AU ROUNDUP: Clanton honored as Frosh of the Year

BIRMINGHAM — A very successful season for the No. 11 Auburn women’s golf team has produced four postseason honors for three members of the team.

Freshman Cydney Clanton was named SEC Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-SEC, and sophomore Candace Schepperle and senior Margaret Shirley were named Second-Team All-SEC, the conference office announced Wednesday.

Clanton has played in every tournament this season and currently averages a team best 73.57 strokes-per-round, a mark good enough for third in the SEC and 14th in the nation. She has amassed six top-10 finishes this year, including four in the top-five. Her best finish of the year came at the UT Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship in October, where she tied for first. 

In addition to Freshman of the Year honors, Clanton was also named First-Team All-SEC and was part of the All-Freshman team. She posted a career best 18-hole score of 66 in the first round of the UCF Challenge, which tied for the second lowest ever at Auburn and was the lowest 18-hole score by a freshman. She is the sixth Auburn golfer in the last nine years to be named SEC Freshman of the Year. 

“Cydney has really had a standout year,” head coach Kim Evans said. “We are excited to see what the last two events this year have in store for her as she continues to achieve her goals.”

Dwyer heads to NCAA Championships in Athens
Auburn gymnast Julie Dwyer will travel to Athens, Ga., to compete in her final NCAA Championship, hosted by the University of Georgia.

A senior, Dwyer becomes the first Auburn gymnast to compete in four consecutive championships.

Dwyer will compete in the second session of Day 1. She will rotate with the UCLA Bruins. Dwyer will begin her rotation on vault and proceed as follows; bye, bars, beam, bye, floor.

In 2007, Dwyer scored 39.025 in the all-around at the Championship. In 2006, she earned Second-Team All-America Honors by tying for fifth on the beam. As a freshman she earned her first All-America nod when she earned Second-Team honors on vault.

Championship competition will begin with the first session at noon at Stegeman Coliseum. The second session will begin at 6 p.m. Oklahoma, Oregon State, LSU, Alabama, Arkansas and Florida will compete in the first session. Denver, Stanford, Michigan, Georgia, UCLA and Utah will compete in the second session.

Track heads to Penn Relays, other meets
The Auburn track and field teams will have athletes competing at four different competitions this weekend as the Tigers continue to prepare for the SEC Championships.

The largest contingent of Auburn’s top athletes will travel to Philadelphia to compete in the 113th running of the Penn Relays, the oldest and largest relay carnival in the world. The meet will be held today-Saturday at Franklin Field on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.

In addition to the group going to the Penn Relays, the Tigers have three field athletes going to the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, today-Saturday, five more field athletes going to the Triton Invitational in San Diego on Friday and Saturday and another group going to the Coach O Invitational, hosted by Troy University, on Saturday.

“This is kind of an unusual weekend for us to be spread out at four different competitions,” said head coach Ralph Spry. “This is our last opportunity to compete before the SEC Championships, so we’re trying to give everyone an opportunity to compete somewhere with the best conditions possible for them.”