Bulls finish first in NCAA Regional

Chase Koepka was one of five Bulls to place in the top 25 as he finished in 16th at 1-over.
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

The USF men’s golf team gained a unique home-course advantage when the Bulls advanced to the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship after blowing away the field with a first-place 14 under finish in the NCAA New Haven Regional.

USF led second-place San Diego State (E) by 14 strokes when play concluded at the The Course at Yale (par-70, 6,803 yards) on Saturday and it will get the chance to compete for a national championship at a more familiar course.

The Bulls will host the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida, a course they have consistently practiced throughout the season. 

Leading into the 30-team tournament, which takes place May 29 – June 3, USF’s five-man team is clicking on all cylinders, as they all finished in the top-25 players in the NCAA New Haven Regional.

Claudio Correa, the AAC Freshman of the Year, led USF over the weekend as the freshman finished in a tie for fifth at 3-under par. He shot 67 in back-to-back rounds to finish off the weekend.

Despite holding a first-place lead heading into the final round, sophomore Rigel Fernandes shot a 73 on the final day to fall to a tie for 11th. 

Williams selected to represent USA basketball

Courtney Williams was selected as one of 12 players to represent Team USA in the 2015 World University Games, which will take place July 4-13 in Gwangju, South Korea. 

Fifty-one athletes, including USF forward Alisia Jenkins tried out for the team, which will begin its quest for a gold medal when training camp begins in Colorado Springs on June 18. 

The World University Games are held every other year and are open to full-time college students between 17 and 24 years old. 

The USA women’s team has won nine gold medals since first competing in 1973 and went 6-0 on its way to a gold-medal finish in 2013. 

Led by Northwestern coach Joe McKeown, who has over 600 career wins, the 2015 USA women’s team will first play Italy on July 5. 

Bulls earn conference honors

Despite finishing seventh out of eight teams in the AAC, the USF men’s track and field team had two members recognized for their efforts in the conference championships Saturday.

Senior Kevin Bell came four inches short of becoming the conference champion, but settles for second out of 12 long jumpers. 

His jump of 24 feet, 1.75 inches on his sixth and final attempt was enough to earn him second-team all conference honors. 

Junior Michael Babinec took third in the 3,000m steeplechase for the second-consecutive season with a personal-best time of 9:10.84. 

Babinec, who also earned third-team all conference honors, was just over six seconds shy of the winner, but finished only 0.63 seconds shy of second. 

Track and field results

Junior Dwight Davis was the second and final Bull to earn second-team all conference honors when he narrowly lost the 400m dash to Chinedu Amonu, who beat Davis by one hundredth of a second.

He also finished second in the 4 x 100m relay, sixth in the 200m final and fifth in 4 x 400m relay.

“It was an experience,” Davis said in a statement. “Coming here from Alabama, I wasn’t ‘the guy.’ There is some really good competition out here. I just came out here and gave my team my all. Every time I compete, it’s more than me, it’s the logo on my shirt.”

Anderson Charles’ third-place finish in the 800m run earned him third-team all conference honors. The junior’s time of 1:50.89 was 0.63 seconds shy of first place.

Charles was leading the pack until the final 100m, when he was passed by the two top runners.

Paul Barrett’s time of 51.79 seconds in the 400m hurdles also earned him third-team all confer