AU ROUNDUP: Women’s golf in sixth at NCAAs

ATHENS, Ga. – The No. 10 Auburn women’s golf team opened NCAA East Regional play shooting 8-over 296 and are tied for sixth with No. 20 Virginia.  Freshman Cydney Clanton led the Tigers, firing 2-under 70 and is tied for fifth. 

Sophomore Candace Schepperle completed the day with a 2-over 74. Senior Margaret Shirley shot a 3-over 75 for the day. Junior Mariana Macias and freshman Sarah Thead, both of which are competing in their first regional, shot 5-over 77 and are tied for 50th. 

No. 1 Duke leads the team race after shooting 3-under 285.  No. 5 Florida is in second at 2-over 290, followed by No. 32 South Carolina (291).

Auburn will tee off today at 12:20 p.m.

Denby, Hastrup honored by NCAA
Auburn senior swimmers Kara Denby and Kristen Hastrup have been named by the NCAA as two of 29 female student-athletes who participated in Division I, II or III winter sports to receive a $7,500 postgraduate scholarship award from the NCAA.

Denby, a native of Simi Valley, Calif., holds a 3.94 grade-point average while majoring in zoology and pre-med. Named an academic All-American by ESPN The Magazine and the College Swim Coaches Association of America, she is a four-time SEC Academic Honor Roll honoree and a four-time Top Tiger.

Hastrup, a senior from Fresno, Calif., has earned a 4.00 grade point average, majoring in Biomedical Sciences. She is a two-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and has earned Auburn University Academic Top Tiger honors four times. She earned first-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors and is a CSCAA Academic All-American.

Hastrup won the Stanley Louis Sugar Memorial Award as an outstanding scholar-athlete at Auburn.

Cielo wins another gold at Brazilian Trials
RIO DE JANEIRO — One day after setting a meet record in the 50m freestyle, Auburn junior Cesar Cielo came right back with another record-setting performance during the second day of the Brazilian Olympic Trials.

Cielo, a native of St. Barbara, Brazil, swam the second leg on the winning 200m freestyle relay team that set a South American, Brazilian and meet record with a time of 1:28.19. 

The qualifying meet is a formality for Cielo, a 19-time All-American and 10-time NCAA champion, as he is already qualified for the Brazilian National Team that will travel to Beijing in August for the 2008 Olympics.

Morris selected for National Team Trials
Auburn freshman infielder Hunter Morris has accepted an invitation to USA Baseball’s 2008 National Team Trials, it was announced Thursday. Morris is one of the initial 12 players invited to try out for the team, which will be selected as trials are held June 11-23 throughout the northeastern and southeastern parts of the United States.

Morris, an SEC Freshman of the Year candidate, is one of four freshman in the initial 12. Entering this weekend’s series at Ole Miss, the Huntsville native is hitting .359 with 10 home runs and a team-best 42 RBI. His .614 slugging percentage is second the team while his .442 on-base percentage leads Auburn.

“This is a strong initial group of invitees, and we will continue to work with collegiate coaches to get the best 32 players available into this year’s National Team Trials,” National Team General Manager Eric Campbell said.

In all, 32 players will be invited to the National Team Trials, with 22 of those players being selected for the National Team roster.

Women’s tennis starts NCAA Championships
The No. 29 Auburn women’s tennis team will take on the No. 35 Ohio State Buckeyes in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, hosted by the University of Florida, today. Auburn will play at 2 p.m. in Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.

“We are excited to make the field,” said Auburn head coach Tim Gray. “Ohio State is a very good team and they are very well coached. We hope that we can get past them and maybe have another crack at Florida, but first things first.”

The Tigers are 3-3 all-time against the Buckeyes. The last time the two met was in 2007. Auburn prevailed, 6-1.

Auburn makes its second consecutive run in the NCAA tournament. Last year, Auburn beat N.C. State in the first round, but fell to Georgia in the second.

Finney, Thompson honored by SEC
BATON ROUGE, La. — A pair of Auburn softball players took home postseason honors as junior outfielder Myesha Finney was named to the Southeastern Conference All-Defensive Team and sophomore pitcher Anna Thompson was named Second Team All-SEC, it was announced by the league office Wednesday night.

Finney, a native of Atlanta, has appeared in all 56 games and has started 55 games, splitting time between left field and center field. She is also the SEC career leader in hit-by-pitches with 44. Finney has been plunked a league-high 16 times this season and was hit 19 times in 2007.

Thompson, a native of Huntsville, led the Tigers in ERA (1.86), wins (12), innings pitched (146.2) and strikeouts (219) in 2008.

Thompson currently ranks second in the SEC in strikeouts and seventh in ERA. She has 510 career strikeouts, placing her third in the Auburn record books, and 27 career wins, putting her fifth in Auburn history.

Jones receives academic honor
Auburn outfielder Ben Jones has been named to the Academic All-District IV First Team, it was announced on Thursday by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Jones, from Decatur, carries a 3.92 GPA in mechanical engineering and is the top left-handed pinch hitter and the fourth outfielder for Auburn’s baseball team. This season, he is hitting .317 in 60 at-bats, stroking five doubles and a home run, driving in 10 and scoring 10.

Jones will now be placed on the national ballot for Academic All-America recognition.