TAZEWELL, Tenn. – Freshman Jessica Rathbone's three-round, 11-over-par 227 led the Anderson women's golf team to a tie for second place, as the Trojans move up two spots during the final round, Tuesday at the 2021 South Atlantic Conference Women's Golf Championship.
Lincoln Memorial hosted the two-day, 54-hole tournament on a par-72, 5,926 yard Woodlake Country Club layout.
"After a slow start yesterday, I was really pleased with the way the girls bounced back today," said Anderson head coach Danny Neal. "Moving up from fourth to finish second was big and should cement our place in the NCAA Regional Championship in two weeks."
Anderson's final-round 299 tied for the second-lowest round of the day, while nationally No. 3-ranked Limestone led wire-to-wire to claim the tournament title in its first year as a full member of the league, while out-distancing the defending champion Trojans and No. 20 Wingate by 24 shots. Wingate won the 2018 title and was seeking its fifth overall conference crown. Carson-Newman moved up one spot to claim fourth place, while the host Railsplitters remained in fifth place. Lenoir-Rhyne, which was searching for its fourth tournament championship, fell three spots and finished in sixth place, with Tusculum 16 strokes further back in seventh place.
Newberry, Catawba, Coker, Mars Hill and UVA Wise rounded out the 13-team field.
Wingate's Hailey McLaughlin (73-74-70=217) held off Limestone's Ebba Hellman (76-73-69=218) to win individual medalist honors by just one shot. Four players, including Rathbone, finished in a tie for third, 10 shots off the pace.
Rathbone claimed First-Team All-Tournament honors in her first SAC Championship with the Black and Gold, while junior Victoria Hall carded her second-best three-round score of the year and captured Second-Team All-SAC accolades after carding a three-round 230 and sharing seventh place. Senior Anna Freeman finished the final round with an even-par 72 and moved up eight spots to share 11th place. Sophomore Emma Charles continued her strong play and finished just three strokes further back in a tie for 14th place. Junior Kerington Lamb finished in a tie for 21st, with freshman Riley Mayhew finishing in a tie for 26th.
Individually, six players earned All-Tournament First Team honors. Joining McLaughlin on the first team were Hellman, Rathbone, Limestone's Lena Schilowsky and Taylor Oberparleiter, and Lincoln Memorial's Caitlyn Lindell. Earning Second-Team All-Tournament honors were Hall, Lenoir-Rhyne's Beatriz Espelosin, Limestone's Stina Wikstrom, and Lincoln Memorial's Lauren Martin.
With the win, the Saints earn the automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA South Region Tournament which will take place May 3-5 at the Cleveland Country Club in Cleveland, Tenn.
The Trojans, who are ranked fourth in the latest NCAA South Region rankings behind Lynn, Limestone and Tampa will await their postseason fate, with the NCAA Tournament selections set for Monday, April 26. AU also competed in the 2019 NCAA South Region Championship.
2 Anderson 312 314 299 925 +61
T 3 Jessica Rathbone 77 75 75 227 +11
T 7 Victoria Hall 79 77 74 230 +14
T 11 Anna Freeman 78 81 72 231 +15
T 14 Emma Charles 78 79 77 234 +18
T 21 Kerington Lamb 78 82 78 238 +22
T 26 Riley Mayhew 82 81 78 241 +25
Teams
Pos. School Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3 Total To Par
1 Limestone 308 298 295 901 +37
2 Anderson 312 314 299 925 +61
Wingate 304 315 306 925 +61
4 Carson Newman 323 312 299 934 +70
5 Lincoln Memorial 318 317 303 938 +74
6 Lenoir-Rhyne 306 319 320 945 +81
7 Tusculum 317 330 314 961 +97
8 Queens 318 326 321 965 +101
9 Newberry 335 337 328 1000 +136
10 Catawba 331 346 327 1004 +140
11 Coker 350 356 357 1063 +199
12 Mars Hill 348 370 371 1089 +225
13 Virginia-Wise 379 392 371 1142 +278
