Wednesday, May 8
East Lansing, Mich. (Forest Akers West)
All Day
Michigan State University
vs
NCAA East Lansing Regional
Harris and Geer-Park Qualify for the NCAA Championships
5/8/2019 5:47:00 PM | Women's Golf
EAST LANSING – The Michigan State women's golf team narrowly missed out on earning a bid to the 2019 NCAA Championships, finishing seventh at the East Lansing Regional on Wednesday at Forest Akers West. While the Spartans missed qualifying for the NCAA finals as a team by finishing out of the top six, both Haylin Harris and Allyson Geer-Park earned individual invites as two of the top three finishing individuals not associated with one of the top-six teams.
GOLFSTAT
As a team, the Spartans were 22-over-par 886 (293-303-290), three shots behind sixth-place Indiana, which was 19-over-par 883 (293-299-291). Kent State wound up holding off Arizona by one shot, finishing 4-under-par 860 (282-291-287), to win the regional title.
UCLA (10-over-par 874), Stanford (14-over-par 878) and Illinois (18-over-par 882) rounded out the top five.
"We just made too many mistakes yesterday on those last four holes and we just couldn't recover today," MSU head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said. "It's pretty tough but that's sports and there's so many good teams out there these days that you've got to really play and there's really no room for the errors that you make."
Harris tied for the highest finish ever by a Spartan at an NCAA Regional as she placed third at 3-under-par 213 (69-72-72). The freshman's 213 was also the second-lowest 54-hole NCAA Regional score in Spartan history.
"It's a bittersweet feeling because I'd like to see our entire team going (to the NCAA Championships)," Harris said. "I'm so emotionally attached to the girls on our team so it's really hard to not see them going with Ally and I. But, I'm glad I ended the season like I did and was able to qualify."
Harris shot her second-straight even-par 72 on Wednesday with the help of four birdies.
Geer-Park tied for 11th place at 2-over-par 218 (73-73-72). On Wednesday she was 1-over-par through 13 holes and then made four straight pars heading to 18. On 18, she sunk a 20-foot putt for birdie, which ultimately sealed her place as the third and final individual to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
"I was just trying to make as many (birdies) for our team as I could, and I knew it was going to matter," Geer-Park said of her putt on 18. "As soon as I hit it I knew it was going in and I hadn't really made anything outside of eight-feet all day, so it was nice that that one could go in at the end."
It marks the first time in program history MSU is sending two individuals to the NCAA Championships.
"It's awesome for them," Slobodnik-Stoll said. "Haylin Harris actually qualified for the last spot in our lineup, and then ends up playing a great regional and almost wins the whole thing so that was pretty cool. She's been playing well and she's feeling great about her game so that was exciting.
"We expect Ally to do great things at all times and it was nice she made a huge birdie putt on the 18th hole to get to get to 2-over-par overall which then put her in individual spot without having to go into a playoff."
UCLA's Patty Tavatanakit won the individual title at 8-under-par 208 (71-66-71), which was one shot short of Forest Akers West's lowest 54-hole tournament score.
Mikayla Fitzpatrick of Xavier was the third individual to qualify for the NCAA Championships, finishing seventh at even-par 216 (72-73-71).
Yurika Tanida led all Spartans with a 2-under-par 70 on Wednesday. She finished tied for 39th place at 8-over-par 224 (75-79-70).
Paz Marfa Sans was 15-over-par 231 (76-79-76), tying for 66th place, while Sydney Naro was 26-over-par 242 (80-80-82).
The 2019 national championships will be played May 17-22 at Blessing's Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
GOLFSTAT
As a team, the Spartans were 22-over-par 886 (293-303-290), three shots behind sixth-place Indiana, which was 19-over-par 883 (293-299-291). Kent State wound up holding off Arizona by one shot, finishing 4-under-par 860 (282-291-287), to win the regional title.
UCLA (10-over-par 874), Stanford (14-over-par 878) and Illinois (18-over-par 882) rounded out the top five.
"We just made too many mistakes yesterday on those last four holes and we just couldn't recover today," MSU head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said. "It's pretty tough but that's sports and there's so many good teams out there these days that you've got to really play and there's really no room for the errors that you make."
Harris tied for the highest finish ever by a Spartan at an NCAA Regional as she placed third at 3-under-par 213 (69-72-72). The freshman's 213 was also the second-lowest 54-hole NCAA Regional score in Spartan history.
"It's a bittersweet feeling because I'd like to see our entire team going (to the NCAA Championships)," Harris said. "I'm so emotionally attached to the girls on our team so it's really hard to not see them going with Ally and I. But, I'm glad I ended the season like I did and was able to qualify."
Harris shot her second-straight even-par 72 on Wednesday with the help of four birdies.
Geer-Park tied for 11th place at 2-over-par 218 (73-73-72). On Wednesday she was 1-over-par through 13 holes and then made four straight pars heading to 18. On 18, she sunk a 20-foot putt for birdie, which ultimately sealed her place as the third and final individual to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
"I was just trying to make as many (birdies) for our team as I could, and I knew it was going to matter," Geer-Park said of her putt on 18. "As soon as I hit it I knew it was going in and I hadn't really made anything outside of eight-feet all day, so it was nice that that one could go in at the end."
It marks the first time in program history MSU is sending two individuals to the NCAA Championships.
"It's awesome for them," Slobodnik-Stoll said. "Haylin Harris actually qualified for the last spot in our lineup, and then ends up playing a great regional and almost wins the whole thing so that was pretty cool. She's been playing well and she's feeling great about her game so that was exciting.
"We expect Ally to do great things at all times and it was nice she made a huge birdie putt on the 18th hole to get to get to 2-over-par overall which then put her in individual spot without having to go into a playoff."
UCLA's Patty Tavatanakit won the individual title at 8-under-par 208 (71-66-71), which was one shot short of Forest Akers West's lowest 54-hole tournament score.
Mikayla Fitzpatrick of Xavier was the third individual to qualify for the NCAA Championships, finishing seventh at even-par 216 (72-73-71).
Yurika Tanida led all Spartans with a 2-under-par 70 on Wednesday. She finished tied for 39th place at 8-over-par 224 (75-79-70).
Paz Marfa Sans was 15-over-par 231 (76-79-76), tying for 66th place, while Sydney Naro was 26-over-par 242 (80-80-82).
The 2019 national championships will be played May 17-22 at Blessing's Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Players Mentioned
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