The Nicholls State University men’s golf team finished sixth at the Colin Montgomerie Invitational on Tuesday, March 1, after completing the 54-hole tournament with 883 shots.

The Colonels shot 294 in the first round, 293 in the second round and 296 in the final round of the two-day tournament.

Peyton McCulloch finished with a pair of 2-over par 74s (148), Chad Watts-Denyes shot a 75-74 (149) and Josh Fullilove finished with a 77-76 (153) on Monday.

“Our goal is to play as best as we can,” Fullilove said. “With all the preparation that we’ve been doing and the good weather, we are having a lot of practice and our team has really come together.”

On the final round, Albert Badosa-Soler led Nicholls with a 1-over par 217, Jack Lee also shot 1-over par, finishing with his third consecutive 73 and Lee shot a 3-over par 219. McCulloch shot a 76 on Tuesday finishing with 224 shots. Fullilove shot a 2-over par to finish at 227, and Denyes closed out with a 79 (228).

“As a group we are trying to get more consistent and improve our overall ranking every tournament we go to,” James Schilling, head coach, said.
Nicholls’ golf team will play three more tournaments before heading to McKinney, Texas, for the Southland Conference Championship that starts on April 18.

“Hopefully we are going to be competitive within the league,” Schilling said. “I would like to compete for the conference championship on individually or team level and if we play well, possibly looking on going into the postseason.”

The Grover Paige Classic will be held on March 14 and 15 at Jackson, Tennessee. The team will head to Baton Rouge for the 2016 Tiger Classic Tournament at Louisiana State University on March 29. The Colonels last participation before the conference championship play will be at Red Wolves Intercollegiate on April 4 and 5 at Jonesboro, Arkansas.

The Nicholls State University Women’s track and field is looking forward to the beginning of the outdoor season now that the indoor Southland Conference Championship is over.

“This is actually the biggest part of our season,” Hannah Naquin said. “Indoor [season] is over, but the outdoor [season] is just starting and that is where most of our girls excel.”

The Colonels placed nine times in four categories at the LSU Twilight on Feb. 19, including 200 and 400-meter dash, 600 meter run and 60-meter hurdles categories.
On the 200-meter, Rachante Colebrook placed 11th, Dasia Mccullum finished 13th and Terrian Gauff 14th, with times of 27.33, 27.43 and 27.60 respectively. Callie Skull placed third with a 59.32 time, Elexus Allen did a 1:00.39 time finishing fifth and Lakeisha Taylor placed 10th with a time of 1:02.35 on the 400-meter dash.

Iesha Taylor placed second on the 600-meter run. On the 60-meter hurdles, Taylor and Reagan Riggins placed 12th and 13th with 9.66 and 9.79 times respectively.
Nicholls also finished at the 12th place overall at the Southland Conference Indoor Championships on Feb. 15 to 16, after earning nine total points. Kierranika Duncan and Sakina Abdul Aziz earned eight of those points on triple jump and long jump.

In the triple jump, Duncan earned the fifth position and Ashley Wheeler finish eighth in the event, scoring Nicholls last earned point. In the long jump, Abdul Aziz leaped her career best distance, 18’7 and Duncan finished 14th in the event, jumping 17’8.25.

Naquin, Rachante Colebrook, Allen and Brice Davis ranked the Colonels relay team in the 10th position with a time of 14:03.71 in the distance medley. Nicholls 4×400-meter relay team, Allen, Callie Scull, Courtney Crawford and Colebrook, placed 10th with a time of 3:56.57.

Scull ran a 2:19.55, earning 11th place finish in the 800-meter, Crawford finished 13th in the 200-meter with a 24.88 time, Naquin finished 18th in the mile run with a time of 5:21.05, Ciera Eugene placed 19th in the shot put with a distance of 28’0.25 and Taylor the 60-meter hurdles in 9.67, finishing in 20th.

The track and field next events are under a tentative scheduling.

The Nicholls State University Men’s tennis team added their seventh-straight loss to their record after falling 1-6 to Texas A&M University Sunday at the College Station, Texas.

“It’s been tough for the guys,” Meenakshi Sundaram, head coach, said. “The players had a tough break, there were a lot of turmoil in the team but the players are slowing getting back into the game.”
Sam Meessen earned the only victory of the evening against James Martell after a 6-1 and a 7-5 winning sets.

The Colonels (1-8) got their only victory in the first game the team played against Jackson State University at home.

“I know that the results don’t show it, but a lot of the matches could have been a win for us,” Sundaram said.

Nicholls lost 1-6 to Presbyterian College, 0-5 to Armstrong State University, 1-4 to Georgia Southern University, 3-4 to Jacksonville State University, 0-7 to Louisiana State University and 1-6 to University of South Alabama on the road. Nicholls also added a 1-6 loss to Xavier University of Louisiana at home.

The Colonels will next host three home matches from March 14 to 16 against University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, University of the Incarnate Word and Abilene Christian University respectively, the last two being Southland Conference opponents.

The Nicholls State University women’s tennis team started the Southland Conference Season play with the losses at home.

The Colonels (3-9) team has been playing with a shortened roster after Stephanie Barnett and Ambika Pande got injured.

“It is hard to play without a full team, but not impossible,” Sundaram said. “Injuries have been a big problem for us. Two of the players that would be on my starting line up for sure are not playing and it looks like they will be out for the season.”

The Colonels lost 0-7 to McNeese State University on March 1. With Barnett out, Nicholls gave up forfeited wins to the Cowgirls at doubles and singles. The Colonels also fell 2-5 to Sam Houston State University on March 4 and Lamar University.

Nicholls will host a non-conference game against Western Kentucky University on March 10 at 2 p.m.