Oct. 22, 2011
Senior Marina Alex shot a two-under par, 70, on Saturday in the second round of the Mercedes Benz SEC/Pac 12 Challenge to lead Vanderbilt at the Holston Hills Country Club in Knoxville. Alex and her Commodore teammates are in fifth place after shooting a two-over, 290, on Saturday.
Alex’s 70 and junior Lauren Stratton’s even-par 72 paced Vanderbilt’s effort – Stratton is a stroke back of the individual lead and in a tie for third with a total of 140 (68-72), while Alex moved from 32nd to a tie for 10th with her performance on Saturday (74-70=144). Freshman Kendall Martindale shot a 73 on Saturday, and Junior Anna Leigh Keith fired a 75 to register the Dores’ last counting scorer.
“It was a solid day today,” said Stratton. “I had some solid putts, but couldn’t get them to go down. We played foursomes the last two days, so the rounds are long and the days are even longer. We’re just trying to stay patient out there. But, we’ll give it our best tomorrow, add them up, and see where the chips fall.”
Alabama leads the tournament with a three-under par, 573 (284-289), and has a five-stroke lead over second-place UCLA.
Nathalie Mansson of Tennessee and Stephanie Meadow of Alabama hold a one-stroke lead over Stratton and Milena Savich of Georgia. The final round of the tournament concludes on Sunday with a 10 a.m. shotgun start.
5. Vanderbilt – 296-290=586
T1. Lauren Stratton – 68-72=140
T10. Marina Alex – 74-70=144
T52. Kendall Martindale – 78-73=151
T78. Rene Sobolewski – 76-78=154
T78. Anna Leigh Keith – 79-75=154
