CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Maeve Cummins (Waringstown, Northern Ireland) closed the book on her freshman season by shooting her best round of the week with a 73 on Wednesday to close out her time at the NCAA Division II Women's South Regional tied for 20th holding a 225 total.
The freshman improved her score by four shots compared to where she left on Tuesday. She ended up three-shots away from grabbing a spot in the national final with her nine-over showing. Of the six individual berths in the tournament, she finished the highest on the leaderboard, separating herself by three shots.
Cummins now holds the best finish in terms of both leaderboard placement and scoring of all individuals in program history to make it to the regional. She bested Elizabeth England's 16-over total from last year to take over the top spot.
"Overall, I'm a little disappointed as I know I had a great chance to go to nationals," Cummins said. "Tuesday's round really killed me. I also need to remember that I'm just a freshman and I'm sure not too many freshmen beat me this week. Today was a good way to finish off the season as I struck the ball really well under pressure. It was a good confidence boost going into the summer."
Cummins carded a bogey out the gate but backed it up with a birdie on the next hole. The was even for par to close out the rest of the front nine before heading into the turn. She added on two more bogeys in the back half with a birdie on the par-3 13th to land her at one-over for the round.
Her 13 par shots in the final round pushed her to 36 even holes through the tournament, enough for the 15th most in the field.
"I was pleased with how Maeve played today," Carson-Newman coach Suzanne Strudwick said. "She was striking the ball more but she could not sink as many putts as we wanted. She didn't have as many mistakes today, though, which helped her tremendously.
"It was fitting for her to have her best round today. We knew she would need to shoot under par to make it to the finals, but she was able to keep it close. I told her coming off of the 18th green, this is going to give her a major confidence boost heading into the summer when she can practice and play in more competitions. Overall, I am still proud of the season she has had, especially as a freshman."
Lynn's Helen Kreuzer retained her spot at the top of the leaderboard for a second straight day to take the event title with a two-under total of 214. Limestone's Pilar Martinez was second with an even 216 while Barry's Tilda Larsson was third at one-over.
On the team side, No. 8 Lynn stayed on top to win the tournament at a 20-over total of 884. Six shots back of the lead was No. 11 Limestone with an 890 while top-ranked Barry was third with an 892. No. 5 Florida Tech also advanced to the national final with a 35-over total at 899.
To keep up with all of the latest news and notes on the Carson-Newman women's golf program, be sure to stay glued to cneagles.com.