Sept. 17, 2002

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Samford's women's golf team is in 8th place in the Memphis Women's Intercollegiate Challenge after two rounds Monday. Despite the place in the standings, coach Ian Thompson is impressed with how his team handled playing 36-holes in one day.

"We played fairly well," Thompson said. "We improved six strokes from the morning to the afternoon, so that is encouraging. Playing two rounds in a day is always challenging, but I thought our team did a good job today."

Tricia Harlow shot 82-78 to finish at 160, tied for 23rd. Kelly Villarreal shot 82-79 (161), good for a tie for 26th. Kelly Stout shot 83-80 (163) to finish tied for 29th. Sara Gossum shot 80-86 (166), to finish tied for 35th. Tara Clayton shot 85-84 (169) to finish in a tie for 37th. Christine Sparks competed as an individual, shooting 84-89 (173) for a tie for 45th.

"Memphis is running away with the tournament," Thompson said. "But the Alabama schools are all relatively close, and we can make a push at them in the final round."

Host-school Memphis leads the event shooting 589 the first two rounds. UAB is in 6th place at 636, Birmingham Southern College is 7th with 645, Samford is eighth with 648 and South Alabama is ninth with 654.

The tournament concludes with each player shooting one final round Tuesday morning.