April 20, 2010

Yellowjackets RMAC Tournament Champions

Final Results

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – For the first time in school history, the Montana State Billings women’s golf team won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament championship, Tuesday at the par 72, 5804-yard Golf Club of Estrella course. The Yellowjackets carded team round scores of 320 and 318 for a 638 edging runner-up Western New Mexico by six strokes.

“Our girls played extraordinary,” head coach Shawn O’Brien said. “Our captain and senior, Amy Nordeen, shot her lowest round of the year. She really stepped up and played well when we needed her. We will miss her next year. Everyone contributed which is great because we are peaking at the right time.”

Mesa State finished third with a 648 score, followed by St. Cloud State (686) and Regis University carded a 688 to round out the top five. Nebraska-Kearney fired a 689 and was sixth, followed by Colorado State Pueblo (690), Adams State (698), Chadron State (718) and Colorado Christian (766) to round out the 10-team field.

Individually, WNMU’s Glynnis Price earned medalist honors after carding a 4-over 148 (71 – 77). Mesa State’s Kristina Casillas was second after firing a pair of 76s for an 8-over 152. MSUB’s Kalli Stanhope and Nebraska-Kearney’s Sara Wissing tied for third with a 10-over 154. Stanhope carded rounds of 78 and 76. Regis’ Lara Pocs finished fifth with a 155 score (76 – 79).

“We had to finish high to make it to regionals and we ended up surprising everyone, including ourselves,” Stanhope said.

MSUB senior Amy Nordeen finished sixth as she shot the low-round for the team Tuesday with a 75 coupled with an 81 Monday for a 156 score. Erin Heaney dropped three strokes from Monday and carded a 79 (82) for a 161 score. Elizabeth Tikriti tied for 12th as a freshman with a 167 score (79 – 88) and Libby Rutz finished 29th after carding rounds of 89 and 88 for a 177 score.

“We deserve this,” Nordeen said. “All of our hard work finally paid off and it feels awesome to show those teams how Montana women can play.”

Mesa State entered the tournament with a three-point lead over MSUB in the regular season standings and held on to the regular season championship by one point over MSUB as the Mavericks finished third in the conference tournament. WNMU was six points behind the Jackets entering the championship and stayed in third in the final standings. Mesa State currently is ranked second in the region, WNMU is sixth and the Yellowjackets are ninth. MSUB won the head-to-head series with WNMU 4-1 this season.

With the victory in the conference tournament, the Yellowjackets enhanced their case for a bid to the NCAA Super Regional in Lake City, Minn., May 3-5. The top nine teams in the region advance to the Super Regional.

If the Yellowjackets receive a bid, it will be the second consecutive year the team has done so. Last season, MSUB finished ninth at the Super Regional in Sioux Falls, SD, in its first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. Stanhope qualified as a freshman for the NCAA Championship where she finished tied for 70th in Findlay, Ohio.

The next region rankings are scheduled to be released Thursday afternoon.

Fin. School Scores
1 Montana St. Billings 320 318 638 +62
2 Western New Mexico 323 321 644 +68
3 Mesa State College 328 320 648 +72
4 St. Cloud State U. 341 345 686 +110
5 Regis University 350 338 688 +112
6 Nebraska-Kearney, U. 341 348 689 +113
7 Colorado St. -Pueblo 352 338 690 +114
8 Adams State College 364 334 698 +122
9 Chadron State Coll 369 349 718 +142
10 Colorado Christian U 392 374 766 +190