ANOTHER ONE NEAR THE TOP,
BURGNER FINISHES SECOND AT DIVISION II NATIONAL TOURNAMENT

Complete Final Standings

HOUSTON, TEXAS - Another one is in the books. Heather Burgner wrapped up play in the NCAA Division II national tournament on Friday with a final score of three-over par 291, earning a runner-up finish and two spots in the Florida Southern record book in the process.

Playing as an individual qualifier, Burgner finished four strokes behind medalist Joanna Coe of Rollins, who helped the Tars win the 2008 Division II national championship with a seven-stroke victory over Nova Southeastern. After leading at the end of the first two rounds, Burgner slipped to second on Thursday with a 75 while Coe shot a four-under par 68. In Friday's final round, Burgner had a 73 and Coe a 74, with Burgner also widening her lead over the rest of the field.

Burgner's final score of three-over par 291 was the best ever for a Moccasin golfer in the national tournament - and there have been a lot of them. It was two strokes better than the score Pamela Feggans had in 2005, while also finishing as the national runner-up. No other Moccasin has ever been better than five-over at the end of national play, not even the six medalist winners Florida Southern has had.

The three-over par was not a postseason record for the Mocs, however. That still belongs to Feggans, who shot a two-over par 218 in the 2005 regional tournament which again resulted in a second-place finish.

It was a strong finish to a strong season for Burgner, a junior from Lakeland who was honored as a First Team All-American earlier in the week. The 291 at the national tournament allowed her to finish the year with a 74.80 stroke average, setting another school record. It broke the old mark set by Lindsey Bergeon two years ago by .01, or the equivalent of a single stroke. It meant Burgner got the record when she birdied her final hole of the final round.

Burgner finished in the top ten in all but one of her 11 tournaments this year and was in the top five in eight of them. That included runner-up finishes at both the regional and national tournaments. She became the seventh Moccasin to place second at nationals, to go along with six individual national champions.

Just one stroke ahead of Nova's Taylor Collins to start the day, Burgner settled down after a couple of early bogeys and played the back nine at one-under. With a much later tee time, Collins never seriously threatened and slipped further and further behind with three bogeys on the front nine before picking up five more on the back after Burgner's day was complete.

Cristina Gugler of Rollins ended up third instead, but was still five shots behind Burgner. Gugler had closed the gap significantly  with birdies on #1 and #5, but an eight on the par-four #6 hole effectively took her out of the running for second and bogeys on nine and 10 likely sealed Burgner's standing.