With a national championship in its back pocket, the McLennan Community College men’s golf team is aiming for a return visit to Huntsville, Ala.

Ranked No. 1 in both the GolfStat and Golf Coaches’ Association polls, the current batch of Highlanders hasn’t lost a tournament this academic year.

“It’s phenomenal,” coach Vince Clark said. “There are some very good golf teams in the nation that don’t win any tournaments at all and then win the national tournament. You can’t always judge us by wins and losses.”

MCC coach Vince Clark smiles during a welcome reception for the Highlanders last season after they won the national championship.
Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald, file

MCC welcomes back four sophomores, two of whom played on the title team.

Jeremy Lambright, an honorable mention all-American, and Juan Sacedo, who tied for fourth at the Region V championships, will lead a squad filled with freshmen. Tyler Russell, of Elk City, Okla., is the nation’s top-ranked junior college player. Jeff Hageman and Nate Anderson contributed in every tournament last fall and will continue to this spring.

Still, Clark isn’t ready to pronounce the 2010 Highlanders national champions.

“Golf is fickle. One day it’s there and the next day it’s gone,” he said.

The Highlanders open the spring season today against Odessa at the Diamondback Golf Club in Abilene.

Women seeking return to Florida

An unexpected deluge washed away the MCC women’s golf team’s quest for a national title last spring. Instead, the Highlassies came in fourth at the makeshift, single-round championship.

Although it was still a strong showing, the loss leaves the No. 2 Highlassies gunning for a return to Daytona Beach, Fla., in 2010.

Only two of seven players return from that national tournament team, but coach Stan Mitchell expects the freshmen to contribute just as much.

“In junior college, everybody’s got to play. It can’t just be the sophomores,” he said. “They’re important in the first month or six weeks of school to tell the other kids what to expect, but by the time they get to now, you don’t differentiate between sophomores and freshmen.”

All-American Sarah Nicholas returns along with Whitley Patterson, who finished tied for third at the Region V tournament. Jillian Gregston, a redshirt freshman originally committed to Oklahoma, joins Ragna Olafsdottir, of Hafnarfjoreur, Iceland, in the freshman class.

Morgan Dockery, who won two state championships at Andrews High School, had a rough start in the fall, but Mitchell is confident she will improve.

“We kind of threw her to the dogs and she was a little nervous, but she’s grown up and matured,” he said.

The women’s spring season begins Feb. 14 at the Kosati Pines Collegiate Classic in Kinder, La.

Highlassies looking to steal title

The Highlassies are right where coach Ricky Rhodes wants them to be — in position for a run at a conference championship.

Starting the second half of conference play, MCC is tied for second with Collin County (7-2), which holds the tiebreaker after a 79-53 victory in Waco. Trailing undefeated Temple by two games, MCC (7-2) still has a chance, with some help, to steal the conference from the Leopards.

“I’m just trying to get the kids to play hard. If you keep doing the little things it’ll put you in a position to win,” coach Ricky Rhodes said.

The Highlassies are entering a dangerous week. MCC faces fourth-place Cisco (5-4) on Saturday and Collin County on Wednesday. A sweep would give the Highlassies breathing room in second place, while two losses would drop the them into a dogfight for one of the four postseason berths.

Men lose 1st conference game

The MCC men dropped their first conference game of the season Wednesday, falling to Southwestern Christian, 85-67. They had previously beaten the Rams on Jan.6.

In both contests, the Rams jumped out to double-digit leads quickly. Wednesday night, the 13th-ranked Highlanders couldn’t catch up, but did a better job defending the nation’s No. 2 scorer, Devon Lamb, coach Kevin Gill said.

Lamb scored just 19 points — 10 below his average — but the rest of the Rams made up for him.

Two weeks ago, Gill had said he was wary of a top 25 ranking. His fears were realized Wednesday night.

“They were really focused (Wednesday) night,” Gill said. “The higher you’re ranked the bigger the target on your back.”

The loss leaves the Highlanders (7-1) tied with Collin County — the team they will face Wednesday.

“It’ll be a dogfight,” coach Gill said. “That’s one thing about this league — I don’t know if its good or bad — there are no games off.”

bbateman@wacotrib.com

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