April 17, 2002

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. - A pair of freshmen led Samford at the Mission Inn Golf Club on Wednesday, as Tricia Harlow fired Samford's tournament-low round of 83 and classmate Kelly Villarreal finished with a three-round total of 260 to lead the Bulldogs in the Atlantic Sun Women's Golf Championship. The Bulldogs finished 10th of 11 in the final team standings.

Villarreal's three-round total (260) placed her in a tie at 35th, followed by Harlow (261) in sole possession of 37th. Tara Clayton (268), Sara Gossum (279) and Sarah Clement (382) rounded out Samford's participation in the championship.

Campbell's Sharon O'Neill fired a 5-under-par 68 on Wednesday, leading the Camels to their second consecutive Atlantic Sun Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Regional. Campbell shot the low round of the tournament with a 13-over-par score of 305.

The Camels erased a four-stroke deficit Wednesday to win by five shots over UCF, which led after each of the first two rounds. Georgia State finished in third place, one shot ahead of fourth-place Florida Atlantic.

The championship's individual race was tightly contested as well, as Florida Atlantic's Jessica Polus won the individual title by two strokes over UCF's Federica Piovano. Polus shot a 1-over-par 74 Wednesday to finish the tournament at 3-over-par. Polus and Piovano entered the final round tied for the lead.

Final team scores were as follows: Campbell (933), UCF (938), Georgia State (950), Florida Atlantic (951), Jacksonville State (978), Stetson (1002), Troy State (1008), Jacksonville (1019), Belmont (1050), Samford (1068) and Mercer (1070).