CLEVELAND, Tenn. – The Anderson women's golf team wrapped up its second appearance in the NCAA Division II Women's Golf South Region Championship, Wednesday with a fourth-place finish, while sophomore Emma Charles earned a berth in next week's NCAA Division II National Championships at TPC Michigan in Dearborn, Mich.

The three-day, 54-hole tournament was hosted by Lee University at the Cleveland (Tenn.) Country Club on a par 72, 5,957-yard layout. Including the Trojans, the nine-team field included six of the top-10 squads in the nation.

Nationally fifth-ranked Tampa led wire-to-wire through the three-round event and outpaced second-ranked Lynn by 13 shots. Limestone, the South Atlantic Conference Champions and the 2019 regional runners-up, finished one stroke further back in third place on Wednesday. The ninth-ranked Trojans, who finished 11th in 2019, claimed fourth place, while Flagler finished fifth.

Florida Southern, Barry and West Georgia all finished in a deadlock for sixth place, with Belmont Abbey rounding out the nine-team field.

Tampa, Lynn and Limestone each advance to the Division II National Championships, which are slated for May 11-15 in the Great Lakes State.

"Our ladies played well by finishing fourth in the strongest regional field in the country," said Anderson head coach Danny Neal. "We got some quality wins over several strong teams, which hopefully will secure our team finishing the year ranked in the top 10 nationally for the first time in school history. Also, really proud and excited for Emma for qualifying individually for nationals. The season continues as we go to TPC Michigan.

The Spartans' Kiira Riihijarvi (66-70-73=209), who is the top-ranked golfer in the nation, won individual medalist honors by five strokes over the defending regional champion, Helen Kruezer (71-71-72=214), from Lynn. Limestone's Lena Schilowsky (74-70-74=218) was third. Tampa's Emily Montagnino (75-74-72=221) claimed fourth place, while Lynn's Camila Madariaga (76-77-70=223) jumped up 13 spots during the final round to share fifth place.

Charles becomes just the second golfer in school history to make an appearance on the national stage – following teammate Victoria Hall in 2019 - after also finishing in a tie for fifth place with a 7-over-par 223, which marked her best three-round score of the year. Freshman Jessica Rathbone finished in a tie for 21st after carding a three-round 231, while junior Kerington Lamb claimed a share of 26th place with a three-round 235. Senior Anna Freeman was two strokes further back and finished in a tie for 28th place, with Hall rounding out the Trojan contingent in a tie for 36th place.

Along with Charles, North Georgia's Madeline Ananthasane and West Florida's Solange Gomez also qualified for next week's national championships and will be among the 72 total golfers competing in Dearborn.

4 Anderson 309 310 306 925
T5 Emma Charles 72 75 76 223
T21 Jessica Rathbone 77 78 76 231
T26 Kerington Lamb 81 77 77 235
T28 Anna Freeman 79 80 78 237
T36 Victoria Hall 85 81 77 243

Team Scores
1 Tampa 297 290 295 882 +18
2 Lynn 304 299 292 895 +31
3 Limestone 309 290 297 896 +32
4 Anderson 309 310 306 925 +61
5 Flagler 319 301 315 935 +71
T6 Florida Southern 324 311 306 941 +77
T6 Barry 318 312 311 941 +77
T6 West Georgia 317 314 310 941 +77
9 Belmont Abbey 340 324 324 988 +124