Women's Golf in 12th at Mercedes-Benz

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Miami women’s golf team is in 12th place Friday through 18 holes at the 16th annual Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship. The Hurricanes shot 20-over 308 and is six strokes behind 11th-place East Carolina.

Sophomore Rika Park leads the Canes after a first-round 3-over 75 and is tied for 31st overall, three strokes out of the top 10 and six strokes behind first-round leader, Northwestern’s Hana Lee. Park’s first round included birdies on holes 2, 7 and 17.

Through 18 holes, Penn State and Texas A&M are tied atop the leaderboard with a first-round 3-over 291. Host Tennessee and UTSA are one stroke back, tied for third overall at 4-over 292. Purdue is in fifth at 5-over 293.

“We really don’t have any excuses today,” third-year head coach Patti Rizzo said. “The team needs to start thinking better, and then we’ll get better.

Five Hurricanes golfers are within four strokes of each other. Sophomore Leticia Ras-Anderica trails Park by one stroke at 4-over 76, good for a 44th-place tie. Battling flu-like symptoms and participating as an individual, freshman Christina Ocampo carded a first-round 5-over 77 and is tied for 50th overall.

Fellow freshmen Lauren Riehle and Laura Hendee are tied for 55th and 63rd, respectively. Riehle pared 7-of-9 holes on the back nine to complete a 6-over 78 first-round tally, one stroke behind Ras-Anderica. Hendee sits tied for 63rd after scoring a 7-over 79. Competing in her first team event of the season, junior Carina Cuculiza carded an 11-over 83, tied for 81st on the leaderboard.

Play continues Saturday at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship with the second round beginning at 9 a.m. ET. Live scoring will be provided by Golfstat and @HurricanesGolf, the official Twitter feed for Miami Hurricanes women’s golf, will provide in-round scoring updates.