Lander Claims First PBC Women’ s Golf Championship

PINE MOUNTAIN, Ga. – Led by Teresa Caballer Hernani ' s second-place finish, the second-year Lander women ' s golf team won the two-day, tworound

Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship hosted by Columbus State University Sunday afternoon at the par-71, 5,849-yard Callaway Garden ' s Lake View Course.

The No. 18-ranked Lady Bearcats carded a two-round total of 307- 304 = 611 and won the tournament by nine strokes over second-place Armstrong Atlantic. Flagler College finished third with 623 and was followed by: 4. UNC Pembroke 624, 5. Columbus State 644, 6. Montevallo 666,

7. North Georgia 676, and 8. Young Harris 810. The Lady Bearcats must now wait to see if they will earn a berth into the national tournament.

Hernani, the reigning PBC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, finished second overall with a 72-76 = 148, one stroke behind UNC Pembroke ' s Meghan Moore( 72-75 = 147). Moore was named the Individual Medalist for the first time in her career after finishing in the top five in each of the past two championships.

Flagler’ s Nicole Keyser finished third overall after a final round 74 to jump two places after shooting a 75 in the opening round. Lander’ s Michelle Reyes finished in a tie with Keyser after shooting 73 on Sunday, the low round of the day. Armstrong’ s Kristen Sammarco and Jenna Birch each shot 150 in their two rounds to tie for fifth. The top five players were

all named to the All-Tournament team.

Lander ' s Rachel Uremovich( 81-78) finished tied for 11th and Valentina Bueno( 83-77) and Mariana Martins( 78-82) tied for 15th with 160.

Team Results

Top 10 Individuals

Armstrong Women ' s Golf Earns First NCAA Championships Berth

SAVANNAH, Ga.- The No. 15-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State University women’ s golf team made program history on Monday, earning its first berth into the NCAA Division II Women’ s Golf National Championships with the release of the 2013 field from the NCAA. Lander’ s Teresa Caballer Hernani and UNC Pembroke’ s Meghan Moore were selected to play as individuals.

The Pirates are one of nine teams advancing to the South Regional, which will take place on May 5-7 at Lone Pine Golf Club in Lakeland, Fla. Armstrong is the only team from the Peach Belt Conference that made the field.

Last year, Jenna Birch advanced as an individual for Armstrong and qualified for the 2012 NCAA Division II National Championships out of regional play. This year the Pirates will attempt to be one of three teams that advance out of the regional to the 2013 NCAA Division II National Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla., on May 15-18 at the LPGA International Course.

Six teams from the Sunshine State Conference- defending DII national champion Nova Southeastern, along with Rollins, Barry, Florida Tech, Florida Southern and Lynn- join Gulf South Conference champion West Florida and South Atlantic Conference champion Newberry in the field with the Pirates.

The other individual qualifiers for the South Regional are Tusculum’ s Emee Herbert and Saint Leo’ s Clare Connolly.

Armstrong women’ s golf is in its eighth season of varsity competition, beginning play in 2005-06.

Armstrong’ s Sammarco Finishes Ninth; Lander’ s Hernani 12th at NCAA Women’ s Golf Final

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA – Armstrong’ s Kristen Sammarco fired a final-round 76 and finished in a tie for ninth place at the NCAA Division II National Championships a the LPGA International Legends Course on Saturday. Lander’ s Teresa Caballer Hernani had a 78 in the final round and was two strokes behind in a tie for 12th. The two were the only PBC participants in the event.

A junior from Pembroke Pines, Fla., Sammarco opened the four-round tournament with back-to-back rounds of 73. She stumbled a bit in round three with a 78 but came back with a final-round 76 to finish at 300 in the

Elite 15 Award Mariana Martins, Lander

event. She had birdies on the eighth and 11th holes with bogeys on seven and 15 with a triple on 17.

The ninth-place finish for Sammarco is the best individual finish for an Armstrong women’ s golfer and is the best individual finish for an Armstrong men’ s or women’ s golfer since Jonathan Cox finished tied for fourth at the 2005 NCAA DII Men’ s Golf Championships.

Teresa

Caballer Hernani had a pair of triples on Saturday, but bounced back with birdies on the fourth and seventh holes for her 78. The PBC Freshman and co-Player of the Year, she finished with a 302 in four rounds in a tie for 12th. She opened the tournament with an even-par 72 and went one-under in her second round with a 71. She is the first Lander player to play in the national championships.

Barry’ s Nancy Vergara won the individual title with a 291, finishing one stroke ahead of Nova Southeastern’ s Linnea Johannson. Lynn won the team championship with a four-round 1187, three strokes ahead of Nova, who was defending their 2012 national championship. The tournament was played on the 6,2228-yard, par- 72 Legends Course at the LPGA International.