Saturday, October 01, 2005

                WAYNESVILLE, N.C. (Oct. 1, 2005) - Firing a career-best 3-under-par 69, senior Ashley Barton (Seffner, Fla.) led the ETSU women's golf team to a fifth-place finish following first round play Saturday in the Great Smokies Intercollegiate at the Waynesville Country Club.

            It took record-breaking performances from the top three teams on the current leaderboard to best the Lady Bucs on the first day, as host Western Carolina and Ohio both fired 2-under-par 286 to tie for the top spot. Third-place South Alabama posted a 289, which was two strokes better than the tournament's previous single-round team score record of 291. ETSU is currently fifth with a 294.

            "We're in contention and that's obviously positive," said ETSU head coach Stefanie Reynolds. "We're pleased, but the girls are hungry for the win tomorrow."

            On the individual leaderboard, Barton trails first-place Julie Tomlison of Ohio by just three strokes. Second-place Elin Andersson of South Alabama and Ashley Hovda of Western Carolina are just one stroke better than Barton at 68.

            Other ETSU results include sophomore Natalia Giraldo (Cali, Colombia), who finished tied for 22^nd with a 73. Meanwhile, sophomore Cindy Phillips (Johnson City, Tenn.) is tied for 30^th at 74, while sophomore Maria Ringdahl (Oland, Sweden) and freshman Lucy Gould (Bargoed, Wales) are tied for 75^th and 81^st, respectively.

            The tournament will conclude with second round play on Sunday. Visit ETSUBucs.com for complete results following the day's play.