St. George Utah - The Nebraska women's golf team made a solid climb up the leaderboard to finish in 15h place at the 21-team NCAA West Regional on Saturday.
The Huskers finished the 54-hole tournament on the Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club course with a 99-over-par score of 951, jumping from 20th place entering the final round into sole possession of 15th place.
"The conditions for the afternoon groups were really unforgiving all three days," Nebraska Coach Robin Krapfl said. "Unfortunatley, we had to play in the afternoon twice, so it challenged us and led to some higher scores. We adjusted pretty well today and put up a respectable score, which allowed us to make a move."
Nebraska's rise in the team standings was fueled by a solid final round from junior All-Big 12 performer Elli Brown, who closed the 2007 season by moving up seven spots individually to finish in a tie for 56th with a final-round 75. Brown, a native of Meridian, Idaho, closed the tournament as NU's highest finisher with a 20-over-par 233.
True freshman JC Stevenson also added a strong final round with a seven-over-par 78. The Grand Island, Neb., native finished in a tie for 80th in the 108-player field.
Senior Chrissie McArdle closed her Husker career by placing in a tie for 77th at 241 after a final-round 80. True freshman Kate White joined McArdle in 77th at 241, after managing an 81 in Saturday's third round. Junior Allison Stewart rounded out the Husker contingent in a tie for 87th place at 247 with an 83 on Saturday.
"Obviously we would have liked things to go a little better for us out here, but that didn't happen," Krapfl said. "Overall, we had a solid season, and I think we showed some determination today by making a little run up the leaderboard. We have four of our top five golfers coming back next season, so we hope to make a third straight trip to regionals and hopefully go a little farther next year."
Oklahoma State's Pernilla Lindberg ran away with the individual title by firing a seven-under-par 206 to lead OSU to a share of the NCAA West Regional title along with Stanford. The Cowgirls and Cardinal both finished with scores of 874. Lindberg was the only golfer in the tournament to finish under par, as she won the tournament by seven strokes over Arizona State's Anna Nordqvist. The Sun Devil closed the regional with the best individual round of the tournament with a four-under-par 67 to finish at even-par 213.
Nordqvist's strong showing helped the Sun Devils take third in the team standings at 876, while Denver finished a distant fourth at 891. The hosts from Brigham Young (891) tied UC Irvine (891) for fifth, while Pepperdine (899) added a seventh-place showing. New Mexico (908) claimed the final berth from the NCAA West Regional into the 24-team NCAA Championships by holding off San Jose State (909) by one stroke to finish eighth.
In the NCAA Central Regional at Ann Arbor, Mich., USC claimed the team title, while Georgia, TCU, Indiana, Arizona, Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Michigan State all locked up bids to the NCAA Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla.
At the NCAA East Regional in Baton Rouge, La., defending national champion Duke earned the team crown. UCLA finished second, while Wake Forest, Auburn, Purdue, North Carolina, Alabama and Louisville all secured their bids to nationals.