NCAA DII Championships Festival

Division II is always looking for ways to stay on the cutting edge for its membership. One key initiative that exemplifies this mentality is the championship festival. This concept, started when the first ever DII Championships Festival was held in Pensacola, Florida in 2006, brings an Olympics-like environment by combining multiple DII National Championships at one host site.

There have been five previous Festivals, with the most recent iteration taking place in 2010 in Louisville, Kentucky. That Festival in particular was so well-received that Louisville, and host institution Bellarmine, were again selected to host this Spring’s event. More than 1000 student-athletes across six sports (men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis, softball and women’s lacrosse) will compete for the right to be crowned as this year’s best.

The Peach Belt Conference has enjoyed another highly competitive Spring season, which has resulted in an amazing 8 out of 13 schools qualifying a team or individual for a National Championship:

• Men’s Golf – Georgia College, USC Aiken, UNC Pembroke and Georgia Southwestern (J.P. Griffin qualified as an individual)
• Women’s Golf – Armstrong and UNC Pembroke (Jenna Birch and Meghan Moore qualified as individuals)
• Men’s Tennis  – Armstrong and Augusta State
• Women’s Tennis – Armstrong and Columbus State
• Softball – Flagler

The 2012 Championships Festival starts on Tuesday with the first round of Men’s Golf, and continues through Saturday. For more information on the Festival click here.

Best of luck to all our PBC teams, show the nation what this conference is all about!

Heart to Heart with Lady Saints Golfer LeeAnn Noble

By: Jodie Borchert

The Lady Saints golf team has taken the Peach Belt by storm the past few months. Being introduced to North Georgia a mere two and a half years ago, the team has improved their stroke average by nearly fifty strokes, with one of the leading competitors being freshman LeeAnn Noble.

North Georgia freshman golfer LeeAnn Noble

Noble competed in all five tournaments last semester, averaging 24 over par, with a low round of 80. The freshman came to North Georgia from Gainesville High School where she played four years of competitive golf. While there she was named Senior All-Star golfer, Area Golfer of the-Year, 2011 Region runner-up and 2011 Hall County runner-up.

Impressive enough for a collegiate student-athlete, but the story that the scorecard doesn’t share is her battle with heart problems.

In seventh grade, when LeeAnn was only 12 years old, she began having difficulties walking and competing in her then favorite sport of cross country. Not long after that she became sick with pneumonia and was forced to take a break from running. After a visit to the pediatrician, she learned that her heart was four sizes bigger than what it should be.

“I was scared, and I cried twice; once on the way to the doctors and once coming home from the hospital,” she said, “but I never once thought I was going to die.” She was immediately sent to Egleston Children’s Hospital where they diagnosed her with cardiomyopathy, determining that her heart was only doing 20% of the job of a healthy heart.

Things began to move quickly. She was rushed on to the heart transplant list and received a viable heart just four hours later. At 12 years old her life had taken a turn from a leisurely day of cross country and homework assignments to white walls, IVs and doctors. She spent four weeks recovering in the intensive care unit, watching others undergo the same transplant as she had just gone through.

“People die in there all the time,” she noted. “There was baby that had a heart transplant just before me, and he didn’t make it through. We get the opportunities that other don’t have. It changes what your goals are.”

Prior to leaving the hospital, Noble was told that she would be able to have a wish granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a foundation that is supported by the North Georgia athletic program and all of NCAA Division II, due to her life-threatening condition. The Foundation supported her wish to visit the Big Apple where she toured the city without having to wait in any lines and sat front row at the Broadway show Wicked.

Eventually LeeAnn will need a new heart, as the average heart transplant lasts 15 years, but for now she says she can’t worry about it.

“Sure, I get tired sometimes, but everybody does. Years ago, transplants were unheard of, so twenty years from now I’m sure they’ll come out with a heart that lasts forever” she explained. Day to day she says that her life really isn’t affected, aside from the fact that she takes medicine twice a day, and  that she lives her life carefree.

Noble will continue to live as any other college student and will continue making strides within North Georgia’s golf program regardless of her past. “I really don’t think I have limitations,” she proclaims as she reaches for her putter to resume practicing, leaving no doubt that the Lady Saints golf team has got heart.

Meet Jodie Borchert

By Jodie Borchert

I’m not the college student-athlete that played her sport since she was old enough to walk. Before I picked up my first 9 iron I played nearly ever other sport including soccer, softball, ballet, tennis, equestrian, and basketball. Heck, at the age of 7 I even decided I was going to be in the Olympics competing in the sport of ping pong (which unfortunately still has not been passed by the Olympic committee).

Nope, I didn’t pick up golf until my junior year of high school. But in the short four years I’ve been playing the game, I have grown in it.

Most people see golf as a game of plaid pants, old men, and a quiet field. For me, golf has shaped my view of the world.

It’s a simple game. Not much is needed to play, but the return is significant. Competitive golf demands honesty and integrity to uphold the rules of the game. The same morality is required in our day to day lives, because as nearly every college student has experienced, we are constantly faced with choices that can make or break us. However, competition is not the sole reason for playing, I play to meet and learn about others, and most importantly, learn more about myself.

Jodie lines up a putt

The game is played almost entirely between the ears; if you think about it too much, you will fail. You have to play the ball where it lies and go on with your game. And no matter how you’ve played, at the end of the day you can always look back and say you learned something new.

I am proud to call myself a North Georgia Saint. I am surrounded by awesome teammates and a great coach. Being a student-athlete has taught me how to prioritize and be more efficient on and off the golf course. With my graduation date being a mere year and a half away, I’ve quickly come to the realization that there’s more than playing golf and going to school everyday.

My future plans don’t involve a career with the LPGA (gasp!) but I hope to stay connected in sports and in golf with whatever career I choose. Being a golfer and a college athlete has embedded in me a toolbox of knowledge that will help me to succeed in life after college.

PBC Rewind – September 9, 2011

Check out our first ever PBC Rewind, recapping recent events in the Peach Belt Conference!