Huskers Complete Spring Break Trip in Arizona

The Nebraska women's golf team will play its second of two spring break tournaments when it opens play at the Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz., March 25-26. The Huskers, who competed at the BYU Entrada Classic in St. George, Utah, March 21-22, will compete in an 18-team field that is loaded with Big 12 and Big Ten teams at the Mountain View Country Club.

Nebraska, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas Tech join the hosts from Colorado in a nine-team Big 12 contingent in Tucson.The tournament may serve as a preview of sorts for the Big 12 Championships, April 22-24, in Columbia, Mo., but with a little Big Ten flavor with Indiana and Minnesota in the field.

Nebraska won the tournament in 2007 with a tournament-record three-round score of 866. This year's tournament includes each of the past five teams champions (Kansas-2006, Indiana-2008, San Jose State-2009 and Colorado State-2010).

The teams will tee off on Friday at 9:30 a.m. (central) on the 6,227-yard, par-72 layout of the Mountain View Country Club. The tournament will consist of 36 holes on Friday with a final round on Saturday. Live scoring is available on GolfStat.com.

Nebraska opened its spring break road trip with a tie for eighth in a 15-team field at the BYU Entrada Classic.

Senior Mary Kate Bird and juniors Madeleine Sheils and Kayla Knopik all produced top-30 individual finishes to lead the Huskers in Utah. Sheils, a Boise, Idaho, native tied for 10th to notch her second top-10 finish of the season. Bird added a tie for 26th to register her third straight top-30 showing to open the spring, while Knopik tied for 30th.

Mountain View Collegiate
Location: Tucson, Ariz.
Course: Mountain View Country Club (Par-72/Yardage-6,227)

Tee Times (Shotgun, Central)
Friday, March 25 (36) - 9:30 a.m.
Saturday, March 26 (18) - 9:30 a.m.

Nebraska Lineup
1. Mary Kate Bird
2. Madeleine Sheils
3. Steffi Neisen
4. Kayla Knopik
5. Katelyn Wright

Nebraska Individuals
Katie Keiser

Mountain View Collegiate Field (18 Teams): Arkansas, Baylor, Colorado, Colorado State, Gonzaga, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon State, San Jose State, Texas State, Texas Tech, Wyoming

Live Scoring: Golfstat.com

Sheils' Top 10 Finish Leads Huskers at BYU Entrada Classic
Madeleine Sheils fired a final-round 75 to record her second top-10 finish of the year to help Nebraska to a tie for eighth (932) at the BYU Entrada Classic Tuesday.

Sheils finished in a five-way tie for 10th at 229 (73-81-75) to lead a Husker trio that included Mary Kate Bird and Kayla Knopik, who all finished in the top 30 of an 82-player field on the par-72, 6,073-yard layout at Snow Canyon.

Bird, a senior from Kansas City, Mo., added a final-round 78 to tie for 26th at 234 (76-80-78). Knopik, a junior from Papillion, Neb., fired NU's best round of the day with a 73 to finish one shot back of Bird in a tie for 30th at 235 (83-79-73).

Nebraska managed a final-round 303 on Tuesday, which was the Huskers' best round of the 54-hole event. Wisconsin won the tournament with a three-round total of 914, five strokes ahead of runner-up Oklahoma State (919), which also shot a 303 on Tuesday. Texas State finished third at 921. NU finished at 932.

Freshman Steffi Neisen added a tie for 39th (238), while fellow freshman Katelyn Wright added a tie for 48th at 241. Junior Katie Keiser just missed a top 50 finish by closing at 243, while playing as an individual outside the Nebraska lineup.

New Mexico State's Demi Mak won the individual title by four strokes with a three-round total of 218 (two-over-par), including a final-round 70. Hailey Koschmann from Illinois finished second at 222, while BYU's Kelsey Vines took third at 223.

Bird Flying High in Early Spring Tournaments
Nebraska senior Mary Kate Bird has returned from an illness that kept her out of NU's final three fall tournaments to lead the Huskers during the spring. Bird owns a trio of top-30 finishes this spring.

Bird's spring stroke average of 75.22 has helped trim her team-leading stroke average to 76.21 on the season. Overall, Bird has finished in the top 26 at each of her last four tournaments on the season.

Bird, Sheils Return to Lead New Look Huskers
Nebraska's lone senior Mary Kate Bird returned to lead a young and relatively inexperienced Husker women's golf team into the 2010-11 season.

Bird, a three-year letterwinner from Kansas City, Mo., has competed in 81 rounds in the NU lineup and owns 13 career top-25 finishes, including a runner-up finish at the 2008 Chip-N Club Invite.

Bird is joined in a leadership role by junior Madeleine Sheils. Nebraska's top finisher at the 2010 Big 12 Championships, Sheils just missed All-Big 12 honors with her 11th-place showing. The Boise, Idaho, native's performance and confidence peaked at the end of a strong sophomore season.

Last year, Sheils competed in 31 rounds and posted a strong 76.35 stroke average, nearly seven strokes better than her rookie campaign in 2008-09. Her 76.35 represented the third-best stroke average by a sophomore in school history.

As a junior, Sheils looks for continued improvement on the course. The two-time NGCA Scholastic All-American will also continue her excellence in the classroom.

While Bird leads NU with a 76.21 stroke average this season, Sheils is right behind her at 76.26 while competing in all 23 rounds in the NU lineup.

Knopik Continuing Climb in 2010-11
Nebraska native Kayla Knopik enjoyed a breakout 2010 spring season that concluded with her tie for 39th at the Big 12 Championships.

The junior from Papillion, Neb., is in her fourth season in the Nebraska women's golf program in 2010-11, after earning a spot in NU's starting five late last spring.

Knopik, who has continued to improve each season at Nebraska, made the most of her opportunity last season by notching a 78.22 stroke average over 18 rounds. Her average represented a 4.61-stroke per round improvement over her redshirt freshman campaign in 2008-09, when she played just six rounds.

She produced a career-best tie for 14th at the 2010 BYU Entrada Classic with a season-best three-round score of 230. After a solid summer that included a fifth-place finish at the Nebraska State Stroke Play Championship and a third-place showing at the Eastern Stroke Play, Knopik has shown continued improvement.

Knopik owns NU's No. 4 stroke average with a 77.65 this season, as she continues to shave strokes off her game. She produced the best three-round tournament score of her career with a 227 that included a career-best 72 in the final round of the UNLV Spring Invitational. Earlier this week, Knopik tied for 30th at the 2011 BYU Entrada Classic. Knopik has played all 23 rounds in the NU lineup this season.

Transfer Keiser Making Impact in Home State
Katie Keiser is making an impact on Nebraska's lineup after transferring from Winthrop before the start of the 2010-11 season. The Gothenburg, Neb., native spent her first two collegiate seasons at Winthrop University before joining the Huskers in the summer of 2010. She showed her abilities during the summer by finishing as the runner-up at the 2010 Nebraska State Stroke Play Championship on her home course in Gothenburg. Keiser (230) finished three shots back of former Husker JC Stevenson (227) in the 54-hole event. Current Husker teammate Kayla Knopik (239) added a fifth-place finish.

Keiser has earned a lineup spot in four tournaments this season, including the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate and the UNLV Spring Invitational.

She closed the fall with the best tournament of her career at the Alamo Invite. Keiser erased 17 strokes off her previous career-best (247) with a three-round total of 230. She also fired a career-best 72 in the second round while tying for 38th.

Freshmen Plan to Lay Foundation for the Future
Steffi Neisen, a newcomer from New Prague, Minn., has made the quickest impact on the Husker program. A four-time top-seven finisher in the state of Minnesota's largest class of high school golf (AAA), Neisen has earned a spot in Nebraska's top five in all 23 rounds this season and carries NU's No. 3 stroke average (77.48).

A six-year varsity player at New Prague High School, Neisen was a five-time Missota Conference Player of the Year (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010), and a six-time all-conference selection.

Neisen posted NU's top finish with a tie for 29th (76-79-155) at the Chip-N Club Invite, before tying for 15th (75-74-81-230) at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invite. She settled for a tie for 64th (238) at the Johnie Imes Invitational, before rebounding for a tie for ninth with a career-best 223 at the Dale McNamara Invitational. She added a tie for 51st (233) at the Alamo Invite to close the fall, before opening the spring with a tie for 46th (231) at the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate.

After a rough start at the UNLV Spring Invitational when she posted an 83 in the opening round, Neisen bounced back with a pair of strong rounds that included a career-best matching 73 in the final round. She tied for 39th (238) and the BYU Entrada Classic earlier this week.

Fellow freshman Katelyn Wright came to Nebraska as one of the most accomplished prep golfers in Husker history. A four-time Nevada High School state champion, she was the second player in Nevada history to accomplish that feat. As a senior, she won the title by 26 strokes with a two-under-par 142 over 36 holes. In 2008, she won the crown by 28 strokes.

Wright was also a four-time qualifier for the Callaway Junior World Championships and a three-time member and two-time captain of the Junior America's Cup team.

Wright is a second generation Husker golfer, following in the footsteps of her mother, Shelly (Godeken) Wright, a two-time All-Big Eight golfer (1983, 1984).

Wright fired a 74 in the opening round of the Chip-N Club Invitational. She closed in a tie for 36th at her first collegiate event, playing outside of NU's lineup, before earning a lineup spot at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational. She also traveled to the Dale McNamara and Alamo invitationals as an individual. She tied for 32nd with a career-best 245 at the Alamo Invite.

Wright continues to cut strokes off her game in her second semester as a collegian and produced the best three-round tournament score of her career with a 232 at the UNLV Spring Invitational. Playing as individual in her home state, Wright closed the 54-hole event with a career-best 73 in the final round to finish in a tie for 52nd. Her performance at UNLV helped earn her a lineup spot at the BYU at Entrada Classic, March 21-22, where she tied for 48th (241), which included a final-round 77 to contribute to NU's team score.

A talented golfer out of California, Remylee Molyneux came to Nebraska after a successful high school and junior career. The 2009 Tri-Valley League Champion and 2008 Ventura County Junior Golfer of the Year at Oaks Christian High School, Molyneux has been a consistent winner over the past several seasons.

Molyneux matched fellow freshman Steffi Neisen for NU's top finish at the season-opening Chip-N Club Invitational. Playing as an individual outside of Nebraska's lineup, Molyneux fired rounds of 79 and 76 to tie for 29th. She competed as an individual at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invite, before making her first career start at the Johnie Imes Invitational. She was also in NU's top five at the Dale McNamara Invitational and the Alamo Invite.

Molyneux traveled to Kiawah Island with the Huskers to open the spring but suffered a wrist injury in the second round that forced her to withdraw from the tournament and has sidelined her from action.

Seven Huskers Earn Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll Spots
Seven members of the Nebraska women's golf team earned spots on the 2010 Big 12 Commissioner's Fall Honor Roll announced on Feb. 4.

Junior Madeleine Sheils posted a perfect 4.0 GPA during the fall semester. Former Husker Charlotte Wendner also registered a perfect 4.0 GPA as a business administration major. Senior Mary Kate Bird earned her sixth spot on the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll, while juniors Carolyn Schorgl and Kayla Knopik joined Sheils as five-time honorees.

In addition to the experienced Huskers on the list, freshmen Steffi Neisen and Katelyn Wright claimed their first spots on the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll.

Overall, Nebraska had 358 student-athletes across 23 varsity sports recognized by the Big 12 for the fall semester, including 43 student-athletes with perfect 4.0 grade-point averages.

Huskers Continue to Set the Pace in the Classroom
Three Huskers captured NGCA Scholastic All-America honors in 2010, pushing Nebraska's nation-leading total to 57 since 1989. JC Stevenson became the third Husker in history to be a four-time NGCA Scholastic All-American, while fellow 2010 senior Charlotte Wendner added the second NGCA honor of her career.

Sophomore Madeleine Sheils claimed the second NGCA Scholastic All-America award of her career, putting her on track to join Stevenson, Jackie Beste and Allison Stewart as a four-time award winner.