May 27, 2000
SUNRIVER, Ore. - The Arizona State women's golf team moved up 13 spots in three days to finish in a tie for 11th with a four-round total of 1217 at the NCAA Championships, held May 24-27 at the par 72, 6,482-yard Crosswater Golf Course. The Sun Devils climbed from a tie for 16th heading into the day to their 11th-place finish after carding a 12-over 300 in Saturday's final round, which tied with Stanford for the low round of the day in the cold, windy, rainy conditions.
Arizona won the NCAA title with a 22-over 310 Saturday to finish at 23-over par 1175. The Wildcats finished with a 19-stroke lead over national runner-up Stanford (1196). Texas (1198), USC (1199) and Tennessee (1206) rounded out the top five teams.
After shooting a season-high 315 on the first day to fall into last place, the Sun Devils rebounded with scores of 305, 297 and 300 in each of the next three rounds to move up to a tie for 11th with Oregon and New Mexico State. It marked the 19th top 13 finish for Arizona State head coach Linda Vollstedt. For the Sun Devils, sophomore Caroline Laurens tied her career low by shooting a two-under par 70 on the day, which was tied with Pepperdine's Lindsey Wright for the low round of the day. Freshman Miriam Nagl was the top Sun Devil finisher in the tournament, carding a 77 on the day to finish at 301 and in a tie for 25th place. Sophomore Lisa Meredith had a personal tournament best 73 on the day to tie with Laurens for 41st place at 16-over 304. Rounding out the Sun Devil scorers were junior Molly Cooper and freshman Blair O'Neal shot 83 and 80 in the final round to finish at 91st and 97th, respectively.
"Today definitely had the toughest conditions of the tournament, and our young players came through" Vollstedt said. "I told them they needed to play with pride and courage, and they did. We knew with the tough conditions, there was a chance to move up, and having the low round of the day was terrific under these conditions. Caroline had the low round of the day, and the whole team made a bunch of birdies coming in and finished strong.
"This is the future, and it is bright. We have a great team that was ranked fourth in the country all spring. There were teams that we knew we should be beating, and we did. It was all about courage and pride and playing with our hearts - staying focused and finishing strong."
Arizona's Jenna Daniels won individual medalist honors with a four-round total of 303, besting her teammate Jill Kraschinski by three strokes.
NCAA Women's Golf Championships - Final Results
Crosswater Golf Course - Sunriver, Ore.
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Arizona 299-285-281-310=1175 (+23)
2. Stanford 301-298-297-300=1196 (+44)
3. Texas 296-308-291-303=1199 (+46)
4. USC 305-291-297-306=1200 (+47)
5. Tennessee 301-298-306-301=1206 (+54)
6. Auburn 302-302-300-306=1210 (+58)
7. Georgia 296-303-296-316=1211 (+59)
8. Pepperdine 302-312-296-303=1213 (+61)
9. Purdue 298-303-307-307=1215 (+63)
10. LSU 313-298-302-303=1216 (+64)
T11. Arizona State 315-305-297-300=1217 (+65)
T11. New Mexico State 304-312-295-306=1217 (+65)
T11. Oregon 295-303-297-322=1217 (+65)
14. Duke 303-299-296-320=1218 (+66)
15. San Jose State 308-302-306-309=1225 (+73)
16. Tulsa 307-301-311-308=1227 (+75)
17. Wake Forest 308-305-304-311=1228 (+76)
18. Florida 306-315-299-310=1230 (+78)
19. Nebraska 310-311-302-316=1239 (+87)
T20. Ohio State 298-310-314-318=1240 (+88)
T20. Michigan State 303-310-314-313=1240 (+88)
T20. TCU 311-296-302-331=1240 (+88)
23. Oklahoma 308-314-308-313=1243 (+91)
24 Northwestern 313-317-306-311=1247 (+95)
Sun Devil Scores T25. Miriam Nagl 79-71-74-77=301 T41. Lisa Meredith 79-77-75-73=304 T41. Caroline Laurens 79-78-77-70=304 T91. Molly Cooper 78-81-73-83=315 T97. Blair O'Neal 83-79-75-80=317
- www.thesundevils.com -