Carson-Newman Rallies To Win 2011 Women’s Golf Championship

CONOVER, N.C. -- Carson-Newman College made a final-round charge to claim the 2011 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Women's Golf Championship on Tuesday at the 5,858-yar, par-72 Rock Barn Golf & Spa.

The Lady Eagles rallied from an 11-shot deficit starting the final round to top defending champion Newberry College by two strokes. Brenna Martens, of Lenoir-Rhyne University, took medalist honors as she led after each round.

Carson-Newman opened with a 319 and after Monday's second round of 325, the Lady Eagles stood fourth entering the final round. Carson-Newman responded with a 310 total to finish with a 954 score. Newberry, which held a six shot lead over Wingate University after two rounds, finished at 956. Lincoln Memorial University (966) was third and Wingate (973) placed fourth.

Martens held the lead after each round and survived to take tournament MVP honors by a single shot over Ashley Denton, of Wingate. Martens had an 80 in the final round and had a 230 total, while Denton carded a 78 on Tuesday to close with a 231 score. Martens and Denton were joined by Julia Daneshfar, of Newberry, Jessica Tarbet, of Carson-Newman, and Maria Stapleton, of Lincoln Memorial, as first team all-tournament performers.

Tarbet, the South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year, led the final round charge. The senior topped the field with a final-round 74 (+3), three strokes better than anyone else in the field. She finished the tournament in a tie for third and birdied her final hole of the day to close out C-N's surge. She earned first team all-tournament honors.

Second team all-tournament honors went to Catawba College's Eileen Purpur and Elizabeth Smith, Newberry's Maria Luz Besio and Natalia Perez, Tusculum College's Jillian Corum and Jennifer Oliver, of Carson-Newman.

The tournament title in C-N's second in just three seasons as a Division II program. Carson-Newman won the SAC title in its first season, 2009.

Championship photo gallery

FOOD LION SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE
WOMEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS

TEAM STANDINGS
1 Carson-Newman 319 -325- 310=954
2 Newberry 311 -322 -323=956
3 Lincoln Memorial 308 -333 -325=966
4 Wingate 314 -325 -334=973
5 Lenoir-Rhyne 317 -330 -331=978
6 Tusculum 338 -320 -322=980
7 Anderson 321 -334 -339=994
8 Catawba 328 -329 -340=997
9 Mars Hill 360 -361 -358=1079
10 Brevard 444 -455 -513=1412

INDIVIDUALS
1. Brenna Martens (Lenoir-Rhyne) 72 78 80 230
2. Ashley Denton (Wingate) 74 79 78 231
T3. Julia Daneshfar(Newberry) 75 78 79 232
4. Jessica Tarbet (Carson-Newman) 79 80 74 233
5. Maria Stapleton (Lincoln Memorial) 73 81 79 233
6. Eileen Purpur (Catawba) 73 81 83 237
7. Maria Luz Besio (Newberry) 79 79 80 238
8. Jillian Corum (Tusculum) 83 75 81 239
T9. Jennifer Oliver (Carson-Newman) 81 83 77 241
T9. Natalia Perez (Newberry) 78 82 81 241
T9. Elizabeth Smith (Catawba) 80 84 77 241
T12. Kalyn Johnson (Anderson) 76 84 82 242
T12. Mary Tunnell (Carson-Newman) 77 84 81 242
14. Katie Thackerson (Lenoir-Rhyne) 79 80 84 243
15. Kirsten Wolff (Lincoln Memorial) 83 77 84 244
16. Andrea Velasquez (Wingate) 79 80 86 245
T17. Barbara Castro (Newberry) 80 83 83 246
T17. Melanie Manis (Carson-Newman) 89 79 78 246
19. Brittany McCown (Lincoln Memorial) 77 87 83 247
T20. Lisa Brandl (Newberry) 79 83 86 248
T20. Desta Coaker (Lincoln Memorial) 78 89 81 248
T20. Emily Palenkas (Tusculum) 88 80 80 248
T23. Laura Buyers (Anderson) 81 86 82 249
T23. Erica Ray (Carson-Newman) 82 83 84 249
T25. Whitney Ball (Lincoln Memorial) 80 88 82 250
T25. Grace Brahler (Lenoir-Rhyne) 82 83 85 250
T25. Sara Howard (Tusculum) 86 84 80 250
T25. Alyson Pugh (Tusculum) 86 83 81 250
29. Anna Lee Croom (Wingate) 80 84 87 251
T30. Leslie Long (Catawba) 84 77 91 252
T30. Lindsay Parks (Anderson) 85 80 87 252
T30. Samantha Pugh-Gilder (Wingate) 81 82 89 252
T30. Haley Rye (Tusculum) 83 82 87 252
34. Megan Levy (Wingate) 83 87 83 253
35. Megan Katsch (Lenoir-Rhyne) 84 89 82 255
36. Katie Eskew (Anderson) 84 84 88 256
37. Alisiya Klochkova (Brevard) 76 87 94 257
T38. Louise McGillivray* (Carson-Newman)85 87 88 260
T38. Hayley Parks (Anderson) 80 91 89 260
T40. Diedre Biehn (Mars Hill) 85 91 88 264
T40. Adriana Vizcarrondo* (Tusculum) 88 89 87 264
42. Tonya Gruel-Wright (Mars Hill) 89 88 89 266
43. Kelly Wilson (Catawba College) 92 87 89 268
T44. Miranda Carballo (Mars Hill) 90 91 92 273
T44. Ashley Shealy (Lenoir-Rhyne) 88 95 90 273
46. Taylor Banks (Mars Hill) 96 91 89 276
47. Samantha Lackey (Catawba) 91 91 98 280
48. Ashley Allen (Brevard) 112 101 152 365
49. Becca Schoonover (Brevard) 121 132 118 371
50. Kelsey Wyatt (Brevard) 135 135 149 419