The team, along with head coach Ron Sattele, will fly to Rome this coming Thursday and will begin a two-week trek that will take them through Venice, Florence, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast. Along the way, the team will mix some studies in with a few games of basketball as Oglethorpe art professor Dr. Jeffrey Collins will be lecturing on Art and the Italian culture for course credit.

“This is a great opportunity for the team to bond while exploring the treasures of Italian art,” said junior guard Katie Kulavic of Norcross, Georgia. “Plus we get to play a few basketball games against international competition – something I’m really looking forward to,” she added.

 

The team staged a few fundraisers during the season to help raise money for what promises to be a life-enriching experience. In December, the team signed up over a hundred sponsors for a “free-throw-a-thon” where the women shot free throws into the wee hours of the morning. With each made shot the women added money to the trip funds.

 

“The free-throw-a-thon worked on a couple of levels for the team,” said head coach Ron Sattele. “First and foremost, it helped us raise the necessary money for the trip to Italy by getting friends of Oglethorpe athletics to support us. Secondly, though, I got to watch the young ladies work on their free-throws for hours on end, which, of course, is great practice for late-game situations.”

 

Between the on-site lectures on Italian art ranging from Da Vinci to Michelangelo delivered by Dr. Collins, the women will manage to lace up their high-tops and get a taste of semi-pro international basketball. Following a visit to the Guggenheim museum in Venice on May 22, the Stormy Petrels will take the court at Palasport to square off with Virtus Venezia in their first international game.

 

After traveling to Rome and gazing upon the Sistine Chapel on May 24, the women will suit up to face semi-pro titans Athena Basket in the Stella Azzurra sports hall. The team will then head to the coast to enjoy authentic Italian opera in Sorrento before facing POL Sorrento on the basketball court at Campo della Scuolo Media on May 27.

 

The team will return to Atlanta on May 29^th and will part ways for the summer. Undoubtedly, though, they will be looking to build off their Italian adventure in preparations for the 2008-2009 basketball season which promises to be an exciting one as the Petrels return seven of their top eight players from their Final Four run this season.

Dale, a sophomore from Peachtree City, will be making her first trip to the NCAA's biggest stage for women's golf and will enter riding on the momentum of three consecutive top-ten finishes in fields crowded with talent.
 
Gates, a senior from Kennesaw, will be making her second consecutive trip to the Division III Golf Championships and will look to improve on her impressive tied for 18th place performance one year ago. Gates enters the tournament on a hot streak, having recorded consecutive top-five finishes including a win at the Rhodes College Spring Invitational in April.
 
The Championship will take place May 13-16 at the Centennial Oaks Golf Course in Waverly, Iowa.

On the women's side, senior Katie Kuhn of Sterling Heights, Michigan was voted Most Outstanding Player. Katie played at the extremely tough #1 singles slot all season long and acquitted herself well against the top competitors in the SCAC.
 
Sophomore Alison Burt of Spring, Texas was voted by her peers as the Most Improved Player for the 2007-2008 season. Burt, also a star on the volleyball court, joined the team this season and actually climbed the ladder all the way up to where she competed a combined seven times at the #2 or #3 singles slot. Additionally, Alison compiled a solid 5-3 record while playing doubles with Jamie Dillon.
 
The Stormiest Petrel Award yielded a tie between freshman Molly Colvard of Chickamauga, Georgia and senior Jamie Dillon of Lake Mary, Florida. Colvard joined the team this year and displayed a fiery spirit in racking up a splendid 5-2 overall record playing out of the #3 singles slot. Dillon, another dual sport star (she played soccer at OU for four seasons), had a stellar season, going 9-7 as a singles player and 10-6 in doubles competition for a season record of 17-13.
 
On the men's side, junior Luca Cerenko of Atlanta was voted Most Outstanding Player for the 2007-2008 season. Cerenko posted an incredible 12-2 record in singles competition including a perfect 11-0 from the #2 and #3 positions. In addition to his singles exploits, Luca combined with Felix Mann and Alex Lindburg to record a 9-2 record in doubles play.
 
Senior Brick Faucette of Powder Springs, Georgia was voted Most Inproved Player. Faucette, a four year player who competed in a whopping 82 matches while wearing the Oglethorpe black and gold, battled all season long at the #1 singles slot facing stout competiton. Brick and freshman Ross Beall combined to post a 7-3 record in doubles competition.
 
The Stormiest Petrel award was earned by freshman Lawrence Sweatman of Memphis, Tennessee. Sweatman showed great dedication throughout the season on the practice courts and when called upon to compete in a match was always ready to play. Lawrence won all three of the singles matches he competed in this season and combined with Brad White to win his only doubles match for a perfect 4-0 record in games played this season.

Martin set an Oglethorpe University record in the shot put while capturing third place with a throw of 45’-0.5”. Hale tallied 19 points at the two-day meet with her 2^nd in the long jump, 2^nd in the high jump, 7^th in the triple jump and as a member of the 5^th place 400-meter relay team. Chloey Mayo, Armanda Colson and Donyale Greenwell joined Hale on the relay team.  Mayo also scored points for her 7^th place finish in the shot put with her best toss of the season, 33’-1”.

 

Senior and season leading point-scorer, Elijah Green, again led the OU men in scoring.  Green took 4^th place in the long jump, 7^th place in the triple jump and added one-half point in the men’s 400m relay squad.  The other three members of the relay squad – Luis Zimbron, Jay Locke, and Que Newbill – rounded out the scoring for Oglethorpe’s men.

A testament to David's dedication and hard work is the fact that he has already earned his degree from Oglethorpe. In addition to being named to the All South Region squad, David was named Oglethorpe's Male Academic Athlete of the Year after compiling a stellar 3.8 GPA in addition to his outstanding play on the soccer field.

The Petrels rebounded from a rough day one of the tournament to storm back into first place on day two before distancing themselves from the field in the final round.
 
Along with Urbanski's medalist performance and three-day total of 226 earning him POTY honors, sophomore Scoot Pugh fired a three-day total of 229 to finish tied for 2nd place overall and be named to the All-SCAC First Team. Fellow sophomore David Dilibero posted a 234 good for a fifth place tie and also joined Pugh on the All-SCAC First Team.
 
Freshman Matthew Rebitch recorded a three-day total of 238 which placed him tied for 10th overall and landed him on the All-SCAC Second Team. Junior Hap Kaufold struggled on day two, posting an uncharacteristic 87 en route to posting a total of 245 which tied him for 23rd place.
 
With the conference championship in hand, the #2 ranked nationally Petrels now become an automatic qualifier for the 2008 NCAA Division III Golf Championships to be held May 12-16 at Chateau Elan in Georgia.

The Petrels began the weekend with a tough 7-2 loss to the Rhodes Lynx as freshman sensation Ross Beall battled allergies and had to withdraw from Friday's matches. Despite the setback, the Petrels rebounded to knock off Hendrix 7-2 on Saturday and then won again on Sunday over Millsaps, 6-3 to secure the school's best tennis finish in a loaded SCAC.
 
Cerenko finished the weekend with an unblemished 6-0 record to earn his All-Tournament honors for both the single and doubles competitions. Felix Mann posted a 5-1 record on the weekend and was named to the All-Tournament team for his doubles combination with Cerenko.
 
Freshman Ross Beall and senior Brick Faucette combined to go 2-0 on the weekend in their doubles matches and were named to the SCAC All-Tournament Team for their stellar play on the court as well.
 
The Petrel Netters finish the season at 12-7, their best winning percentage under head coach Peter Howell.
 
 

Dale fired consecutive rounds of 83-81-76 for a three-day total of 240 and a tie for second place overall. Dale finished a scant four strokes off the pace set by Southwestern's Marisa Mauldin.
 
Gates posted rounds of 83-82-78 for a total of 243 which earned her fifth place overall. Both the top-5 performances by Dale and Gates provided the only multiple First-Team All-SCAC combination in the league. With their stellar performances, both Dale and Gates have earned invitations to the NCAA Division III National Championships as individuals. This will mark Dale's first ever trip to the NCAA's largest stage and Gates second consecutive trip.