Nationally Ranked Rebels To Compete At Tennessee Relays

HottyToddy.com provides readers a roundup of the commentary and information about the Ole Miss Rebels from various publications around the Web.
Readers can check out the latest information in a single post each day throughout the year. Here at HottyToddy.com, we are doing all the leg work to find the information that people want about Ole Miss sports.
Today’s stories come from HottyToddy.com and Ole Miss Sports

---

Nationally Ranked Rebels to Compete at Tennessee Relays

Ole Miss heads into its third week of the outdoor season at the Tennessee Relays in Knoxville, Thursday-Saturday.
The Rebel men are 15th and the women are 18th in this week’s USTFCCCA national rankings. Ole Miss is one of 15 schools (eight in the SEC) with both its men and women in the top 20. The women have their highest outdoor national ranking since they finished 15th in 2008.
Head coach Connie Price-Smith’s squads will encounter fellow ranked teams from Kentucky (No. 2 women), Florida State (No. 10 women), Tennessee (No. 12 women, No. 14 men) and Virginia Tech (No. 15 women, No. 18 men) in Knoxville, as well as teams from Duke, Eastern Michigan, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Illinois, Middle Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio State, Rutgers, Southern Illinois and Vanderbilt.
The heptathlon and decathlon begin Thursday, along with the hammer throw, while all other events will take place Friday and Saturday. A live stream of the meet will be available on the WatchESPN/ESPN3 app from 2-6:40 p.m. CT on Friday and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday.
Head Coach Price-Smith Says:
“Tennessee Relays is a meet that has a great tradition. They just renovated their track, so it’s the first one they’ve had in a couple of years. It should be a good meet with good competition. Hopefully we’ll get a lot of good marks out of it and the weather will be nice.”
Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

---

Freeze Foundation Hosts Palmer Home Children At Spring Practice

Yesterday, the Freeze Foundation welcomed children from the Palmer Home to the Ole Miss campus.
The Christian-based residence has 110 kids living on two campuses, and the organization aims to provide a safe place for children of all ages whose parents are unable to care for them.
The organization’s partnership with the Freeze Foundation began just over a year ago, and they were honored to host them at the athletic facilities for the day.
To read more of this article by Steven Gagliano click here.

---

Flori Finishes Tied for Second at El Tigre Invitational

When Martina Flori ended her blazing 5-under (67) third round, she was tied for the lead at El Tigre Invitational—but the No. 17 golfer in the nation birdied her last hole to swipe the shot at victory away from the Ole Miss sophomore.
It was still a spectacular day for Flori, who finished the tournament at 1-under par (215). The Montecatini Terme, Italy native entered Round 3 tied for 13th and left El Tigre Golf Club with the best finish of her career, a tie for second place.
“Marti was super solid today,” said head coach Kory Henkes. “She hit 17 greens, made clutch putts when she needed to and played with a lot of confidence. She strikes the ball as well, if not better than any player in college golf, so it was great to see her putter get hot this week. We knew she was due for a great round soon, and I think today will be the confidence booster she needed as we head into the conference tournament.”
Eagle Highlights Flori’s 5-Under Day
Flori’s third round started on the ninth hole and quickly picked up steam with a birdie on the 10th. She collected three more birdies on the back nine and was 2-under going into the fourth hole, where a little encouragement from assistant coach Drew Belt set the table for her eagle, the second of the tournament for Ole Miss, and the team’s seventh this season.
“On Hole 4, I was 2-under, and coach Drew told me that if I wanted to win I would have to go for it,” Flori said. “I had a 210-yard shot to the green, and I hit it on the green and made a 15-footer for eagle.”
Next came another birdie on the sixth hole’s signature island green, which moved Flori to 5-under. After two pars to close the day, Flori was in a three-way tie for first, seemingly bound for a playoff. But Cal State Fullerton senior Martina Edberg, ranked No. 17 in the nation by GolfStat, carded a clutch birdie to steal the win.
“It’s disappointing finishing second by one shot, but I played 8-under over my last 27 holes,” Flori said. “I’m very happy with these results, and I’ll keep working hard to get the trophy next time.”
Flori rewrote all of her personal bests: finish (T2), 18-hole low (67) and 54-hole low (215). It marked Ole Miss’ second best finish this season, behind only junior Katy Harris’ 212 to win the Palmetto Intercollegiate in October. Flori’s 67 in Round 3 is the lowest 18-hole score by a Rebel this season.
She finished tied with Washington freshman Ellen Takada—the defending NCAA champion Huskies took home the team title. Flori bested two of GolfStat’s top 100 players: Wisconsin senior Brooke Ferrell (No. 66) and Coastal Carolina junior Malene Krolboll Hansen (No. 89).
Rebel Round-Up
Ole Miss narrowly missed having two top-10 finishers for the first time this season. Freshman Pi-Lillebi Hermansson used an outstanding first round (1-under, 71) to contend for the win in Puerto Vallarta. She finished just one stroke outside of the top 10 in a tie for 12th, the best of her collegiate career and her third top-20 finish.
As a team, the Rebels came through with their best round of the tournament, 6-over par (294) to jump up one spot in the rankings to finish seventh.
The Rebels shaved 15 strokes off their team score from Round 2 to Round 3. Harris and seniors Maria Toennessen and Madisen Bentley all overcame rough a rough Monday to improve in the final round. Harris and Toennessen each improved by six strokes, while Bentley, in the individual slot for Ole Miss, made a nine-stroke improvement.
“It’s always nice to see players bounce back and perform after they had a bad round,” Henkes said. “It shows the determination and grit they have to keep grinding for themselves and their teammates.”
Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

---