Blackwelder Leads No. 16 Florida Women in First at Lady Gator Invite

Saturday, March 11

Gainesville, FL

12:00 AM

Florida Gators

Lady Gator Invitational

Blackwelder Leads No. 16 Florida Women in First at Lady Gator Invite

Sunday, March 12, 2006 | Women's Golf

The No. 16 University of Florida women's golf team shot a team score of 289 in the first round of the Lady Gator Invite, followed by a 294 in the second to move into first-place at their home tournament in Gainesville, Fla. The Lady Gators sit 10 strokes ahead of No. 4 Purdue heading into the final round, while freshman Mallory Blackwelder (Versailles, Ky.) holds an individual placing in a tie for first with a two-round score of 143.

Blackwelder fired an even-par 70 in round one, followed by a 73 in the second to end up in a tie with Georgia State's Lisbeth Meincke. Head women's golf coach Jill Briles-Hinton was proud of the effort by her team in the opening day of the tourney, but feels there is still plenty of room for improvement.

“We had a good day today, the players performed well overall,” said Briles-Hinton. “We had some outstanding plays at points throughout the day, and some really good individual performances, but I feel like we took a little bit with us at the end. If we want to win this tournament we're going to have to leave everything out on the golf course, we didn't finish strong today, and let some things slide at the end.”

Sophomore Sandra Gal (Leichlingen, Germany) notched a 145 (74-71=145) on the day to sit in a tie for fifth-place, while redshirt freshman Ornella Jouven (La Ciotat, France), competing as an individual, fired a two-round total of 144 (74-70=144) to sit in a tie for third. Sophomore Whitney Myers (East Berlin, Pa.) rounded out the Lady Gator top-ten finishers with a seventh-place showing and a two-round score of 146 (72-74=146).

Sophomore captain Tiffany Chudy (Miramar) claimed a tie for 16^th with a 149 (73-76=149), while freshman Brittany Nelson (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) holds a tie for 19^th and a total score of 150 (74-76=150). Competing as individuals, sophomore Eleanor Tucker (Wilson, N.C.) and senior Tarah McNaughton (Bradenton, Fla.) round out the Florida women competitors with Tucker in a tie for 29^th (75-78=153) and McNaughton in a tie at 60^th after shooting a 160 (76-84=160).

In the team standings, No. 4 Purdue sits 10 strokes behind the Orange and Blue in second place, while SEC foe Alabama holds down third. Michigan claimed a finish in fourth following day one, while Michigan State rounds out the top five.

“We're going to have to play well tomorrow if we want to win,” said Briles-Hinton. “I think the team is feeling the pressure a little bit to come out and perform well since this is our home course. Tomorrow is another day and we'll need more outstanding rounds from everyone to stay on top.”

The Lady Gators will look to hold their top placing in the final round Sunday, as action resumes with an 8 a.m. shot gun start at the University of Florida Golf Course. A final round recap and full results will be available at the conclusion of play at www.gatorzone.com, while up-to-the-minute Lady Gator action can be seen via live-scoring by logging onto www.golfstat.com.

Lady Gator Round Two Results

Name	Round 1	Round 2	Total	Place	Rel. To Par
Mallory Blackwelder	70	73	143	T1	+3
Sandra Gal	74	71	145	T5	+5
Whitney Myers	72	74	146	T7	+6
Tiffany Chudy	73	76	149	T16	+9
Brittany Nelson	74	76	150	T19	+10
Ornella Jouven*	74	70	144	T3	+4
Eleanor Tucker*	75	78	153	T29	+13
Tarah McNaughton	76	84	160	T60	+20

* - Competing as an individual

Team Standings Following Round Two

Name	Round 1	Round 2	Total	Rel. To Par
1 Florida	289	294	583	+23
2 Purdue	289	304	593	+33
3 Alabama	300	297	597	+37
4 Michigan	301	297	598	+38
5 Michigan State	306	293	599	+39
6 South Florida	300	305	605	+45
7 Florida International	309	299	608	+48
8 Georgia State	314	298	612	+52
9 Kentucky	304	310	614	+54
10 Yale	305	312	617	+57
11 Mississippi	312	309	621	+61
12 Louisville	309	316	625	+65
13 Central Florida	309	322	631	+71
14 Princeton	325	315	640	+80