CONOVER, N.C. – The Carson-Newman Lady Eagles had shot a team 313 in the final round of the 2012 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Championships to finish fourth in the tournament, which concluded with Tuesday's final round at the Rock Barn Golf Club.
The Lady Eagles lost two strokes in the final round to third place Tusculum College to finish at 953, three strokes behind the Pioneers for the tournament. C-N couldn't close the gap on eventual champion Newberry, which shot a team 919 to win by 19 strokes.
Sophomore Mary Tunnell finished 11th in the event with a 78 in the final round and a three-round 237 (+24) for her best finish of the spring.
Senior Jennifer Oliver slipped to 13th after an 83 in the final round. She finished tied for 13th with a total of 239. She finished in the Top 15 in her final three tournaments of the season.
Junior Melanie Manis, the 2012 SAC Scholar-Athlete for women's golf, fired an 81 in her final round of the tournament. She finished 17th in the event.
Senior Erica Ray, an All-SAC selection along with Oliver, finished 20th in the tournament. She had her best round on Tuesday with a 6-over 77.
Sophomore Lauren Hodge also saved her best for last, shooting a 77 in the final round to vault into the Top 30. Her final round matched Ray's for team-low honors on Tuesday.
The Wolves, who shot a 17-over 301 in Tuesday's final round, finished 19 strokes ahead of runner-up Lincoln Memorial.
Newberry was paced by Maria Luz Besio, who won the Championship's individual medal by posting a three-round score of five-over 218. Besio – who was named the SAC Player of the Year last week – carded an even-par 71 on Tuesday.
Newberry also got strong performances from Barbara Castro and Lisa Brandl, who finished fifth and tied for sixth, respectively, in the individual standings.
LMU's runner-up finish was led by Desta Coaker, who shot a 229 for the Championship, which was tied for the third-best individual score.
Wingate closed out the Championship with a fifth-place team total of 981, led by Lucia Careaga, who finished second in the individual standings after a final-round 70 – the lowest individual round of the event.
Catawba came in sixth in the final team standings, followed by Anderson, Lenoir-Rhyne, Brevard and Mars Hill.
Joining Besio, Careaga, Coaker and Castro on the All-Tournament First Team was Tusculum's Emee Herbert. The All-Tournament Second Team consisted of Brandl, Anderson's Laura Buyers, Tusculum's Jillian Corum, and LMU's Whitney Ball and Brittany McCown.
-C-N-