Mocs, Loza Finish 19th at NCAA East Regional
Jordan Britt tied program regional record with a two-under par 70 in today's final round
STATE COLLEGE, PA. --- The Chattanooga Mocs women's golf team ended up 19th at the NCAA East Regional Saturday at the Penn State Blue Course. UTC ended up three shots behind Northwestern and four in front of San Diego State and Augusta State with a three-day total of 919.
Maria Juliana Loza (Bucaramanga, Colombia) made a run at one of the two individual spots to advance to the NCAA Championship. She started the day at one-over par and fell back to plus three with a double bogey on six.
Over the next three holes, Loza missed two birdie efforts and a par putt all inside five feet turning at four over. She birdied two of the next three holes continuing her brilliant ball-striking to get back to two over. A bogey on 14 dropped her to three over which she held through to 17.
Missing the green to the right, her chip got caught in the fringe. Her par putt just skirted the edge making an eagle necessary on 18. After a perfect drive to open the par five, Loza found herself around 200 yards from the hole. Her metal went right of the green and under a tree. She made a valiant effort but fell short with a 76 for the round.
Loza's 221 is the second-best total by a Mocs golfer in regional play (220, Emma de Groot, 2010). She carded rounds of 73, 72 and 76 to tie for 19th.
Jordan Britt (Chattanooga, Tenn.) had five birdies in shooting two-under par 70 this afternoon. The five birdies is the second-best total in school history behind de Groot's six in round one of the 2010 East Regional. She shot 225 for the weekend tying for 46th.
Marion Duvernay (Publier, France) and Mette Kryger (Nivaa, Denmark) rounded out the counting rounds shooting 76 and 80, respectively. Sophie Weilguni's (Langenlois, Austria) 83 was the drop score.
No. 25 South Carolina was the wire-to-wire leader finishing at 873. That gave the Gamecocks a five-stroke cushion over No. 12 Texas A&M and Texas in second at 878. No. 2 Alabama (879), No. 15 Florida (879), No. 5 Arizona State (887), No. 24 Michigan State (887) and No. 8 Duke (887) all advanced to the NCAA Championship.
Kelsey Vines (215) of Oklahoma State and Margarita Ramos (218) of Arizona claimed the two individual berths. Ramos topped Michelle Koh (Campbell) on the first playoff hole for her spot.
Cnops finishes tied for 41st at NCAA East Regional
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - UNCG freshman Fanny Cnops shot her lowest round of the NCAA East Regional on Saturday, moving her up six spots on the leaderboard to finish in a tie for 41st place at Penn State's Blue Course.
The Gent, Belgium, native and SoCon Player of the Year carded a final-round 73, giving her a cumulative score of 224 (75-76-73) for the competition.
Cnops started on the 10th hole Saturday, firing four birdies and two bogeys on the back nine to make the turn at 2-under. She had four bogeys and a birdie on the front nine, however, to finish 1-over for the day.
Texas A&M's Katerina Ruzickova held on to win the individual title, beating Jennifer Kirby of Alabama by two strokes. Ruzickova finished with a final score of 213 (67-73-73). Ruzickova and Kirby (71-74-70=215) were the only two players to finish under par for the tournament.
South Carolina won the team title, notching an overall total of 873 (288-294-291). The Gamecocks, who led the tournament wire-to-wire, beat the runners-up from Texas A&M by five strokes.
The top eight teams (South Carolina, Texas A&M, Texas, Alabama, Florida, Arizona State, Michigan State and Duke) and top two individuals not on those teams (Kelsey Vines of Oklahoma State and Margarita Ramos of Arizona) advanced to the NCAA Championship on May 22-25.
AGATE
UNCG individuals
T41. Fanny Cnops 75-76-73=224
Wearn Finishes With 73 At NCAA Women's Golf East Regional
State College, Pa. -- Furman's Laura Wearn (+10) fired a final round 73 to finish in a tie for 51st place on Saturday in the NCAA Women's Golf East Regional at the par-72 Penn State Blue Course in State College, Pa.
The Charlotte, N.C., native capped her season with birdies at No. 9 and No. 18 en route to her best round of the 54-hole tournament. Wearn (77-76-73=226) shot even par on the back nine on the strength of a birdie at the par-five, No. 18 and recovered from two bogeys on the front nine to birdie her final hole of the day.
South Carolina (+9) posted a final round 291 to cruise to a five-stroke victory and a berth in the NCAA Championships, which will be held May 22-25, at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn. Texas A&M (+14) and Texas (+14) tied for second place while Alabama, Florida, Arizona State, Michigan State and Duke rounded out the top eight finishers in the 24-team field that earned a berth in the NCAA Championships.
Katerina Ruzickova (-3) of Texas A&M, who led at the conclusion of each day's play, captured individual medalist honors with rounds of 67-73-73 to finish at three-under par. Jennifer Kirby (-1) of Alabama placed second at one-under. Kelsey Vines of Oklahoma State earned a spot in the NCAA Championships with a share of seventh place while Margarita Ramos of Arizona punched her ticket to the finals by defeating Campbell's Michelle Koh in a one hole payoff.
Full results and statistics from the 2012 NCAA East Regional are available at www.GolfStatResults.com.