GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The East Carolina women's golf team concluded the 2004-05 season with a 17th place finish at the 2005 NCAA East Regional Championships Saturday afternoon in Gainesville, Fla. The regional was being played at the par-70, 6,023-yard University of Florida Golf Course.

The Pirates (89-73-3) recorded a final round score of 315 (929) to finish 29 strokes off the eighth place qualifying mark to advance to the NCAA Championships.

Senior Adrienne Millican wrapped up her stellar career at ECU with a six-over par final round 76 to finish tied for 38th with a 54-hole total of 227. Junior Heidi Helliesen (228) finished one-stroke behind Millican in a tie for 47th while Emelie Lind (232) finished tied for 67th.

"This is a really tough golf course and we struggled today," said Head Golf Coach Kevin Williams. "I'm real proud of what this team has accomplished this season. There were a lot of question marks as the year started with us losing three starters from last year and our initial recruiting class. This team set the goal of making the NCAA Championships and we came up short this season. I think we just peaked a little to early heading into the Conference USA Championships and this event.

"I'm sad to see Adrienne end her career at ECU today. She has meant so much to our program and ECU. I think she is the best golfer, male or female, to have ever played at East Carolina and she will be sorely missed."

Ohio State University maintained its place in the final round to take the top team honors by six-strokes over Duke. Duke's Anna Grzebien fired a three-under par and tournament low score of 67 in the final round to claim the individual medalist honor with a final total score of one-under par 209.

As the wire-to-wire leader of the field, Ohio State used its experience in two-day tournament set-ups to defeat the nation's top team. The Buckeyes had played 36 holes on the opening day of a tournament five times this season, and it proved to be the difference.

Finishing as the only golfer under par, Grzebien used a steady attack on the course in the final round to secure the individual win. The Duke sophomore pared the first eight holes before earning her first birdie of the round on the ninth-hole. Recording only one bogey on the day, she finished strong by earning birdies on holes 13, 16 and 17.

Joining the Buckeyes and Blue Devils in the team competition at the NCAA Women's Golf Championship on the Meadows Course at the Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Oregon will be Furman, Pepperdine, Virginia, Tulane, Florida and Washington.

Qualifying for the NCAA Championships as individuals were Vanderbilt's Kristen Svicarovich and Jenna Pearson from the University of South Carolina.

The 2005 Women's Division I NCAA Golf Championships will be played May 18-21 at the Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Oregon.

Top Pirate Finishes
T38. Adrienne Millican 76-75-76=227
T47. Heidi Helliesen 75-75-78=228
T67. Emelie Lind 77-75-80=232
T95. Jessica Hauser 81-81-81=243
T101. Michelle Williams 81-80-88=249

Top Individual Finishes
1. Anna Grzebien (Duke) 73-69-67=209
T2. Jenny Suh (Furman) 69-69-72=210
T2. Leah Wigger (UVA) 70-67-73=210
4. Alison Walshe (Tulane) 70-73-69=212
T5. Brittany Lang (Duke) 74-68-71=213
T5. Carolina Llano (Pepperdine) 70-72-71=213

Top Team Finishes
1. Ohio State 285-280-291=856
2. Duke 292-283-287=862
3. Furman 291-293-287=871
4. Pepperdine 294-291-289=874
5. University of Virginia 292-297-292=861