Wake Forest's Herr, Notre Dame's DiLisio come on strong at Bryan National

   It wasn’t that long ago that Erica Herr was winning back-to-back PIAA Class AAA individual titles at Council Rock North in 2011 and 2012 and Isabella DiLisio was denying Herr a third straight state title by claiming the crown in 2013 at Mount St. Joseph.

   This spring Herr and DiLisio are helping their college teams, Wake Forest in Herr’s case and Notre Dame  for DiLisio, make big strides for a couple of improving programs.

   While many of the top teams in college golf were duking it out at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic at the University of Georgia last weekend, a pretty strong field gathered in Browns Summit, N.C. for the Bryan National Collegiate at the Bryan Park Champions Course.

   Herr, a sophomore, helped the Demon Deacons, rated 45th by Golfstat in rankings released since last weekend’s action, post a solid fourth-place finish as the weather conditions deteriorated as the weekend wore on. And DiLisio, a freshman, helped the Fighting Irish, 38^th in the new Golfstat rankings, finish in a tie for fifth, eight shots back of Wake Forest.

   Virginia, 18^th in the new Golfstat rankings, posted a 1-over 289 in the relatively docile conditions the first day and added rounds of 295 and 304 to claim the title at 24-over 888. It’s the second straight win and third in four years for the Cavaliers at the Bryan.

   The Cavaliers were led by two of their seniors, Lauren Coughlin of Chesapeake, Va. and Elizabeth Szokol of Winnetka, Ill., both of whom finished tied for fifth in the individual standings at 6-over 222. Both were particularly strong in the opening round when the Cavaliers built a lead they would never surrender with Coughlin matching par with a 72 and Szokol posting a 1-under 71.

   Virginia finished six shots clear of South Carolina, 21^st in the new Golfstat rankings. The Gamecocks had rounds of 297, 299 and 298 -- the only final round under 300 -- for an 894 total. South Carolina was led by the individual champion, Sarah Schmelzel, a senior from Phoenix, Ariz. who had rounds of 73, 71 and 75 for a 3-over 219 total over the 6,386-yard, par-72 Bryan Park Champions Course layout.

   South Carolina also got a strong showing from Katelyn Dambaugh, a junior from Goose Creek, S.C. who first surfaced on the national scene when she was the runnerup at the 2010 U.S. Girls’ Junior. Dambaugh had rounds of 75, 76 and a borderline spectacular 2-under 70 in the final round and was one of three players tied for second, two shots back of Schmelzel at 5-over 221.

   Florida State, 20^th in the new Golfstat rankings, had rounds of 299, 290 and 307 to finish alone in third place at 896. The Seminoles were led by Matilda Castren, a junior from Finland who was another of the three players tied for second at 221. After a pair of 1-under 71s, Castren fell back with a final-round 79.

   Then came the third ACC school in the top four, Wake Forest, which was led by the third member of that trio tied for second at 221, Jennifer Kupcho, a freshman from Littleton, Colo. Kupcho had rounds of 72, 73 and 76.

   Herr was the second-highest finisher for Wake Forest, finishing in a tie for 15th with solid rounds of 77, 74 and 75 for a 226 total.

   Notre Dame got a top-10 performance from its rock-solid senior Talia Campbell of Dallas, who went 74, 75 and 75 to finish tied for eighth at 224. She led the Fighting Irish to rounds of 297, 303 and 309 and a share of fifth place with Kentucky (306-293-310) at 909.

   Maddie Rose Hamilton (77-75-76), a freshman from Louisville, Ky., finished tied for 26^th at 228. Then came DiLisio, who typically bounced backed from the roughest outing of an otherwise strong freshman season at the LSU Tiger Classic. DiLisio opened with a 1-over 73 before falling back with rounds of 77 and 80 to finish in a tie for 34^th at 230.

   Rounding out the Notre Dame contingent were Jordan Ferreira (73-77-82), a junior from University Place, Wash., and Emma Albrecht (78-76-78), a freshman from Ormond Beach, Fla., both of whom finished tied for 42^nd at 232.

   Herr and DiLisio probably ran into some of their old rivals from the Pennsylvania scholastic scene as Penn State, 92^nd in the new Golfstat rankings, also teed it up at the Bryan and finished 13^th in the 15-team field. The Nittany Lions had rounds of 319, 315 and 312.

   Penn State was led by Halley Morell, a senior from Brecksville, Ohio who ripped off three straight 78s to finish tied for 47^th at 234.

   After that came Denise St. Pierre’s three freshmen who have been among her top scorers all season. Jackie Rogowicz, who was a two-time District One champion and a two-time PIAA runnerup at Pennsbury, finished alone in 50^th place with rounds of 81, 80 and a hard-fought 2-over 74 in the final round for a 235 total.

   Cara Basso, who won the PIAA Class AA title as a sophomore at Villa Maria Academy, had three straight 79s to finish tied for 56^th at 237. And Lauren Waller, who lost to Radnor’s Brynn Walker in a playoff for the 2014 PIAA Class AAA title as a senior at Canon-McMillan, had rounds of 81, 78 and 81 to finish tied for 62^nd at 240.

   Rounding out the Penn State contingent was Ariana Coyle Diez, a sophomore from Ireland who had rounds of 82, 81 and 81 to finish tied for 68^th at 244.