Huskers Head to Colorado for Ron Moore Intercollegiate

Lincoln - The Nebraska women’s golf team hits the road for the first time during its 2007 fall campaign when the Huskers compete at the 18-team Ron Moore Intercollegiate on Monday and Tuesday.

The hosts from the University of Denver have brought in a talented field with a distinct Big 12 flavor to the Highlands Ranch Golf Club. Seven Big 12 teams, including Baylor, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Texas Tech and Nebraska will compete for the tournament title.

The Huskers will attack the 6,518-yard layout of the Hale Irwin-designed Highlands Ranch course beginning with a 9:30 a.m. shotgun start on Monday. NU will play 36 holes on opening day, before wrapping up the tournament with another 9:30 a.m. shotgun start for the final round on Tuesday.

Husker fans around the world can follow the tournament action with live scoring provided by GolfStat.com. A link to GolfStat’s web site will be available on Huskers.com.

Coach Robin Krapfl and the Huskers will hope to improve on their season-opening performance at NU’s Chip-N Club Invitational at Woodland Hills Golf Club, Sept. 10-11. The Huskers finished fourth in an 18-team field with a three-round total of 911. NU trailed the champions from Texas State by 14 strokes, and also finished behind Kansas State (902) and Arkansas-Little Rock (906). The Huskers will get a second crack at defeating the Wildcats and UALR this week in Denver.

Huskers Open Season with Fourth-Place Finish at Chip-N Club
Nebraska opened its 2007-08 season with a fourth-place finish at its annual Chip-N Club Invitational Sept. 10-11. The Huskers played host to the tournament from Woodland Hills Golf Club in Eagle, Neb., for the first time and closed the 54-hole event with a three-round total of 911. Texas State (897) won the team title, while Kansas (902) finished second and Arkansas-Little Rock (906) took third.

Rain slowed the scoring during the tournament’s opening round and carried over into Monday afternoon’s second round, but the skies cleared and the scores fell as the 18-team field hit the halfway point of the tournament.

Nebraska made a charge up the leaderboard on Tuesday, producing the tournament’s best round with a 295. Senior Allison Stewart led the charge by tying her career-best with a one-under-par 70 on the 6,079-yard, par-71 layout at Woodland Hills. Stewart finished as NU’s top individual in the tournament with a career-best three-round total of 223, which was good for a tie for sixth.

Senior Elli Brown and sophomores JC Stevenson and Kate White joined Stewart in the top 20, as all three finished in a tie for 18th place at 230. Junior Megan Place rounded out Nebraska’s top-five in the tournament by tying her career-best 75 on Tuesday to finish in a tie for 34th.

True freshman Mary Kate Bird and redshirt freshmen Rachel Hanigan and Sydney Sturdevant also made their first career collegiate appearances as Huskers.

Four Returning Starters Give Huskers Solid Nucleus in 2007-08
The Nebraska women’s golf team returns four starters, including returning first-team All-Big 12 Conference selection Elli Brown, to its 2007-08 roster after qualifying for NCAA Regional play last season.

The Huskers, who earned a spot in the 24-team NCAA Championship field in 2006, began their pursuit of a bid in college golf’s biggest tournament by playing host to the Chip-N Club Invitational Sept. 10-11 at Woodland Hills Golf Club.

In addition to the talent and experience that four-year starter and All-America candidate Elli Brown brings to the Husker lineup, senior Allison Stewart brings plenty of leadership and experience of her own. A three-time NGCA Scholastic All-American who has been a part-time starter in NU’s lineup the past three seasons, Stewart is a leader on the course, in the classroom and in the community for the Huskers.

Nebraska’s two seniors are joined by a pair of sophomores who earned full-time starting spots as true freshmen in the Husker lineup last season. Kate White, was one of NU’s top performers last season. The native of Waukegan, Ill., enjoyed one of the best freshman seasons in school history a year ago, competing in all 35 rounds and earning Midseason Freshman All-America honors from GolfWorld.

Stevenson, a native of Grand Island, Neb., contributed to Nebraska’s lineup throughout the season, playing in every round.

All-Big 12 Brown Hopes to Chase All-America Honors as Senior
Nebraska senior Elli Brown hopes to make a strong case for All-America honors in her final year as a Husker. A first-team All-Big 12 selection as a junior in 2007, Brown finished third at the Big 12 Championships.

Brown, a four-year starter from Meridian, Idaho, owns 12 career top-10 finishes as a Husker, including eight a year ago, while posting 20 top-25 career finishes at NU. Along with her success on the course, she has also earned first-team All-Big 12 honors in the classroom during her career and is a member of Nebraska’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

"Elli has been solid for us week-in and week-out for three years in our lineup," Krapfl said. "Last year, she took on more of a leadership role on our team as well, so she should be an undeniable leader on this year’s squad."

As a junior, Brown bolted out off the tee box for a blistering start to the fall season. She finished in the top 10 individually in each of Nebraska’s five fall tournaments and earned the conference’s first Big 12 Golfer-of-the-Month award last September.

Stewart to Offer Stabilizing Presence in Husker Lineup
Joining Elli Brown as a leader in 2007-08 will be Allison Stewart. The fifth-year senior from Vermillion, S.D., has been a valuable contributor in Nebraska’s lineup at the Big 12 Championships each of the past three seasons, helping the Huskers qualify for NCAA Regionals each of the last two years.

Stewart came on strong at the end of her junior season and was one of Nebraska’s most reliable golfers down the stretch, which included a 20th-place showing at the Big 12 Championships.

She got her senior season off to an impressive start by tying a career-best with a final-round 70 at the Chip-N Club Invitational on Sept. 11. She finished in a tie for sixth with a career-best 223 in the 100-player field.

Along with her success on the course, Stewart has been a star in the classroom at Nebraska. A three-time NGCA Scholastic All-American, Stewart earned first-team academic All-Big 12 honors last year, and may contend for CoSIDA Academic All-America honors this season.

"Allison has played a major role on our team the last three seasons and we hope she can take her game up a notch this year," Krapfl said. "She has great leadership qualities, is a great teammate, and she is certainly one of the hardest workers on our team. She will help set the tone for our younger players."

White, Stevenson Give Huskers Strong Sophomore Class
Nebraska’s Kate White earned one of six spots on Golf World’s Midseason Freshman All-America team announced in November of 2006.

She won a tournament title at the Bronco Invitational and tied a Nebraska record with an opening-round 67. She posted four rounds below par, and proved herself as one of the Huskers’ most explosive players on the course.

"Kate had an outstanding freshman year, but I know that at the end of the season she wanted to do more to help the team," Krapfl said. "I think she learned a lot about herself and the game last year, and it will make her a more consistent player this year."

White was not the only freshman to make an impact on NU’s lineup last season. JC Stevenson, a native of Grand Island, Neb., filled a spot in Nebraska’s top five through most of the season.

"JC really did some good things for us throughout the year, and put together some big rounds to help us at times," Krapfl said. "Obviously, we will want her to improve her consistency this year, but that is a natural progression for a young golfer to make."

A third sophomore, Charlotte Wendner, also got a taste of college competition last year and will be looking to battle for a lineup spot this year.

Wendner, a native of Bjarred, Sweden, competed in eight rounds but did not play as a member of NU’s lineup. She did show some flashes of a strong game, firing a round of 75 during the season.

"Charlotte has the intangible of length and is just getting a firm grasp of the game," Krapfl said. "She has a lot of potential though, which gives us a lot of reasons to look forward to her future here at Nebraska."

Underclassmen Hope to Make Impact on Husker Lineup
A group of three freshmen, including a pair of redshirts and true freshman Mary Kate Bird hope to challenge for spots in Nebraska’s starting five throughout the 2007-08 season.

All three got their first tastes of college action at Nebraska’s Chip-N Club Invitational, Sept. 10-11. Rachel Hanigan and Sydney Sturdevant both opted for redshirt seasons last year to hone their games and make a smooth transition to NCAA Division I golf.

Hanigan and Sturdevant are also both excellent students, earning spots on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll both semesters of 2006-07.

Along with the two redshirts, Nebraska’s freshman class will be bolstered by Bird.

Although Bird will be the newest Husker, she could be right in the thick of the battle for spots in the Nebraska lineup.

Bird, joins the Huskers as one of the most impressive junior golfers in school history. The Kansas City, Mo., native was ranked No. 76 nationally in the Golfweek Class of 2007 Junior Rankings and was the 2006 Missouri state high school champion.

Huskers Earn NGCA All-Scholar Team Award
Nebraska posted the fifth-highest team grade-point average of any squad in the nation to earn one of 25 NGCA All-Scholar Team honors from the National Golf Coaches Association in July.

Coach Robin Krapfl’s Huskers, who advanced to NCAA Regional play for the second straight season on the course, posted a 3.705 cumulative team GPA during the year. South Alabama, Illinois Wesleyan, Carleton College and the University of Indianapolis were the only other institutions across all divisions to post team GPA’s higher than Nebraska.

Allison Stewart (Vermillion, S.D.) earned a spot on the NGCA All-America Scholar Team after posting a perfect 4.0 GPA during the 2007 spring semester, while true freshmen Kate White (Waukegan, Ill.) and JC Stevenson (Grand Island, Neb.) added spots on the All-America Scholar Team.

It was Stewart’s third consecutive scholastic All-America award from the NGCA, making her the 10th Husker in history to become a three-time NGCA Scholastic All-American.

With Stewart, White and Stevenson all earning spots on the team, it marked the fifth straight season that Nebraska has produced more than one NGCA Scholastic All-American.

To earn a spot on the All-American Scholar Team as an individual, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.50 cumulative GPA and compete in at least 50 percent of her team’s regularly scheduled competitive rounds.