April 24, 2006

Laura Gerraughty won three ACC track and field event titles, right-handed pitcher Daniel Bard shut out NC State and the men's golf team won a share of the 2006 Atlantic Coast Conference championship to earn Tar Heel Performer of the Week honors for April 17-23, 2006.

Gerraughty, a senior from Nashua, N.H., became just the second woman in Atlantic Coast Conference history to win three individual events in one ACC Championship meet this weekend, taking titles in the hammer throw, shot put and discus. Despite having not competed in the hammer all season, she easily best the field in that event Thursday with a winning mark of 204 feet, 5 inches (62.32 meters). Friday brought the shot put, Gerraughty's specialty, and the Nashua, N.H., senior destroyed both the rest of the field and the ACC meet record with a throw of 61-0 (18.59m). Gerraughty completed the hat track Saturday, edging Virginia's Billie-Jo Grant in the discus with a winning mark of 176-10 (53.90m). For her career, Gerraughty has won 13 individual ACC titles.

Carolina captured its 11th Atlantic Coast Conference Championship this past weekend. After a dramatic two-hole playoff, Carolina and Georgia Tech remained tied so with darkness impending the Tar Heels and the Yellow Jackets were named co-champions of the 53rd annual ACC Men's Golf Championship.

The Tar Heels came from 11 strokes down going into the final round to surge back into contention for the title. The lead went back and forth during the back nine of the final round before coming to a deadlock at the end of 54 holes at 31-under-par 833. Carolina carded a 10-under 278 in the first round, followed by a 12-under 276 in the second round and a nine-under 279 in the final round.

Robert Riesen, a freshman from Pinehurst, N.C., tied for third place individually with an eight-under-par 208 total after rounds of 68-70-70. In the final round, Riesen birdied the first and seventh holes while recording pars on the remaining holes. Senior Ted Smith, from Westlake, Ohio, eagled the par-five 18th hole after carding five birdies and a bogey on his way to a six-under 66 and a seven-under 209 total for a fifth-place finish. Freshman Chase MacFarland, from Savannah, Ga., tied for sixth place at six-under 210. Martin Ureta, a junior from Santiago, Chile, tied for 12th place at four-under 212 while Jonathan Jackson, a senior from Chapel Hill, tied for 16th at three-under 213.

North Carolina head coach John Inman, in his eighth year at the helm, became the first individual to win the ACC title as a player and a coach. He captured the individual title in 1982 when he was a sophomore at Carolina and this was his first conference championship since becoming head coach.

The Tar Heels will play in the Linger Longer Invitational in Eatonton, Ga. May 14-15 and the NCAA Regionals are May 19-21.

Bard, a junior from Charlotte, capped Carolina's sweep of rival NC State with a four-hit shutout of the ACC's top hitting team. Bard (5-2) struck out eight and did not walk a batter en route to his third career complete game shutout and first this season. He allowed a single to the first batter he faced before setting down the next nine and followed a fifth inning single by retiring the next 10 Wolfpack batters. The Pack's Matt Camp led off the ninth with a double but was stranded at third to preserve the first shutout of NC State since April 8, 2005 at Virginia.

Sunday's nine shutout innings gives Bard a run of 16 straight innings without an earned run. He has won back-to-back starts for the first time since a March 11 victory at Wake Forest and his eight strikeouts were his most since fanning eight Demon Deacons in that same start. The nine innings also marked Bard's longest career outing without issuing a walk.

Bard lowered his ERA to 3.82 and is now 5-2 on the season with 67 strikeouts and just 24 walks in 61.1 innings. Sunday's win was also the 20th of Bard's collegiate career.

Other Nominee:

ANDREW McELDUFF
Men's Lacrosse
Senior Midfielder
Yorktown, N.Y.

Playing in the final regular season game of his career, senior midfielder Andrew McElduff scored four goals on only seven shots to lead the North Carolina men's lacrosse team to an 11-7 victory over Providence April 23. McElduff entered the game with only two goals this season and 15 in his career before tallying the four goals against the Friars Sunday. McElduff's previous career high was two goals on March 20, 2004 against Duke. Sunday's game also marked only the second time in his career McElduff scored more than one goal in a game.