Top-Ranked Duke Wins East Regional By 22 Strokes

May 8, 2004

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, FLA.- On Saturday, the top-ranked and top-seeded Duke women's golf team completed the first step in obtaining its season-long goal of winning its third NCAA Championship, as the Blue Devils carded a final round 291 to win by 22 strokes at the NCAA East Regional. Duke finished with a three-day total of 869 at the Par 72, 6,165-yard El Campeon Course in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.

The Blue Devils now advance to the NCAA Championship on May 18-21 at the Grand National Lake Course in Auburn, Ala. Other teams advancing to the championship include UNLV (891), North Carolina (892), Florida State (904), Wake Forest (906), Furman (907), Tennessee (918), Oklahoma State (920) and Florida (920).

The victory for the Blue Devils is the 10th of the season, which is a new school record.

Duke finished the tournament with three golfers in the top five of the individual standings led by sophomore Liz Janangelo, who carded a team-best round of 69 on Saturday. Janangelo, the top-ranked golfer in the nation, finished the tournament tied for third with a three-day total of 217. A native of West Hartford, Conn., collected three birdies on the morning without any bogies. It marked the ninth top-five finish in nine tournaments played this season for Janangelo.

Brittany Lang, a freshman from McKinney, Texas, also finished tied for third with a 217. She posted a final round 74 with only one birdie on the day. The top-five finish was her seventh of the season out of 10 tournaments.

Senior Leigh Anne Hardin finished off a stellar tournament with three-day total of 218 and was tied for fifth. Hardin, a product of Martinsville, Ind., notched a final round 75 with no birdies after posting six birdies over the first two days.

One of Duke's best final round golfers, freshman Anna Grzebien carded a 73 on Saturday to finish tied for 15th with a total of 224. A Narragansett, R.I., native, Grzebien registered a tied for team best three birdies on the morning. She finished with seven birdies in three days.

In what was her worst day of her senior year, Virada Nirapathpongporn finished with an 81 on the final day of action. The Bangkok, Thailand product concluded the tournament with a 228, which was tied for 26th. The score on Saturday marks only the fourth time the U.S. Amateur champion has finished a round in the 80's.

Duke will be vying for its third NCAA title in school history as the Blue Devils won the championship in 1999 and 2002. Earlier this season, Duke won the NCAA Preview at the Grand National with a playoff victory over Auburn.

Post Tournament Quotes

Head Coach Dan Brooks

"It was nice to finish with a large margin of victory and we didn't even have the individual winner. In most cases, if a team wins by a lot of strokes then they have an individual going very low. We were firing on all cylinders for most of the weekend, but the thing is we can get better. The focus has been all season to get better each day and we don't talk about winning."

"This team plays with a lot of heart and grit. They will be ready for the championship and they will be ready to see a team play their best golf of the season, which is what usually happens. We saw what kind of numbers UCLA was scoring out at the West Regional so it should be exciting."

On Leigh Anne Hardin's play:
"I am probably most pleased with Leigh Anne's play as she has put so much work in on her swing since she arrived at Duke. Now, it's at the end of her career and her swing looks like it has been that way since she arrived. It is like second nature now."

On Liz Janangelo's play:
"It looked like she played a little calmer and more focused today. Liz needs to be patient and that is what she was today."

Virada Nirapathpongporn

On winning fourth straight East Region title during career:
"Well, I wasn't really counting and that wasn't a goal, but it is nice. The main goal we have is to get better each tournament in preparation for the National Championship. I think we have done that and I am excited about returning to Auburn."

Anna Grzebien
"I didn't play as well this week as I wanted to, but the days off next week will be good preparation for nationals. We can each work on what we need to do to get better."