May 15, 2004

Complete Results

LONGWOOD, Fla. - Kelly White (Sr., Monroe) matched her top 10 finish of a year ago and Katja Trigg (So., Bainbridge Island) placed in the top 20 as Western Washington University finished fifth at the eight-team NCAA Division II Women's Golf National Championships which concluded Saturday at The Legacy Club at Alaqua Lakes.

The Vikings shot 322 in the final round of the four-day, 72-hole event, ending up with a four-round total of 127-over par 1,279 on the 5,594-yard, par-72 course. That was one shot better than Grand Valley State MI, which Western had been tied with for fifth after both the second and third rounds.

"Fifth in the country out of 70-plus programs in Division II is pretty darn good," said Western coach Dean Russell. "We had probably the perfect pairing today with us, Grand Valley State and Ferris State. We got to within four shots of Ferris State at one time.

"What really hurt us today was trying to squeeze first putts in, which resulted in a few three putts that hurt us down the stretch."

White shot a final-round 6-over 78 to finish tied for 10th at 23-over 311, playing the final seven holes in 1-over. White also tied for 10th in 2003 as the lone Viking at the national tournament.

Trigg finished in a tie for 16th at 26-over 314 after shooting a 7-over 79 in which she was 6-over through six holes but then was just 1-over the final 12 holes.

"Kelly (White) and Katja (Trygg) both had solid tournaments," Russell said. "This was Kelly's best tournament of the year, and Katja really kept her poise and confidence in finishing with three rounds in the 70s."

Western's Sarah Cooper (Sr., Marysville/Archbishop Murphy) struggled to an 89 in the final round but still finished tied for 34th at 329. Candice Wagner (Jr., Milton/Fife) was 40th, shooting an 81 to finish at 331, and Katie Bender (Fr., Tacoma/Bellarmine Prep) had an 84 to finish tied for 44th at 335.

Defending champion Rollins FL dominated the tournament, winning by 68 strokes with a four-day total of 1,196. Rollins, which had a tournament-record 296 in Friday's third round, improved it with a 6-over par 294 Saturday, and had five of the top six individual finishers, including the top three.

Charlotte Campbell took medalist honors for the second straight year, shooting a 2-under 70 Saturday, the only sub-par round of the tourney, to finish at 11-over 299. Freddie Seeholzer was a shot back in second after a final-round 73, and Marina De Biase tied for third at 15-over 303 with Pamela Feggans of Florida Southern .

De Biase led the tournament and was on tourney-record pace at 8-over with just six holes to play, but had two double bogeys and three bogeys after that to shoot 83 in the final round.

Ferris State MI (312) tied for second at 1,264 with Florida Southern (318). West Region champion Northeastern State OK was just one shot back in fourth (319-1265), followed by Western, Grand Valley State (323-1,280), Minnesota State-Mankato (318-1,289) and St. Cloud State MN (326-1,305).

Florida Southern has now placed among the top two nationally in each of the last six years, winning three straight national titles from 2000 to 2002.

It was the first NCAA II national appearance for Western, which got to regionals for the first time last year. The Vikings got to nationals by placing second in the West Regional, overcoming a 13-stroke deficit in the final round.

"I think our work ethic and belief in ourselves has improved over the last two years," said Russell. "With the exception of Rollins, these teams are not much different than the ones we compete against in the West Region. There were just 15 strokes between us and second place, and that's not very much."