DeLand, Fla. ? Junior Danielle Jackson (Seminole, Fla.) won the individual title to lead the Stetson women's golf team to a successful defense of its Holiday Inn Express Hatter Fall Classic championship on Tuesday at Victoria Hills Country Club.  Freshman Lauren Cate (St. Augustine, Fla.) finished second and junior Lauren Darnell (Gainesville, Ga.) tied for fourth place.

Jackson closed out the tourney with the round of the day, a one under par 71 in chilly, overcast conditions that brought her home at +4 for the tournament, three shots better than Cate, who fired a 73.  Darnell shot 76 in the final round and tied for fourth place at +12.  Senior Christine Fraser (Kingston, Ont.) came in with a 78 and tied for eighth place at 15 over par while freshman Jen Gartin (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) rounded out the Hatter contingent at +20 in 17^th position.

Stetson also fielded a “B” team at the tournament, which finished eighth of nine entrants.  Sophomore Alex Banham (Birmingham, England) and senior Ashley Kozlowski (Windsor, Conn.) shot dueling 81s on Tuesday to lead the second squad.  Banham tied for 27^th place at 26 over par while Kozlowski finished 29^th one stroke behind her.  Freshman TJ Adipietro (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) placed 36^th at +34 and sophomore Lauren Eliopoulos (Akron, Ohio) came through with her second consecutive 82 (a career best) in the final round to place 40^th at 38 over par.  Junior Selina Murallo (Quaker Hill, Conn.) came in 41^st place at +43.  Junior Sonja Seng (Orlando, Fla.) competed as an individual and tied for 37^th place overall at +36.

The Hatters blew away the field, finishing with a 31 over par 895 total, 25 strokes ahead of runner-up Daytona State College and its third place individual Melissa Magdor.  USC Upstate placed a distant third at +76 while Florida Atlantic and Bethune-Cookman finished in a fourth place tie at 78 over par.  Following them was Mercer (+84), Jacksonville (+99), Stetson “B” (+121) and South Carolina State (+174).

This tournament marked Stetson's second straight Hatter Fall Classic crown as well as the end of the 2008 fall season, a very successful campaign that saw the team win two tournaments, place fourth in another and finish in the top 10 all five outings.  The spring campaign begins February 23 at the Jacksonville Invitational.  Victoria Hills Country Club will also be the site of the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships April 13-15, 2009 as the Hatters look to use the home-course advantage just as well as this week.