Huskers Head to Texas for Big 12 Championships

The Nebraska women’s golf team will battle to extend its season when the Huskers travel to Austin, Texas, for the Big 12 Championships April 22-24.

The 6,323-yard layout at The University of Texas Golf Club will be the site of the 12-team tournament.

The three-round (54 holes) event will begin on Friday, April 22 at 8 a.m. The second round begins on Saturday at 8 a.m., and the third round is set for Sunday at 8 a.m.

Live scoring for the tournament will be available from Golfstat through a link on Huskers.com.

Nebraska has experience playing at The University of Texas Golf Club this season. The Huskers played their second tournament of the spring on the course and led a field that included seven of the nation's top 25 teams after the first round. However, the Huskers struggled in the final two rounds and finished in 13th place.

The Huskers will be trying to improve on their 10th-place showing at the Big 12 Tournament last season. Nebraska may need a strong showing to continue its season with NCAA Regional competition, which is scheduled to begin on May 5.

Nebraska enters the Big 12 Tournament after posting a seventh-place finish at the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic in Norman, Okla., April 10-11. It was NU's second-straight top-seven finish of the spring, after finishing outside of the top 10 in each of its first three spring events.

The Huskers produced three of their best rounds this season at the Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz., March 26-27. NU posted its best round of the season with a 288 in the final round, following rounds of 301 and 299 to post its best tournament score of the year with an 888. The Huskers finished in a tie for sixth in Tucson.

Huskers Finish Seventh at Susie Maxwell Berning Classic
Nebraska settled for a seventh-place finish in a 16-team field at the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic in Norman, Okla., April 10-11. The Huskers managed consistent rounds of 314, 313 and 315 to finish at 942.

Four of the six teams ahead of the Huskers in the final standings were from the Big 12 Conference, including the tournament champions from Missouri, which finish at 889. Baylor finished third at 914, while Texas Tech took fifth at 929. Kansas State added a sixth-place showing, just one stroke ahead of the Huskers at 941. NU did finish 16 strokes ahead of the hosts from Oklahoma, as the Sooners settled for 11th place.

Chrissie McArdle, Merynn Ito and Elli Brown led the Huskers in Norman. McArdle fired back-to-back rounds of 75 in the final two rounds to finish in a tie for 20th at 231. Ito shot consistent rounds of 78, 77 and 78 to finish in a tie for 23rd place, just two strokes behind McArdle at 233.

Brown, a true freshman from Meridian, Idaho, finished just one stroke back of Ito at 234 in a tie for 25th, after firing NU's best round of the tournament with her second-round 74.

Junior Jackie Beste (247) and redshirt freshman Allison Stewart (251) rounded out Nebraska's contingent in Oklahoma.

NU Fires Season-Best Scores at Mountain View Collegiate
The Huskers shot their best round of the season with a third-round 288 to vault five spots and finish in a tie for sixth at the 15-team Mountain View Collegiate on March 27.

Nebraska's even-par team total of 288 was its top round of the year and the second-lowest round by any team in the tournament. It came after producing rounds of 301 and 299 on the tournament's first day, as the Huskers closed the 54-hole tournament with a season-best three-round score of 888 on the 5,982-yard layout at the Mountain View Golf Course in Tucson, Ariz.

"We put up some really good numbers across the board today," Nebraska Coach Robin Krapfl said. "It was certainly encouraging to see everyone on the team put up solid numbers, and hopefully we can build on this the rest of the season."

In a true team effort, two Huskers (Allison Stewart and Elli Brown) produced the best three-round totals of their careers, while a third (Jackie Beste) tied her career best. All five of the Huskers shot 75 or lower in the final round.

Nebraska finished in a tie for sixth place with the hosts from Colorado, picking up nine strokes on the Buffaloes on the final day of competition. The Huskers finished 18 strokes behind the tournament champions from Northwestern.

Husker senior Merynn Ito fired a three-under par 69 in the final round to tie for the second-best round of her career. Ito finished at 217 in a tie for eighth place.

Sophomore Chrissie McArdle added a 73 on the final day to finish in a tie for 23rd at 222, just one stroke shy of her career-best tournament total.

Jackie Beste and Allison Stewart tied for 37th at 226, as Beste matched her career-low set at the 2003 Mountain View Collegiate, while Stewart eclipsed the 229 she fired to open the 2004 fall campaign at NU's Chip-N Club Invitational.

Elli Brown fired an even-par 72 on the final day to finish in a tie for 43rd at 228, surpassing her previous career-best tournament total of 232.

Ito Continues to Improve in Strong Senior Season
Nebraska's lone senior, Merynn Ito has continued to lead the Huskers throughout her final season at NU.

The Aiea, Hawaii, native owns the Huskers' top stroke average this year at 76.28, which is nearly a stroke better than the 77.16 average she produced last season as one of Nebraska's top players.

Not only has Ito shown remarkable consistency by shooting 79 or lower in 25 of her 29 rounds this season, she has also shown the ability to go low.

Ito closed the fall season by tying Nebraska's school record with a 68 in the second round at the Edwin Watts/Palmetto Invitational at Kiawah Island, S.C. Her career-best round was sandwiched between a first-round 74 and a final-round 73 to finish with a career-best 215 to finish in second place at the tournament.

Ito picked up right where she left off at the start of the spring season by firing a three-under par 69 in the opening-round of the Central District Invitational at Parrish, Fla. She added rounds of 77 and 73 to finish at 219 in a tie for sixth place.

She added another strong performance by closing the Mountain View Collegiate with her third round of 69 or less on the season. Ito's third-round 69 followed rounds of 74 and 74 to open the tournament, as she closed with the second-best tournament total of her career at 217.

Ito owns four top-10 tournament finishes this season, including a fourth-place showing at the Chip-N Club Invitational to open the fall season and her eighth-place showing at the Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz., March 26-27. In her four seasons in Nebraska's lineup, Ito owns nine top-10 tournament finishes and 16 top-15 efforts.

McArdle Improves Consistency in Sophomore Season
Sophomore Chrissie McArdle has been one of Nebraska's most consistent performers throughout 2004-05. The Eden Prairie, Minn., native has produced rounds of 79 or better in 23 of her 29 rounds this season and owns five top-20 tournament finishes.

McArdle added her fifth top-20 performance of the season at the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic in Norman, Okla., April 10-11. After a tough opening-round 81, McArdle stormed up the leaderboard in the final two rounds with back-to-back scores of 75 to finish in a tie for 20th as Nebraska's top finisher at the event.

McArdle just missed a top-20 finish at the Mountain View Collegiate March 26-27, but put together one of her best tournaments of the season by finishing at 222 to tie for 23rd. She posted rounds of 73, 76 and 73, as she finished just one stroke shy of her career-best 221.

At the UNLV Spring Invitational, McArdle added an 18th-place performance by managing a 231 by shooting consistent rounds of 78, 76 and 77 over the three-day event.

On the season, McArdle's 77.38 stroke average is more than two strokes better than the 79.60 average she produced as a true freshman for the Huskers last season.

McArdle also fired her top round (71) and best tournament score (221) of her NU career this season at the Edwin Watts/Palmetto Invitational.

Brown, Stewart Give Huskers Solid Freshman Class
Redshirt freshman Allison Stewart and true freshman Elli Brown have earned spots in a youthful Husker lineup this season.

Stewart has been a fixture in NU's starting five throughout the season after opening the year with a third-place performance at Nebraska's Chip-N Club Invitational.

The Vermillion, S.D., native owns an 80.34 stroke average on the year, and produced the best tournament score of her career with a 226 at the Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz., March 26-27. Stewart's effort in Arizona was good for a tie for 37th, marking the second-best tournament finish of her career.

Brown has continued to improve her game throughout her first season in Lincoln and has shown glimpses of greatness.

The Meridian, Idaho, native led a talented tournament field that included the top four players in the national rankings after the first round of the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational on March 11.

Brown fired a career-best 70 in the opening round, but could not hold the lead after the second round. She came back from a tough 88 on the second day to shoot a 74 and finish in 18th place, her second top-20 tournament finish of her young career.

She added her most consistent tournament effort of her career with rounds of 79, 77 and 72 to produce a career-best 228 at the Mountain View Collegiate.

Following her performance in Tucson, Brown added another strong showing in the Huskers' regular-season finale at the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic in Norman, Okla., April 10-11.

Brown finished in a tie for 25th as NU's No. 3 finisher at the event. Her second-round 74 was the Huskers' top round of the tournament, and was sandwiched between an opening-round 79 and a final round 81 to finish at 234.

Brown has lowered her season stroke average to 79.42, which ranks third on the team.

Coach Krapfl Molding Young Husker Lineup
Nebraska Coach Robin Krapfl is in her 18th season at the helm for the Huskers and is guiding one of her youngest NU lineups this season.

The Huskers list only one senior in their lineup with Merynn Ito providing Nebraska with leadership on the course this season. Junior Jackie Beste joins Ito as the only other upperclassman in NU's lineup at the Big 12 Championships.

Sophomore Chrissie McArdle has been a regular in the Husker lineup throughout the season, along with freshmen Elli Brown and Allison Stewart.

Sophomore Andrea Dunagan and juniors Chelsea Gehring and Sara Sackett have also seen time in the Husker lineup during the season.

Overall, the Huskers will return seven of their top eight golfers next season, along with redshirting senior Stephanie Ruiz.