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Women's Golf
vs The Bruzzy
University of Oklahoma Athletics
OU Captures Big 12 Crown, Competes At NCAAs
August 22, 2000 | Women's Golf
June 5, 2000
NORMAN, Okla. - The Oklahoma women's golf team turned in one of its best seasons in recent memory last year. The Sooners finished their campaign as Big 12 champions, and participated in the NCAA regional and national tournaments. OU started the season slowly but gained momentum with each tournament.
The first tournament of the season for the Sooners was the Big 12 Fall Preview in Lincoln, Neb. The Sooners placed third behind Nebraska and Oklahoma State thanks to a strong performance from senior Isabelle Blais. Blais finished third with a 222, two strokes out of the top spot.
The end of September brought the Dick McGuire Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., for the Oklahoma ladies. The Sooners began slowly but managed to rally in the last round with a 298 to finish 10th out of 18 teams.
Expecting more than a 10th-place finish, Oklahoma headed to Lubbock, Texas, for the Jeannine McHaney Memorial tournament and a realization of the inevitable. The Sooners finished a promising second, falling by only one stroke to Texas Tech. However the next closest team was a distant 15 strokes behind. Blais and Jennifer James finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in that tournament.
For their final performance of the fall season, the OU women went out in good fashion. Of the 21 teams that competed in the Roadrunner Invitational in Las Cruces, N.M., the Sooners managed to beat 16 of them. Freshman Allison Johnson led OU with a ninth-place finish.
As the spring season began, the Sooners looked ahead to what they were trying to accomplish. They started the season in true Sooner form by claiming the tournament championship at the Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz. Johnson again led the team, but improved at the same time by finishing an impressive second.
March started with the GTE Memorial in Houston, Texas. The team placed a respectable fourth out of a field of 16.
At the Bruin Classic, in Temecula, Calif., OU posted its lowest score of the regular spring season with a 934. It was not enough, though, and only yielded an eighth-place finish.
With the postseason drawing near, the Sooners realized that in order to make their goal of a national tournament appearance materialize they would need strong showings at the final two tournaments. Improving to a sixth-place finish at the Dr. Thompson Rainbow Classic, in Honolulu, Hawaii, was a building block for the Sooners.
At the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic held at OU's Jimmie Austin Golf Course, the Sooners finished ahead of 11 teams to take second place. Contributing to the team's success was James, who finished fifth. Jennifer Tannehill played the tournament as an individual and produced a third-place-tying finish with a score of 231.
With the regular season at an end, the Sooners traveled to Lubbock, Texas, for the Big 12 Championships. Once there, the ladies did what they knew they could. After the first round, the Sooners stood in a comfortable third place. At the completion of the second round, Oklahoma found itself just one stroke behind first-place Oklahoma State. As the tournament concluded, the Sooners had pulled off the dark-horse win. Jennifer James finished second to help lead the Sooners to their first-ever Big 12 title. Also placing in the top 10 was Wendy Martin who tied for sixth. Tannehill and Betsy Berry both tied for 21st and Jaime Dello-Russo placed 44th.
The Sooners advanced to the NCAA Regional Tournament in Tempe, Ariz., on May 11. Oklahoma knew they would need a strong showing in order to accomplish its goal of a championship berth. James and Tannehill both tied for 27th to help the Sooners to a 12th-place finish. With a season-low score of 900, OU advanced to the NCAA Championships.
The Sooners traveled to Sunriver, Ore., to compete in their first NCAA Championships since 1996. Oklahoma carded a 1,243 in the four-round competition and finished in 23rd place. OU placed third in birdies with 39. Out of a field of 125 individuals, Tannehill tied for 29th to lead the Sooners.
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