The MSU women’s golf team finished in a 12th-place tie Friday at the 2001 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship at Howey-In-The-Hills, Fla. - marking the Spartans’ best-ever finish in the national tournament.
MSU, which fired a 58-over-par 1,210, was led by junior Emily Bastel’s final-round 70 and senior Kasey Gant’s final-round 71. Bastel finished tied-for-13th in the overall individual standings with a 294 and Gant ended up in 17th place with a 295.
MSU’s final-day 296, which the Washington Huskies matched, was the second-lowest score of the day behind Georgia’s 290. Georgia won the championship with a 24-over-par 1,176, followed by Duke at 1,179 and Texas at 1,191.
Bastel saved her best for last as she carded a 2-under-par 70 in the final round, which is good for the seventh-lowest 18-hole score in school history. Her tournament-total 294 is also the second-lowest 72-hole score in school history.
But MSU’s final-round score did not come without a touch of adversity. Gant had to endure a two-hour and five-minute rain delay, which started with one hole left in her round. She went on to bogey the final hole, but her 7-over-par 295 is the third-lowest 72-hole score in school history and her personal best.
Other MSU scores included freshman Allison Fouch at 306, junior Stacy Snider at 316 and freshman Sarah Martin at 332.
The Spartans’ previous best finish in the competition was 16th overall in 1984.
Women’s crew
The MSU women’s crew first varsity eight boat placed fourth in the Petite Final of the 2001 NCAA Women’s Rowing Championship on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Ga., last weekend.
The fourth-place finish in the race was good enough for MSU to take 10th overall in the competition.
The Spartans clocked a time of 6:50.52 in the Petite Final, which Ohio State won with a time of 6:44.87.
Washington won the championship with a time of 7:04.03 in the Grand Final.
The crew has finished in the top 10 of the NCAA Championship four straight years.
Women’s track
Freshman Michelle Carson is the lone member of the MSU women’s track team to qualify for this week’s 2001 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore.
Carson provisionally qualified for the competition in the 10,000-meter run with her performance at the Stanford Invitational on March 31. She ran a time of 34:29.13 at the event, which is the fourth-best time in school history.
Of the 21-person field in the 10,000-meter run at the NCAA Championships, Carson will be the only freshman competing.
The NCAA Championships start today and continue through Saturday.
