Title DefenseThe names change, but the results stay the same. Led by a pair of freshmen, the Duke women's golf team won its second consecutive NCAA championship--and fourth in eight years--this spring, edging out second-place University of Southern California by ten strokes. The Blue Devils, coached by Dan Brooks, posted rounds of 297-292-287 to head into the final day of the tournament with a thirteen-stroke lead. A final round of 291 gave them a winning total of 1,167, making them the first team since Arizona State University in 1997 and 1998 to win back-to-back titles. Jennie Lee '09 had the best finish of her career, coming in second place overall with a four-day total of 288. She finished with a final round of 71--her best round of the tournament--birdying four of the final eleven holes. ACC champion Amanda Blumenherst '09 tied for ninth with 294, completing a year in which she finished in the top ten in all eleven tournaments she entered. Four-time All-American Liz Janangelo '06 finished her collegiate career with a tie for twelfth place. Just four days later, she teed off at the Connecticut Women's Open, her first tournament as a professional. (She won for the fourth straight time--the first three as an amateur.) Anna Grzebien '07, the 2005 NCAA individual champion, and Jennifer Pandolfi '08 finished the collegiate tournament tied for twenty-first place. "It was nice to win the individual title last year," Grzebien says, "but the team title is what is important. There will be plenty of other tournaments for individual wins. This was for the team." Women's Lacrosse Reaches SemisThe Duke women's lacrosse team came up just shy of advancing to its first national championship game, falling 11-10 to eventual champion Northwestern University in overtime of the national semifinals. The loss ended a year in which the team's success on the field was often overshadowed in the media by the controversy surrounding its men's counterpart. The semifinal contest, in which neither team led by more than two points, turned on a last-minute shot from Caroline Cryer '08. With eighteen seconds left in regulation and the contest tied at ten, Cryer winged a behind-the-back shot at the Northwestern net, missing by inches. Northwestern went on to score one goal in the first of two overtime periods and hold on for the win. The Blue Devils, consistently ranked in the top four over the course of the season--and first for several weeks--finished 18-3 overall, setting a school record for victories. Along the way, they also set school records for goals, assists, and total points. This marked their third trip to the Final Four.
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