Sept. 7, 2001
Columbia, Mo. - After losing three seniors to graduation in 2001, a pessimist would not hesitate to call this a rebuilding year for the MU women's golf team.
Try selling that to first year coach Stephanie Cooper though.
"Obviously we lost some good golfers," Cooper said. "But we have some great young talent coming in."
This weekend, the Tigers will face their first test of the fall campaign as they tee off in the Chip N' Club Invitational in Lincoln, Neb. The tournament will be held Sept. 9-10.
It will no doubt be a challenge to fill the shoes of Jamie Tucker and Amelia Moses, who won the Big 12 Championships in 2000 and set the MU single season (74.96) and career (76.69) scoring records during her four years in Columbia.
However, a solid core of new Tigers is hoping to leave its own mark on the golf links this season.
Freshmen Maria Ohlsson, sister of MU junior Elin Ohlsson, and Mindy Bullard are expected to provide the Tigers with valuable playing time this fall.
Also, Las Vegas, Nev., native Annie Schlosser is back in the Tiger line-up after taking one year off.
Freshmen Jesse Reinhold from Columbia and St. Louis native Rebecca Davila are both expected to contribute this fall for the Tigers as well.
Three Tiger veterans are looking to mirror the success of the past four years. Senior captain Nisha Sadekar, Elin Ohlsson and sophomore Tara Jacobsen combined to play in all but two tournaments last season.
Sadekar has already noticed the positive impact that Cooper has brought to her alma mater.
"I think we have a lot more stability and order," Sadekar said. "Everybody has already improved."
That is not to take away from the incredible 10-year career that Tom Loyd had as an assistant and head coach of the women's golf program at MU.
Under Loyd, the Tigers qualified for the NCAA West Regional Tournament the past four years and produced the school's first ever individual Big 12 champion in Moses. Cooper, who played for Loyd from 1990-1994 and coached the Hickman boys and girls teams for the past six years, is one of only two Tiger head coaches who are MU graduates.
"I went to school here and I have a love for the program," Cooper said.
That love for the program will translate into high expectations and lofty goals for the 2001-2002 season.
"I am a very competitive person, so of course I want my team to win," Cooper said. "Our goal is to improve every tournament and stay in the top three or four teams in the Big 12."
This weekend will be a credible litmus test for the Tigers.
"We usually start off strong," Sadekar said. "I think this first tournament will give Coop a good chance to see how well we can play."
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