Blue Raiders Wrap Up 2016 Season at Shoal Creek

Thursday, May 5

Various Sites

Middle Tennessee

NCAA Regionals

5/7/2016 2:12:00 PM | Women's Golf

Middle Tennessee Finishes 15th in NCAA Regionals

By: @MTAthletics

NCAA Shoal Creek Regional Results

Highlights

SHOAL CREEK, Ala. – Middle Tennessee finshed out the 2016 season Saturday on a beautiful day at Shoal Creek, carding a 30-over par final round to finish 81-over, good for a 15th-place finish in its second consecutive NCAA Regional.

"It was a tough three days out there," head coach Chris Adams said. "You know this golf course really beat everybody, it kind of deflates you from the year that we had, but I don't want this round to define how we played all year long.

"Overall we're proud to be hear and represent Conference USA and Middle Tennessee State University, I just don't want this to take away from the year that we had."

The Blue Raiders appeared to be on a good pace for the final day, holding steady with their group on the back nine where they had struggled the first two days. After the turn the front nine caused some problems for Middle, going 9-over as a team on the final three holes of the championship to slide a couple of spots down the leaderboard and finish just one stroke behind a pair of top 40 teams in Iowa State and Notre Dame.

Middle Tennessee did card the most birdies of any of their rounds on day three, notching eight birdies as a team after carding six in the first round and just one in the second round.

Avery George had the low score for the Blue Raiders all three days of the Regional, posting a 6-over 78 on day three to finish 15-over (76-77-78=231). The senior grabbed a top 30 spot in the field, tying for 29th, and defeated 10 golfers ranked in the top 100 in the nation.

Senior Emily Miller tallied the second-lowest Blue Raider score at Shoal Creek, shooting an 8-over 80 in the third round to stand in a tie for 58th at 21-over par (79-78-80=237).

"These seniors mean everything," Adams said. "They're a special group and I'm going to miss them a lot. They've been steady players for us throughout the year and their four years. To lose two seniors like (Avery and Emily) and also Maddie is going to be really difficult to replace."

Junior Samantha Gotcher started the day strong by joining George and Miller at 2-over on the back nine, but dropped five strokes on the front nine to finish day three with a 7-over 79. She totaled a 24-over 240 (81-80-79) to finish tied for 64th in the field.

Freshman Hanley Long carded a 10-over 82 on day three to finish tied for 68th at 26-over par (78-82-82=242), but showed flashes of brilliance with shots like her approach on the par 5 sixth hole where she landed within a foot from the cup to tap in for birdie.

Fellow freshman Jenna Burris shot a 9-over 81 in the final round to finish the Regional at 29-over par (77-87-81=245), tying for 75th. She, too, showed she is capable of great things in the future when she went just 1-over on the final nine holes at Shoal Creek.

The NCAA Regional marks the conclusion of the 2016 season and the careers of a great senior class that includes George, Miller and Maddie Denton.

Adams and the Blue Raiders will open the 2016-17 returning core members of their team in Gotcher, Long and Burris as well as junior Lacie York, while adding three new members hoping to help MT make a third straight NCAA Regional appearance.