NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – Winthrop's Lady Eagle golf team slipped again in the final round of the 2007 Big South Women's Golf Championship, but still managed to finish in third place behind as Birmingham-Southern claimed its second straight title and NCAA bid and Coastal Carolina finished second.
The Lady Eagles shot a 319 on a damp Coosaw Creek Country Club course and compiled a 54-hole score of 949 (313-317-319) which was 52 shots behind the Birmingham-Southern Panthers who shot 897 (311-287-299), the second lowest tournament score in conference history. Coastal Carolina finished 14 shots back at 911.
Host Charleston Southern finished fourth with a 961, seven shots ahead of fifth-place finisher High Point (968). The HPU Panthers posted a final round 310 to move past Radford in the final standings. The Highlanders were sixth at 985, followed by associate women’s golf members Bucknell (992) and Holy Cross (1173).
Birmingham-Southern’s Jill Stupiansky captured Medalist honors with a 5-over 218, and Big South Player and Freshman of the Year Aruka Felgueroso from Coastal Carolina finished runner-up with an 11-over 224. Winthrop did not have anyone to finish in the Top 10. Sophomore Erin White entered the final day tied for fifth, but slipped into a tie for 16th place after carding a 84 on Wednesday to finish at 238 (77-77-84). Leading Winthrop were junior Jutta Degerman and freshman Rachel Ann Smith, who tied for 13th position with 237 scores. Degerman had a 79 on the final day while Smith turned in the low round of the Lady Eagles with a 76. Sophomore Sara Hester finished 18th with 241 (80-81-80) while senior AJ Cunningham shot 242 (79-79-84) to tie for 20th place.
With the team title, Birmingham-Southern receives the Big South Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Regional. Hunt, Maness, High Point’s AnnMarie Dalton, Coastal Carolina’s Rachel Graves and Johanna Rodert and Bucknell’s Amy Loughney each earned a spot on the Big South All-Conference team with their Championship finish, joining Felgueroso, Stupiansky, McGraw, Birmingham-Southern’s Jordan Hardy and Charleston Southern’s Olivia Jordan-Higgins, who were voted to the team based on regular-season play. Below are the final team scores and top 10 individual results:
Final Team Standings
1. Birmingham Southern........311-287-299 = 897
2. Coastal Carolina...............317-298-296 = 911
3. Winthrop..........................313-317-319 = 949
4. Charleston Southern..........323-315-323 = 961
5. High Point.........................341-317-310 = 968
6. Radford............................326-327-332 = 985
7. Bucknell............................343-328-321 = 992
8. Holy Cross........................389-399-385 = 1173
Top 10 Individual Finishers
1. Jill Stupiansky, BSC.............76-70-72 = 218
2. Aruka Felgueroso, CCU......76-77-71 = 224
3. Sara Hunt, BSC...................80-70-76 = 226
4. Shelley McGraw, BSC.........80-75-74 = 229
5. Ann Maness, CCU...............80-77-73 = 230
6. AnnMarie Dalton, HPU........81-73-77 = 231
Jordan Hardy, BSC..............76-72-83 = 231
Rachel Graves, CCU............82-72-77 = 231
9. Olivia Jordan-Higgins, CSU..80-75-77 = 232
10. Amy Loughney, BU.............77-81-75 = 233
Johanna Rodert, CCU.........82-72-79 = 233
