Thiele Continues Stellar Play in Vegas

Boulder City, Nev. - Haley Thiele continued her record-setting play by firing a 69 in the second round on Monday at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown.

The freshman from Wahoo, Neb., who tied the Nebraska freshman record with a 67 in Sunday's opening round on the par-72, 6,277-yard layout at the Boulder Creek Golf Club, established a Nebraska record for the best 36-hole score in school history with a 136. The previous two-round scoring record for the Huskers was held by All-American Sarah Sasse, who notched a 138 over the first two rounds of the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic on Sept. 9, 2002.

Sasse went on to set Nebraska's 54-hole score record the following day, finishing the two-day event at 209. Thiele enters Wednesday's final round at UNLV, needing a 73 to match Sasse's mark.

Over her last five rounds, including three at the Pinehurst Challenge in North Carolina, Oct. 12-13, Thiele has produced rounds of 73, 68, 73, 67 and 69, for a sizzling stroke average of 70.0.

Thiele enters Tuesday's final round in a tie for fifth in a 105-player field in Las Vegas. At eight-under par, Thiele trails tournament leader and 2015 All-Mountain West selection My Leander (65-67-132) from San Jose State by four strokes, while 2015 All-American and All-SEC choice Anna Newell from Tennessee sits one stroke back in second at 133 (68-65). Long Beach State's Kassidy Teare (68-66-134), an All-Big West golfer in 2015, and Vanderbilt's Cindy Ha (67-68-135), who was a 2015 SEC All-Freshman pick, round out the top four in front of Thiele.

With Thiele leading the way, the Huskers produced their second-best team round of the season at 291, but still dropped from fourth to 15th in the loaded 19-team field.  The Big Red, who notched a school-record 278 on Sunday, need a 297 in Tuesday's final round to match the Nebraska record for the best three-round score in school history (866, 2007 Mountain View Collegiate).

Although Nebraska slipped to 15th, the Huskers are just seven strokes back from a three-way tie for seventh that includes Texas, Missouri and Colorado State at 562. San Jose State heads to the final round with a 26-under-par score of 550, putting the Spartans four strokes in front of second-place Michigan (275-279-554). Vanderbilt (555), Tennessee (558) and San Diego State (558) round out the top five, while the hosts from UNLV sit in sixth at 559.

Senior Cassie Deeg (Hugo, Minn.) and sophomore Audrey Judd (Olathe, Kan.) contributed solid rounds of 72 to Nebraska's team score on Monday. Judd closed the day in a tie for 38th at 142, while Deeg was tied for 44th at 143. Both are well within reach of producing the best tournament scores of their collegiate careers.

Seniors Morgan Smejkal (Columbus, Neb.) and Cassidy Stelzmiller (Placerville, Calif.) both managed rounds of 78 on Monday.

The tournament concludes with a shotgun start at 10 a.m. (CT) on Tuesday morning, with the Huskers playing alongside Minnesota and Long Beach State. Live scoring for the tournament is available at BirdieFire.com.

Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown
Oct. 25-27, 2015
Boulder Creek Golf Club (Par 72, 6,277 Yards)
Boulder City, Nev.

Team Standings (Two Rounds)
1. San Jose State - 275-275-550 (-26)
2. Michigan - 275-279-554 (-22)
3. Vanderbilt - 280-275-555 (-21)
T4. Tennessee - 281-277-558 (-18)
T4. San Diego State - 280-278-558 (-18)
6. UNLV - 281-278-559 (-17)
T7. Texas - 283-279-562 (-14)
T7. Colorado State - 283-279-562 (-14)
T7. Missouri - 277-285-562 (-14)
10. New Mexico - 281-282-563 (-13)
11. Nevada - 287-278-565 (-11)
T12. Indiana - 285-282-567 (-9)
T12. Minnesota - 284-283-567 (-9)
T12. Long Beach State - 284-283-567 (-9)
15. Nebraska - 278-291-569 (-7)
16. Fresno State - 289-284-573 (-3)
17. Idaho - 287-288-575 (-1)
18. Gonzaga - 290-287-577 (+1)
19. UC Irvine - 301-295-596 (+20)

Individual Leaderboard (Two Rounds)
1. My Leander, San Jose State - 65-67-132 (-12)
2. Anna Newell, Tennessee - 68-65-133 (-11)
3. Kassidy Teare, Long Beach State - 68-66-134 (-10)
4. Cindy Ha, Vanderbilt - 67-68-135 (-9)
T5. Haley Thiele, Nebraska - 67-69-136 (-8)
T5. Katrina Pendergast, Colorado State - 69-67-136 (-8)
T5. Emmie Pietila, Tennessee - 70-66-136 (-8)
T5. Catherine Peters, Michigan - 68-68-136 (-8)
T5. Grace Choi, Michigan - 71-65-136 (-8)
T5. Elizabeth Schultz, San Jose State - 66-70-136 (-8)

Nebraska Individuals
T5. Haley Thiele - 67-69-136 (-8)
T38. Audrey Judd - 70-72-142 (-2)
T44. Cassie Deeg - 71-72-143 (-1)
T84. Morgan Smejkal - 70-78-148 (+6)
T103. Cassidy Stelzmiller - 76-78-154 (+10)