Women Golfers are America East Champions

	Diane Onofry

The UAlbany women�s golf team captured the first-ever America East Conference championship last month. Junior Diane Onofry fired an 88, the best round of the day�s competition, to finish first. Junior Jill Friedman finished four strokes behind Onofry in second place with a total of 176 (86-90). The Great Danes finished with a 36-hole score of 723, and won by 20 strokes over second-place Boston University.

The America East Championship, the first for the women in league history, was conducted as a stroke play event with the top four of team's five golfers counting toward the team score in each round. Onofry, a junior who won medalist honors, carded an 84 to take the first-day lead, and finished with a two-round score of 172 on the par-72, 5,458-yard course. Albany head coach Richard "Doc" Sauers had three golfers among the top-five finishers, as Anne Lyons was fifth with rounds of 88 and 96.

Onofry and Friedman have been co-MVP�s for the past two years. �Both are terrific scholar athletes, said a proud Coach Sauers. �Jill Friedman was one of the UAlbany students selected to receive a Chancellor�s Award for Student Excellence and the entire team has the best GPA of all the athletic teams at the University.�

�Doc� Sauers began his seventh season last fall as the women�s golf head coach. He took over the program in its third year of existence in 1997-98 and made the transition from the Division II level to Division I level in 1999. Sauers coached the program�s first four-year Division I scholarship athlete in Katie Wachtl from 1999-2003. He is looking forward to having his four top starters back in the fall.