Huskers Close Regular Season at Baylor

The Nebraska women's golf team concludes its regular-season tournament schedule by competing at the Baylor Spring Invitational in Waco, Texas, April 11-12.

The tournament tees off with 36 holes on Monday, April 11 at 8:30 a.m., before closing with a final round Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. Live scoring will be available on GolfStat.com.

The Huskers face an 18-team field on the 6,394-yard, par-72 layout of the Twin Rivers Golf Club. Six Big 12 teams, including Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Baylor headline the field.

Nebraska heads to Texas after firing its best round of the season with a final-round 284 at the Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz., on March 26.

Juniors Madeleine Sheils and Katie Keiser each recorded career-bests of 69 in the final round. Keiser's round helped her earn a spot in NU's top-five in Waco.

Sheils has been a fixture in the NU lineup and owns Nebraska's No. 2 stroke average (76.15). Fellow junior Kayla Knopik added a career-best 71, as did freshman Steffi Neisen. Knopik and Neisen have joined Sheils in the NU lineup for every tournament this season.

Although she didn't post a career best, senior Mary Kate Bird matched Neisen for Nebraska's top individual finish at Mountain View with a three-round score of 222. The Kansas City, Mo., native owns NU's top stroke average (75.82) and has finished in the top 30 at each of the Huskers' four spring tournaments.

Baylor Spring Invitational
Location: Waco, Texas
Course: Twin Rivers Golf Club
Par: 72 - Yardage: 6,394

Tee Times (Central)
Monday, April 11 (36) - 8:30 a.m.
Tuesday, April 12 (18) - 8:30 a.m.

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

Baylor Spring Invitational Field (18 Teams)
Augusta State, Baylor, Kansas, McLennan CC, Missouri, Missouri State, Nebraska, North Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oral Roberts, SMU, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas State, Texas Tech, UAB, UALR, UTSA

Live Scoring: Golfstat.com

Schorgl, Wright, Molyneux to Compete at Creighton
While Nebraska's top five golfers will be competing at the Baylor Spring Invitational, Carolyn Schorgl, Katelyn Wright and Remylee Molyneux will participate in the Creighton Golf Classic in Omaha, April 11-12, at Oak Hills Country Club.

The Husker trio will be among golfers from eight schools participating in the two-day, event on the par-72, 6,110-yard layout at Oak Hills.

The three Huskers will be going head-to-head against full teams from Creighton, North Dakota, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, South Dakota, South Dakota State and Concordia (Minn.).

Results will be posted after each day on Huskers.com, but live stats are not available.

Four Huskers Close Mountain View with Career Rounds
Four Huskers fired the best rounds of their careers to lead Nebraska to its best round of the season at the Mountain View Collegiate on March 26.

Madeleine Sheils, a junior from Boise, Idaho, scorched the par-72, 6,227-yard layout at Mountain View with a career-best 69 to lead the Huskers to a 10th-place team finish. NU jumped six spots in the final standings in the 18-team event by tying for the best round of the tournament with a four-under-par 284. The Huskers finished the tournament with a season-best three-round total of 898.

While Sheils finished in a tie for 49th at 226, fellow junior Katie Keiser from Gothenburg, Neb., playing as an individual outside of the Husker lineup, added a career-best 69 to finish in a tie for 57th with a 228.

A third Husker junior, Kayla Knopik from Papillion, Neb., added a career-best 71 in the final round to close the 93-player tournament in a tie for 69th at 232. Knopik was joined by freshman Steffi Neisen with a career-best 71. The New Prague, Minn., native used her first career under-par score to finish in a tie for 30th at 222.

Neisen joined senior Mary Kate Bird as the top Husker finishers overall in the 54-hole event. Bird, a native of Kansas City, Mo., rounded out NU's top four scorers in the final round with a one-over-par 73 to tie for 30th at 222.

Iowa State won the tournament with a three-round score of 857. The 14th-ranked Cyclones won by six strokes over No. 24 Oklahoma (863). Iowa State's 857 set the tournament scoring record, surpassing the previous record of 866 set by Nebraska in 2007. Arkansas, led by individual champion Emily Tubert, added a third-place finish. Tubert fired a tournament-record nine-under-par 207 to run away with the crown. She finished five strokes ahead of ISU runner-up Prima Thammaraks (212).

Bird Flying High in 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 has produced four top-30 finishes in four events this spring.

Bird's spring stroke average of 74.92 has helped trim her team-leading stroke average to 75.82 on the season. Overall, Bird has finished in the top 30 at each of her last five tournaments this 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 84 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 75.82 stroke average this season, Sheils is right behind her at 76.15 while competing in all 26 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 77.62 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. Knopik tied for 30th at the 2011 BYU Entrada Classic, before firing a career-best 71 in the final round at Mountain View. Knopik has played all 26 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, including the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate and the UNLV Spring Invite. She is coming off the best tournament of her career after tying for 57th with a career-best 228 at the Mountain View Collegiate. Her performance in Arizona included a career-best final round of 69.

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 26 rounds this season and carries NU's No. 3 stroke average (77.08).

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.

Neisen tied for 39th (238) at the BYU Entrada Classic, before firing a career-best 222 that included a career-best final-round 71 to lead NU with a tie for 30th at the Mountain View Collegiate, March 25-26.

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. She also played in the NU top five at the Mountain View Collegiate, March 25-26.

A talented golfer from 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.