Sept. 16, 2008

DENTON, Texas - Led by Linda Persson's fifth-place individual finish, the Lamar women's golf team recorded a fifth-place team finish at the North Texas Fall Classic in its first event of the season.

Lamar finished three shots behind fourth-place UTSA with a 929 tournament score.

Persson shot a final round 76 to finish alone in fifth at 228. She led the 51-player field in par 5 scoring at 3-under-par with a 4.75 average over the four longest holes. Her five birdies were the fifth highest total in the event.

Lina Nilsson-Balfe and Therese Nilsson each turned in a 77 in their final round. Nilsson-Balfe tied for tenth at 230 and Nilsson tied for 15th at 233. Nilsson-Balfe ranked tied for third in par 3 scoring for the week with a 3.08 average and 1-over total.

Channing Norton and Jannel Alexander also matched scores on Tuesday with a 79. Both players tied for 30th at 241.

Lamar led the tournament with 21 birdies, while ranking first in par 5 scoring and second in par 4 scoring.

Central Arkansas swept the team and individual medalist honors. The Sugar Bears shot a tourney-low 300 for a 905 54-hole total to distance itself from second-place Cal Poly, at 924, by 19 strokes. Houston Baptist was third at 925 and UTSA was fourth at 926.

UCA's Nicole Forshner won by three shots with a two-over-par 218 score.

Team Standings
1 Central Arkansas 304-301-300=905 +41
2 Cal Poly 304-307-313=924 +60
3 Houston Baptist 312-309-304=925 +61
4 Texas-San Antonio 309-305-312=926 +62
5 Lamar 302-318-309=929 +65
6 North Texas 318-317-312=946 +82
T7 Lubbock Christian 321-319-311=951 +87
T7 McLennan CC 311-322-318=951 +87
9 Utah Valley 321-331-329=981 +117

Lamar Scores
5 Linda Persson 75-77-76=228
T 10 Lina Nilsson-Balfe 76-77-77=230
T 15 Therese Nilsson 72-84-77=233
T 30 Channing Norton 81-81-79=241
T 30 Jannel Alexander 79-83-79=241