University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship
Warren Leads Tennessee to Top-5 Finish
September 13, 2016 | Women's Golf
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Junior Blakesly Warren paced the Volunteers at the 20th Annual Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship held at Cherokee Country Club Monday, Sept. 12 through Tuesday, Sept. 13. The Tennessee-native carded two rounds below par to finish the tournament in fourth place, marking a career-best finish (211, -2). As a team, No. 23 Tennessee finished the tournament tied for fifth place (565, +13) with Maryland after posting 289 in the final round on Tuesday.
Team Scores
- 1. Florida: 281-289-280--850 (-2)
- T2. Illinois: 278-285-292--855 (+3)
- T2. Kent State: 286-283-286--855 (+#)
Player Scores
- 1. Pimnipa Panthong (Kent State): 67-68-70--205 (-8)
- 2. Kelly Grassel (Florida): 68-71-69--208 (-5)
- T2. Michaela Finn (Kent State): 73-70-66--209 (-4)
Tennessee Scores
- Team (Tied 5th Place): 282-294-289--865 (+13)
- 4. Blakesly Warren: 68-70-73--211 (-2)
- T10. Anna Newell: 69-73-73--215 (+2)
- T29. Micheala Williams: 76-75-68--219 (+6)
- 37. Hannah Pietila: 70-76-75--221 (+8)
- T65. Shannon Brooks: 75-80-76--231 (+18)
- Individuals
- T67. Allison Herring: 75-77-80--232 (+19)
- T67. Teleri Hughes: 74-82-76--232 (+19)
"We had a lot of really good rounds individually from a bunch of different people but Blakesly was the one who really put the tournament together and played really well," said Head Coach Judi Pavon. "She was just outstanding yesterday and then was really solid today too. She had a great tournament. I'm really proud of her."
Warren put together a bogey-free first round and birdie-filled second round to finish Day 1 of the tournament tied for second place. On Tuesday, she opened the final round with a birdie on the par-five fourth. She went on to collect one more birdie and 13 pars in the round, turning in a score of 73 for a 54-hole total of 211 (-2). The fourth place finish marks her first collegiate top-five placement.
"I'm really happy with where I finished," commented Warren. "I know I didn't have my best round, but I took a lot of positives away from this week, especially yesterday. It gives me a lot of confidence."
Fellow junior Anna Newell, the 11th-ranked player in the country, tied for tenth place (215, +2) after posting consecutive scores of 73 in the final two rounds of the tournament. During the first round, Newell carded the team's first eagle of the season on the par-five, 455-yard eleventh hole.
After recording 68 in the final round, freshman Micheala Williams moved up 27 spots to tie for 29th place. The score marks her first sub-70 round as a Volunteer.
Hannah Pietila, one of the Orange and White's four seniors, carded 221 (+8) in her final home tournament to place 37th.
Sophomore Shannon Brooks finished the tournament tied for 65th place while both Allison Herring and Teleri Hughes tied for 67th place. Herring and Hughes competed as individuals in the tournament.
No. 7 Florida took the lead late in the third round, carding nine birdies over the last nine holes. As a result, Illinois fell into a tie for second place with Kent State. Both teams carded final scores of 855 (+3) but Illinois placed second due to a scorecard tiebreaker.
The tournament medalist, Pimnipa Panthong, and third place individual, Michaela Finn, both hailed from Kent State. Panthong posted a tournament 54-hole total record with an eight-under-par 205. She broke the previous record of 207 set by Taylor Kim of Kent State in 2015. Kelly Grassel, who led the Gators, placed second individually.
"We have some nice depth on our team and really good players," stated Pavon. "We're going to try to really focus on improving each week so by the end of the season, we're where we want to be."
The Vols will continue their fall season at the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Vail, Colo. on Monday, Sept. 26 through Wednesday, Sept. 28.
"I'm really excited to go back to Vail. We've played there before. I know our team's in a good spot. We're all playing really well even though it maybe didn't show this week. We're all really excited and we have a lot of confidence going forward." added Warren.
For the most up-to-date information about the Tennessee women's golf team, visit UTSports.com/w-golf, follow @Vol_WGolf on Twitter and like the Vols at Facebook.com/UTWomensGolf.
