Huskers Heat Up At Highlands Ranch

Highlands Ranch, Colo. - The Nebraska women's golf team rebounded from Monday's cold start to heat up with a second-round 299 to move up to sixth in the 13-team field at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate on Tuesday.

Nebraska's second-round score on the par-72, 6,483-yard layout at the Highlands Ranch Golf Club was 21 strokes better than the Huskers' opening-round team total of 320, which came in cold and rainy conditions in Colorado. Nebraska's 299 matched the third-best round of the day in the field, trailing only the hosts from Denver (287) and Illinois (296).

"Obviously we're happier with our performance today, but we still left some shots out on the course, so we are going to come out and try to keep improving tomorrow," Nebraska Coach Robin Krapfl said. "Our focus was much better today and I think that showed some good character and resiliency on our part."

Senior JC Stevenson led the Huskers with a one-over-par 73 to climb to 14th in the individual standings at 153 through 36 holes. Sophomore Natalie Gleadall added a 74 to move into a tie for 15th at 154. Mary Kate Bird added a second-round 76 to give the Huskers three golfers in the top 20 at 155. Sophomore Maddie Sheils pitched in a 76 of her own to vault into a tie for 37th at 159.

True freshman Erin Sharpee managed an 80 to head into Wednesday's final round at 161 in a tie for 46th.

Denver, which entered the tournament ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation, produced the best round of the tournament with a one-under-par 287 on its home course to take control of the team race. The Pioneers head into the final round at 585 with a 13-stroke lead over second-place Baylor (598), while UC Davis sits in third at 599.

Illinois made a move up the leaderboard on Tuesday by posting the second-best round of the day with a 296 to close at 608, while Iowa State sits eight strokes in front of the Huskers in fifth place at 611.

In the individual race, Denver's Stephanie Sherlock scorched the course for a three-under-par 69 on Tuesday to climb into a tie with Baylor's Hannah Burke atop the leaderboard at 143. Denver's Kimberly Kim and UC Davis' Alice Kim are tied for third at 145.

The Huskers will hit the course for the final round of the Ron Moore Intercollegiate with a shotgun start on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. Live scoring for the tournament is available from GolfStat.com.

Ron Moore Intercollegiate
Host: Denver
Highlands Ranch Golf Club
Par 72, 6,483 Yards
Sept. 21-23, 2009

Team Standings (Second Round)
1. Denver - 298-287-585
2. Baylor - 299-299-598
3. UC Davis - 300-299-599
4. Illinois - 312-296-608
5. Iowa State - 310-301-611
6. Nebraska - 320-299-619
7. North Texas - 308-317-625
8. Wyoming - 320-316-636
9. Columbia - 322-315-637
10. New Mexico State - 322-317-639
11. Montana State - 338-307-645
T12. UALR - 331-326-657
T12. Northern Colorado - 341-316-357

Individual Leaderboard (Second Round)
T1. Stephanie Sherlock, Denver - 74-69-143
T1. Hannah Burke, Baylor - 72-71-143
T3 Alice Kim, UC Davis - 71-74-145
T3. Kimberly Kim, Denver - 74-71-145
T5. Chelsea Stelzmiller, UC Davis - 73-76-149
T5. Pennapa Pulsawath, Iowa State - 75-74-149
T5. Kaitlyn Wampler, Illinois - 77-72-149
T5. Lene Hafsten-Morch, Baylor - 73-76-149
T9. Sue Kim, Denver - 74-76-150
T9. Victoria Stefansen, Iowa State - 78-72-150

Nebraska Individuals
14. JC Stevenson - 80-73-153
T15. Natalie Gleadall - 80-74-154
T20. Mary Kate Bird - 79-76-155
T37. Maddie Sheils - 83-76-159
T46. Erin Sharpee - 81-80-161
T62. Rachel Hanigan (I) - 82-86-168

(I) - playing as an individual outside of Nebraska's lineup