Women’s Golf Finishes Second at Grizzly Invitational; Stanhope Finishes Third

Complete Stats

ALAMOSA, Colo. – The Montana State Billings women’s golf team carded a team-low 329 on Tuesday in the final round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference/Adams State Grizzly Invitational to finish in second place after beginning the final round in third.  Preseason RMAC favorite, Mesa State, won the tournament with a 637, 36-hole score, while the Yellowjackets had a 660, 36-hole score.

“I am very proud of the girls, we beat our goal from the first day to the second,” head coach Shawn O’Brien said.  “Anytime you can shoot under 330 consistently you are going to do well.  I thought we played exceptionally well on the front nine which carried over to the back nine giving us a good overall score.” 

MSUB sophomore, Kalli Stanhope, finished third with a 157 score, four strokes behind tournament medalist Sara Wissing of Nebraska-Kearney.  Mesa State’s Kristina Casillas was second with a 155 score on the par 71, 5836-yard Cattails Golf Course.

“Anytime you have a player that can shoot in the top three in a tournament you are going to do well as a team,” O’Brien added.  “I thought Amy Nordeen, Erin Heaney and Libby Rutz also played very well. Liz Tikriti shot a pair of 88s in her first tournament and anytime a freshman can come in and compete right away that is going to be good for the overall team aspect.”
The Yellowjackets shot 10-strokes better than Regis University on Tuesday to erase a two-stroke deficit before the day began.  The 329 round score by the Yellowjackets was the second best of the day as the Mesa State fired a tournament-low 318 Tuesday.

Nebraska-Kearney followed Regis in the team standings with a 679 score and Western New Mexico shot a 681 to round out the top five.  Host Adams State College finished sixth with a 692 score, followed by Colorado Christian (709), Chadron State (732) and Colorado State-Pueblo (734) to round out the nine-team field. 

Stanhope carded rounds of 76 and 81 for a 15-over 157.  Nordeen finished eighth with a 163 score (82 – 81), followed by Rutz who moved up five spots as she shot an 82 for the final round after shooting an 86 to open the tournament.  Heaney dropped two strokes from yesterday and moved up to a tie for 20th as she shot an 85 for a 172 score (87 – 85).  Tikriti fired a pair of 88s to finish in a tie for 24th in the 49-player field.

Mesa State takes the early lead in the RMAC Championship Standings as the Mavericks have eight points while the Yellowjackets have seven through one of the four RMAC Tournaments.  Each team gets one point for every conference team they beat in each tournament. 

The Yellowjackets return to action Sept. 21-22 at the Colorado State-Pueblo Tournament which is the second of the four RMAC Tournaments.  The third RMAC tournament is scheduled for Oct. 5-6 at Regis University in Denver, Colo., while the final tournament is scheduled for Apr. 12-13, 2010.
   
2 Montana St. Billings 331 329 660
3 Kalli Stanhope 76 81 157
8 Amy Nordeen 82 81 163
15 Libby Rutz 86 82 168
T 20 Erin Heaney 87 85 172
T 24 Lizi Tikriti 88 88 176