Mission Accomplished: Husky Golfers Rally for NCAA Berth
May 7, 2005
Gainesville, FL - Needing to advance four spots on the leaderboard to have a top-eight finish and advance to the NCAA Championships, the Washington women's golf team did just that during the final round of the East Regional Championship. Washington shot 16-over 296, its best round of the 54-hole tournament, to finish eighth at 900 and grab the final qualifying spot.
"They never quit and they hung in there and played really tough today," said head coach Mary Lou Mulflur. "I'm happy for this team because I felt they deserved to go to nationals. I told them yesterday that they knew what they needed to do and that they were good enough to go out and do it. And they did."
Heading into the final round, the eighth-ranked Huskies were one of five teams with a realistic chance at eighth. Vanderbilt, which was eighth after two rounds, shot 305 to fall back to 10th at 904. South Carolina posted a 303 and was ninth, three shots behind the Huskies. Campbell shot 308 and slid to 11th at 908 and Princeton finished with a 309 to drop to 12th at 911. Miami, which played in the afternoon session, remained in the race until the Hurricanes fell behind the Huskies while playing their back nine.
"We went back to the hotel and sat in front of a computer and just watched the other teams finish," Mulfur said. "When we left the course, I did not think we were going to get in. Then, Miami started to come back to us. It took a while, because they really played well on their front nine. At one point, we got everybody dressed and jumped in the van and came back to the course because we thought we might have to have a playoff."
Ohio State won the tournament by eight stokes over top-ranked Duke. The Buckeyes finished at 16-over 856. Furman was third at 871 followed by Pepperdine (874) in fourth place, Virginia (881) was fifth, Tulane (885) was sixth and Florida (886) placed seventh.
The Huskies, seeded third in the regional, were led during the final round by solid outings from sophomores Amber Prange and Courtney McCracken. Playing in her first NCAA regional, McCracken shot 1-over 71 Saturday to top the Husky scoring. That equaled her best single-round score of the season. MaCracken finished 33rd overall at 15-over 225, which bettered her previous best tournament score by two strokes.
"Courtney really stepped up big when we needed her to," Mulflur said. "She's gotten better and better since she solidified her place in the lineup."
Prange posted a 2-over 72 during the final round and was UW's top finisher in 19th place at 11-over 221. Prange's performance was the second straight tournament she has led the Huskies in scoring. She led UW at the Pac-10s with a ninth-place finish.
Paige Mackenzie shot 76 during the last 18 holes to place 33rd at 227 while Kim Shin carded a 77 to finish 60th at 231. Sung Ea Lee was 77th overall at 235 after shooting 79 Saturday.
Duke's Anna Grzebien used a final round 67 to wrap up medalist honors at 1-under 209. Furman's Jenny Suh and Virginia's Leah Wigger tied for second at even-par 210.
The Huskies advance to the NCAA Championships for the fourth time in the last five years. It is the program's seventh NCAA Championship appearance. The NCAA East Regional marked the 13th consecutive season the Huskies have appeared in an NCAA regional championship.
"I've always said getting through the regional is the toughest part of this tournament," Mulflur said. "Nobody cares what type of season you had when you get to a regional, or what your reputation is. It is just a three-day grinder."
The NCAA Championships will take place May 17-20 at the Sunriver Resort on the Meadows Course in Sunriver, Ore. The host school is Oregon State. Washington opened its season there, finishing second to Duke at the Fall Preview.
The Huskies are one of six Pac-10 teams that qualified for the championship. Also representing the conference will be West Regional Champion UCLA, California, USC, Stanford and Arizona State.
NCAA East Regional Championship
University of Florida Golf Course
Gainesville, FL
Par-70, 6,023 yards
Final Results
Team Results
1. Ohio State 285-280-291-856
2. Duke 292-283-287-862
3. Furman 291-291-287-871
4. Pepperdine 294-291-289-874
5. Virginia 292-297-292-881
6. Tulane 293-292-300-885
7. Florida 287-301-298-886
8. Washington 306-298-296-900
9. South Carolina 293-307-303-903
10. Vanderbilt 307-292-305-904
11. Campbell 297-303-308-908
12. Princeton 302-300-300-911
13. Miami 303-304-305-912
14. North Carolina State 319-299-297-915
15. UNC-Wilmington 306-308-306-920
16. Mississippi State 306-308-311-925
17. East Carolina 309-305-315-929
18. James Madison 309-317-306-932
19. Coastal Carolina 323-317-322-952
20. Jacksonville St. 325-315-320-960
21. Jackson State 328-332-330-990
Top Individuals 1. Anna Grzebien, Duke 73-69-67-209 2. Jenny Suh, Furman 69-69-72-210 2. Leah Wigger, Virginia 70-67-73-210 4. Alison Walshe, Tulane 70-73-69-212 5. Brittany Lang, Duke 74-68-71-213 5. Carolina Llano, Pepperdine 70-72-71-213 7. Dana Je, Ohio State 71-71-72-214 7. Kristen White, Ohio State 73-69-72-214 9. Kristen Svicarovich, Vanderbilt 77-69-70-216 10. Sandra Gal, Florida 71-74-72-217 10. Elizabeth Janangelo, Duke 72-71-74-217 10. Lindsay Knowlton, Ohio State 79-68-70-217 10. Theresa Paik, Furman 71-76-70-217
Washington Results 19. Amber Prange 74-75-72-221 33. Courtney McCracken 78-76-71-225 38. Paige Mackenzie 74-77-76-227 60. Kim Shin 83-71-77-231 77. Sung Ea Lee 80-76-79-235
NCAA West Regional (at Stanford) 1. UCLA 304-299-286-889 (+25) 1. Tennessee 291-310-288-889 3. California 296-307-288-891 4. Southern California 293-302-297-892 5. Oklahoma State 304-301-293-898 6. UC Irvine 308-300-298-906 6. BYU 298-305-303-906 8. Stanford 306-301-301-908
Individual Champion Sophia Sheridan, California 69-73-70-212 (-4)
NCAA Central Regional (at Texas Tech) 1. Auburn 294-309-293-896 (+32) 2. Texas A&M 293-310-300-903 3. Missouri 291-312-302-905 4. Arizona State 296-310-300-906 5. Tulsa 298-310-300-908 5. Purdue 295-309-304-908 7. Michigan State 300-307-302-909 8. Arkansas 300-311-304-915
Individual Champion Diana Ramage, Auburn 68-77-67-212 (-4)
