May 6, 2011

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (seminoles.com) - Junior Maria Salinas shot a three under par 69 with a birdie on her 16th hole and is in a tie for fifth place and teammate Jessica Negron is in a tie for third place in the individual standings and the Florida State women's golf team is in seventh place with one round remaining in the 2011 NCAA East Regional Championships on the Legends Course at LPGA International. The Seminoles two strokes ahead of Michigan State, three strokes ahead of Florida and four strokes ahead Ole Miss in the race for one of the final eight places in the team standings that would send the Seminoles to the NCAA Championship finals for the second consecutive season.

The top eight teams in the team standings and the top two individuals not on the top eight teams will advance to the NCAA Championship finals at Traditions Club in Bryan, Tx. The finals which will consist of 24 teams (eight each from three regional championships) will be hosted by Texas A&M University.

"We hung in there today and put ourselves in good position for tomorrow," said Head Coach Amy Bond. "Maria played great and Macarena and Jessica played well for us the entire round. We simply need to go out tomorrow and finish as well as we have started. Our girls are very excited to be where we are and we all know that we have a lot left in the tank for Saturday."

Alabama, the No. 1 seed in the region and the No. 3 ranked team in the nation, leads the field with a four stroke lead over North Carolina. After finishing with the best team score of the first round, the Crimson Tide finished with the second best team score in the second round. The Tar Heels (minus six on the day) and Purdue (minus three) enjoyed the best team rounds of the second round and have moved into second and third place, respectively.

Salinas (Lima, Peru) was nearly unflappable in the second round as she finished with her lowest score in three NCAA regional championship appearances. She birdie two holes on her front nine and moved to three under par with a birdie just after the turn on hole No. 10. Salinas stayed at three under until carding her first and only bogey of the day to move to two under par. She finished her round with one birdie over her final three holes to turn in a score of 69 - only her second sub 70 score of her junior season.

"I struck the ball really well today and my putts began to drop," said Salinas. "We just have to have to as play as a team on Saturday and finish as well as we know we can finish. We are all very excited for tomorrow."

Salinas scored a 69 in the third round of the Lady Puerto Classic to open the spring 2011 season with her lowest single round score of the year. The 2011 All-ACC selection finished in second place with a three under par score of 213 at the Lady Puerto Rico tournament.

Sophomore Jessica Negron (Ocala, Fla.) carded a one over par 73 and has a two day total of 142. She struggled a bit on her back nine with three bogeys to finish above par after carding a season low 69 in the first round of the event. She ran through her first 27 holes in the first two rounds at breakneck speed with only birdies and holes of par. Negron totaled 23 holes at par with four birdies over her first round and a half.

Negron finished the round strong with a birdie on hole No. 17 to move to one over par where she finished. Her 36 hole total of 142 tied her career best; she also finished with a 142 over the first 36 holes of the spring 2010 Lady Gator Invitational.

"I played pretty well today and have a lot of confidence heading into tomorrow's round," said Negron. The team continues to play well and we are ready to make a move on the final day. We are in position to play our way to where we want to be on the final week of the season."

Senior Macarena Silva (Santiago, Chile) carded her second consecutive score of 73 and is in a tie for 18th place in the individual standings. She carded two birdies and was never more than one stroke over par in the second round. Silva was even on her front nine with one birdie and one over par on her back nine with one birdie.

Sliva has carded 29 of her first 36 holes at par or better with five birdies. She has never been more than one stroke over par at any time during the first two rounds.

The Seminoles are paired with Michigan State and Florida in Saturday's final round - the three teams who will begin the round fighting for the final two spots in the top eight of the team standings.

2011 NCAA East Regional Championship/Par 72/Second Round Florida State Results
Legends Course/LPGA International/Daytona Beach, Fla./May 5-7, 2011
7/24.   Florida State      297    295    592
T3.     Jessica Negron     69     73     142
T5.     Maria Salinas      74     69     143
T17.    Macarena Silva     73     73     146
T109.   Hannah Thomson     81     80     160
117.    Andrea Kaelin      84     80     164

2011 NCAA East Regional Championship/Par 72/Second Round Team Results
Legends Course/LPGA International/Daytona Beach, Fla./May 5-7, 2011
1.   Alabama             571  13.   Auburn                  601
2.   North Carolina      575  14.   Louisville              603
3.   Purdue              580  15.   Augusta State           604
4.   Arizona State	 583  T16.  Florida International   612
5.   Coastal Carolina    584  T16.  UNC Wilmington          612
6.   California          586  T18.  Colorado                613
7.   Florida State       592  T18.  Stetson                 613
8.   Michigan State      594  20.   Kentucky                615
9.   Florida             595  T21.  Texas Tech              619
10.  Ole Miss            596  T21.  Yale                    619
11.  Vanderbilt          597  23.   Fairleigh Dickinson     636
12.  TCU                 599  24.   Alabama State           668

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