Oct. 22, 2005
GREENVILLE, N.C. -
Kate Stepanek birdied five straight holes on the back nine Saturday to fire a 5-under-par 67 and take a six-shot lead into Sunday's final round of the Taco Bell Intercollegiate women's golf Tournament being hosted by East Carolina.
Her 36-hole total of 136 put her atop the individual leaderboard at the event, which has drawn 114 players and 21 teams. Stepanek, a Terrapin junior from Guilford, Conn., leads over first-round leader Ashley Hovda of Western Carolina, Annika Korkeila of Georgia State and Lene Krog of East Carolina.
As a team, Maryland fired the best round of the day in the entire field, posting a 287 on Saturday. The Terrapins' two-round total of 581 puts them in second place in the team standings, trailing only Georgia State, which is at 575 heading into Sunday's final round of the 54-hole event.
The 287 by the Terps on Saturday was a 1-under-par total and was Maryland's best 18-hole team score of the season thus far. Jessica Reno fired a 1-over 73, Katie Trotter posted a 74 and Kelly Calkin also shot 73 for Maryland, which also got a 77 from Kelly MacWhinnie.
Calkin and Reno each jumped seven spots in the individual standings to tie for 14th after two rounds, each posting 146. Trotter's 74 moved her up 22 spots to a tie for 54th at 153, with MacWhinnie tied for 77th at 157.
Stepanek bogeyed the seventh hole on Saturday's round, but birdied the eighth to make the turn at even-par 36. She then birdied the 10th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th, before bogeying the 17th to come in at 31 on the back nine and post her 67.
She has a chance to win her second tournament of the fall season, as she already won the Wolverine Invitational at Michigan on Oct. 1 and 2.
The final round begins at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday. Live updates are available on the Internet at www.golfstat.com.
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Georgia State 575; 2. MARYLAND 581; 3. Augusta State 583; T4. Western Carolina 591; T4. Birmingham Southern 591; 6. Coastal Carolina 593; 7. Richmond 595; 8. Winthrop 596; T9. Miami 599; T9. East Carolina 599; 11. UNC Greensboro 602; 12. Mercer 603; 13. East Tennessee State 606; 14. Elon 609; 15. Methodist 612; 16. Longwood 613; 17. Marshall 618; 18. Gardner-Webb 619; 19. Jacksonville State 622; 20. James Madison 636; 21. Old Dominion 658.
MARYLAND SCORES
1. Kate Stepanek 69-67--136; T14. Kelly Calkin 73-73--146; T14. Jessica Reno 73-73--146; T54. Katie Trotter 79-74--153; T77. Kelly MacWhinnie 80-77--157.
