Feb. 13, 2014
Golf is all about avoiding big numbers. That’s exactly what the Vanderbilt women have done en route to top ten finishes in the final polls in three of the last four years. This year; however, these Commodores have been chasing quite the sizeable digit. After the first semester the team, ranked preseason as the nation’s 14th-best squad, had compiled a collective GPA of 3.68. That figure sits as one of the highest in the history of Vanderbilt Athletics.
Rene Sobolewski, a two-time Academic All-America and the unquestioned senior leader of the team, has seen a lot in her time at Vanderbilt.
“I think academics has been one of our values on this team since I came in as a freshman,” Sobolewski reflected. “That year one of our seniors, Megan Grehan, was the first girl at Vanderbilt to have achieved academic All-American four years in a row. That standard of excellence caught on.”
Under head coach Greg Allen, the Commodores have been to six consecutive NCAA regionals and four consecutive NCAA Championships. In addition to stellar play, his teams have always been among the top academic performers at Vanderbilt. Still, the Commodores on this year’s team sought to rewrite the record books.
“It’s constantly a competition, explained Sobolewski.” “We’ve beaten our record-GPA every semester in the past few years. We’re always striving to be one of the top academic teams on this campus. We believe we’re a top program and the academics speak a lot to how much we devote to Vanderbilt both as an academic institution and as an athletic one.”
The makeup of the 11-member team makes their accomplishment all the more impressive as they are comprised of a graduate student, two seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and an astounding four freshman. There is a learning curve to college that appears to have been severely reduced, as all four freshmen had at least a 3.4.
The team’s academic advisor, Dr. Nathan Bell, played a key role in readying the group of youngsters.
“All four of them have done exceptionally well,” he explained. “It’s rare to see that in their first semester because a lot of times there’s some transition from high school to college. They all want to do well and are internally motivated to achieve.”
One of these freshmen, Simin Feng, finished second on the team in stroke average during the fall season. Feng, who moved to the United States from China at the age of 9, faces the challenge of being one of the nation’s top golfers while remaining in good standing at a top 20 academic institution.
“One time I had to go straight from the airport to a project meeting after getting back from a tournament,” Feng recalled. “With our hectic schedule, time management is the key to staying on top of things.”
Hectic may be an understatement, with at least 20 hours a week devoted to mandatory and optional practices and workouts.
Sobolewski detailed, “We don’t really have weekends free either. People try to have group meetings on Saturday afternoons and we just can’t do that. The time we have to do work is just limited, so we try to get things done efficiently in order to be on time.”
With an off-campus practice facility, Feng has learned to manage her time well. “I’ll practice speeches that I have to give for class during those times,” she says.
Bell has been working as the academic advisor for women’s golf for six years now, but sees something special about this group.
“There isn’t a girl on the team I have to push to be successful. They’re all essentially internally driven, which makes my job easier. I don’t have to chase anyone down or ever worry about whether they are studying. I know every one of them is studying and working hard.”
As the Commodores prepare to begin the spring portion of their season, that internal drive will surely come in handy.
This group of tremendous scholar-athletes returns to the course February 17 at the Central District Invitational in Bradenton, Florida.