Sunday, May 19, 2002
Two roundabout roads to success
Lynn Thompson became the first athlete in Thomas More College history to win a national championship when she earned the NCAA Division III women's golf individual title in South Hadley, Mass., Friday afternoon.
Thompson's four-round total was 312 (24 over par), seven strokes better than second-place finisher Rachele Miller of Mary Hardin College.
The title capped a stellar first season in which she won seven spring tournaments and tied for first place in another. A first-team All-American, Thompson's 76.25 scoring average is No. 1 in the nation among Division III colleges.
Thompson is a 44-year-old junior. And the timing couldn't have been better, she said.
“One of my strengths is that I keep plugging away. If I have a bad hole, I move on to the next hole and look for my best opportunity. I think that's because of my age,” Thompson said. “Twenty years ago I didn't think like that. I wasn't able to shrug things off and move on.”
The Saints' women's golf program started this season under coach Scott Amstutz. The five-person team endured the struggles associated with fledgling programs, but Amstutz said there was one constant: Thompson's success.
She defeated competitors by an average of six strokes. She had a blistering short game. She had unparalleled skill and even stronger determination. And yet she was the golfer even her rivals cheered for.
“I think that her consistency is so good, it frustrated some of the girls she played with,” Amstutz said. “But at tournaments, she had the whole field pulling for her. She's really a class act.”
Thompson started playing golf for the Loveland High School boys team in 1976. A year later, she went to Western Kentucky University on a golf scholarship, then dropped out after her freshman year.
She spent the next several years working at golf stores and country clubs until she met fellow golfer and future business partner Diane Meiners. A shared interest in rehabilitating houses led to Lifestyles Papering and Painting, a wallpaper, painting and hanging business they've operated out of their Cincinnati homes for 18 years.
“I wanted to go back to school for the degree, for personal achievement,” Thompson said. “I didn't know what to expect with golf — and being a nontraditional student — but I played with some great young women who never made me feel out of place. Looking back, I wish I'd done this a long time ago. Then again, I'm really enjoying it now.”
This year Thompson has worked at least 30 hours a week while taking classes toward a business degree and maintaining a 3.8 GPA.
She has two more years of eligibility.
Like Thompson, Northern Kentucky University freshman Kim Keyer-Scott has been a valuable asset to collegiate women's golf.
Keyer-Scott, 34, helped the Norse to the NCAA Division II Golf Championships for the first time in school history. The third-year NKU program placed second in the Great Lakes Valley Conference before winning the NCAA Division II East Regional May 4 and advancing to the nationals in Allendale, Mich.
Keyer-Scott, who boasts the team's season-low scoring average (78.88) and was named the GLVC Freshman of the Year, began playing golf seriously only five years ago. She picked up a club in Belgium out of boredom.
She had accompanied her husband, Robert, when he was transfered overseas for business, and it wasn't long before she sought a hobby.
“When I started out, my handicap was 36. I just loved trying to get better,” Keyer-Scott said.
When she returned to the United States in 2000, her handicap was 5.4.
Keyer-Scott caught NKU coach Daryl Landrum's attention when she competed in the Cincinnati Women's Met last summer, and he welcomed her to the team the following season.
“She's good for the team as far as competition goes, because she's not afraid of any situation. She's a fierce competitor, no doubt about that,” Landrum said. “She plays smart, which has a lot to do with her age and maturity.”
Keyer-Scott earned her GED in 1987 after attending Oak Hills High School. For 11 years she was a single mother to Crystalle, 16. Now, with a 3.6 GPA, she's pursuing degrees in psychology and criminal justice.
In the meantime, she has been making friends in places she'd never thought of.
“I had seen her stats and I knew she was going to be good, but I didn't expect her personality,” senior golfer Diana Camacho said. “At first I was kind of worried when I heard she was 34. She turned out to be better than we expected, all the way around.”
Said Keyer-Scott: “I think my age works to my advantage. A lot of things have happened to me in my life, and I was a single parent for a long time. This part (golf) is gravy. This part is fun.”
Others
Mount St. Joseph senior outfielder Mike Cronin (La Salle) has been named to the 2002 Verizon Academic All-District IV College Baseball Second Team. Cronin, who has a 3.34 GPA, led the Lions in batting with a .417 average.
Mount St. Joseph freshman pitcher Kati Stroub (New Richmond) was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Central Region second team. Stroub had a 1.17 ERA.
Fordham football coach Dave Clawson announced that John San Marco (Sycamore) will be one of the team's three captains for the 2002 season. San Marco, a 6-foot-2, 275-pound offensive lineman, is a two-year starter.
University of Cincinnati junior Chris Hamblen has been named a semifinalist for the 2002 Johnny Bench Award, given annually to the top collegiate catcher by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission. Hamblen is hitting .319 with a team-high 13 home runs and .590 slugging percentage. He is fourth on UC's career RBI list (167) and fifth in career home runs (36).
Capital University freshman Robert Caress (Princeton) was named to the first team, All-Ohio Athletic Conference for men's tennis. Caress was 11-5 at No. 2 and No. 3 singles.
Scott Hirsch (Colerain), a Wittenberg senior outfielder, earned All-North Coast Athletic Conference honors. He hit .427 with three home runs and 24 RBI.
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Two roundabout roads to success