A Foundation for Excellence
10/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
The Mid-American Conference made the decision to add women's golf to its array of sports for the 1999-00 academic year. The Kent State men's golf team had already established a legacy of greatness under director Herb Page. Little did anyone know at the time that the women's squad was about to lay the foundation for an unprecedented run of dominance. As part of the University's Centennial Celebration, the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is Celebrating A Century of Kent State Women's Athletics Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 8-10. This feature article is the third in a series of three highlighting the teams and student-athletes that built a historic foundation for the current women's Intercollegiate Athletics program to stand proudly upon. Click here for more information regarding the celebration of Kent State women's athletics.
Jan Dowling was simply looking for a chance to take her golfing career to the next level.
A native of Bradford, Ontario, Dowling had captured the 1998 Ontario Tournament of Champions and posted five first place finishes on the 1997 Canadian Junior Golf Association. She wanted to try her hand at competing at the collegiate level in the United States. That's when KSU Director of Golf Herb Page came calling.
The Mid-American Conference had just added women's golf to its array of sports for the 1999-00 academic year. Page, who was entering his 21st year of coaching the men's squad then and who remains the face of Kent State golf now, was looking to get his new women's program off the ground. He knew how to run a top-class collegiate golf program – he had already guided the KSU men's team to seven MAC titles and 14 trips to NCAA competition.
"I grew up north of Toronto, and Herb Page was friends with the head professional at the golf course I worked at and practiced at," recalled Dowling. "He gave Herb a call to get advice about helping me play college golf. I wasn't planning to go to college for another year, but I went down for an unofficial visit and just fell in love with the place.
Page called upon Kent State alumnus and former All-American Mike Morrow, who had been serving as the head professional and manager of the Kent State University Golf Course since 1990, to be the head coach of the women's team. Morrow assumed his new role on Sept. 18, 1997 and spent the first year recruiting and scheduling to get the program ready for competition.
Morrow assembled a young, but talented, first recruiting class. In addition to Dowling, the women's team featured five other freshmen – including Heather Dobbin (Peterborough, Ontario), Leigh Ann Griffin (Dublin, Ohio), Kimberly Kaye (Salamanca, N.Y.), Cheryl Tooshkenig (Wallaceburg, Ontario) and Jillian Wyne (Calgary, Alberta). Sophomore Kelly McGrath (Chardon, Ohio) and junior Shannon Ruane (Monroeville, Pa.) rounded out the roster.
"It felt right and it felt at home," offered Dowling. "There were some fellow Canadians that I knew that were on the men's team already, and it felt like a great connection. It was close enough to home but still far enough away. Herb preached on my visit that everything was going to be done first class, and it was."
The Golden Flashes kicked off their fall schedule by taking part in six tournaments over the first nine weeks of the school year. KSU women's golf made its program debut at the Mary Fossum Invitational at Michigan State, earning a solid fourth place. Two weeks later, Kent State achieved its first of many major milestones by winning the Lady Falcon Invitational at Bowling Green.
Dowling turned in the team's top average with an impressive mark of 78.79 while Tooshkenig turned in average of 79.29 and posted four top-10 finishes. More importantly, the Golden Flashes went 16-2 in head-to-head competition with MAC schools in the fall. That sort of dominance was a sign of things to come.
The team's success carried over to the spring portion of the team's schedule as the Flashes carded four top-10 team finishes in five regular season tournaments, including second place finishes at the Hatter Spring Fling and Lady Lion Spring Invitational and a third-place finish at the William & Mary Invitational. Tooshkenig tied for first place at the Hatter Spring Fling by firing a final-round 71 while Dowling took second at the Lady Lion Invitational.
"I remember playing at Penn State, and we were leading after the first day," noted Dowling. "I overheard some kids talking to their parents and saying, 'Who is this Kent State team, anyway?' We just kind of looked at each other and smiled. Nobody had really heard of us and nobody expected a whole lot."
The women's golf team was learning and growing as it went, but it was also seriously turning some heads with its solid play.
"It was an amazing experience," remembered Dowling of the team's first season. "Everything was new and everything was exciting. Mike Morrow was experiencing the same things, and he was so much fun. In a way, we were writing history, even though we didn't really realize it at the time. We just went out and played golf and had fun."
The first season reached a crescendo at the MAC Championships at the Kings Island Resort Grizzly Course in Mason, Ohio. The Golden Flashes ensured their inaugural campaign ended on a championship note by combining to shoot a 932 (316-307-309), finishing 25 strokes ahead of second-place Ohio to win the first ever MAC women's golf title. Dowling won the individual conference crown by shooting a 225 (73-76-76). Tooshkenig finished right behind her with a second-place 232 (79-76-77) and Griffin tied for third with a 234 (81-77-76).
"We became the team to beat in the MAC very quickly," stated Dowling. "It was a pretty close first MAC Championship. We just did our job. We were coached well. Going into the MAC Championship, I think people were expecting us to be decent, but I don't know that they were expecting us to win."
The first title has sparked an unbelievable run of 12 championships in 12 seasons. The 2009-10 squad nailed down title 12 with a team score of 28-over par 892. Junior Martina Gavier (Cordoba, Argentina) captured medalist honors with a one-over par 217 (72-73-72) marking the fifth straight year a KSU golfer has won the individual title and 10th time in 12 years.
Under the direction of Page (entering his 33rd season) and Morrow (entering his 13th), the squad continues to set its sights beyond winning conference crowns. The Golden Flashes qualified for their fourth NCAA Championship appearance in 2010, wrapping up the 2010 campaign with a final round three-over par 291 -- the lowest round ever for the school at nationals -- en route to finishing in 22nd place at +48 (1,200).
"It's a great accomplishment, but the great thing about Kent State is that the goal is not to win the MAC Championship; the goals are higher than that, and because of that, the MAC Championships just happen," explained Dowling. "The goal is to qualify for nationals and compete to win a national championship. That's been the goal since day one. We shot for higher, more lofty goals, so it doesn't surprise me that we've won 12 at all."
The countless awards and trophies the program has received for both its excellence on the golf course and in the classroom is staggering, but Page and Morrow have also developed a legacy of helping young ladies to grow and mature into quality individuals. Dowling, for example, went on to play professionally before becoming an assistant coach at Kent State and now the head coach at the University of Florida. Many of her teammates have enjoyed successful careers in the golf and business worlds as well.
"I apply what I learned from competing and coaching at Kent State every day, whether it's consciously or subconsciously," said Dowling. "I learned what it was like to run a first-class program. I'm here (at Florida) because I spent four years at Kent State. I feel fortunate for it every day. Kent State is what got the ball rolling for me. It's such a special program."
The 1999-00 women's golf team laid a foundation for excellence that the program continues to build upon with success each and every year.
