Tuesday, February 22, 2005

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 22, 2005) - Freshman golfer Maria Ringdahl (Oland, Sweden) remained in contention for the individual championship and the East Tennessee State University women's golf team continued its solid play, finishing eighth among a strong 14-team field following second round play at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic Tuesday at the Dorado Del Mar Golf Course in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Lady Bucs finished 28 strokes off the pace of front-running Auburn in the team competition, after the Lady Tigers posted a total team score of 596 after two rounds. Ringdahl led the way for ETSU with a second round score of 75, finishing the day at 5-over-par 147 for the competition and currently tied for fourth place on the individual leaderboard. Ringdahl trails Tiffany Chudy of Florida, who is currently at 3-over 146 for the tournament.

Heading into Wednesday's third and final round, the Lady Bucs are currently ahead of major Division I programs such as Southern California, Purdue, Oklahoma, Texas and Penn State.

            Along with Ringdahl, other ETSU results included senior Danielle O'Reilly (Whistler, British Columbia) with a 77, which tied her for 36^th. Meanwhile, junior Ashley Barton (Seffner, Fla.) is currently tied for 41^st, while freshmen Cindy Phillips (Johnson City, Tenn.) and Natalia Giraldo (Cali, Colombia) are currently tied for 47^th and 67^th, respectively.

            Play at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic will wrap up on Wednesday. For complete results, please see the attached results pages or check out http://purduesports.collegesports.com.

Lady Puerto Rico Classic
* Individual Dorado Del Mar Golf Club
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Dates: 02/21 - 02/23 (Today:02-22-2005)
Par: 72; Yardage: 6033