Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain …

Norman is where the Furman women’s golf team is headed for regional play at Jimmie Austin Oklahoma University Golf Course on May 5-7.

The Paladins, who are the No. 11 seed in Norman, are part of a 12-team regional field that will battle for a top-five finish and a berth in the 30-team NCAA Championship, which is May 16-21 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. 

The Norman Regional field includes four of the top 25 teams in the country, led by top-ranked Stanford.  No. 12 Northwestern, 13th-ranked North Carolina and No. 24 Michigan State.

“We have been to Oklahoma State a few times, but not to Norman,” said Furman head coach Jeff Hull of his SoCon champs.  “The golf course is very good, and obviously, the best team in the country is going to be there, so we are looking forward to the opportunity to compete there.”  

Furman, which secured the Southern Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by capturing its 21st SoCon title in West Columbia, will make its 25th NCAA Regional appearance. The Paladins appeared in 17 straight regionals from 1993, when the regional format began, until 2010.  

Furman finished 10th at the NCAA Athens Regional in 2023, and Anna Morgan tied for 10th.  At last year’s NCAA Auburn Regional, Morgan and Audrey Ryu competed as individuals, where Morgan tied for 21st and Ryu tied for 46th. 

 The Paladin lineup for the regional will include Ryu, senior Alise Knudson, sophomore Kelsi Mauzy, and freshmen Jenna Madden and Eva Ringwald.

Hull is Southern Conference Women’s Golf Coach of the Year, and four Paladin players also earned postseason honors.  

Sophomore Ryu and senior Alise Knudson were named to the All-SoCon team, while Eva Ringwald and Jenna Madden claimed spots on the SoCon All-Freshman team.  The teams are selected by a combination of rankings and a vote of the league’s nine head coaches.

Lily Toole’s goal with 1:21 remaining in overtime lifted the Furman women’s lacrosse team to an 18-17 Big South Conference victory over league-leading Mercer on Wednesday afternoon at Five Star Stadium.

Furman wins its fourth straight contest and ties the school record for wins in a season. The Paladins improve to 12-3 overall and 6-1 in the Big South.

With the loss, Mercer drops to 9-7 on the season and 6-1 in conference play. Furman hands the Bears their first Big South loss since April 23, 2022 and creates a three-way tie atop the league standings with High Point. Mercer entered today’s contest having won 24 straight regular -season games against conference opponents.

The win was the Paladins’ first in overtime since March 17, 2023 when they defeated Kennesaw State, 8-7, in Kennesaw, Ga. Furman improves to 9-1 all-time in overtime games.
Toole finished with five goals, two ground balls and one caused turnover and was one of three Furman players to score three or more goals in the victory. Big South Offensive Player of the Week Paige Harman paced the Paladin offense with eight points on seven goals and one assistl. Harman also became the program’s single-season record holder for points, surpassing Hannah Demis in 2021. Anna Roser, who broke her own single-season goal record on Wednesday, added four points on a hat trick and assist. Skylar Hilmer won a team high nine draws and Zoe Milmoe picked up a career best three ground balls. Andrea Fisher finished with two caused turnovers and two ground balls.

Goalie Madigan Brewer, the reigning Big South Defensive Player of the Week, tallied eight saves and one ground ball to move to 9-0 on the season.
Sofia D’Angelo led the Bears with five goals while Sandy Salit dished out three assists. In goal, Kayla Casey registered three saves.
The Paladins conclude the regular season on Saturday afternoon hosting Winthrop on Senior Day at 2 p.m.

Senior Will Morlan (-2) tied for 14th Tuesday to lead the Furman (-6) men’s golf team in the final day of the Southern Conference Championship at the par-72, 7,231-yard The Oconee Course at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Ga.

Morlan, a native of Alpharetta, Ga., eagled the par-5 No. 17 and finished the day with a 1-over 73.  Freshman Ludvig Josefsson (-1) and junior Clark Akers (-1) tied for 17th.

East Tennessee State (-28) won the tournament by 10 strokes to earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Regional.  UNC Greensboro (-18) finished second, followed by Western Carolina (-14) in third.  Chattanooga (-12) placed fourth, and Furman fifth. 

Individual champion Colin Dutton (-10) of UNCG carded a three-round total of 69-66-71=206 to also earn automatic regional qualification.

Dylan Schubert and Carly Wilkes are Southern Conference men’s and women’s outdoor track and field athletes of the week. 

A senior from Loveland, Colo., Schubert won the 10,000 meters with a time of 27:45.63 at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif., on April 16.  He set a meet record, while also setting a new Furman record after shaving 42 seconds off the former mark.  Schubert is currently ranked first in the NCAA East Region and is second in the NCAA in the event. 

On April 18, Wilkes, who is the conference leader in the 5,000, placed eighth at the Wake Forest Invitational with a time of 15:54.45. The junior from Salem, Va., is now ranked No. 29 in the East Region.  

The lacrosse team received all three weekly awards from the Big South Conference.
Senior midfielder Paige Harman was named the Offensive Player of the Week, junior goalie Madigan Brewer the Defensive Player of the Week, and freshman attack Lily Toole the Freshman of the Week. The trio helped Furman compile a 2-0 record in the Big South last week with victories over Presbyterian and Radford.

The weekly honor was the sixth of the season for Toole, and second each for Brewer and Harman.

When the playoffs begin, professional basketball gets completely new to me.

Indiana has one of many courts that is almost entirely gray and black.

It looks as if special effects are in place with black-and-white video enhanced by bright splashes of yellow.

Or perhaps I’m daft.

Many novels – and non-fiction books – of mine are available at Amazon.

Cowboys Come Home is a modern western about two Texans who return home from World War Ill. They find out times have changed back home.

Forgive Us Our Trespasses is a tale of unspeakable corruption in a small Southern town.