Monday, March 27, 2006

WALLACE, N.C. (March 27, 2006) - Senior Ashley Barton (Seffner, Fla.) currently stands tied for sixth-place on the individual leaderboard, helping to lead the ETSU women's golf team to a fifth-place finish in the team standings following first and second round play Monday in the UNCW Lady Seahawk Invitational at the River Landing Golf Club.

Barton, who posted a two-round score of 5-over 149 (73-76), trails leader Emily Klein of Birmingham Southern by just four strokes heading into Tuesday's third and final round of play. Meanwhile, the Lady Bucs are only 10 strokes off the pace set by former Southern Conference foe Western Carolina in the team competition. WCU finished the day with a team score of 600 on the par-72 course.

Along with Barton, sophomore Natalia Giraldo (Cali, Colombia) and senior Laura Diaz (Aguadilla, P.R.) put together strong performances, with Giraldo finishing the day in 21^st and Diaz tied for 22^nd. Meanwhile, freshman Lucy Gould (Bargoed, Wales) is tied for 39^th and sophomore Maria Ringdahl (Oland, Sweden) is tied for 50^th.

Third and final round at the UNCW event will begin early Tuesday morning. Visit ETSUBucs.com at the end of each day's play for a complete recap.