May 8, 2009
Freshman Marina Alex shot a two-over par, 72, and is in a tie for second place on the individual leaderboard with a 141 (69-72) after the second round of the NCAA East Regional in Gainesville, Fla. As a team, Vanderbilt is in a tie for third place with a team total of 585 (286-299) out of 24 teams competing on the Marc Bostick Golf Course. The top eight teams in the 24-team field at the East Regional will advance to the NCAA Championships in Owings Mill, Md., May 19-22.
The Commodores are in a tie with Tennessee for third place heading into the final round, 10 strokes behind the leader, Alabama. Both teams trail second-place Denver by only two strokes.
“We feel good about being in third place, although I don’t think a lot of us were too happy with the way we finished,” said Vanderbilt head coach Greg Allen. “But the golf course got tough in the afternoon. The wind picked up, the greens got fast. But, we kept our heads up and made it through.
“Competing well at this tournament is our goal, and we’ve just got to take it one shot at a time tomorrow.”
Alex, who was in a tie for third place individually after the first round on Thursday with a first-round 69, is now in a tie for second after the second-round 72 with Nathalie Mansson of Tennessee. The freshman from Wayne, N.J., once again showed her consistency around the golf course, going out with a one-over par on the front nine holes and coming back home to the clubhouse with a one-over par for her 72. Alex trails the leader, Camilla Lennarth of Alabama, by two strokes.
Senior Jacqui Concolino, no stranger to success in the NCAA Regionals, posted the second-best total for the Commodores with a three-over par, 73, on Friday. The Orlando, Fla., native had three consecutive birdies today on the back nine, and is in a tie for 46th heading into the final round with a two-round total of 150 (77-73).
Other counting scores for Vanderbilt were Brooke Goodwin’s 76 and Andrea Messer’s 78, and both are in a tie for 24th with a total of 147.
Vanderbilt will tee off at 7:40 a.m. Saturday in the final round of the tournament.
