February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By John Manley
What a difference a week made for golfer Chris Devlin. The Alabama-Birmingham senior from Ballymena went from a 69th place finish in the Alabama Invitational to medalist honors in the Beau Chene Collegiate Classic. Devlin led throughout, reporting home a four-stroke victor over Southeast Louisiana’s Jacques Chevallier. Devlin’s 201 consisted of rounds of 65, 69 and 67, and was 15 under par for 54 holes.
UAB’s Gr’me McDowell, a freshman from Portrush, Co. Antrim, tied for 19th place at 217 (72-73-72). Campbell’s David Carroll, a sophomore from Dublin, took a piece of 28th place with his 220 (71-74-75). South Florida walked off with team honors by eight strokes over UAB. Campbell tied for ninth place in the event contested at the Beau Chene Country Club in Mandeville, La.
The University of Toledo tied for fifth place in the Dr. Pepper Intercollegiate at Tanglewood Resort in Pottsboro, Tex. Tim Rice was low man for the Rockets, in after 54 holes with a two-under-par 214 (68-75-71). The senior from Rosbrien, Co. Limerick, tied for 12th place. Also representing Toledo were Alan Murray, a sophomore from Bray, Co. Wicklow, who tied for 42nd place at 221 (73-76-72), and Ricky Elliott, a senior from Portrush, who finished in 74th place at 227 (81-72-74).
Tennis
Indiana’s George McGill enjoyed a spotless weekend, picking up two victories apiece in both singles and doubles play. The senior from Castletroy, Co. Limerick, defeated Iowa’s J.R. Chidley at fourth singles, 6-3, 6-3, and with Milan Rakvica put away Chidley and Eric Kozlowski at second doubles, 8-3.
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The Hoosiers won the Saturday match, 6-1. They did likewise with Wisconsin on Sunday, as Dustin Friedman was McGill’s victim this time, falling 6-2, 6-1. McGill and Rakvica prevailed over Baker and Schumacher, 8-5.
The Rice University men’s squad won two of three matches in Ohio, defeating Toledo, 5-2, and Bowling Green, 5-1, but losing to Ohio State, 4-2. Dublin senior Robert Collins teamed with Prakash Venkataraman at first doubles to defeat Toledo’s Anthony Lipp and Dipesh Rao, 9-7, and Bowling Green’s Brandon Gabel and Vitek Wild, 8-5. The Rice duo was unsuccessful against Ohio State’s Andrew Carlson and Chris Porter, falling by an 8-4 score. Collins also lost to Carlson at first singles, 6-2, 6-3.
Brown’s Nick Malone went 2-2 in singles action on a recent Florida swing. The sophomore from Greystones, Co. Wicklow was defeated by Miami’s Peter Hoffman, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, and South Florida’s Aleks Popovic, 6-2, 6-1, before righting himself with wins over Central Florida’s William Guerin, 6-1, 6-2, and Florida’s Nathan Overholser, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. All of Malone’s matches were contested at the second slot, except for the loss to Popovic, which came at third singles. Teamwise, Brown was roughed up by all four opponents, losing to Miami and Florida by 6-1 scores, and by 4-3 verdicts to the two other squads.
Harvard’s men went 1-3 on a California road swing last week. Dublin senior Joe Green found the going rough at first singles, where he lost to Southern Cal’s Lars Nelson, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, and to Stanford’s Alex Kim, 6-2, 6-2. Green also took it on the chin from California’s John Paul Frattero, 6-2, 6-3, at second doubles. Green finally achieved a victory over Pacific’s Tobias Abrahamsson, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, at third singles.
The Crimson’s John Doran had been sidelined for the spring season, but returned at third singles against Stanford, losing to Scotty Scott, 7-5, 6-3. The senior from Dublin then stepped up to first singles against California, taking the first set from Erik Dmytruk, but ultimately losing, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.Doran then defeated Pacific’s Dietrich Haug at first singles, 4-6, 7-6(3), 2-2 (retired). Doran and Green each went 2-2 in doubles play on the trip.
Seton Hall’s women’s team defeated Villanova, 5-2, with Laura McCracken posting a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Ashley Young at second singles. The senior from Greystones, Co. Wicklow, also joined Kyli Lasalle at first doubles, where they knocked off Young and Julie Darne, 8-3. The Hall’s Judy McAuley teamed with Pille Arike at second doubles for an 8-2 win over Megan Lacroix and Liz Farrell. McAuley is a senior from Loughlinstown, Co. Dublin.
Mississippi State senior Eimear Sloan was leading her match with Georgia’s Zo Mellis, 6-4, 5-7, 2-1, when that rival defaulted. Georgia was a 5-1 winner. Sloan is a Dubliner.
Harvard’s Jennie Timoney produced a 6-3, 7-6 win over Cal-Santa Barbara’s Gaby Andrade in a match at fifth singles. Harvard won, 7-2. Timoney, a sophomore from Celbridge, Co. Kildare, was less fortunate against Southern California. She lost to Anita Loyola, 6-3, 6-2, at fourth singles. USC won this match, 7-1.
California’s Claire Curran returned to the courts after a week off due to illness and was unable to find the winning touch against Pepperdine. The Dublin senior lost to Cintia Tortorella at third singles, 7-6, 6-4, and lost at first doubles with Amy Jensen to Paola Palencia and Ipek Senoglu, 8-3.