UA ROUNDUP: Scott Limbaugh Tide’s new assistant men’s golf coach

TUSCALOOSA | Scott Limbaugh, who has been the head golf coach at Huntingdon College for the past three seasons and led his team to a school-best fourth-place national finish last season, has been named assistant men’s golf coach at the University of Alabama.

“We’re excited that Scott is going to come on board to be part of University of Alabama golf," said Alabama head coach Jay Seawell. “He brings a wealth of both coaching and playing experience that will help us try to achieve our goals of Southeastern Conference and NCAA championships."

Limbaugh, 27, replaces Georgia native Christian Newton, who left Alabama to become assistant golf coach at Georgia Tech.

“My goal has always been to coach at a Division I school that desires to win national championships with integrity," said Limbaugh, a native of Childersburg. “There is no doubt in my mind that both of these objectives will be achieved under Coach Seawell at the University of Alabama. This is an opportunity to coach at a great university under a great coach, and it is truly an exciting time to be part of the golf program at the University of Alabama. Huntingdon College will always have a very special place in my heart since I was a graduate, then an assistant coach, then the head coach for the past three seasons."

Limbaugh, the 2005-06 Eaton/Golf Pride South Region NCAA Division III Coach of the Year, coached Huntingdon to a fourth-place NCAA Division III finish. Limbaugh’s teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament all three seasons he was head coach.

Limbaugh played collegiately for the Hawks for two seasons after helping lead Central Alabama Community College to two JUCO national championships in 1999 and 2000.

TUSCALOOSA | Five University of Alabama golfers will be in the field vying for the championship at this week’s 105th Western Amateur Championship. Golf’s second oldest amateur event, it is the longest of the amateur championships, with eight rounds in five days.

Representing the Crimson Tide are Mark Harrell (Hazlehurst, Ga.), Thomas Hugghins (Ponte Vedra, Fla.), Matthew Swan (Montgomery), Michael Thompson (Tucson, Ariz.) and Gator Todd (Florence).

The tournament will be held at Point O’Woods Golf and Country Club in Benton Harbor, Mich. Play begins today.

After 72 holes of stroke play over three days, the field is cut to the top 16, who will play four rounds of match play in two days.

Past champions of this event include Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson and Ben Crenshaw, among a storied list.

It is the third Western Amateur appearance for Hugghins, the second for Swan and the first for Harrell, Thompson and Todd.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil | Former University of Alabama track star Tahesia Harrigan finished fourth in the 100 meters at the Pan American Games.

Harrigan was a member of the Crimson Tide women’s track team from 2004-06, where she earned All-American honors in the 100 meters. She represented the British Virgin Islands at the Pan Am Games.

In the first round of competition at João Havelange Stadium in Rio De Janeiro, Harrigan won the third heat with her best time of the meet, 11.21. In the semifinals she needed to finish in the top four to advance to the finals, she finished third in the second heat with a time of 11.28. Harrigan ran the first round and the semifinals less than three hours apart.

In the finals she turned in a time of 11.34, and missed earning a medal by five-hundredths of a second.

PULA, Croatia | University of Alabama assistant volleyball coach Jill Kramer spent time overseas this summer as an assistant coach for the USA Junior National A2 team. The team finished its summer season by winning the gold at the 2007 Eurpoean Global Challenge.

The tournament featured seven American teams and nine international squads.

The Junior National A2 team defeated Spes Volley Congliano from Italy in the championship match of the Brijuni Division, 3-0, to capture the gold medal. The team won 25-15, 28-26 and 25-18. SCVA Red defeated the USA/BIP Developmental Team to take third place in the event.

Kramer joined Lee Maes on the coaching staff. Maes enters his second season as the head assistant coach of the national champion Nebraska Cornhuskers. This is Kramer’s second year working with a USA A2 team.