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No. 19-Seeded Notre Dame Moves Into 14th-Place Tie After 36 Holes At NCAA Central Regionals

May 7, 2004

NORMAL, Ill. – In a day featuring afternoon wind gusts up to 31 mph, the 19th-seeded Notre Dame women’s golf team took advantage of its early morning tee times to shoot a second-round 312 on Friday, giving the Irish a 36-hole total of 631 at the 2004 NCAA Central Regionals. In its debut at the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships, Notre Dame is tied with No. 13 Indiana in 14th place, 26 strokes behind the two-round mark of 605 shot by both top-seeded Vanderbilt (298-307) and No. 6 Michigan State (302-303), which share a four-shot lead over third-place, 18th-seeded Baylor (312-297–609). Most importantly, the Irish trail three teams tied for seventh by only 13 strokes, which is crucial since the top eight teams at the Central Regionals, along with two additional individuals, will advance to the NCAA Championships, May 18-21. Illinois State is hosting the 54-hole, 21-team Central Regional in Normal, Ill., at the par-71, 6,108-yard University Golf Course.

Freshman Noriko Nakazaki (Hanover Park, Ill./Hoffman Estates) leads the Irish contigent after two days, following an opening-round 80 with a three-over par 74 in the second 18 holes of play. The rookie shot 37 on both the front nine and the back nine holes as she recorded nothing worse than a bogey in the second round, which included birdies on holes 2, 13 and 16. Nakazaki sits in a tie for 20th, 13 strokes off the lead held by Erica Blasberg of Arizona. Blasberg turned in rounds of three-under 68 and 73 for a 36-hole mark of 141, giving her a two-shot edge over Southern Methodist’s Laura Cross (72-71–143).

After Nakazaki is freshman Stacy Brown (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands), who has a two-round total of 155. Brown is the only Notre Dame player to shoot two sub-80 rounds in the tournament, carding 18-hole scores of 79 and 76. Brown’s second round was highlighted by a one-over performance (36) on the back nine.

Next for the Irish is junior Karen Lotta (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount), followed by senior co-captain Shannon Byrne (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove). Lotta has battled to give Notre Dame totals of 81 and 80 while Byrne has carded a pair of 82s at the regional.

Sophomore Katie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) is fifth among Irish golfers. After shooting 79 in round one, Brophy and a tough second day of play, which resulted in a round total of 90.

The final round of the NCAA Central Regional will be played on Saturday, May 7, beginning at 8:00 a.m. (EST) with set tee times from holes 1 and 10. Notre Dame players will tee off from the first hole starting at 12:20 p.m. (EST). The Central Regional is utilizing live scoring for the tournament, which is available by either going to www.redbirds.org/WG/WGRegional.shtml or www.golftstatresults.com. A recap and results from Saturday’s action also will be available at www.und.com.

– ND –

TEAM RESULTS (36-hole totals): 1.(tie) Vanderbilt 605 (298-307), Michigan St. 605 (302-303); 3. Baylor 609 (312-297); 4. USC 611 (300-311); 5. Arizona 612 (299-313); 6. Purdue 614 (305-309); 7.(tie) New Mexico 618 (298-320), SMU 618 (316-302), Northwestern 618 (313-305); 10. Illinois St. 621 (313-308); 11. Texas A&M 622 (305-317); 12. Missouri 626 (303-323); 13. TCU 627 (308-319); 14.(tie) Notre Dame 631 (319-312), Indiana 631 (311-320); 16. Oklahoma 632 (311-321); 17. Arkansas 633 (308-325); 18.(tie) Kansas St. 637 (326-311), Princeton 637 (320-317); 20. Tulsa 640 (319-321); 21. Kent St. 644 (325-319).

TOP NINE INDIVIDUALS (of 108): 1. Erica Blasberg (Arizona) 141 (68-73); 2. Laura Cross (SMU) 143 (72-71); 3. May Wood (Vanderbilt) 145 (73-72); 4. Myrte Eikenaar (Purdue) 146 (73-73); 5.(tie) Allison Fouch (Michigan St.) 147 (73-74), Kyla Neal (Texas A&M) 147 (68-79), Josefin Svenningsson (Baylor) 147 (75-72); 8. Courtney Wood (Vanderbilt) 148 (76-72); 9. Samantha Richdale (Illinois St.) 149 (74-75).

NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUALS (of 108): 20.(tie) Noriko Nakazaki 154 (80-74); 28.(tie) Stacy Brown 155 (79-76); 71.(tie) Karen Lotta 161 (81-80); 87.(tie) Shannon Byrne 164 (82-82); 103.(tie) Katie Brophy 169 (79-90).