Coastal Carolina cancels events in several sports due to coronavirus, weather concerns
Coastal Carolina has canceled several athletic events this week due to both the coronavirus and weather concerns.
The annual CCU spring football game scheduled for Thursday night has been canceled due to expected inclement weather, and a total of four men’s and women’s basketball games have been canceled because of coronavirus cases and protocols, as well as a men’s soccer game.
The CCU men’s basketball game against Georgia Southern scheduled for Friday at the HTC Center in Conway has been canceled due to COVID-19 protocols within the Georgia Southern program, and Saturday’s scheduled game against the Eagles has been moved to 1 p.m. Sunday. All Saturday tickets will be honored Sunday.
The CCU women’s basketball team’s three games this week against Georgia Southern have been canceled due to COVID-19 protocols within the Chanticleers program. They won’t be made up due to the short amount of time left in the regular season.
Friday’s cancellation will be the third straight for the CCU men, who had two games scheduled against Appalachian State this past Thursday and Saturday canceled because of coronavirus protocols within the App. State program.
The Chanticleers (12-6) are 6-5 in the Sun Belt Conference and began last week one-half game behind App. State (12-7, 6-4) for the lead in the conference’s East Division. But with the inactivity they are now third in the division behind first-place South Alabama (14-8, 8-5), which has won six straight games.
Following Sunday’s game, CCU has just two games at Troy (10-12, 4-8) on Feb. 26-27 in the regular season before the Sun Belt Conference men’s and women’s tournament from March 5-8 in Pensacola, Florida.
The Coastal women (3-11, 0-10 Sun Belt) have seemingly been dealing with COVID disruptions all season.
They canceled or postponed five consecutive games in December and early January, three straight games in late January and early February, and these upcoming three games – all due to COVID-19 issues within their program.
CCU and Georgia Southern were scheduled to play in the HTC Center on Tuesday and in Statesboro, Georgia on Friday and Saturday. The CCU women still have contests at Georgia State on Feb. 23 and at home against Troy on Feb. 26-27.
The men’s soccer home contest against West Virginia set for Saturday has been canceled due to COVID-19 protocols within the CCU program. The Chants are now set to open the spring portion of their schedule at home against Virginia Tech at 1 p.m. Feb. 28.
The 6:30 p.m. spring game was going to be the conclusion of 15 spring football practices over four weeks, but head coach Jamey Chadwell didn’t want to risk potential injury with thunderstorms in the forecast Thursday night following a rainy past two weeks.
“The safety of our student-athletes, staff, coaches, and fans is our number one priority,” Chadwell said in a release. “We have had rain every day over the last week which has caused flood warnings and coupled with the forecast of even more bad weather this week, we are erring on the side of caution for our student-athletes. We want to wrap up our spring practice season on a high note, but also come out of the practice period without any injuries.”
Deneen qualifies for Korn Ferry event
CCU alumnus Morgan Deneen qualified Monday for the $600,000 LECOM Suncoast Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour by shooting a 7-under 65 and making a birdie on the first playoff hole in a Monday qualifier held at the Laurel Oak Country Club in Sarasota, Florida.
The 2018 Sun Belt Conference Tournament champion and graduate of Coastal’s PGA Golf Management Program tied for second through 18 holes and was in a six-player playoff for three spots in the field. Deneen carded an eagle on the par-5 ninth and added birdies on holes 4, 5, 6, 7, 11 and 18 in regulation. The tournament is being played Thursday through Sunday.
Women’s track ready for Sun Belt championships
The CCU women’s indoor track & field team wrapped up its regular season Saturday at the USC Indoor Open in Columbia with 13 top-10 finishes. Sophomore Ashley Rulison was a runner-up in the women’s 5000-meter run with a time of 19:12.12, while freshman Jermaisha Arnold was second in the women’s 400-meter in 54.36.
The 2021 Sun Belt Conference Indoor Women’s Track & Field Championships are slated for Feb. 22-23 at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.
Women’s golf opens spring with win
The women’s golf team defeated Florida International 3 1/2 - 2 1/2 in the championship match of the seven-team Battle at Old South on Jan. 31 on Old South Golf Links in Hilton Head to start the spring season with a victory.
The championship match, which was played in wind and rain, came down to the final match as CCU’s Nicole Abelar won her match 1 up on the 18th hole. The freshman from the Philippines finished second overall on the tournament’s opening day with a 2-over 74.
CCU had to come from behind for the win and Maika Llarena halved her match, Caitlin Evans-Brand won her match 2 and 1 and Heidrun Hlynsdottir picked up a 5 and 4 win to set up Abelar’s final-hole clincher.
Smith leaves softball for patient care
Rather than take advantage of an extra year of eligibility offered by the NCAA for all 2020 spring sports athletes, former CCU softball catcher Kassidy Smith opted to graduate and move to St. Louis to work at an urgent care facility, treating patients with COVID-19.
Smith left her mark on the softball program, ranking fourth fourth all-time in home runs with 38 and first in walks with 118. She was named to the 2019 Sun Belt All-Tournament team, was president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), and was nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Smith planned to apply to physician assistant programs this year.
She remains connected to softball through coaching. After being involved in youth softball during college summers, she has been the head coach of a 10U youth softball team. Her coaching staff included her father, Jason Smith, Villanova senior outfielder Sarah Hangsleben and other college softball players.
This story was originally published February 15, 2021 at 9:06 PM.
