April 2008

Midseason surge helps team leave tough start in the past

By Devon Jeffreys | djeffreys@flagler.edu

A 10-game losing streak that stretched across 20 days in February would have knocked many teams down but for the Flagler baseball team, it served as motivation.

Now, with just ten games left in the 2008 season, the Saints sit at 22-17, seemingly headed toward an above .500 finish.

“When we were 3-10, I did not expect us to win 21 games all season, that was a shocker,” third baseman Joey Rivera said. “Pretty much we all just do our part and it helps.”

By Ryan Day | gargoyle@flagler.edu

Tennis head coach Walter Shinn is quick to tell you that the Flagler tennis program’s best days are ahead of it.

“I’d say the biggest problem this year for the men’s team has been our inability to stay healthy,” Shinn said. “Every match someone was playing with pain. Harry [Snoxell] had a hurt elbow, Kyle [Maloof] had a bad wrist, Jeremy [Lamande] was hurt as well.”

“My elbow started hurting halfway through the season,” freshman David Cotrone said. “It got so bad I have to have surgery on it two weeks into the summer.”

By Neil Patrickson | gargoyle@flagler.edu

After an abysmal fall season finishing 2-13-2, the men’s soccer team found their form this spring.

“On a scale of one to 10 the fall was a one and the spring was a seven,” Coach Lynch said.

The saints opened the spring season with a 7v7 tournament where they reached the semi-finals. With only 14 players to chose from, they faced back-to-back games against Jacksonville University and University of North Florida. The saints defeated UNF and narrowly lost to JU.

By Ryan Day | gargoyle@flagler.edu

Junior Kodi Merrell says technology may be the wave of the future for the Flagler men’s golf team next season.

“[We need] more money in the budget and equipment such as cameras and computer software to improve swing,” Merrell said.

“The golf program will need to grow into its new status as an NCAA Div. II competitor,” Jay Jennison, head coach of the men’s golf team, said. “At the present time, there are many demands on the financial resources of the college. Golf, as with other sports at Flagler, will have to wait until the resources are available to make serious advances in the rankings.”

Assistant basketball coach James Link turns grief into inspiration

By Michael O’Donnell | gargoyle@flagler.edu

It’s the opening game of the Flagler College men’s basketball season. The booster club has decked the gym in the college’s red and gold colors. The gym is packed. But to Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach James Link, the seat his mother used to occupy at every home game, cheering on the team as the Saints came out in their red warm-ups, remains empty.

Link turned to the game of basketball, the game that he loves so dearly, after his mother, Tina Link, died in 2007, losing her life to bone cancer and leukemia.

By Brandon Volbrecht | gargoyle@flagler.edu

The intramural flag football season has come to a close. After a long season of sweat and mud, the men of Flagler have put away the cleats until next season.

Teeth were chipped and stitches were again necessary, but it wouldn’t be intramurals without it.

The Cadillacs claimed their third consecutive championship in 2008, which will arguably go down in Flagler history as one of the most successful group of players yet.

From Staff | gargoyle@flagler.edu

Men’s basketball coach Bo Clark has announced that David Clark has signed a letter of admission to attend and play basketball at Flagler College in an announcement April 9.

Clark, a 6-foot, 3-inch guard, is the second of three sons in Clark’s family and joins older brother J.P. on the Saints team. He was a three-year starter at St. Augustine’s Pedro Menendez High School for head coach Steve Melgard. Clark averaged 20.3 points per game and helped the Falcons to a 14-13 record and a trip to the district semifinals.