May 8, 1999

BLYTHEWOOD, S.C.- The Wake Forest women's golf team shot a 19-over 307 in the third and final round of play to finish tied for ninth out of 19 teams at the NCAA East Regional tournament, held at The University Club in Blythewood, S.C. With a 54-hole total of 914, or 50-over par, the Demon Deacons finished just two strokes behind the cut of eight teams which advanced to the NCAA Championships in Tulsa, Okla., in two weeks.

It marked the second straight year that the Deacs missed the NCAA cut by just one place after having advanced in each of the previous five years; last season the team also finished ninth, missing the cut by three strokes.

Georgia rallied with a 2-over 290 in the final round to win the East Regional by one stroke over Furman, who held the team lead through the first two rounds. The Bulldogs finished with a 54-hole total of 884, or 20-over par. LSU, Duke, Florida State, Ohio State, host South Carolina and Auburn rounded out the top eight teams who advanced to the NCAAs.

South Florida's Kelly Lagedrost, Duke's Beth Bauer, and Furman's Jennifer Perri finished in a three-way tie for first place in the event, each recording a 1-under 215 on the weekend. Lagedrost and Vanderbilt's Mallory Crosland, who placed seventh overall, received the two NCAA individual bids.

Sophomore All-ACC golfer Marta Prieto and junior Kelly Kirwin were the Deacons' highest individual finishers, both tying for 33rd place at 12-over par. Prieto shot a 79 in the final round, while Kirwin carded a 77. Freshman Katie Brenny shot a 76 today to finish tied for 41st at 13-over, while senior Kristen Wagner recorded a 75 to place 47th at 14-over. Freshman Nicole Faniola rounded out the Wake Forest contingent in 85th place, shooting an 83 in the third round to complete the event at 25-over par.

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS

1   Georgia*                 300  294  290    884   +20
2   Furman*                  290  293  302    885   +21
3   Louisiana State*         299  292  302    893   +29
4   Duke*                    297  300  297    894   +30
5   Florida State*           296  304  301    901   +37
6   Ohio State*              301  299  304    904   +40
7   South Carolina*          299  302  307    908   +44
8   Auburn*                  306  298  308    912   +48
9   WAKE FOREST              307  300  307    914   +50
    North Carolina           308  299  307    914   +50
11  Michigan State           304  304  307    915   +51
12  Indiana                  310  306  303    919   +55
13  South Florida            299  307  314    920   +56
    Tennessee                312  296  312    920   +56
15  Memphis                  301  310  312    923   +59
16  Mississippi              312  306  308    926   +62
17  Purdue                   316  303  309    928   +64
18  Penn State               307  309  317    933   +69
19  Campbell                 311  312  319    942   +78

1   Kelly Lagedrost, So Florida*    72  73  70 215   -1
    Beth Bauer, Duke                74  70  71 215   -1
    Jennifer Perri, Furman          71  71  73 215   -1
4   Tina Howard,  LSU               72  74  71 217   +1
    Stacey Burnett, Furman          72  70  75 217   +1
6   Shauna Estes, Georgia           73  75  70 218   +2
7   Mallory Crosland, Vanderbilt*   74  72  73 219   +3
    Natalie Tucker, Memphis         71  74  74 219   +3
    Lisette Lee, LSU                71  71  77 219   +3
10  Summerset Lovett, Ohio St.      76  71  73 220   +4

33  Marta Prieto, Wk. Forest        78  71  79 228  +12
    Kelly Kirwin, Wk. Forest        74  77  77 228  +12
41  Kathryn Brenny, Wk. Forest      76  77  76 229  +13
47  Kristen Wagner, Wk. Forest      79  76  75 230  +14
85  Nicole Faniola, Wk. Forest      82  76  83 241  +25

* advance to NCAA Championships