(Interesting Notes about Patriot athletics)

-      Former Francis Marion University women’s softball player Amy Craiglow is entering her fifth year as an academic counselor at the University of Kentucky’s Center for Academic and Tutorial Services (CATS). The center teaches life skills and provides academic assistance for student-athletes at the university. The Ravenna, Ohio, native works with the men’s and women’s basketball, golf and tennis programs, providing individual and group help. She occasionally travels with some of the squads, conducting out-of-town study halls and offering tutoring services while the Wildcat student-athletes are away from campus. A 1995 cum laude graduate of Francis Marion (B.A. degree in English), she earned a master’s degree in sport management from West Virginia University and is currently working towards a Ph.D. degree in education at Kentucky. A four-year letterwinner on the Patriot softball team (1992-1995), the right-handed pitcher posted a 43-45 record with a 2.45 earned run average in 110 appearances. She struck out 325 batters in 591.1 innings and recorded 72 complete games and eight shutouts. She earned All-Conference honors as a sophomore and was FMU’s 1995 team MVP. She was also the recipient of the Patriots Brigade Academic Award in 1995.

 

-      Former Francis Marion University tennis player and head coach Eric Shore recently concluded his 11th season as head men’s tennis coach at Auburn University. Shore spent two years (1981-1983) at Francis Marion, playing both No. 1 singles and doubles, and earned team most valuable player honors both years. After receiving the B.S. degree in psychology in 1984, he served as head coach of both the Patriot men’s and women’s teams during the 1985 campaign. The Francis Marion men posted an 18-10 record, while the women were 12-13. He then left FMU to take a graduate assistant position with the University of South Carolina men’s program. He took over the Auburn program in the fall of 1990 and has posted a 144-121 mark in 11 seasons. He has guided the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament in seven of the past eight seasons, including two Sweet 16 appearances. The Tigers have been ranked in the final Top 25 poll at the conclusion of five of the past six seasons, including a No. 21 ranking this year. His program has produced eight All-America selections, and in 1999 he coached an Auburn doubles pair to the national title at the National Clay Court Championships.

 

-      Former FMU men’s tennis player Freddie W. Lawrence IV, who played for Eric Shore during the 1985 season, recently completed his sixth year as head coach of the men’s and women’s tennis teams at South Carolina State University. Lawrence played on the Patriot tennis team for three seasons (1985, 1987, 1988) and earned the B.B.A. degree in marketing in 1988. At S.C. State, his men’s teams have recorded an 88-66 mark, including a school-record 21 wins in 1998, while his women’s squads have produced a 37-82 record. This past spring, the Bulldog men were 14-8 and placed second in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, while the women were 9-9, the program’s first non-losing season in eight years. The Washington, D.C., native is also an instructor at the university’s Felton Laboratory School.