Nordeen is Tied for Second after First Round of NCAA Super Regional

Live Stats

LAKE CITY, Minn. – Montana State Billings senior women’s golfer, Amy Nordeen, fired a 78 Sunday in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Division II NCAA Central Regional at The Jewell Golf Course.  She is tied with Kelly Lauer of Augustana College (SD) at 7-over on the par 71, 6,014-yard course after the first of three rounds.  Augustana leads the nine-team field and host Minnesota State Mankato by two strokes in the team standings, 321 to 323. MSUB carded an opening round team score of 340 and is ninth.

“The women played well today in tough conditions,” head coach Shawn O’Brien said.  “I feel we are in a great spot to finish strong with two rounds left as we are five strokes back from fifth place.  Amy Nordeen and Kalli Stanhope put themselves in great position after one round.  We can improve greatly on our putting, which allows us to have the opportunity for a vast improvement tomorrow.” 

Despite being ninth, the Yellowjackets are just five strokes out of fifth and 12 strokes out of qualifying for the NCAA Championships with two rounds to play.  Winona State is third with a 328, followed by Western New Mexico (329), Concordia-St. Paul is fifth (335) and Upper Iowa is sixth with a 336 score.  Southwest Minnesota State is seventh with a 337, followed by Mesa State (338) and MSUB.

Augustana leads the individual leader board, too, as Emily Kvidera fired a 2-over 73 to lead the 49-player field.  Lauer and Nordeen are tied for second, while Upper Iowa’s McKenzie Holthaus and Winona State’s Paige Schmidt are tied for fourth with a 79.  MSUB sophomore Kalli Stanhope is in a seven-way tie for sixth after shooting an 80.  She finished tied for 70th at the NCAA Championships last season as a freshman in Findlay, Ohio.

Yellowjacket sophomore Erin Heaney fired an 87 and is tied for 35th, while freshman Liz Tikriti is tied for 47th after carding a 95 and sophomore Libby Rutz is 49th after firing a 97. 

“We are excited about tomorrow because there are multiple opportunities for improvement and we anticipate playing better,” Tikriti said.

Tikriti played the first round on an hour and half night’s sleep as she battled a migraine headache last night and had to get medicine at 4 a.m.

The top-three teams from the regional advance to the NCAA Championship, May 12-15 at Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Ariz.  In addition, the top three individuals from non-advancing teams also earn berths in the NCAA Championships.  The NCAA Championships consists of 72-holes.       

The second round will be played tomorrow and the final round is scheduled for Tuesday. A link to the tournament page can be found by visiting the home for Yellowjacket athletics, www.msubillings.edu/athletics.