Lady Tigers ninth in NCAA regional

• Advocate news services
• Published: May 9, 2008 - Page: 4C - UPDATED: 12:30 a.m.

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AUSTIN, Texas — The 20th-ranked LSU Lady Tigers kept themselves in contention for a spot in the national championships Thursday with a first-round score of 12-over par 300 in the NCAA Central Regional golf tournament at the University of Texas Golf Course.

The Lady Tigers need to finish among the top eight teams to advance to the national finals in Albuquerque in two weeks. LSU stands in ninth place entering today’s second round of the 54-hole event that runs through Saturday.

The top eight after 18 holes includes a couple of surprises, but not at the top as No. 1 seed, second-ranked UCLA is the leader at 5-under par 283, two shots better than TCU at 285. Purdue is third at even-par 288, with Denver fourth at 4-over 292, Nebraska fifth at 6-over 294, and Texas A&M sixth at 295.

LSU played some pretty solid golf through the first 16 holes of the opening round over a difficult golf course, but gave back six strokes on the final two holes that proved to be the difference in keeping LSU out of the early top-eight positions.

“We just didn’t finish,” LSU coach Karen Bahnsen said. “They are tough holes, but we’ve got to finish better. We are better than that. I don’t think we shot ourselves out of it by any means. We just need to go out (today) and remember to finish the round. The girls really did very well for most of the round. They hung in there and fought through it, but we’ve got to go to the end.”

LSU’s two freshman in the lineup, Megan McChrystal and Amalie Valle, both posted rounds of 1-over 73s. Junior Caroline Martens and seniors Rebecca Kuhn and Alexis Rather all shot 5-over 77s. McChrystal and Valle are in a group tied for 19th.

The individual leader is Maria Jose Uribe of UCLA with a 7-under par 65, one of 14 players under par on the first day.

Team results
1. UCLA 283 -5; 2. TCU 285 -3; 3. Purdue 288 E; 4. Denver 292 +4; 5. Nebraska 294 +6; 6. Texas A&M 295 +7; 7. Florida State 298 +10; 8. Texas 299 +11; 9. LSU 300 +12; 9. North Carolina State 300 +12; 11. Texas State 301 +13; 12. Notre Dame 302 +14; 13. Alabama 304 +16; 13. Pepperdine 304 +16; 15. Kent State 305 +17; 16. East Tennessee State 307 +19; 16. Texas Tech 307 +19; 18. Washington 312 +24; 19. Illinois State 313 +25; 20. Harvard 314 +26; 21. Fairleigh-Dickinson 352 +64.

Top 5 Individuals (Par 72)
1. Maria Jose Uribe, UCLA 65 -7; 2. Marina Hernandez, Purdue, 66 -6; 3. Valentine Derrey, TCU, 67 -5; 4. Lauren Doughtie, North Carolina State, 69 -3; 5. Whitney Brummett, Florida State, 70 -2; 5. Aruka Felgueroso,Coastal Carolina, 70 -2; 5. Laura Jansone, East Tennessee State, 70 -2; 5. Katie Kempter, Denver, 70 -2; 5. Caroline Westrup, Florida State, 70 -2.

LSU Scores
T19. Amalie Valle 73 +1
T19. Megan McChrystal 73 +1
T57. Alexis Rather 77 +5
T57. Caroline Martens 77 +5
T57. Rebecca Kuhn 77 +5

THREE FRESHMEN GOLFERS EARN ALL-SEC: The future of the LSU men’s golf program has been on display this season as freshmen have cracked the lineup week in and week out, and three Tigers were rewarded for their play Thursday by being named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.

LSU’s Andrew Loupe, John Peterson and Clayton Rotz are among eight first-year players in the SEC that have been named to the league’s inaugural all-freshman team.

The trio has proven to be among the nation’s premier freshman classes this season as it currently ranks No. 3 in the country in the latest Golfstat Top 25 Freshman Class Impact Ranking.