Thursday, April 21, 2005

            GREENVILLE, S.C. (April 21, 2005) - The East Tennessee State University women's golf team will be trying to make history in its final trip to the Southern Conference Championships, which start Friday with first round play at the Furman University Golf Course. The three-day event will continue with the second round on Saturday and final round on Sunday.

            The Lady Bucs have never won a SoCon title in the program's 12 years of existence, but with two regular season tournament championships already this season, the team enters this event with a high level of confidence.

            "We have a team that is capable of winning this event, and that has been our goal as a program," said head coach Stefanie Reynolds, who is in her third season at ETSU. "Our team has gained confidence playing a tough schedule this season against highly-ranked competition, so we feel prepared for this tournament."

            In junior Ashley Barton (Seffner, Fla.) and freshman Maria Ringdahl (Oland, Sweden), the Lady Bucs boast two of the most talented players in the SoCon. Barton currently ranks second in the league with a 76.25 stroke average, while Ringdahl is third with a 76.40 stroke average. In addition, senior Danielle O'Reilly (Whistler, British Columbia), and freshmen Natalia Giraldo (Cali, Colombia) and Cindy Phillips (Johnson City, Tenn.), have the potential to post quality scores and power the Lady Bucs to victory this weekend.

            Fans can keep up with live results from the three-day tournament by visiting Golfstat.com, or visit ETSUBucs.com each evening for a complete wrap-up of the day's play.