April 3, 2001

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Jennifer Chastain shot a five-over 77 to record her third Top Five finish of the season and Samford shot a 329 to finish eighth of 14 teams in the rain-shortened JoAnn Prentice Lady Blazer Invitational, held at the Inverness Country Club.

Steady rain on Tuesday cancelled the second round of the tournament hosted by UAB. Chastain fired a front-nine 36 to tie for second at the turn on Monday, then posted a 41 on the back for a five-over-par 77. She finished five strokes behind Arkansas State's Leigh Ann Jones who claimed the title with a two-over-par 74.

Jones' Arkansas State team also won the team competition with a 310, followed by Murray State at 313, host UAB (314), Austin Peay State (317) and New Orleans (321) in the tournament's top five. Samford finished ahead of TAAC opponents Troy State, Jacksonville St., and Mercer.

"Jennifer once again played among the leaders of the tournament, but I thought we got a pretty good team effort on a course that is difficult and played more so with the difficult conditions," said Samford Head Coach Ian Thompson. "We're disappointed that we didn't get to finish because we know this course, but we look forward to the Trans America Athletic Tournament next week and hopefully some sunny weather."

Becky Hammel shot 42-40=82 to tie for 27th, Tara Clayton tied for 36th with a first-round 84, Sara Gossum fired a 86 to tie at 46th and Rebecca Ozier rounded out the Bulld lineup with a 94.

The tournament is the third of the spring for the Bulldogs to be shortened by rain. Tennessee Tech placed sixth in a tie with Cincinnati with 328, followed by Samford (329), Troy State (330), Jacksonville State (331), South Alabama 343), Mercer (354), Montevallo (360) and Western Carolina (367).