Playing near the school’s campus, Berry men’s golf had three teams competing in the opening day of the Chick-fil-A Invitational at Coosa Country Club, which finished 16th, 21st and 23rd out of the 25 competing members.

Sophomore Chase Kulczak paced Berry with a score of 74.

The University of the Cumberlands led the field at the conclusion of Monday’s action with a team score of 291. As far as individual players went, Spring Hill College’s Adam Spiller emerged as the leader with a 69.

In other local college action Monday:

COLLEGE GOLF

Sheppard shines in Shootout

Senior Lacey Sheppard led Berry women’s golf team with a final line of 84-80—164 as the team wrapped up its play on Monday at The Southern Shootout. Berry placed 17th out of 22 teams at the tournament.

Berry ranked 10th out of the 14 NCAA Division III teams competing at the event held at Highland Park Golf Club.

Lee University, a NAIA school, maintained its Day-1 lead to earn the victory with a team score of 587 while one of its golfers, Courtney Shelton, took home top individual honors after shooting 71-68—139.

Also for Berry, Nikki Cline shot a 79-91—170 to tie for 90th, Nicole Wood shot 86-85—171 to tie for 93rd, Chelsea Hoag recorded an 88-84—172 for 96th, Lauren Buschhorn shot a 103-98—201 for 115th, and Cady Clark carded a 94-110—204 for 117th.

The team will play again Sunday in the opening day of the Rhodes Fall Classic in Tunica, Miss.

CROSS COUNTRY

Lady Vikings take third

The Berry women’s cross country team earned third place at the Tiger Twilight Invitational in Sewanee, Tenn., on a hot Friday afternoon, finishing with a top-seven team average of 22:03. Berry was paced by freshman Rachel Dorris, who placed 11th overall with a time of 21:22 in the 5K event.

Behind Dorris was junior Charlotte Collins who ran a 22:02.

Next in line was senior Lauren Nation, clocking in at 22:15. Sophomore Nicole Fredette and freshman Stephanie Mimbs finished with their best times yet for this season, running 22:17 and 22:21 respectively.

Sophomore Hibah Abuhamdiah notched a time of 23:10 while junior Katy Jordan finished at 23:45. Another sophomore, Leslie Stewart, completed the event in 24:09.

“The race was a lot of fun and a good workout,” Stewart said.

Sophomore Kayla Heflin ran a 25:41, and freshman Claire Park posted a 26:42. Rounding out the team wassophomore Annika Stryker at 27:39.

The two teams placing ahead of Berry were Sewanee and Birmingham-Southern.

Berry will host the next meet, The Viking Open, at Berry’s Clara Bowl next Saturday at 9:30 a.m.

Vikings claim third place

The Berry men’s cross country team raced in a 7.2K event in Sewanee, Tenn., and came in third place. Leading the way for Berry was junior Ryan James. He claimed third place individually with a time of 24:13.

Birmingham-Southern placed first in the meet ahead of host Sewanee. The Vikings finished ahead of fourth place Oglethorpe.

“I went into the race with the goal of running specific mile splits,” James said. “During the race, I did what I could to work my way up through a string of runners and to catch as many as I could. I always enjoy running on Sewanee’s campus because they put on a great meet. Most of the Ragers (Berry’s team nickname) really enjoyed the course Sewanee constructed for us.”

Fellow junior Brandon Davis clocked in at 25:57 while sophomore Zack Jordan finished in 26:21. Freshmen Kyle Harris and Isaac Zaubi completed the race neck and neck with nearly identical times of 26:23 and 26:24 respectively.

Senior William Anthony notched a finish of 26:56. Finishing seventh amongst Berry runners was freshman Will Howell at 27:43. Senior Chris White timed in at 30:27. Freshman Kevin Mason posted a 31:20, and junior Michael Klein finished the race in 32:14. Rounding out the group was freshman Robert Gibase who recorded a finishing time of 33:57.