Colt Knost
Nothing Amateurish About Him
SMU golfer Colt Knost (’07) wrapped up his amateur career as only the second golfer in history to win both the U.S. Amateur Championship and the U.S. Public Links title in the same year. He was the first amateur since 1993 to qualify for the 2007 Byron Nelson Championship and was unbeaten as a member of the first U.S. Walker Cup team since 1991 to win the match overseas. Knost, the 2007 Conference USA Golfer of the Year and PING Division I All-American, entered the professional circuit in October.
Top Rankings For Golf
Mustang golfers performed well on the links this summer with four golfers qualifying for the 2007 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship in Indiana. Jennifer Ackerson (’07) qualified for the first round of match play. In addition to Colt Knost, three other SMU men also advanced to the 2007 U.S. Amateur Championship in California.
The 2007-2008 Golf Digest College Guide ranked the Mustang men’s and women’s golf teams among the top 30 in its listing of 800 men’s programs and 500 women’s programs. The women’s team ranked 28 and the men’s team ranked 29 in the guide.
Gaelle Niare
High Jumper Raises The Bar
Senior high jumper Gaelle Niare earned All-American status after a fifth-place finish in the high jump at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships. She placed fourth in the heptathlon at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships, only her second time to compete in the event. In addition, she was named Conference USA Indoor Track and Field Female Athlete of the Year and Female High Point Scorer after her performance at the C-USA indoor meet. She won the conference high jump title for the second year and captured the heptathlon title.
New Leadership For Tennis, Equestrian Teams
Lauren Longbotham, former Mustang assistant women’s tennis coach, has been named head coach of the team. As interim head coach last year, she led the Mustangs to a 19-5 season, their highest winning percentage since 1977. Longbotham, who joined SMU in 2003, lettered four years with the Louisiana Tech women’s tennis team.
Ashley Schaeffer is new head coach of the SMU equestrian team. She brings 26 years of riding and training experience, including training with the U.S. Olympic team from 1990-93. Most recently she managed upper-level hunter-jumper competitions in Texas and Oklahoma as vice president of Blue Ribbon Shows and president of Fireside Show Management.
Leaders In Graduation Rates
SMU football and men’s basketball teams rank in the top three among Conference USA, Big 12 and Metroplex colleges in Graduation Success Rates (GSR), according to data released by the NCAA. The data is from the four-class aggregate of entering classes from 1997 through 2000. SMU’s football team scored an 84 to rank second among the cohorts, while men’s basketball received an 82 to place third. Overall, eight of SMU’s 15 athletic programs scored a perfect 100 percent in the GSRs: men’s and women’s golf, men’s tennis and swimming, and women’s crew, soccer, cross country and track. All 15 of SMU’s programs rated by the NCAA were equal to or better than the national average.
Ian Clark
Victory Laps For Swimmers
Mustang men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams won Conference USA championships for the second year. Sophomore Petra Klosova was named women’s Conference USA Swimmer of the Meet, winning the 100 free, while head women’s coach Steve Collins was named C-USA Coach of the Year. Men’s Conference USA Swimmer of the Meet, Ian Clark (’07), won the 200 back. Men’s coach Eddie Sinnott also was named C-USA Coach of the Year.