Huskers Climb at Kiawah Island

Kiawah Island, S.C. - Mary Kate Bird fired a one-over-par 73 to lead the Nebraska's women's golf team charge up the leaderboard at the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate on Monday.

Bird, a senior from Kansas City, Mo., vaulted into the top 10 in the individual standings after her strong showing on Monday. She jumped 16 spots after entering the second round in a tie for 24th and heads into Tuesday's final round in a tie for eighth.

"It is great to have Mary Kate back in our lineup," Nebraska Coach Robin Krapfl said. "She is really doing some great things. She had 14 pars and three birdies today. The exciting thing is that she still left some shots out on the course. We are seeing some really good things from everybody, especially for it being this early in the spring."

Bird's impressive round included a 33 on the back nine to help Nebraska jump five spots in the team standings from a tie for 12th after the first 18 holes into a tie for seventh heading into tomorrow's final round.

Nebraska closed the day with a 302 despite windy conditions on the 5,907-yard, par-72 layout of the Oak Point Golf Course, five strokes better than Sunday's opening-round 307. NU heads into Tuesday's final round on the 6,001-yard Cougar Point Golf Course with a 609. The Huskers are tied with Central Arkansas in seventh, while trailing Akron by just one stroke. The hosts from the College of Charleston are just five shots in front of NU at 604.

Miami extended its lead on the field with a second-round 297 to close the first 36 holes at 593. The Hurricanes are seven strokes ahead of second-place Campbell at 600. Florida International and Western Carolina are tied for third at 601.

Junior Madeleine Sheils also made a major move up the individual leaderboard on Monday, firing a second-round 75 to climb 31 spots from a tie for 68th into a tie for 37th in the 172-player field.

Fellow junior Katie Keiser added a 29-spot move up the standings with a 76. She is joined in a tie for 84th with junior Kayla Knopik at 159 through 36 holes.

Freshman Steffi Neisen also moved up seven spots into a tie for 61st after managing her second straight round of 78. She enters the final round at 156.

Freshman Katelyn Wright settled for a second-round 80 to enter the final round in a tie for 100th at 161, while playing as an individual outside of the NU lineup. Fellow freshman Remylee Molyneux also competed as an individual for the Huskers, but was injured during the round. She finished the round with a 92, but her status for Tuesday's final round is uncertain because of the injury.

The Huskers will conclude the tournament with a shotgun start on the Cougar Point Golf Course on Tuesday at 7:45 a.m. NU will be grouped with top 18 teams in the tournament. Live scoring is available at GolfStat.com.