Bears Climb to Ninth After Second Round at NCAAs

Tuesday, May 11

Simpsonville, Ky. (University of Louisville GC)

All Day (18 Holes)

Mercer University

NCAA Regionals

Photo by: Justin Casterline

Bears Climb to Ninth After Second Round at NCAAs

5/11/2021 4:35:00 PM | Women's Golf

Lauren Lightfritz shot a 4-under par 68 in the second round in Louisville

By: Stephen Waldman

SIMPSONVILLE, Ky. – The Mercer women's golf team climbed the leaderboard and finds itself tied for ninth place heading into the final round at the NCAA Louisville Regional from the University of Louisville Golf Club on Tuesday.

The Bears started the day tied for 12th and trimmed 15 strokes off their first-round performance to tie for ninth after 36 holes. Mercer tied for the second-largest scoring improvement between the first two rounds as both the Bears and North Florida carded a 302 in the first round and a 287 in round two. The only team to improve more than the Bears and Ospreys was 17th-ranked Arkansas, who jumped six spots into second place after bettering its score by 17 strokes.

Mercer finds itself tied for ninth heading into the final 18 holes and is within four strokes of being in a position to advance to the NCAA Championships in Scottsdale, Ariz., from May 21-26.

Individually, graduate student Lauren Lightfritz posted the fourth-lowest score of the second round with a 4-under par 68 to move up 51 spots to 20th. The Suwanee, Ga., native was on top of her game in the second round as she picked up six birdies. Fellow graduate student Payton Schanen continued her consistent play in the Bluegrass State as she carded a 1-under par 71 to move into 10th place. Schanen is one of 13 players to be under par for the tournament and is in a position to force a playoff with Xavier's Emma McMyler for the right to advance to Scottsdale.

T9	Mercer	302	287	-	+13	589
T10	Payton Schanen	72	71	-	-1	143
T20	Lauren Lightfritz	78	68	-	+2	146
T42	Carol Pyon	77	73	-	+6	150
T50	Laila Hrindova	76	75	-	+7	151
T86	Tracy Rodriguez	77	79	-	+12	156

Up Next
The Bears will wrap up play at the Louisville Regional on Wednesday. Mercer will tee off from 8-8:40 a.m. at the 10th tee box.

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