Teichert Talk: Looking Ahead to the NCAA East Regional
5/8/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
The Michigan women's golf team added to its successful 2000-01 season with its first NCAA Regional invitation, and the Wolverines will compete in the NCAA East Regional on May 10-12 at Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill, N.C. Eighth-year head coach Kathy Teichert sat down with assistant director of athletic media relations Tom Wywrot to discuss the regional and her team's chances of making it to the NCAA Championships.
On the Wolverines' qualifying to the NCAA regional ... "It's sunk in a little. I think when we actually get there it will give me a totally different feeling, but I'm excited and the girls are very excited. I think qualifying shows the kind of players that we have in the program, how much they've worked and how much they've gotten better throughout the last three years. If you look at our results two years ago, you'll see when they were freshman, the core of the team -- our four juniors who have been there through thick and thin -- if you look at some of their results and how they've gone through the Big Ten and some of the improvements they have made, I think it's tremendous, it says a lot for them."
| | Teichert led the Wolverines to three tournament victories during the 2001 spring season. |
On how she feels about going to the NCAA Regional ... "It's been a long time since I've been to nationals. We didn't have the regional when I went to school, but I did go to nationals as a player myself when I went to school. The golf course and the experience were just so phenomenal. I know I was nervous. I don't think I'll be nervous this time. You have to look at the season, and no matter what happens, we had a great season. It's unfortunate that even at the Big Ten's we didn't have the play like we had all year, so that left a disappointing taste in our mouths. Hopefully we can move on from that and I know that we will and go out and play our game."
On the team playing its game and getting the recognition it deserves ... "I think that Michigan will finally get recognized for how they play. I think that's been one of the things we have to get rid of, that people think we've always been in the cellar with some of the lower teams. We are a very good team. We were up there four or five years ago, but with some transfers and other people leaving, that left a huge hole, particularly we lost a core of four players. So it's taken us this amount of time to recover. But if we can keep everybody around and keep them getting better, keep striving for the best, it says a lot for our program. I think we'll get noticed a lot more, we're not going to be one of those teams that sits back and takes mediocrity. We don't want to be mediocre."
On the team changing with the confidence they have gained ... "You can see it in the way they handle themselves, the way they walk down the fairways, the confidence level they have. Each person's confidence level has risen. Take LeAnna Wicks. Her focus level has gone up tremendously. Look at what she did last year compared with what she has done this year. It's a total turnaround. LeAnna is one of the main differences in our program and why we're being successful. If you look at everybody's scoring averages, they've all improved. Again that says a lot for our program. If recruits see the improvement that we're making, they're going to see that we're a team on the rise and this might be a team that they want to go with or take a closer look at. We are getting better players into the program."
On looking at the success of the season so far ... "It's gone so quickly I really haven't looked at it yet. You have a couple tournaments, you have a week off; a couple weekends traveling, a week off. We just finished Big Ten's, we just got the bid to the regional and I'm just still really excited about that. Yet there's a little bit of anxiety to see how they are actually going to go ahead and play, and if they play the way I've seen them play there's no telling what we can do. That's what I'm really excited about. I'm not sure how this course is going to set up, whether it's going to set up to the liking of our game, but we're certainly going to give it our best shot, and do the best we can."
On goals for the regional ... "I haven't quite gotten there. We're still trying to determine who's going to be our top five. That's going to be a tough decision to make. We could have our six play number one, we could have our three play number one, we could have our one play number six. That's the great thing about our program, about our team. Right now I'm really looking to see who's playing the best. Over the next couple of days we're going to have them play and look at them and make some decisions regarding that. There's no question that we want to advance to the nationals, but if not, if we could finish in the top 10 that would be a nice. I would also like us to be under 305 every day. Specifically, we can say all this about our team, but the individuals have to come first, if everybody can accomplish their own individual goals, it will add up to our team goal. This is a team event, it's not about one person, and our team isn't about one person, but we have to take care of ourselves and do all the right things to put us in the right position, and that will add up. We've got great team chemistry as a team. They all get along, they root for each other, they want to see each other excel. That's great."
On why this team is special ... "I think that everyone sparks one another, each has her own quirks or something that makes someone else laugh. It's hard to say one specific thing, what each of them has meant. They've all improved. I just see more maturity. I think that's what it's all about. They're a lot more mature; they're able to get rid of the mindset from bad holes. When they've had a bad hole, when they've had a streak of a few bad holes, they've been able to shrug it off, be patient, stay focused, and kept themselves in the game. When you have a bad shot you have to be able to recover, stay in the ballgame, versus saying I'm out of it. Most of them are getting there."
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
