WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
* Georgia State finished 5th of the 15 teams in the 22nd annual John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate at Eagle's Landing
* Troy finished first and Middle Tennessee placed second.
* Fatima Cano carded a final round 67 to win medalist honors.
ATLANTA – Host Georgia State finished fifth of the 15 teams in the 22nd annual John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate at Eagle's Landing CC. Troy, No. 80 in Golfweek, carded a final round par 288 to overtake Middle Tennessee, No. 53, for the team title.
Fatima Fern Cano of Troy posted a final-round score of 5-under 67 to win with a 6-under 210. Maggie Simmermache of Old Dominion was runner-up with a final round 1-under 71 for a 217.
Georgia State was led by senior Lauren Court with a fifth-place finish (220) that included a Day 2 round of 67. Sophomore Solene Le Coz finished in a tie for 22nd with a 232. Freshman Yasemin Sari added a 236 to tie for 47th with Jooeun Bae adding a 240 for a tie for 60th. Julie Lied played only as an individual, but finished with a 234 after rounds of 75 and 77.
“I am proud of the team for competing hard and finishing fifth,” coach Cathy Mant said. ”We are a young team and we had the opportunity to finish even higher, so this was a learning experience for us. We showed our ability in round two and now we have to do that consistently. This gives us an opportunity to evaluate and work on a few things so we can perform at our highest level at the conference championships. It was also good to see Julie Lied show signs of getting her game back to where it was last year and hope she can help us at the conference championship.
This was the first time this season Georgia State has had two golfers finish in the top 25 of a tournament.
There were five Sun Belt teams in the John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate and GSU was second of those five teams.
The Sun Belt Championship will be played April 13-15 at Steelwood Country Club in Loxley, Ala.
