Blasberg in 11th; Vanderbilt leads

The Arizona women golfers headed out yesterday knowing they needed a solid round to get themselves back in the drivers seat.

But near-identical results left the Wildcats clawing for help.

Arizona finds itself tied for eighth place after the second round of the Wildcat Invitational, 41 shots back of leader Vanderbilt.

Arizona finished with a 25-over-par 309 yesterday. Combined with a first-round 311, the UA finds itself behind seven teams, including Pacific 10 Conference foes Arizona State and Stanford.

"It's disappointing where we are, because it's our one and only time to play in front of the home fans and on our home golf course," said head coach Greg Allen.

The Wildcats are led by sophomore Erica Blasberg, who finished the second round in 11th place after shooting rounds of 75 and 73.

If those results hold up, Blasberg would find herself in unfamiliar territory: back-to-back tournaments without a top-10 finish.

"Erica played better today," Allen said. "She played great on the back side, but had a roller-coaster round."

The Corona, Calif., native put together some big numbers yesterday, which has boded well for the tourney's host team.

"We're still making big numbers and hitting it places where you don't hit it on this golf course," Allen said. "You make birdies to make up for bogeys, but it's hard to make a bunch of birdies to make up for double and triple (bogeys)."

The only other Wildcat in the top 20 is a junior competing this week as an individual. Mar Garcia, younger sister of PGA star Sergio Garcia, has put together consistent rounds of 76 and 75 that have her in 19th place after day two.

Junior Miriam Krashinski, also competing as an individual, is the only other Arizona golfer in the top 30 after she rebounded from a first-round 80 with a second-round 73.

Sophomore Lani Elston has shot consecutive 77s and finds herself in a tie for 31st. Sophomore Cassandra Kirkland is tied for 40th, freshman Rachel Gavin is tied for 57th and sophomore Whitney Welch is alone in 76th.

Having the home-course advantage seems to be a burden for the Wildcats, as they finished ninth in the tourney last year and, if not careful, could pull a very bitter repeat.

"I know the girls are really disappointed in the way we are playing," Allen said, "but we need to come out tomorrow and redeem ourselves.

"We haven't put together a good round all spring, so we need to come out and play for some pride tomorrow."

Allen says the team needs to continue to stay optimistic even through this mini-slump.

"We've just got to get it going," Allen concluded.