Feb. 19, 2002

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford freshman Tricia Harlow recorded her first collegiate Top 20 finish and the Bulldog women's golf team held its position to finish fifth at the Birmingham-Southern Southern Shootout, played on the Founders Course at Greystone Country Club.

Tuesday's total of 342 was a 15-stroke improvement over Monday's round for the Bulldogs, as they maintained their fifth-place status as others in the field also improved. UAB (667) won the team championship by twelve strokes over Troy State (679) and South Alabama (679). Middle Tennessee State (687) finished fourth, followed by Samford (699) to round out the Top 5.

Harlow shot 82 on Tuesday and finished in 11th place with a 172, 15 strokes behind Birmingham-Southern's medallist, Laura McCaslin (155). After placing fourth with 83 on Monday, Tara Clayton dropped to 16th with a final-round 92 and a total of 175. Kelly Villarreal and Sara Gossum shot identical scores in both rounds (92-84=176) to finish in a tie for 19th.

"I thought we coped with the conditions of the course better today, and this is certainly a satisfactory start to the spring season," said Samford Head Women's Coach Ian Thompson. "We were able to improve our score by 15 strokes over Monday, and we were pleased to hold our fifth-place position out of 13 teams."

The complete team standings are as follows: UAB (667), Troy State (679), South Alabama (679), Middle Tennessee State (687), Samford (699), Birmingham-Southern (718), Tennessee Tech (720), Gardner-Webb (723), Jackson State (729), Belmont (737), Nicholls State (756), Montevallo (766) and Lipscomb (769).