Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

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Fall sport previews

wrestling_fullCross Country

Coming off of a second-place finish at the NCAA championships and returning the four runners who earned points in that event, there is really only one goal left for the UW men’s cross-country team: a national championship.

Simon Bairu, the Big Ten Athlete of the Year last season, and Chris Solinsky, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, are both returning All-Americans for the Badgers. With 2001 All-American Josh Spiker also returning, Wisconsin is a legitimate title contender.

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The Wisconsin women’s cross-country team finished 26th at the NCAA championships but will have far more question marks this season. The biggest change for Wisconsin will come in the coaching ranks, where head coach Peter Tegen has stepped down after leading the program for 30 years. Former Badger Jim Stintzi will replace Tegen as coach.

Stintzi will have to find a way to replace the four runners who earned points for Wisconsin in the NCAA championships. Junior A Havahla Haynes will be the top returning runner from last season.

As a new era starts for the women’s cross-country team, the Badgers will need their young runners to step up to continue the success of past UW squads.

Tennis

After last season’s early exit in the NCAA tournament’s first round, the Wisconsin women’s tennis team hopes to move up in the polls this season.

With the team as a whole looking to take the next step this year, so will the two NCAA tournament qualifiers from last year, juniors Katie McGaffigan and Lindsay Martin. McGaffigan, who played in both the singles and doubles draws, will return for a senior year in which she hopes to improve on last year’s N0. 73 singles ranking and No. 42 ranking in doubles with partner Martin.

With six solid singles players and a shake-up in the doubles pairings, the UW women’s tennis team is primed for a strong 2004 campaign.

On the men’s side, the Badgers are looking to improve on last season’s 10th-place finish in the Big Ten.

Returning All-Big Ten performer Alex Kasarov will anchor the squad as he will again compete as the team’s No. 1 singles player as well as with David Hippee as the No. 1 doubles team.

The Kasarov-Hippee tandem was ranked by the ITA throughout much of last season and finished with a 15-10 record. The duo is expected to again be one of the bright spots for the men’s team in 2004.

Women’s Golf

The Wisconsin women’s golf team will spend its fall season trying to find a new No. 1 golfer after the loss of last year’s sole senior, Melinda Johnson.

Johnson, a NCAA Central Qualifier last season will leave a huge gap in the golf team’s lineup. Wisconsin will have to rely on sophomore Nicole Morse and junior Lindsay McMillan to pick up the pace if the team is to be as successful as last season.

McMillan is the team’s leading returning scorer from last season. However, her 78.9 average was nearly four strokes behind Johnson’s average. After shooting an 80.6 her freshman season, McMillan proved a valuable member of last year’s team, and a similar two-stroke improvement this year will establish her as this season’s team leader.

Morse finished her freshman campaign as the squad’s third-leading scorer and competed in all but one of the team events last year. Improvement is the key though, as Morse will need to build on her strong start to help alleviate the loss of Johnson.

Junior Jackie Obermueller, who competed in all of last season’s events, gives Wisconsin a trio of returning golfers, meaning only two inexperienced golfers will need to step up and capture a place in the team’s line-up.

Women’s crew

Fresh off a successful summer, the women’s crew program enters the fall season with a number of new faces on the coaching staff.

New head coach Bebe Bryans inherits a strong open-weight boat, which returns all but one member from the 2003-04 eights and fours boats that secured Wisconsin an 11th-place finish at the NCAA Championships in May. Among the returnees is Junior Kari Harmon, who earned second-team All-America honors following her summer performance in California.

The young lightweights boat also returns — minus veterans Eileen Storm and Ali Endress. After defeating No. 1 Radcliffe at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association regatta in June, they will look to defend their title against some hungry East Coast programs. Fortunately, if the margin of victory in the Badgers title-winning run is any indication, the other teams have a lot of catching up to do.

—Compiled from staff reports

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