LAKELAND â€" By the time Florida Southern took the course Tuesday morning, 25 strokes separated the 3rd-place Moccasins from 4th-place Carson-Newman; and with Nova’s lead over Rollins at the top of the standings already in double digits too, there was very little drama on the final day of the NCAA Super Region 2 Tournament. What little there was came from Carson-Newman’s Mary Tunnell, who secured the last of three individual bids to the national tournament on her final hole of the day.
(To view the Lakeland Ledger's photo galleries from the tournament, click here.)
Nova Southeastern won the South Region/Super Region 2 Tournament for the fourth year in a row, finishing 13 shots ahead of Rollins, and 17 ahead of Florida Southern. It’s also the fourth year in a row those three schools have claimed the top three spots in the South Region Tournament. All three will move on to the Division II National Tournament next week, where Nova will be looking for its third straight national championship, Rollins will be looking for its sixth overall, and Florida Southern will be after its fifth.
The Sharks’ winning score of 875 (+11) was the best in the 10-year history of the South Region/Super Region 2 Tournament. Rollins had the previous record with a +13 in 2005. The Sharks were very consistent from start to finish, with a 291 in round one, a 294 in round two, and a 290 in the final round. The Tars were even better (295-298-295).
The Moccasins, meanwhile, were better than Rollins in rounds two and three, and had a better total than Nova over the final two rounds as well, but an opening round 309 left them with too much ground to cover. They’ll still be going to the national finals though for the third year in a row.
Florida Southern had little chance of catching Nova, but was only five strokes behind Rollins for second place when the day began. The Tars increased that lead to as many as nine, but Florida Southern chipped away, and when Megan Kiley dropped in a putt for par on 15, and Rollins playing partner Joanna Coe had a double bogey, the gap was down to two. The Mocs couldn’t get any closer, however, as the Tars got birdies from Elin Marcsdottir on 17 and 18, and birdies from Brianna Seo on 16 and 17 to hold on to second.
Kiley was the Moccasins’ top golfer on both Tuesday and in the tournament. The transfer from the University of Indianapolis tied for sixth with a 3-day total of five-over par 221 (77-72-72). Emily Flanigan and M.J. Audette tied for ninth with a 223, Marianne Andersson tied for 12th with a 226, and Silvie Dittertova was 21st with a 231.
In addition to Kiley’s score, the Moccasins counted 73’s from Flanigan and Andersson on Tuesday, and a 76 from Audette.
The three individual bids to the national tournament went to Rita Kim of Belmont Abbey (NC), Emily Gibson of Montevallo (AL) and Tunnell, who finished just one shot ahead of three other golfers for the final spot.
Gibson, who was already playing in the super regional as an individual, was the first of the contenders to finish on Tuesday, and had her best round of the tournament with a one-over par 73. That allowed her to finish at +10, which at the time, was three shots behind Kim, and only one shot ahead of four others still on the course who were also trying to advance as individuals: Tunnell, Maria Luz Besio and Julia Danshfar of Newberry (SC), and Kim’s teammate from Belmont Abbey, Melissa Siviter.
With birdies on 14 and 16, Besio was able to catch Gibson for one of the individual spots, but ended up losing it with a double-bogey on 18 that left her at +12 for the tournament. Daneshfar came in right after Besio and also fell to +12 with a bogey on the final hole. Siviter then failed to capitalize, matching Besio with another Bogey that dropped her to +12 as well.
That left Tunnell still playing one group behind, and her birdie on 16 gave her a 2-stroke advantage. A bogey on 18 made things a little interesting at the end, but it was still enough to allow Tunnell to finish at +11 for the tournament.
Nova Southeastern’s Sandra Changkija claimed regional medalist honors for the third time in her career. She previously won in 2008 and 2009, and was the runner-up to Joanna Coe last year. While Nova set a new team scoring record in the tournament, Changkija set a new individual record with a two-under par 214. That’s one stroke better than the previous mark set by Charlotte Campbell of Rollins in 2005, and matched by Coe in 2009, and Changkija last year.
The senior from Orlando began the day with a 5-stroke lead over Coe and Fabia Rothenfluh of Rollins, and never lost the lead, even after a bogey on three of her first four holes. Rothenfluh got as close as one stroke when Changkija had a double bogey on 13, but birdies of 17 and 18 allowed Changkija to win by three strokes and set the new individual scoring record in the process.
After Rothenfluh and Coe fell into a tie for third, along with Nova’s Taylor Collins at +4 (220), another Nova golfer jumped into second at the end, while equaling another tournament scoring record. Abbey Gittings, the only non-senior in the Nova lineup, carded a four-under 68 Tuesday, matching the single-round record set by Changkija only a day earlier. It allowed the sophomore to finish three strokes behind her teammate, and gave the Sharks the top three golfers in the field, though Collins was tied with the two from Rollins.
The NCAA Division II National Tournament runs next Wednesday through Saturday, May 11-14, in Allendale, Michigan. The tournament will be played at The Meadows, hosted by Grand Valley State.
