April 24, 2005

AUSTIN, Texas - Baylor shot the lowest round of the day with a 295, tying the lowest round of the entire tournament, to tie the program's highest-ever finish by taking third at the Big 12 Women's Golf Championships Sunday at the 6,323-yard, par-72 University of Texas Golf Club.

The Bears, which had never had more than one top-10 finish in one year, received a school-record three All-Big 12 Tournament Team performances from junior Josefin Svenningsson (Gislaved, Sweden), sophomore Anna Rehnholm (Karlskrona, Sweden) and freshman Sian Reddick (Folkestone, England). Baylor was matched only by Texas, which also placed three in the top 10.

"Having three girls in the top 10 is just awesome," head coach Sylvia Ferdon said. "They went out and had a great day today playing a golf course that was tough with the wind conditions. They did everything right and it was a lot of fun."

"I think the practice round on Thursday was helpful, because they really had the right attitude. I just asked them to play their game, because on this course you can hit a perfect shot and it might not end up the way you like, but they were patient and kept playing and were rewarded for it."

Svenningsson led the way, tying the Bears' highest-ever individual finish by tying for sixth at 227. Svenningsson fired a final-round 73, including birdies on four, nine and 14. She had pulled even with her birdie on 14, but a bogey on 15 kept her from taking sole possession of sixth.

Rehnholm tied for eighth at 228, including a final-round 74. Rehnholm got off to a good start with a birdie on the first hole and made the turn at 1-over par. A double bogey on 10 dropped her to 3-over, but she rebounded with birdies on 12 and 17 to finish with a string of seven straight holes of par or better.

Reddick tied for 10th at 229 and matched Svenningsson for the team's best round of the tournament with a 73 on Sunday. Reddick made the turn at 1-over, including a birdie on six and followed up five straight pars with a birdie on 13 to draw even. Reddick gave a stroke back on 14, then birdied 16 before completing her round with a bogey on 18.

Junior Meredith Jones (Eugene, Ore.) finished just outside the top 10 by tying for 12th at 230, firing a final-round 75. Jones started slowly and was 5-over through 11, but she finished the round strong with par or better on the final seven holes, including back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14.

Junior Sherry Summers (Montgomery, Texas) tied for 46th at 244 and finished up with an 83. Summers had a birdie on the fourth and parred five of six holes during one stretch on the back nine.

Oklahoma State claimed the team title for the fifth time with a 54-hole total of 900, edging Texas by a single stroke at 901. Baylor, which had been tied for third through two rounds, opened up a nine-stroke advantage on Missouri (923) and Texas A&M rounded out the top five at 930. OSU's Annie Thurman-Young was the only player under par for the tournament and ran away with the individual title, firing a 4-under par 212 and finishing 10 strokes ahead of Texas' Lisa Ferrero and Perry Swenson, who tied for second.

"This gives the team a lot of confidence going into regionals," Ferdon said. "It is satisfying, because we beat Missouri, who was ranked ahead of us, and I consider them a very good team. The first time we played at Texas we didn't play too well and we didn't play well at Lubbock (site of the Central Regional) when we played there in the fall, so I think it's going to be different this time around and I think they're looking forward to it."

The Bears solidified their position in the regional standings and will find out Monday at 2 p.m. the pairings for the NCAA Regional Championships May 5-7. The top eight teams from each of three regions advance to the 2005 NCAA Championships May 17-20 at Sunriver Resort in Corvallis, Ore.

3. Baylor               305-314-295=914
*T6. Josefin Svenningsson  77-77-73=227
*T8. Anna Rehnholm         76-78-74=228
*T10. Sian Reddick         77-79-73=229
T12. Meredith Jones        75-80-75=230
T46. Sherry Summers        79-82-83=244
*All-Big 12 Tournament Team

Team Standings
1. Oklahoma State          295-307-298=900
2. Texas                   297-306-298=901
3. Baylor                  305-314-295=914
4. Missouri                306-313-304=923
5. Texas A&M               310-316-304=930
6. Texas Tech              305-323-304=932
7. Nebraska                305-324-313=942
8. Kansas State            320-314-317=951
9. Kansas                  311-331-310=952
10. Oklahoma               314-328-312=954
11. Colorado               307-323-325=955
12. Iowa State             317-314-326=957