Tucson, Ariz. ?For the first time in the 2004 spring season, the Nebraska women’s golf team placed in the top-10, finishing in sixth place with a three-round score of 909 at the Mountain View Collegiate on Sunday. The Huskers have finished in the top-10 seven out of 10 times in the 2003-04 season.
"We continued to hit the ball more," Head Coach Robin Krapfl said. "We made a lot of progress this weekend."
Senior Stephanie Schaefer (Columbus, Neb.) and Jackie Beste (Sauke Centre, Minn.) tied for 21st place to lead the Huskers. Beste improved her top performance of the season by a stroke with her three-round total of 226 (78-73-75).
"Jackie played good," said Krapfl. "She had a real solid tournament."
Sophomore Sara Sackett (Cambridge, Neb.) broke two personal-best records, including a season-low of 74 in round two and a two stroke drop in her top performance of the season for a three-round total of 231 (77-74-80).
Despite battling the elements in round three, the Huskers shot a 309 on Sunday, their third lowest round of the spring. Nebraska’s best round for the spring season prior to the Mountain View Collegiate was 306 in the first round of the Central District Invitational, on Feb. 23-24.
"It was real tough with the wind, today," said Krapfl. "They were not used to this type of wind. It was blowing in from a direction that made the long holes really long holes."
On Saturday, Nebraska set a new season low record of 293 in the second round to surpass the team’s previous record of 297, set at the Chip-N Club Invitational last fall.
Junior Merynn Ito (Aiea, Hawaii) placed 28th (78-73-77-228), her best finish this spring. Freshman Chrissie McArdle (Eden Prairie, Minn.) finished in 46th place (76-76-80), cutting her finish of 82nd almost in half from the Spartan Invitational.
Taking the tournament title was Denver with a three-round score of 894. The Pioneers finished fifteen strokes ahead of Nebraska and eight strokes away from second place finishers Iowa State and Colorado State (902). The individual tournament title went to Kim Welch of Washington State, who finished with a three-round score of two-under par-214.
The Huskers will have four weeks off to continue improving their games before the next tournament.
"We just need to keep the positive work going that we accomplished here and bring it to the Big 12 Championships" said Krapfl.
Nebraska will compete at the Big 12 Championships in College Station, Texas, on Friday-Sunday, April 23-25. A shotgun start of 8 a.m. is scheduled.
Mountain View Collegiate, Tucson, Ariz.
Mountain View Golf Course, 5,892 yards - Par 72
Team Scores (First-Second-Third-Rounds)
1. Denver (296-292-306-894)
2. Iowa State (297-296-309-902)
Colorado State (308-292-302-902)
4. Int’l Pacific College (300-305-301-906)
San Diego State (296-299-311-906)
6. Nebraska (307-293-309-909)
7. Kansas (297-302-311-910)
Washington State (298-301-311-910)
9. Portland State (295-300-318-913)
10. Idaho (301-306-308-915)
11. Kansas State (307-301-311-919)
12. Boise State (306-296-320-922)
13. Hawaii (307-296-322-925)
14. Colorado (303-310-314-927)
15. Louisville (306-314-312-932)
16. Northern Arizona (310-305-319-934)
17. Arizona (318-296-337-951)
Nebraska Individuals (First-Second-Third-Rounds)
T21. Stephanie Schaefer (76-73-77-226)
T21. Jackie Beste (78-73-75-226)
T28. Merynn Ito (78-73-77-228)
T42. Sara Sackett (77-74-80-231)
T46. Chrissie McArdle (76-76-80-232)
Top Five Individual Finishers (First-Second-Third-Rounds)
1. Kim Welch, Washington State (70-71-73-214)
2. Emily Hoeper, Denver (74-72-71-217)
Jenna Wilson, SDSU (72-71-74-217)
4. Cassie Castleman, Idaho (71-73-75-219)
5. Christine Boucher, Kansas State (73-75-72-220)
Kristen Campos, Colorado State (76-69-75-220)