CONOVER, N.C. --- The Tusculum College women's golf team moved up two spots and finished sixth at the 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Championship, held this week on the Jackson Course of the Rock Barn Golf & Spa.
The Pioneers finished with a 54-hole total 980, including Tuesday's 322, which was the second-lowest team score of the final round.
Carson-Newman College rallied from a nine-shot deficit and won the SAC Championship with a three-round 953, including Tuesday's final day 310. The Lady Eagles edged 36-hole leader Newberry College by four shots as the Wolves posted a 957. Lincoln Memorial University finished third with 966, followed by Wingate University (973), Lenoir-Rhyne University (978), Tusculum, Anderson University (994), Catawba College (997), Mars Hill College (1079) and Brevard College (1412).
Lenoir-Rhyne's Brenna Martens claimed SAC medalist honors with 230, winning by one shot over runner-up Ashley Denton of Wingate. Julia Daneshfar (Newberry) and Jessica Tarbet (Carson-Newman) each finished third with 232. Maria Stapleton (LMU) posted 233 to finish fifth, while Eileen Purpur (Catawba) placed sixth with 237.
Tusculum sophomore Jillian Corum tied for seventh place with Newberry's Maria Luz Besio at 239. The trio of Jennifer Oliver (Carson-Newman), Natalie Perez (Newberry) and Elizabeth Smith (Catawba) tied for ninth place with 241 to round out the SAC All-Tournament Team.
TC senior Emily Palenkas closed out her collegiate golf career with a final round 80 to climb 10 spots and finish tied for 20th place at 248. Palenkas finishes her Pioneer career with an 84.04 stroke average, which is the fifth lowest in school history. Her 80 career rounds played are the fourth most by a Tusculum women's golfer.
Freshman Sara Howard and junior Aly Pugh both tied for 25th place with 250. Howard wraps up her rookie campaign with an 82.25 scoring average, which is tied for the seventh lowest in school history and the best ever by a TC freshman.
Sophomore Haley Rye carded 252 and moved six post up the leaderboard to tie for 24th place.
Senior Adriana Vizcarrondo also caps her Tusculum career with a three-round score of 264 to finish 40th, playing as an individual competitor. Vizcarrondo ends her TC career with an 88.08 stroke average, currently 14th in school history, while her 61 tournament rounds are tied for ninth all-time.
Corum ends her second Tusculum campaign with an 80.42 stroke average, which is the third best in school history and a new TC mark for sophomores. Corum lowers her career scoring average to 81.79, which is presently the best in Pioneer history.
- SAC -
South Atlantic Conference Women's Golf Championship
Pl. Team 1st 2nd 3rd Total
1 Carson-Newman 319 324 310 953
2 Newberry 311 323 323 957
3 Lincoln Memorial 308 333 325 966
4 Wingate 314 325 334 973
5 Lenoir-Rhyne 317 330 331 978
6 TUSCULUM 338 320 322 980
7 Anderson 321 334 339 994
8 Catawba 328 329 340 997
9 Mars Hill 360 361 358 1079
10 Brevard 444 455 513 1412
Tusculum Individual Scores
Pl. Name 1st 2nd 3rd Total
T7 Jillian Corum 83 75 81 239
T20 Emily Palenkas 88 80 80 248
T25 Sara Howard 86 84 80 250
T25 Aly Pugh 86 83 81 250
T30 Haley Rye 83 82 87 252
T40 Adriana Vizcarrondo* 88 89 87 264
* individual competitor
