Lady Pirate Golfers Finish Fourth At C-USA Golf Championships
April 20, 2005 | Men's Golf
GERMANTOWN, Tenn. ? East Carolina junior golfer Heidi Helliesen and senior Adrienne Millican recorded final rounds of 77 to pace the Pirates to a fourth place finish out of 10 teams in the 2005 Conference USA Golf Championships Wednesday. Helliesen finished tied for 11th with a 54-hole score of 231 while Millican finished one-stroke back in 13th place at 232. Freshman Emelie Lind recorded a 20th place finish with a score of 234.
Millican, who was named to the C-USA All-Decade Team late last week, was named to the first-team All C-USA today, while Helliesen was named third-team and freshman Emelie Lind was named to the All-Freshman Team.
Tulane rallied from a nine-stroke deficit to defend its Conference USA Women's Golf Championship at the Par-72, 6,178-yard Germantown Country Club. The Green Wave shot its lowest score of the three-round event on Wednesday carding a 294 to finish with an 898, while TCU, who held the second-round lead, shot a 308 to finish five strokes back in second with a 903.
The Green Wave duo of Alison Walshe and Liliana Alvarez were a key part in Tulane making the largest comeback in championship history. Walshe shot her second-consecutive round under par to win medalist honors with a championship-record 214 (73-70-71), while Alvarez, the defending individual champion, shot the low-round of the tournament with a 69 to finish in a tie for third at 224 (74-81-69).
"We had a great day," Tulane head coach Sue Bower said. "This is what competition is all about. I challenged our girls and to have two of them shoot under par in the final round is outstanding."
Walshe, who was voted the C-USA Women's Golfer of the Year by the league coaches, turned in two of the four under-par rounds at the tournament to win the individual title by nine strokes. The Horned Frogs finished runner-up to the Green Wave for the second straight season. TCU Sophomore Stacey Bieber held on to second place in the individual race finishing at 223 (71-74-78), while teammate D'Rae Ward rounded out the top five with a 225 (75-74-76). USF freshman Christina Jones shared third place with Alvarez at 224 (73-77-74).
Walshe, Bieber, Alavarez, Jones and Ward were each named to the All-Tournament team for placing in the top five. For Alvarez (2004) and Ward (2003), it was the second time to earn that distinction. Jones also earned C-USA Women's Golfer Freshman of the Year honors and Bower collected her third Coach of the Year honor.
Jones helped the Bulls stand pat in third place in the team standings at 909 (298-309-302). East Carolina tallied its best round of the tournament firing a 302 to finish in fourth at 932 (298-309-302), while Louisville placed fifth with a 945 (319-308-318).
Rounding out the 6-10 spots in the team standings were Southern Mississippi (309-325-321 = 955), Memphis (311,321, 329 = 961), UAB (321-331-320 = 972), Cincinnati (332-326-322 = 980) and Saint Louis (356-378-362 = 1,098).
The Pirates will play a wait and see game as they will learn their fate on Monday afternoon to see if they are one of 17 teams that will qualify for the NCAA East Regionals in Gainesville, Fla. on May 5-7.
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
All-Tournament Team (Top 5 Finishers)
Alison Walshe, Tulane
Stacey Bieber, TCU
Liliana Alvarez, Tulane
Christina Jones, USF
D'Rae Ward, TCU
All-Conference USA First Team
Camille Blackerby, TCU
Brooke Mangan, UAB
Adrienne Millican, East Carolina
Alison Walshe, Tulane
Adrienne White, Louisville
All-Conference USA Second Team
Liliana Alvarez, Tulane
Meghan Little, Louisville
Catherine Matranga, TCU
Danielle Ronderos, USF
D'Rae Ward, TCU
All-Conference USA Third Team
Janey Deimling, UAB
Heidi Hellieson, East Carolina
Stacey Tate, Memphis
Lindsay Hulwick, Tulane
Mary Ellen Jacobs, Tulane
All-Freshman Team
Jenny Calkins, Louisville
Elisa Gomez, TCU
Christina Jones, USF
Emilie Lind, East Carolina
Hillery Wilson, Cincinnati
Player of the Year
Alison Walshe, Tulane
Freshman of the Year
Christina Jones, USF
Coach of the Year
Sue Bower
