STATE COLLEGE, Pa. –Penn State women’s golfer Katie Futcher (Woodlands, Tex.) is tied for 16th at the NCAA East Regional in Baton Rouge, La. Futcher shot an opening round score of even par 72 to finish only four strokes behind the leader. Meredith Duncan of LSU, Jameica Duncombe of S. Florida and Beth Lever of UNC all shot a score of 68, which was only one off the collegiate record of 68.

No. 12-ranked Florida leads the regional field at 2-under-par 286, while top-ranked Auburn stands one stroke back at 1-under 287.

With her solid first round, Futcher is in contention to make the NCAA Championships. Eight teams and two individuals from each region will advance to the National Championship May 21-24 at Washington National Golf Club in Auburn, Wash.

The second round will begin tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. (ET). Live scoring can be found at www.golfstat.com.

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