May 7, 2008
HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. - The three time Gulf South Conference Champions ran into some of the best competition in the nation at the South Regional Tournament this week. West Florida finished in sixth place; however, the five teams that finished ahead of the Argos were all ranked in the top six in the nation. Meanwhile, Bhavna Shetty (Fr / Mysore, India) led the Argos with a 19th place finish, and missed by just 11 strokes of advancing as an individual to the NCAA Championships.
Shetty completed three consistent rounds of 77-80-80 for a total of 237, to finish in 19th place. The other four Argonauts participating all finished within ten strokes of each other with Tara Steakin (Fr / Wellington, Fla.) carding a 82-83-82 for a total of 247, which placed her 29th overall. Meaghan Gulliksen (Fr / Daytona Beach, Fla.) was right behind in 30th place with a 86-83-82 = 251. Natalia Espinosa (So / Bogota, Colombia), coming off the Individual title at the Gulf South Conference tournament, was just a little off her game, as she finished in 32nd place, with a score of 87-86-83 = 256. Senior Rachel Christ (Charlotte, NC) completed her Argo career in 33rd place, just one stroke back of Espinosa with a 85-82-90 = 257.
#3 Nova Southeastern ousted #2 Rollins by seven strokes, after their lead had been cut to four strokes with roughly six holes to play. Meanwhile, the top ranked Florida Southern Moccasins, finished third with a total score of 926, which was 24 strokes behind the winning score of 308-293-301 = 902 for NSU. Therefore, the top ranked team (FSC) will not advance to the finals, due to the strength of the South Regional. Nova Southeastern and Rollins College advanced, along with the top two individuals from other teams. The advancing individuals included Heather Burgner of Florida Southern, and Johanna Soderstrom of Barry University. Fourth ranked Barry finished fourth as a team, while sixth ranked Lynn was the fifth place finisher, and the 12th ranked Argos finished sixth with a team score of 330-328-327 = 985.
The tournament closes the book on the 2008 season for the Argonauts, who captured their third straight GSC title, and qualified for the NCAA tournament for the fifth consecutive year. Head Coach Robin Dezarn earned her third straight coach of the year award, while, Bhavna Shetty earned both the Freshman of the Year award, and the Co-Player of the year award in the GSC. Meanwhile, Natalia Espinosa was also named to the ALL-GSC first team, and then capped that award by capturing the individual GSC Tournament title.
Meaghan Gulliksen and Bhavna Shetty earned GSC ALL-Tournament team honors by finishing in a third place tie at the GSC tournament. The Argos outstanding run to the GSC title, earned them the 12th ranking as a team, while Shetty was the 26th ranked player in the nation as an individual. The Argos young team returns next year, with potential for great accomplishments.
