W. Golf

Mocs & Burgner Second, Both Headed To D-II Championship

Heather Burgner will lead the Moccasins into the D-II championship

Heather Burgner is headed back to the NCAA Division II Women's Golf Championship and this time her teammates will be with her.

The Moccasins made a run at first-place Nova Southeastern and held off Rollins to finish in second place at the super regional at Howey-in-the-Hills Tuesday, earning a spot in the Division II Championship May 13-16 at Findlay, Ohio.  Last year the Moccasins didn't qualify as a team, but Burgner qualified as an individual and went on to finish as the national runner-up.

Trailing Nova Southeastern by 13 strokes entering the final round, the Moccasins were able to trim 10 strokes off the lead, but ran out of holes and finished three strokes behind the Sharks, 912 to 915.  The Moccasins finished three strokes ahead of Rollins, which had a final team score of 918.  The regional finish order mirrors the current national rankings, with Nova first, FSC second and Rollins third, and those three teams advance to the Division II Championship.  It will be the Moccasins' 11th trip to the Division II Championship, which they have won four times - 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2007.

Burgner started the day tied for the lead with Nova Southeastern's Sandra Changkija.  After shooting 70 and 72 in the first two rounds, Burgner had to settle for a final round of 77 that left her in second place with a 219, four strokes behind Changkija's first-place total of 215.  Burgner's 219 total was five strokes better than her runner-up score of 224 in last year's regional.

The Moccasins had nothing worse than a 77 in the final round.  Kim Ulander led the FSC contingent with a 74 to finish at 232, which put her in a tie for 10th.  With a final round of 76, Silvie Dittertova also was in the group of five tied for 10th.  Emily Flanigan had a 77 to finish at 237 in 17th place.  Marianne Andersson finished with a final round of 75, putting her in 20th place at 239.