EMORY, Va. – The spring 2020 season of intercollegiate athletics is one that most certainly will be remembered. Unfortunately, it will not be the excitement of competition, the camaraderie between teammates that leads to lifelong friendships or the pride which comes from representing one's school that will be remembered. The memory will be that the season was cut short. Cut short by a thing so small, but one that has made a huge impact on our world as we know it.
The Emory & Henry College Department of Athletics will take pause over the next four weeks to reflect on these uncompleted spring seasons and look at what was, what might have been and what will be going forward. Some sports were in the middle of their seasons on Friday, March 13 when play was suspended. Others had barely gotten started.
Today, we conclude our review with Women's Golf.
Under the direction of second-year Head Coach Bill Mannino, Emory & Henry is assisted by Brent Treash. The Wasps completed five tournaments so far, four in the fall and one in the spring. The Old Dominion Athletic Conference - in just its eighth season sponsoring women's golf - is in a period of growth. The league is currently dominated by Washington and Lee University, ranked 18th in Division III by GolfStat, with two of the top 25 players in the country, but there are several young programs on the rise, including E&H.
RELATED - ODAC Women's Golf Spring Wrap-Up/All-Conference Teams
Emory & Henry is in its third year of women's golf. The two players on the Wasps' roster, senior Ashley Underwood (Strawberry Plains, Tenn.) and junior Chandler Thomas (Elizabethton, Tenn.), have been there the whole way, playing in all 22 events across the three seasons. Both players have continually improved their scoring averages over past three years and the pair shares the program record for a low round (87). But these are not the only ways they are connected.
"On the course during the 2019-20 season, our women's program set several individual records for scoring," said Mannino. "I am so proud of how Ashley and Chandler represented our team. However, I am most proud of how they represented our program with all of the community service projects they participated in such as area river clean-ups, cabin clean-ups at Hungry Mother State Park, Special Olympics, and our holiday gift-giving day with HeadStart."
RELATED - 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
"I really enjoyed having Ashley as my teammate for the past three years," commented Thomas. "Since coming to Emory as a freshman, we instantly formed such a close bond and have become best friends. I'm so happy she'll be just up the road at the Emory & Henry School of Health of Sciences!"
Underwood echoes Thomas' feelings of how golf has built their friendship and sees a bright future for the Wasps.
"I have loved having Chandler as a teammate for the past three years," said Underwood. "We have become best friends and have even been roommates for the past two years. I am so thankful that we got the opportunity to be part of the first women's golf program at E&H. We were even able to develop friendships with other teams that I hope will carry on even after are done playing. I know that E&H Women's Golf is about to accomplish so many great things and I cannot wait to support them as a proud alumna!"
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