Suzanne Garland Resigns

COACH CALLS IT QUITS

Women's volleyball Head Coach Suzanne Garland resigned earlier this week, according to Athletic Director Mike Muska. An interim coach will be hired soon, but the search for a permanent replacement will not begin until after next fall's season, Muska said.

Garland spent three years at Oberlin, racking up a record of 9-23 this past season after a (3-22) 1998 campaign and a 14-17 1997 season.

"We wish her all the best in the future," Muska said, describing the move as a personnel matter. "The college and Garland agreed that it was the right thing to do."

Among the possible candidates for interim coach is Elizabeth Ramsey, who met with the team last Friday. According to Muska, the team was enthusiastic about the possibility of Ramsey as coach. Still an active player, she was All-Big 10 at the University of Illinois, where she reached the Division I women's volleyball final four. Ramsey has coached at the University of Nevada-Reno and Sonoma State (CA). She is also the wife of Jeff Ramsey, Oberlin's head football coach.

GOLF COMES TO OBERLIN

Oberlin is currently investigating the re-establishment of a varsity golf program, according to Athletic Director Mike Muska. The program would include both a men's team, which has not existed since 1974, and a women's team, which there has never been at Oberlin, according to Muska.

One and perhaps two alumni appear ready to fund the program should it be established. What remains to be seen, according to Muska, is the level of student interest in a varsity golf program.

Oberlin would also become the first NCAC college with a women's golf program, and Denison is the only other NCAC college investigating the possibility of adding a women's program. Oberlin is the only NCAC college that does not have a men's program, and it is also the only NCAC varsity sport in which Oberlin does not participate. The addition of both a men's and women's program would bring Oberlin's total number of varsity programs to 23, the largest in the NCAC.

Muska hopes that the establishment of a women's golf program at Oberlin would provide incentive and motivation for other NCAC schools with larger athletic programs to make the long-overdue extension of their programs.

The teams would practice and play for as long as whether permitted in the fall and then participate in the conference and college tournaments in the spring. Practice and competition facilities would not be a concern, as Muska points out, as Oberlin owns half the Oberlin golf course. "In the lease, we have the rights to have a program which would use the course for both practice and competition," Muska said.

Existing coaches would likely take on the additional duties of running the golf program, as Muska says there are faculty with both "outstanding golf ability and interest." The men's team could move right into conference play, as there are already established men's conference competitions. The women's team would have to start with a non-conference schedule. However, they would hardly be at a loss for opponents. The neighboring Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association includes seven colleges with women's programs; the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference in Indiana and Ohio includes four; and the Ohio Athletic Conference adds two more, in addition to the large number of neighboring independent colleges with programs.