Jodi Ewart improves but Ellie Givens

falls back in NCAA Div 1 championship

Yorkshire Curtis Cup player Jodi Ewart (New Mexico) improved to a share of 28th place with a 73 for 151 but another English player, Ellie Givens (Denver), girls champion in 2007, from Darlington fell back for joint seventh place to joint 48th place after an 80 for 153 in the NCAA Division 1 women's championship at Caves Valley Golf Club, Maryland.
South American Maria Jose Uribe (UCLA) leads the field by two shots at the halfway stage after a brilliant six-under-par second round of 66 over the 6,443yd, par-72 course.
She is on 141 - two shots ahead of Nannette Hill (Wake Forest), Stephanie Sherlock (Denver) and Lisa McCloskey (Pepperdine).
UCLA also lead the team event by seven shots from Southern California.
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2 x 72) 6443yd
141 Maria Jose Uribe (UCLA) 75 66,
143 Nannette Hill (Wake Forest) 72 71, Stephanie Sherlock (Denver) 70 73, Lisa McCloskey (Pepperdine) 74 69.
145 Jennifer Song (Southern California) 72 73.
Selected scores:
148 Amanda Blumenherst (Duke) 75 73 (jt 14th).
149 Azahara Munoz (Arizona State) 78 71 (jt 16th).
150 Carlota Ciganda (Arizona State) 74 76, Belen Mozo (Southern California) 78 72 (jt 20th).
151 Jodi Ewart (New Mexico 78 73 (jt 28th).
153 Ellie Givens (Denver) 73 80 (jt 48th).
154 Caroline Hedwall (Oklahoma State) 76 78, Jacqueline Hedwall (Louisiana State) 74 80 (jt 65th).
161 Sarah Faller (Denver) 80 81 (jt 101st).
174 Gemma Webster (Ohio State) 87 87 (jt 125th).
LEADING TEAMS
589 UCLA. 596 Southern California. 598 Denver. 600 Arizona State, Oklahoma State, North Carolina.

REPORT IN US MEDIA

UCLA's Maria Jose Uribe shot a 6-under 66 to take a two-stroke lead in the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships and help the Bruins open a stroke-shot advantage in the team competition.
Uribe, the Colombian star who won the 2007 US Women's Amateur, had a 3-under 141 total on the Caves Valley course. Wake Forest's Nanette Hill (71), Denver's Stephanie Sherlock (73) and Pepperdine's Lisa McCloskey (69) were 1 under with two rounds left.
``It's a pretty tough course,'' Uribe said. ``If you're not in the fairway, it's going to be tough. If you have a good round, numbers like 66 and 67 are very reachable. I love to play courses like this.''
UCLA topped the team standing at 13 over. Southern California was second at 20 over, followed by Denver (22 over), and Arizona State, Oklahoma State and North Carolina at 24 over.