational costs, as well as contribute to other UW Athletic Department operating costs.

Some other numbers from this year’s Cowboy Joe Club fundraising efforts include:

•The fact that 83% of last year’s 4,225 members have already renewed

•A total of 856 members (24%) out of 3,523 renewals have increased their donations by at least one level and joined the $3.3 Million Club

•There have been 359 new members join the Cowboy Joe Club which totals $101,552 in new monies

•Cowboy Joe Club members are averaging more than $500 per donation in 2008, which is nearly $100 more than last year’s average gift

The Cowboy Joe Club wants to remind donors that the third and final renewal notice went out on Monday, June 2 to members who have yet to renew. Members are encouraged to renew prior to the June 30th renewal deadline to be guaranteed benefits for the upcoming 2008-09 athletic seasons, including priority parking and seating.

Wyoming Athletics also recently completed a $32 million Athletics Facility Campaign. A total of 110 donors contributed $25,000 or more to the campaign for a total of $16 million in private donations. The Wyoming Legislature’s matching program, which matched dollar for dollar each donation of $25,000 or greater, made up the other $16 million.

Anyone interested in joining the Cowboy Joe Club or renewing an existing membership may contact the Cowboy Joe Club at 766-6242, or may join online at www.WyomingAthletics.com.

UW's Young qualifies for Olympic Trials

By Wyoming Sports.org

OMAHA, Neb. -- The University of Wyoming’s Lesley Young qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials Saturday at the 2008 Mutual of Omaha Swimvitational.

In all, five members of the UW swimming team competed against the top athletes in the nation at the Qwest Center.

Young, a freshman at UW this past season, earned a spot at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100-meter breaststroke in 1 minute, 11.61 seconds. She was touche out by former Olympian Katie Hoff. Young also swam the 200-meter breaststroke on Friday and placed 29th with a time of 2:41.18.

Young, a native of Turlock, Calif., becomes the fourth swimmer with Wyoming ties to qualify for the Olympic Trials, which begin later this month. Junior Alex Larkin previously qualified as did Brandon Fischer, a high school standout who will join the Cowboys as a freshman this fall. Former Cowboy All-American Scott Usher, who made the 2004 U.S. Olympic team, will also compete in the trails.

“This was a very successful weekend for our team against the best talent in the nation,” said UW head coach Tom Johnson. “I am especially proud of Lesley for qualifying for the trials. She had a great weekend and is very deserving of her spot in the nation’s premier meet. We are really excited about coming back to Omaha later this month with a strong contingent of Wyoming athletes for the Olympic trials.”

Larkin competed in both the 100 and 200-meter breaststrokes this weekend with an attitude of using the meet for a tune-up for the trials. He placed 31st in the 200 and 44th in the 100. Larkin had the luxury of using this meet as a tune-up for the trials since he qualified at a previous meet.

Aside from Larkin and Young, current UW swimmers Levi Bell, Tommy Gregory and Cassie Stelow also competed in the meet.

Bell, a senior captain this past season, had a solid meet and flirted with qualifying times in two events. He competed in the B final of the 200 breaststroke and the C final of the 100 breaststroke.

Sophomore sprinters Gregory and Stelow each competed in both sprint freestyle events on the weekend. As young swimmers, they gained valuable experience by swimming next to the best talent in the nation.

The 2008 Olympic Trials begin June 28 and run through July 6 at the same pool in Omaha as this weekend’s meet.

Rangers sweep Scottsbluff

Richard Anderson photos
Laramie Rangers AA manager Sean McKinney (1) and coach Kyle Deck (21) talk to the team after its sweep of the WESTCO Zephyrs, 11-1 and 13-3 Friday night at Cowboy Field. At bottom, the Rangers wait for first baseman Mike Garner to cross home plate after Garner hit the third of his three home runs in the nightcap. At left, Laramie pitchers Coleton Wilson, left, and Sri Sritharan combined to give up just four runs on eight hits in the two games.

Laramie rolls in home opener

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Mike Garner had a doubleheader players can only dream about; Coleton Wilson is beginning to look like the staff pitching ace the Laramie Rangers believe he can be and Sri Sritharan stopped using his head and relied on his arm.

It was that type of night for the Laramie Rangers in the sweep of the WESTCO Zephyrs Friday night at Cowboy Field.

Laramie rode the two-hit pitching of Wilson in the first game, an 11-1 win, while Garner blasted three home runs and knocked in nine RBI to give Sritharan his first win on the mound for the Rangers AA team in a 13-3 romp in the nightcap. Both games lasted just five innings due to the mercy rule.

The sweep moved the Rangers to 4-8 on the season. Granted, all four wins this season are against the Scottsbluff, Neb., team. Laramie manager Sean McKinney, however, said his team is just playing well in general.

“It doesn’t matter who we play,” McKinney said. “I think what matters the most and what we try to teach is that we try to play against the ball. It doesn’t matter who we are playing. The kids are working very hard in practice, the pitchers are throwing strikes for us and with runners in scoring position, and we’re coming up with big hits.”

Garner had one of the best days in Laramie Rangers history, with three hits and four RBI in the opener and three home runs and nine RBI in the second game. One of his blasts was a grand slam in the second inning. He ended the game with a two run shot in the bottom of the fifth and began the contest with a three-run home run in the first inning.

“Thirteen RBI in two games? That has to be a Rangers’ record,” McKinney said. “But that is what he can do when he stays within himself and does some of the things we work on in practice.”

Yet, Garner was eating humble pie after the game.

“It was Ok, I could have done better,” Garner said with an oh-shucks grin. “I had that strikeout; that killed me.”

Garner added that he is doing what his coaches are telling him, just “putting the bat on the ball and things like that.

“I’m just trying to give my team the best chance to win,” he said. “The wind helped a lot. I don’t know if the first one would have gone over without it. Or maybe the second.”

In was a big day offensively for the Rangers in this wind-aided twilight, as Laramie finished with 23 hits, including 11 for extra bases. Catcher/third baseman Jon Sorenson also had a two-run home run in the second game and Wilson added a pair of triples in the opener to help his cause.

“We want guys to hit doubles off of the wall,“ McKinney said. “We try to play wall hockey a lot. It helps when the wind is blowing out, some of those wall hockey ones go over. That was the case today. If not, we’re hitting doubles and triples off the wall.”

Wilson, meanwhile, had another strong outing, stopping the Zephyrs on two hits. A little over a week ago he had a one-hitter going into the final inning against the Greeley GoJos before coming up short in the end.

“That’s his second great outing in a row, and what he is going to do is he is going to keep building from that,” McKinney said. “We always talk about it being a marathon, it’s not a sprint. Every start we work on getting a little better.”

Wilson said he did a lot of off-season work and it is starting to pay off.

“I started throwing a slider and it is working pretty well,” Wilson said. “If you can just kind of keep guys off balance -- like throw a fastball and slow them down with a slider -- it seems to work.”

The Rangers also played solid defense behind Wilson and Sritharan and that made a difference on Friday night.

“When a ground ball is hit and they field it and throw the guy out, you have confidence to go on the mound to throw strokes and let them hit the ball, knowing they’ll get the out,” Wilson said.

Sritharan, who has bounced between the AA and A teams the past two seasons, had is best outing with the Rangers varsity, scattering six hits. He gave up two runs in the first and settled down in the final four innings.

“It’s a nice confidence booster and I feel like I can go ahead and get another win in the following week,” Sritharan.

A little encouragement from his teammates gave Sritharan a lift on Friday.

“We’d meet behind the pitcher’s mound before each inning and Rylan (Harding) and Skyler (Joy) would come out and tell me to turn off my brain,” Sritharan said. “I think too much and I get too nervous. I just need to get up there and throw.”

Laramie looks to feed off of this momentum today when it travels to Longmont, Colo., to face Mountain View, coached by former Cowboy great and Major Leaguer Greg Brock.

“It’s great to get two wins like this heading into Mountain View,” McKinney said. “Coach Brock will have a great squad, like he did last year. We had a great game against them last year, we beat them 4-3 in the Firecracker. We want to go down there and give everything we have and see if we can come away with two victories.”

---
RANGERS 11, ZEPHYRS 1 (5)
WESTCO 000 10 -- 1 2 1
Laramie 025 4x -- 11 10 2
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RANGERS 13, ZEPHYRS 3 (5)
WESTCO 201 00 -- 3 6 2
Laramie 452 02 -- 13 13 0

Quarterback Club honors LHS seniors

Richard Anderson photo
Ryan Greisbach and April Johnson were named the winners of the Gene Benson Memorial Scholarship Award Tuesday night.

Greisbach, Johnson named top athletes

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Ryan Greisbach and April Johnson symbolize the ideal student-athlete for Laramie High School -- leaders on and off the court, pool, track or playing field. They ended their athletic and academic careers at LHS with a bang as winners of the annual Gene Benson Memorial Scholarship Award.

Presented by the Laramie Quarterback Club Tuesday night at the Laramie Country Club, Greisbach was named the LHS Senior Male Athlete of the Year and Johnson was named the LHS Senior Female Athlete of the Year. Johnson was then named the Outstanding Athlete for Laramie High School for her final year.

Both were taken aback, to say the least, when their name was called to conclude the annual Winter and Spring Senior Banquet.

“I was pretty surprised,” Greisbach said. “I thought there were some really good guys who deserved it.”

“I was definitely surprised. There are a lot of athletes, so I didn’t expect it,” Johnson added.

Criteria for the award were that the senior athlete had to participate in sports all year long and succeed not only as an athlete, but as a student. Greisbach sported a 4.0 grade point average in his senior year, while Johnson excelled with a 3.85 GPA. Both also participated in extra curricular activities.

Johnson was a well-rounded athlete, competing in volleyball, basketball and track and field.

“It wasn’t the greatest year of my sports (career), but it was fun,” Johnson said. “I didn’t go as far as I would have liked to in both volleyball, basketball and track. It was a good year.”
Johnson is heading to Torrington to play basketball for Eastern Wyoming College. She said she plans to major in marketing.

Greisbach excelled as a runner this season for the Plainsmen, placing fourth in the state cross country championships and third in the state indoor two-mile run. Injuries, however, hampered his progress in the outdoor season, although he competed well at the state meet.

“Cross country was really good,” Greisbach said. “In indoor and outdoor track, I felt like I had some really good races, some highs and some lows during the season. I think I had a fun year. I bonded really well with the team; it was fun to just hang out and hopefully I left a positive impact on some of the younger runners.”

Greisbach will stay in Laramie and study molecular biology at UW and run cross country and track.

For both athletes, the award means a lot to them personally.

“I’m kind of awestruck right now because there are so many good athletes, like Stephen Michel and Ryan Ivy, so I am really humbled,” Greisbach said.

“It is just an honor to get this award,” said Johnson.

Earlier in the banquet, the head coaches for the school’s winter and spring sports introduced their seniors and talked about their respective seasons.

Outgoing Lady Plainsmen basketball coach Bruce Schmidt introduced three of his seniors who were in attendance, including Johnson, Kendahl Avery and Heather Biggs.

“These three were together since eighth grade and what they have done for the girls’ basketball program was instrumental,” Schmidt said.

Laramie Nordic ski coach Becca Watson introduced her two seniors in attendance -- Catherine Schmidt and Kali McCrackin -- and read a couple of limericks about the two skiers.

LHS wrestling coach Brad Edmunds then talked about his three seniors at the banquet-- Ethan Riegel, Tyler West and Michael Poulos.

“These seniors have grown on and off the mats,” Edmunds said.

Poulos, the state champion at 189 pounds this season, will attend Wyoming on a wrestling scholarship. He was also awarded the Allen Family Award as the Most Outstanding Senior Wrestler and the Faulkner Award for the most pins.

Jason Mountain, the Plainsmen head basketball coach, introduced two of his seniors -- Galand Thaxton and Blake Maddox.

“They were two of my favorites,” Mountain said. “They were two of my hardest workers and two of my most dedicated players.”

Veteran Laramie swim coach Tom Hudson then introduced his lone senior at the banquet, Jonathon Power. The Plainsmen finished second at the state meet and set a state record in qualifiers with 26.

LHS downhill coach Lydia Wood talked about her lone senior at the banquet -- state champion Erin Niss.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better year from a better senior,” Wood said.

Laramie indoor and outdoor track and field coach Gil Bradfield then talked about his seniors, who also excelled in the classroom. Senior members on the track team had a combined 3.5 grade point average.

Among those seniors attending were Greisbach, Stephen Michel, Blake Garnich, Johnson, Ashley Page and Alex Bradfield.

Laramie girls’ soccer coach Anne Hawley was unable to attend because of a prior commitment and so were her two seniors. The Lady Plainsmen won their first-ever state soccer championship this spring.

Rounding out the team portion of the banquet, Laramie boys’ soccer coach Andy Pannell praised his seniors who helped the Plainsmen win their second state title this season.

Those in attendance were Cody Suder, Dalton Osterman, Isaiah Martin and Keith Kyhl.

“They are four of the seven of this senior group who were outstanding,” Pannell said.

KOWB sports director and Laramie Quarterback Club president David Settle was the emcee of the banquet, which was postponed from May 22 when a violent spring storm passed through Laramie.

Laramie Prep falls to Titans

Richard Anderson photos
At top, Craig Welniak gets ready on deck as teammate Tommy Johnson bats Saturday against the Rocky Mountain Titans at Cowboy Field. At bottom, Laramie coach Armando Casas talks to catcher Kevin Dooley between innings.

Rangers come up short in opener

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Too many times when a team drops a heartbreaker in the first game of a doubleheader, they come out flat in the nightcap.

The Laramie Rangers prep baseball team did just that Saturday at Cowboy Field, falling to the Rocky Mountain Titans, 11-9 and 13-3.

Laramie led 8-3 after five innings, but gave up three runs in the top of the sixth and five more in the top of the seventh. The Rangers tried to come back in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with no outs, but could manage just one run.

The opening loss wasted an outstanding pitching performance by Abel Casas, who gave just three runs in five innings of work. Laramie, however, couldn’t hold the lead behind a pair of relievers and came up short.

“Pitching is the key to every game at every level,” Laramie manager VerDon Hoopes said. “We got five great innings from Abel, then struggled in relief. We couldn't hit spots, walked too many and is the case, often when that happens, it snowballs into trouble.”

Laramie had seven hits in the first game, with Dylan Watson knocking in a pair of runs and Kevin Dooley adding an RBI.

In the second game, Rocky Mountain scored five runs in the first two innings and never looked back. Titans pitcher Chris Davis threw a no-hitter at the Rangers, although Laramie was able to score three runs.

“In the second game, we were no hit by a confident Titans team,“ Hoopes said. “We hit better than that, just good hits going at Titan defenders.”

Despite the two losses, Hoopes said there were some positives coming out of their defensive effort, especially in the first five innings of the opener.

“We caused two rundowns, which we executed perfectly," he said. “We had three errors in the two games and had a lot of nice plays with good reaction and decisions.”

The Rangers Prep team returns to action June 11 against the Fort Collins Hawks in Fort Collins.
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(Game 1)
TITANS 11, RANGERS 9
Rocky Mountain Titans 200 103 5 -- 11 10 5
Laramie Rangers Prep 004 400 1 -- 9 7 2
Losing pitcher -- Dylan Watson; Winning pitcher -- Barry Hull
Laramie hitting -- Tyler Loose 1b; Alex Jordan 1b; Kevin Dooley 1b, RBI; Dylan Watson 1b, 2RBI; Casey Stangle 1b; Brady Olson 1b; Tyler Warren 1b.
Rocky Mountain hitting -- Jordan 1b; Tomaski 3b, 2b, 1b; Hull 2b; Sage 1b, 1b.
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(Game 2)
TITANS 13, RANGERS 3
Rocky Mountain Titans 410 233 -- 13 10 0
Laramie Rangers Prep 000 210 -- 3 0 1
Losing pitcher -- Alex Jordan; Winning pitcher -- Chris Davis
Rocky Mountain hitting -- Jordan 1b; Blazier 3b; Tomaski 1b; Davis 2b, 1b, 1b; Komar 3b; Hull 1b; Tomisino 1b; Hummerdarfer 1b; Justin 1b

UW track concludes regionals

by Wyoming Sports.org

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Wyoming's Alan John and John Alderson both came up shy of qualifying for the NCAA Championships Saturday during the final day of the NCAA Regional.

In the hammer throw, John, a freshman, had a personal best of nearly 10 feet with his toss of 199 feet, 1 inch. John made the finals and finished in eighth place, his throw was also good for ninth best all-time in Wyoming history.

“Today’s performance really shows what kind of athlete he is; he stepped in there and competed with the big boys,” said UW assistant coach Paul Barrett. “It is also a testament to what kind of future he has here, as he is only a freshman.”

Alderson finished 18th in the triple jump at 48-3/4. Alderson was coming off his third-place finish at the Mountain West Conference Championships.

“John has been suffering from a sore ankle for some time now and really had a gutsy performance today,” said UW head coach Don Yentes. “This weekend was really a good experience for these kids and hopefully will benefit us next year and in the future.”

Out of the eight competitors that qualified for the NCAA Regional meet, Kate Burton is the lone Cowboy or Cowgirl to move on to the national meet, June 11-14 in Des Moines, Iowa. Burton will compete in the hammer throw.