Washington's strong finish paves way for NCAA's

By Ben Miller

May 9, 2005, 12:00 AM

The Washington women's golf team's "rollercoaster" weekend ended with them rallying four spots up the leaderboard on the final day of play at the east regionals to secure a bid for the NCAA championships. After the first round of play was rained out Thursday, the teams were forced to play 36 holes on Friday to constitute the first and second rounds. In the first round of 18, the eighth-ranked Huskies got off to a slow start as they carded a team score of 306 to land in 12th. After improving in the second round by eight strokes, Washington was in 12th going into the last day with its hopes at an NCAA bid diminishing. Thanks to a 296 final round and high scores by the teams ahead of them, the Huskies were able to climb four spots to finish eighth. "It was a pretty rollercoaster couple of days," coach Mary Lou Mulflur said. "We got off to such a horrendous start, and when you're playing 36 holes in one day, it's kind of a bummer that you start out bad because you can't stop it. [Saturday] we didn't play particularly well, but we played well enough to get in." The event was won by Ohio State, which carded a 16-over par to finish six strokes ahead of top-ranked Duke. For the second-straight postseason tournament, the UW was led by Amber Prange. The sophomore carded an 11-over par during the three rounds of play to finish as the only Husky in the top 20 at 19th. "She has been solid in the post season," Mulflur said. "She has been playing as steady as can be, and she has never gotten down, kept on an even keel, and it's been fun to watch her blossom." Another surprise for Washington was sophomore Courtney McCracken, who was playing in her first NCAA tournament. She shot 1-over par on Saturday to finish tied for 33rd as the second-highest UW player. "I can't say enough about Courtney," Mulflur said. "Especially [Saturday] when she knew what was on the line, and to come through with a round like that when we needed her most just speaks volumes about her character and heart." Normally the team leader, junior Paige Mackenzie had a disappointing weekend as she finished 38th after carding a 17-over par 227. Freshman Kim Shin finished tied for 60th in her first NCAA regional appearance. The event was won by Anna Grzebien of Duke, who was the only competitor to finish under par at 1-under. She won the tournament by two strokes. Washington returns to action May 17 at the NCAA championships at Sunriver, Ore.

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