COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Texas women's golfing duo of senior Devan Andersen and junior Julia Best completed the second day of the 2006 NCAA National Championships in Columbus, Ohio on Wednesday. The championships run four days at the Ohio State Scarlet Course (par 72, 6,203 yards).
Best fell eight spots into a tie for 29th-place after a second round four-over par 76. She is currently six-over par (150) in her first trip to the NCAA Championships and tied with the reigning NCAA Individual Champion, Anna Grzebien of Duke. In her third trip to the NCAAs, Andersen (Guadalajara, Mexico) has a two round score of 21-over par 165 (tied for 121st).
"Julia had a strong day and is continuing to hit fairways and greens," said UT head coach Susan Watkins. "To score well on this course you need to be in the fairway and hitting greens and Julia is doing that. She has maintained her composure can make a move if she continues to play well. Devan had a better ball striking day but still has two rounds to go and can get back in the hunt tomorrow."
The championships run Tuesday-Friday, May 23-26 with 18 holes each day. A total of 126 student-athletes from 30 NCAA Division I institutions are participating in the event.
Eileen Vargas of Pepperdine remained the individual leader at five-under 139 after carding a one-under 71 Wednesday. Vargas is five-under at the midway point of the 72-hole event. She is the only player to shoot below par twice in the tournament to date. In second is Jennifer Osburn of Arizona State at one-under par 143.
Arizona State leap-frogged over Southern California in the second round to take the team lead. The Sun Devils shot 294 (+6) Wednesday after starting the day second. ASU is at 10-over par (292-294=586), three shots better than second-place Duke's 13-over par 589 (297-292).
In her second round, Best started on the front nine and opened with two pars, but posted three bogeys to one birdie in her remaining seven holes before making the turn. She carded an identical two-over score on the back nine with three bogeys and one birdie. Best has averaged 76.4 in her second rounds this season through nine tournaments.
Andersen began well with a birdie on her opening hole, but struggled in her second round to finished 11-over par (83).
Best is currently averaging 77.1 in the third round after nine tournaments, while Andersen is averaging a team-best 75.7 for her third day in seven outings.
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