UVa Moves up to Sixth Entering Final Round of NCAAs

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Owings Mills, Md. The third-ranked Virginia women’s golf team moved up three spots to sixth place at the NCAA Championships thanks to a pair of outstanding third-round performances from Calle Nielson and Lene Krog. The Cavaliers enter Friday’s final day of play at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md. with a 54-hole total of 908. Virginia shot 13-over 301 Thursday, the third best team score of the day.

Reigning NCAA Champion USC shot 6-over 294 for a 54-hole total of 890 to charge up the leaderboard and grab a one-shot lead over Arizona State. UCLA will make it an all-Pac-10 pairing in the final group of the day. The Bruins slid back to third place, but are just three strokes off the lead at 893. North Carolina is in fourth place at 906 and Denver is fifth, one shot ahead of UVa, at 907.

USC’s Jennifer Song holds a two-shot advantage over Purdue’s Maria Hernandez and UCLA’s Maria Jose Uribe in stroke play. Song shot 71 Thursday and enters the final round at even-par 216.

“Today was moving day and we felt we had only been playing average golf so far and we were still in the middle of the pack,” said Virginia coach Kim Lewellen. “We felt if we could have someone go out there today and throw out some low scores, then we could move up. We were waiting on those A’ games to happen and we got a couple today.”

Nielson paced the Cavaliers by shooting 1-under 71 to climb into a tie for eighth place among the individual competitors. After finishing her first nine holes at 2-over she picked up three birdies on her back nine. Nielson’s 54-hole total stands at 6-over 222 after shooting 75 and 76 in the first two rounds.

“That was a huge day for Calle,” Lewellen said. “She’s only a second year, so for her to perform well at this tournament is a real boost for her so early in her college career.”

Krog experienced a rollercoaster round, carding six birdies, five bogeys and one double bogey. Over her final six holes, she birdied the even-numbered holes and carded a bogey on the odd-numbered ones. Her 71 moved her up to 24th place at 10-over 226. Her 13 birdies after three rounds are the most by any player.

Kristen Simpson and Joy Kim recorded UVa’s other two counting scores during the round. Simpson shot 78 to finish in 54th place at 231. Kim shot 79 and is 80th at 235. Whitney Neuhauser posted an 81 and dropped back to 81st at 232.

“It was exciting. I saw a lot of birdies today,” Lewellen said. “Calle and Lene gave us some great scores today and the other girls stuck in there and really grinded it out and gave us some good scores. We played very, very well as a team today.”

Friday the Cavaliers will attempt to register their first-ever top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships. The team was 12th last season and placed 13th in 205.

The Cavaliers will start their final round at 12:10 p.m. from the first tee and will be paired with North Carolina and Denver.

The NCAA will webcast the 16th, 17th and 18th holes of the final round. The webcasts are scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the morning wave and 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (or until completion of play) for the afternoon wave. Visit the women’s golf page on NCAASports.com for the link to the webcast.

Live scoring of the NCAA Championships is online at Golfstat.com.

NCAA Championships
Caves Valley Golf Club
Owings Mills, Md.
Par-72, 6,443 yards
Third Round Results

Team Results
1. USC (4) 301-295-294-890
2. Arizona State (1) 302-298-291-891
3. UCLA (2) 296-293-304-893
4. North Carolina (10) 299-301-306-906
5. Denver (14) 294-304-309-907
6. Virginia (3) 305-302-301-908
7. Oklahoma State (5) 303-297-309-909
8. Duke (11) 308-301-302-911
9. Pepperdine (13) 312-298-302-912
10. LSU (7) 302-304-309-915
11. Alabama (6) 305-302-311-918
11. Purdue (9) 306-301-311-918
13. Wake Forest (12) 303-300-318-921
14. Georgia (15) 316-307-301-924
15. Michigan State (17) 307-303-315-925
16. Tennessee (24) 307-313-306-926
17. UT Chattanooga (44) 316-307-305-928
18. Arizona (20) 310-305-314-929
19. TCU (27) 314-316-301-931
20. New Mexico (22) 311-314-307-932
21. Tulane (29) 312-305-317-934
22. Texas (38) 314-311-313-938
23. Ohio State (26) 323-311-314-948
24. UC Irvine (18) 320-316-312-948
Number in parenthesis is Golfstat ranking

Individual Leaders
5. Jennifer Song, USC 72-73-71-216
6. Maria Hernandez, Purdue 74-72-72-218
1. Maria Jose Uribe, UCLA 75-66-77-218
5. Alice Kim, UC Davis 74-75-70-219
6. Stephanie Connelly, UCF* 72-74-75-221
2. Lisa McCloskey, Pepperdine 74-69-78-221
7. Azahara Munoz, Arizona State 78-71-72-221
6. Amanda Blumenherst, Duke 75-73-74-222
9. Sydney Crane, North Carolina 75-72-75-222
2. Nannette Hill, Wake Forest 72-71-79-222
6. Pernilla Lindberg, Oklahoma State 74-72-76-222
8. Calle Nielson, Virginia 75-76-71-222
8. Jaclyn Sweeney, Arizona State 76-77-69-222
2. Stephanie Sherlock, Denver 70-73-79-222
*Individual competitor

Virginia
8. Calle Nielson 75-76-71-222
24. Lene Krog 78-74-73-225
54. Kristen Simpson 77-76-78-231
57. Whitney Neuhauser 75-76-81-232
80. Joy Kim 79-77-79-235