GUILFORD’S GOMEZ AND RATNER CLAIM ODAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Greensboro, NC – Guilford freshmen Freddy Gomez (Burlington,N.C./Williams) of the men’s soccer team and Noah Ratner (Asheville,N.C./Asheville) of the men’s golf team, received the Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s (ODAC) Men’s Soccer Player and Men’s Golf of the Week awards, respectively, for the week ending September 21, the league announced Monday.
Ratner also received the Guilford College Student-Athlete of the Week Award, presented weekly by Guilford’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). A 5-6, 145-pound midfielder, Gomez scored two goals and an assist in the Quakers’ 2-0 week. He scored the game-winning goal at Methodist University Sept. 23. Guilford’s 3-0 triumph marked its first win over the Monarchs since 2002.
Gomez posted a goal and an assist in the Quakers’ league win over Bridgewater College Sept. 26. He leads Guilford with 22 points on the season, which is the most by a Quakers’ freshman since Ray King had 27 points in 1998. Coach Jeff Bateson’s soccer team has won five of its last six games,and has the best start record in Guilford’s recorded men’s soccer history (7-3-1). The Quakers’ next game is Tuesday (9/29) at Washington and Lee University.
Ratner, a 5-9 freshman, posted the Quakers’ low score at the Sea Trail Intercollegiate in his college golf debut Sept. 25-27. He shot Sunday’s low round, a five-under-par 67, to help Guilford climb two spots to finish sixth in the predominantly Division I field. Ratner finished 16th among 88 golfers, tops among non-Division I golfers in the field. He paced Guilford’s efforts with a three-day 215 (-1).
Coach Jack Jensen’s Quakers opened the 2009-10 season last weekend and play in the Greensboro College Invitational this Monday and Tuesday. The Quakers are ranked ninth in the Sept. 25 Golf World/NikeGolf Division III National Poll.
The Student-Athlete of the Week Award is presented by Guilford’s SAAC, which is comprised of representatives from each of the school’s16 varsity teams. The group meets regularly to discuss the state of Guilford Athletics and seeks to build community among the school’s student-athletes and non-student-athletes. Recent Guilford SAAC activities include a canned-food drive, and the start of a new program, Champs Life Skills, maintains intercollegiate athletics as an integral part of the campus educational program and the student-athlete as an integral part of the student body. Its aim is to increase student-athletes community involvement, as well as engage the Guilford community with the athletic department.
Dave Walters
Guilford College Athletics