Sophomore Ashlie Rose bounced back from her first round 83 to fire a 75 on Friday to help the Illinois State womens golf team move up four spots to 10th place through 36 holes of play at the 2004 NCAA Central Regional on the ISU Golf Course.
Rose and sophomore teammate Samantha Richdale each carded 75 on the day to lead the Birds to a 308, a five-stroke improvement from the first round. Head coach
Ray Kralis was optimistic with his teams play as the Birds moved to within three strokes of the eighth and final qualifying position for the NCAA Finals.
Overall to improve on yesterdays score was a positive, Kralis said. Ashlie Rose stepped up big and gave us that second score that we needed under some tough conditions. I thought, to begin with, it was going to be a very scoreable day, but then the wind started kicking up and the greens firmed up again, but we certainly went in the direction we wanted to go.
Despite the improvement, Kralis still hasnt seen the Redbirds best during the event and is optimistic heading into the final round.
I dont think overall weve played as solid as we can, but the girls fought and hung in there and posted some numbers that got us in the right direction, Kralis said. I am real proud of the way they handled themselves, especially with the weather conditions. It would be easy to let up but they didnt do that.
Individually, Richdale stands in a ninth-place with a two-round score of 149. Hilary Anderson shot a 78 on the day and Katie Laehn clubbed an 80, while Chelsea Bach fired an 85.
Like a Central Illinois crosswind, the overall team standings had a dramatic shift from the first round to the second. Michigan State (605) jumped four spots from fifth into a first-place tie with Vanderbilt, which shared the lead after the first round. Baylor (609) made the biggest jump of the day climbing nine spots from 13th to third, while reigning national champion Southern California (611) remained in fourth. Arizona (612) fell two spots back into fifth and Purdue (614) jumped one to move into sixth. Thursdays co-leader New Mexico dropped (618) six places and is knotted for seventh with Southern Methodist and Northwestern.
Individually, Arizonas Erica Blasberg ended the second round with a 73 and remains the leader of the field with a two-stroke edge over SMUs Laura Cross. Scoring a 71 on Friday, Cross was the only player to shoot par or better during the second round.
The third and final round will take place on Saturday to determine the eight teams and two individuals that will advance to the 2004 NCAA National Championships. Tee times begin at 8 a.m.
