'Beans' Kelly named head women's golf coach

Eileen 'Beans' Kelly

Eileen "Beans" Kelly was named Coastal's new head women's golf coach in January 2008.

Prior to Coastal, Kelly was the women's golf coach at the University of Georgia, where she had a successful 15-year career. She was three-time Southeastern Conference (SEC) Coach of the Year and two-time Georgia Women's Intersport College Coach of the Year. She was named the LPGA National Coach of the Year in 1996 and National Coach of the Year in 1998 by Golfweek. She was also honored as the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Female Coach of the Year for Division I-A in 1999. She is a member of the National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) Hall of Fame, and most recently, was named the recipient of the NGCA Gladys Palmer Meritorious Service Award in 2007.

A graduate of UGA, Kelly helped lead the Lady Bulldogs to 43 championship titles, including two East Regional Championships and eight top-ten finishes in the NCAA Championships, two of them being runner-up. Her efforts also helped her team earn seven SEC Championship titles. She had 19 players named All-Americans as well as numerous SEC player awards including three SEC Players of the Year, one SEC Athlete of the Year for all sports, and four SEC Freshmen of the Year.

A letter winner in 1982 and 1983 at UGA, Kelly went on to the professional ranks where she was a member of the LPGA Tour, Futures Tour, the Ladies Asian Tour and the Florida Women's Golf Tour from 1983-1985. She then became an Assistant Golf Professional at the Horseshoe Bend Club in Atlanta from 1985-1986 before being named the head women's golf coach at UGA, where she earned her bachelor's degree in 1990.

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Men's golf alum Johnson ties for 10th in first PGA tour event

Dustin Johnson

Coastal Carolina men's golf alumnus Dustin Johnson shot 6-under to finish in a tie for 10th in his first PGA Tour event as a full tour member at the Sony Open in Hawaii in Jan. 10-13. Johnson fired 274 (68-68-67-71) for the tournament to earn the top-10 finish and tie with notables like Fred Funk, Chad Campbell and Stephen Ames and two shots ahead of Jim Furyk. K.J. Choi won the event at 14-under par.

Johnson earned his tour card on the first try at PGA Tour Q School, shooting a six-round score of 16-under par to make it by two shots, finishing in a tie for 14th, shooting rounds of 72-67-67-70-66-74=416 combined at the Crooked Cat and Panther Lake courses at the Orange County Center. He took advantage of the Panther Lake course, going 16-under (67-67-66) in his three rounds on that track, while playing Crooked Cat in even par (72-70-74), including a final round two-over 74 that put him on the Tour next year.

Of the 26 to earn their Tour cards, Johnson was one of 15 who will be considered rookies, as well as one of just nine to earn cards after going through all three stages.

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Baseball team, players earn preseason rankings

The CCU baseball team was ranked in two major preseason polls, and three players have been named to All-America teams.

Coastal ranked 19th in the Ping! Baseball preseason rankings. "Coach Gary Gilmore's Chanticleers have quietly become one of the premier teams in the nation," according to Ping's Web site. "The '07 Chants had a number of seniors who will be greatly missed, however a ton of talent remains." Coastal will face five teams ranked in the Ping! Baseball's top 30, including fifth-ranked North Carolina.

Coastal is ranked 37th in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper preseason poll. Coastal also will face five opponents ranked in CBN's top 40.

The Coastal baseball team also landed three players in the 2008 Louisville Slugger preseason All-America teams. Senior outfielder Tommy Baldridge and junior pitcher Bobby Gagg were named to the second team, and junior outfielder David Sappelt was a third-team selection. The All-Ping! Baseball Preseason teams named Sappelt a first-team outfielder, and Baldridge and Gagg were named to the second team.

Coastal is one of nine teams to have players on the Louisville Slugger preseason All-America list, joining Arizona, Arizona State, Michigan, North Carolina, Rice, San Diego, Vanderbilt and Wichita State.

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Jepchirchir is CCU's 2nd women's cross country All-American

Diana Jepchirchir

Senior Diana Jepchirchir raced her way to All-America status when she competed at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., in November 2007. Jepchirchir, originally of Kampala, Uganda, finished the 6K course 29th with a time of 20:55.8. The top 30 finishers plus the top 30 Americans earn All-America honors.

In August 2005, Jepchirchir traveled from her native Uganda to begin her collegiate career at the University of New Orleans. Four days after her arrival, Hurricane Katrina struck. In the aftermath of the storm, she was moved 80 miles inland to Baton Rouge and Louisiana State University, where she continued as a "visiting" UNO student. During this period she won the Sun Belt Conference women's individual crown with a time of 17:24.98, which set a new school record in the 5K.

Forced to rebuild its athletic department, UNO decided to cut its cross country program, and Jepchirchir began looking at other universities. Coastal coach Alan Connie, who found out about her dilemma through a coaching colleague, contacted her and set up an official visit. Even though she had offers from 12 other universities, she chose Coastal.

"During my visit, I liked the program," Jepchirchir said. "It was the best option considering the fact that I needed a smaller school."

Jepchirchir is the second Lady Chanticleer to become an All-American in women's cross country. Julia Viellehner earned All-American honors at last year's NCAA Cross Country Championships.

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Female athletes earn Hall of Fame honors

Emma Kidd

Brooke Weisbrod

Two of Coastal Carolina's best female athletes were inducted into the Sasser Athletic Hall of Fame class during the 2007 Homecoming football game in October. Emma Kidd, a tennis player who graduated in 2002, and Brooke Weisbrod, a basketball player and Wall Fellow who graduated in 2001, were selected to be the 50th and 51st members to earn the prestigious honor.

A native of Australia, Kidd, who set and still holds the school record for single victories (114), is the only female in Big South Conference history to win the league's Player of the Year award four times. Kidd was the 1999 Big South Rookie of the Year, and was a three-time Big South All-Academic Team selection (2000-2002) and three-time ITA (Inter-collegiate Tennis Association) Scholar Athlete (2000-2002). After graduating, she enjoyed a successful stint in professional tennis on the USTA Pro Summer Circuit.

Weisbrod helped resurrect Coastal's women's basketball program as a member of head coach Alan LeForce's first recruiting class in 1997. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native is one of only three players in the program's history to accumulate 1,000 points, 400 rebounds, 200 assists and 200 steals. She led the Chanticleers to the league's tournament championship twice, the program's first-ever appearances, and played in 112 career games. In 2001, Weisbrod earned the Big South Conference Player of the Year, Big South Scholar Athlete of the Year and South Carolina's NCAA Woman of the Year awards.

Coastal's Hall of Fame was commissioned in 1991 and was named the Sasser Hall of Fame in 2003 to honor former athletic director Buddy Sasser.

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