Coastal Carolina athletics has standout year
The Coastal Carolina University Athletic Department had another standout year in 2002-2003, finishing as runner-up in the Big South Conference’s Sasser Cup standings.

Coastal had three Big South Conference team champions in women’s cross country, men’s outdoor track and field, and baseball. For the cross country squad, Coastal also had two teams and a pair of individuals qualify for NCAA Championship competition. The men’s soccer team earned an At-Large berth in the Men’s College Cup, advancing to second round. Baseball won the Big South Tournament, earning the automatic bid when the squad played in a NCAA Regional in Lincoln, Neb.

Andrew Allden

Terah Kipchiris became Coastal’s first-ever men’s cross country or track and field national qualifier, as he earned a spot at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, while hammer thrower Amber Campbell continued to be one of the top throwers in the nation, as she competed in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in June. Alvaro Velasco also qualified as an individual for the 2003 NCAA Men’s Golf East Regional in Auburn, Ala., where he tied for 18th.

Individually, the Chanti-cleers had 68 All-Big South Performers and five Big South Coaches of the Year. Coastal also earned seven Big South Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year, more than any other BSC school, and had seven Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-District honorees. Coastal’s men’s track and field coach Andrew Allden was also named the Southeast Region Coach of the Year for his team’s performance during the outdoor season, making him a finalist for National Coach of the Year.

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Greatness on the Green
Coastal Carolina’s men’s golf has made its presence felt this season, both in amateur and professional events.

Rafael Vera

Among the amateur ranks, Alex Larrazabal, a 2002 graduate, became the 2002 British Amateur champion and earned berths in the 2002 British Open and the 2003 Masters. At the Masters in Augusta, Ga., Larrazabal played the first two rounds with former champion Fred Couples and Jerry Kelly. Larrazabal was also invited to play in The Memorial, the tournament hosted by legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus.

Also on the PGA Tour, former Coastal golfer Tom Gillis tied for seventh at eight-under at the FBR Capital Open in June. Gillis finished six shots behind the winner, Rory Sabbatini. Gillis, who played at Coastal in the late 1980s, also qualified for the 2003 U.S. Open.

Alvaro Velesco

Among amateurs, Coastal had four current and former Chants qualify for and compete in the 2003 British Amateur. Recent graduate Rafael Vera (Spain), current Chant Alvaro Velasco (Spain) and 2003 signees Jeremy Kirkland (France) and Moises Cobo (Spain) all qualified for the event, held June 2 to 7 at Royal Troon and Irvine. Vera and Velasco played well enough to qualify for the match play portion of the tournament, but were defeated in first-round matches.

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Soccer team excels in NCAA tournament
For the first time in school history, Coastal’s men’s soccer team went to the third round of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship, earning the best record in the program’s history (20-2-0). After defeating Davidson and fourth-seeded North Carolina, the ninth-ranked Chanticleers fell to the Santa Clara Broncos on Nov. 30 at the Bronco’s Buck Shaw Stadium in California.

Joseph Ngwenya

The season will go down in the record books for Coastal having shut out 14 opponents, the most in a single season by any team.

Also for the first time, Coastal hosted the opening round of the Championships on campus with the Davidson game on Friday, Nov. 21. The match, played in front of a record crowd of 1,253, marked the first time in school history that any Big South Conference school has hosted a first round NCAA Championship event.

Senior forward Joseph Ngwenya of Zimbabwe was named to the 2003 First Team Academic All-America University Division Men’s Soccer Team. Ngwenya and head coach Shaun Docking earned the Big South’s Player and Coach of the Year honors for the second consecutive season. The award marks Docking’s fourth as a head coach and his third while at the helm of CCU men’s soccer.

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Koppel earns top honors
The awards have continued to roll in for cross country and women’s track standout Kara Koppel, who graduated in May 2003. In July 2003, she was awarded the prestigious George A. Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence by the Big South Conference. The award is given annually to one male and one female student-athlete who attains the highest GPA during their college years.

Koppel has also been named the Verizon/CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American for track and field/cross country, and she was named to the Academic All-District squad in May. On April 30, she was awarded an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, the first Coastal athlete to earn the prestigious award. Koppel was one of 15 Division I and 29 overall student-athletes competing in NCAA- sanctioned winter sports to win the $6,900 award.

Academically, Koppel had a 4.0 grade point average in psychology in the Honors Program and was recognized as the top Coastal Carolina graduating senior, receiving the Faculty’s Academic Excellence Award.

Athletically, the McDonald, Ohio, native is a three-time All-Big South honoree in cross country and twice All-Big South in indoor and outdoor track and field. The 2002 Big South Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year, she has earned the Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year for cross country, indoor track and outdoor track each of the past two seasons.

Koppel is enrolled in graduate school at Colorado State, studying occupational therapy.

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Athletic Hall of Fame named for Sasser
Coastal’s Athletic Hall of Fame has been named in honor of former Coastal athletic director George F. “Buddy” Sasser.

Buddy Sasser

“It is a fitting tribute to Buddy that his name should be permanently linked with Coastal’s Athletic Hall of Fame,” said Ingle. “Buddy embodies the highest qualities associated with college athletics—integrity, leadership and scholarship.”

The Athletic Hall of Fame will be a significant feature of the proposed Athletic Field House scheduled to be constructed near the north end zone of Coastal’s new football stadium, probably in 2005. Until that structure is built, the Hall of Fame is being temporarily located in the new stadium.

“This is a real honor,” said Sasser. “Coastal has a rich tradition in athletics, and I’m proud to be a part of it. It’s especially significant to me that the Hall of Fame will be housed in the new football stadium complex, which is located on a site that has sentimental associations for me. I had a part in building the first stadium there back when I was a coach at Conway High School.”

Sasser was Coastal’s director of athletics from 1986 to 1989 and from 1996 to 1999.

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