Friday, September 18, 2009

                GREENVILLE, S.C. (Sept. 18, 2009) - Led by senior Laura Jansone (Jurmala, Latvia) and a field-best score of 1-over-par 73, the ETSU women's golf team currently shares the lead with Nova Southeastern after Friday's first round play in the Lady Paladin Invitational hosted at the Furman University Golf Course.

Jansone's round included a birdie and just two bogeys, while Florida International's Paula Hurtado moved into second place with a first round 74. Sandra Changkija birdied three holes to pace the defending Division II national champion Nova Southeastern Sharks and grab a share of third place in the individual standings. In the team standings, ETSU (306) and Nova Southeastern (306) were followed by a trio of the Buccaneers' Atlantic Sun rivals with Stetson (311) in third, Kennesaw State (314) in fourth and Campbell (315) in fifth place.

"We fought through the rain and tough conditions all day," said ETSU head coach Stefanie Shelton. "We played very steady most of the day, and even though we lost some ground over the final few holes we're where we expect to be. The girls are ready to come out and play better tomorrow, and then have a chance to win on Sunday. To have a freshman and two sophomores in the lineup I'm pleased with the way we're playing."

            Along with Jansone's efforts, the Bucs placed three other players in the Top 20, with sophomore Nina Muehl (Vienna, Austria) carding a 5-over 77 to tie for 10^th, while sophomore Malin Mansson (Kalmar, Sweden) and freshman Rebecca McGinley (Lincoln, England) tied for 18^th after posting a pair of 6-over 78s.

Second round play tees off at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday with Sunday's final round scheduled for a shotgun start at 9 a.m. Live tournament scoring will also be available via www.golfstat.com, and a complete wrap up of each day's play can also be found at ETSUBucs.com.