Sophomore Buchanan 1st-Team All-American at 5th
ORLANDO - The Rend Lake College Lady Warriors finished fifth today with a First-Team All-American in Amanda Buchanan. It was an abridged version of the 2009 NJCAA Women's Golf National Championships at Providence Golf Course in the Orlando subdivision of Davenport, Fla.
Scheduled to start Monday, the tournament was postponed three days by torrential rain that flooded Daytona Beach and the surrounding area. The decision was made yesterday to move the tournament to Davenport where a shotgun start ushered in a one-round, winner-take-all shooting match. The individual winner was Nicola Race with a 70 (-2). The team from Redlands Community College took the team title with a 297.
For RLC, Buchanan (Evansville, Ind.) shot a 76 to finish fifth in a scorecard playoff. Jordan Hatch (South Beloit, Ill.) bogied the last four holes to drop to 18th in a scorecard playoff and land on the All-Tournament Team with an 80. Rachel Keim (Carterville) shot an 83, Mallorie Cummings (Salem, Ill.) finished with an 87 and Athena Smolka (Petersburg, Mich.) carded a 92.
The team shot 326 to finish fifth for the fourth time in the program's history. The only year they finished better was in 2005 with a fourth place.
"We turned after nine holes and I thought we had a good chance of getting top three, said RLC Head Coach Cindy Corn. "We were playing really well."
Keim was at one under, Buchanan was even and Hatch was only a couple over par at the turn. However, the wind picked up and the rain came off and on and RLC's game began to show it, Corn said.
"I guess it was because the conditions got tougher," she said. "We just weren't hitting it like we were the first nine holes. But I'm ecstatic. They had us ranked fifth at one time, then seventh, then sixth. To beat two Arizona schools and two Texas schools and all the northern schools ... I'm pretty excited about that."
Sophomores Buchanan, Hatch and Keim have all signed with four year programs. Cummings and Smolka are freshman this year and are expected to return to RLC next season.
For all things athletic at RLC, visit online at www.rlc.edu/warriors.
TEAM RESULTS
1. Redlands CC Ariz. 297
2. Daytona State Fla. 312
3. Seminole College Fla. 313
4. McLennan Texas 322
5. RLC 326
6. West Texas 331
T-7. Tyler Texas 334
T-7. Mesa Ariz 334
8. John A. Logan 344
9. Dodge City Kansas 348
10. South Mountain Ariz. 363
11. Iowa Lakes 371
12. Northern Idaho 375
13. Central Lakes ???
14. Minnesota State 455