Monday, March 31, 2008

STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. (March 31, 2008) - Senior Maria Ringdahl (Farjestaden, Sweden) fired a 1-over-par 74 to finish tied for fifth place individually, leading the 44^th-ranked ETSU women's golf team to a sixth place standing following first round play Monday in the 15-team field at the John Kirk/Panther Intercollegiate hosted by Georgia State at the Eagles Landing Country Club's Lake Nine and New Nine courses.

Ringdahl is just two strokes back of Miami's Jessica Steward and Georgia State's Sandra Maier for the top spot on the individual leaderboard, while the Buccaneers are 18 strokes back of host Georgia State, which leads the team event by eight strokes over Jacksonville State.

"Maria played well today and is in good position to challenge for the individual championship in the final round tomorrow," said ETSU head coach Stefanie Reynolds Shelton. "We want to come out tomorrow as a team and put together a quality team score and finish strong."

Along with Ringdahl, fellow senior Natalia Giraldo (Cali, Colombia) - who was competing as an individual - finished seventh with a 2-over 75, while junior Lucy Gould (Bargoed, Wales) finished tied for 30^th and sophomore Laura Jansone (Jurmala, Latvia) finished tied for 39^th.

The final round of the John Kirk/Panther Intercollegiate will wrap up on Tuesday. Visit ETSUBucs.com following the day's play for a complete wrap up.