Lady Bulldogs Finish In Ninth At SEC Championships
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Mississippi State's Lady Bulldogs concluded the regular season with a ninth place finish at the SEC Championships at the University of Kentucky. The Lady Bulldogs fired a third day total 332 in heavy wind conditions. MSU finished 15 strokes ahead, of tenth place, Louisiana State. Instate rival Mississippi and Alabama finished 12 and 13 strokes behind MSU.
Freshman Sofie Andersson led MSU firing a third round 76 in today's final round of action. Andersson finished the tournament shooting a three-day total of 222 to land her in fourth place overall, two strokes back of third and six strokes out of first. Beth Irwin finished the tournament firing a 245 and placing 44th on the weekend. Natalie Booth finished in 47th as she fired a 247 for the tournament. Senior Anna Knutsson was two stokes back as she finished in a three-way tie for 48th and Janet Dyer finished in 58th shooting an 85 today for a total of 259.
"Conditions were extremely difficult today. The wind was blowing consistently at 40 Mph's with gusts up into the 50's. Sofie handled the conditions better than most of the field," Mississippi State head coach Christi Sanders said. "I feel like the team has a chance to receive a bid for regionals."
Auburn captured the top team honors, as the Tigers fired a third round best 307 in the wind for a tournament total of 903. Florida finished two strokes back in second. Tennessee totaled a 911 for third place and defending champion South Carolina finished in fourth with a three-day total of 914. Florida's Aimee Cho was the medalist firing a third round best, for the tournament, 71. Violeta Retamoza, of Tennessee, finished one stroke back to take second. Defending medalist, Kristy McPherson of South Carolina finished in third with a three-day total of 220.
Mississippi State will wait for an invitation to the NCAA Regionals. Bids for the regionals will be named April 28th.
SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Dates: 4/18 - 4/20 (Today: 4-20-2003)
Par: 72 Yardage: 6,153
Teams Totals 9 Mississippi State 317-311-332=960 1 Auburn 299-297-307=903 4 Sofie Andersson 73-73-76=222 2 Florida 296-297-313=905 44 Beth Irwin 78-82-85=245 3 Tennessee 291-300-319=911 47 Natalie Booth 82-79-86=247 4 South Carolina 295-308-311=914 t48 Anna Knutsson 84-79-86=249 5 Vanderbilt 306-301-312=919 58 Janet Dyer 94-80-85=259 6 Arkansas 297-316-312=925 7 Georgia 299-311-327=937 8 Kentucky 309-311-324=944 9 Mississippi State 317-311-332=960 10 LSU 324-326-325=975 11 Mississippi 319-322-341=982 12 Alabama 318-329-336=983