RESULTS
DAYTONA, Fla. – The No. 1 Nova Southeastern women’s golf team finished second at the 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship, snapping their streak of national titles Saturday at LPGA International. The Sharks finished with a score of 1190 (292-294-295-309), three strokes behind No. 2 Lynn in an upset loss.
The second-place finish snaps the greatest run of any sport in NSU athletics history. The Sharks had previously won four-straight NCAA National Championships and three-straight individual NCAA titles. The NSU women’s golf dynasty was aided by several talented golfers over the years, including professionals Sandra Changkija, Taylor Collins and graduating senior
Abbey Gittings (Tamworth, England), who competed in four-straight title races.
Linnea Johansson (Fr., Vaxjo, Sweden) ended the tournament in second place by one stroke. The freshman shot a 77 on Saturday to move her score to 292 (73-70-72-77). She was one stroke away from competing for a playoff for the individual title.
In third place overall,
Daniela Ortiz (So., Morelia, Mexico) finished Saturday’s fourth round with a score of 72. After a rough 16th hole, Ortiz showed great composure by parring the final two holes to keep the Sharks in contention. She finished the tournament with a score of 294 (67-75-75-77).
Gittings finished the tournament in a tie for seventh place after shooting a team-best 76 in the last round. She never wavered down the stretch, and rattled off a streak of six-straight pars on the back nine. She turned in a card of 299 (78-76-69-76) for the week.
Liliana Cammisa (So., Alta Gracia, Argentina) shot a 79 on Saturday to finish in a tie for 23rd place. Cammisa finished her second appearance at nationals with a score of 306 (75-73-79-79). Rounding out the Sharks’ lineup was
Rachel Lewis (Jr., Cardiff, Wales), whose final round score of 82 brought her total score to 322 (77-82-81-82).
The Sharks played a strong tournament and did not have a disappointing performance from any individual. Tournament champions Lynn played a strong tournament, and got sub-300 scores from the fourth and fifth ranked golfers in their lineup.
Although the Sharks did not get the grand prize this year, they are in great shape to make another run at several titles in the future. Johansson earned Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year and WGCA All-America First Team honors as a freshman this season. Fellow First-Team All-Americans Ortiz and Cammisa will also return with two years left in their collegiate careers.
The tournament served as a testament to the strength of DII women’s golf in south Florida. Lynn, a school out of Boca Raton, won the title and Miami’s Barry took third place behind NSU. All three teams entered the tournament in the top six in the national rankings.
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