April 18, 2005
Mountain West Championships Central
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NEXT IN LOBO WOMEN’S GOLF
No. 14 New Mexico at Mountain West Championships
WHEN: Thursday, April 21 – Saturday, April 23
WHERE: Sunriver Resort – Meadows Course – Sunriver, Ore. – Par 71 – 5,851 yards
HOST: Mountain West Conference
THE FIELD (Rankings – Golfweek): BYU, Colorado State, No. 14 New Mexico,
San Diego State, No. 25 UNLV, Wyoming
RESULTS: Live stats available at www.GolfStat.com. Recaps and results of each round also available at www.GoLobos.com.
No. 14 LOBOS LOOKING TO CAPTURE FIFTH MOUNTAIN WEST TITLE – The New Mexico women’s golf team, ranked 14th in the latest Golfweek rankings released April 7, will be looking for its fifth Mountain West Conference title in six years at the MWC Championships held April 21-23 at the Sunriver Resort in Oregon. The par-71, 5,851-yard Meadows Course, which has hosted the conference championships the past four years, is also the site of this year’s NCAA Women’s Championships on May 17-20. Live stats of the tournament will be available at www.GolfStat.com.
Last year was the first year that the Lobos didn’t capture the MWC crown, as they came up just two strokes short of UNLV, who set a 54-hole course record with a score of 856. New Mexico claimed first place in the first four Mountain West Conference Championships from 2000-03. Overall, the Lobo women’s golf program has won 13 conference championships.
New Mexico has already earned two tournament victories this season. UNM won the Landfall Tradition in late October for the second straight year and claimed the Gamecock Classic in mid-March. The Lobos have won an impressive 12 tournament titles in the past four seasons.
Individually, the Lobos have four starters ranked in the top 175 according to Golfweek. Downs heads the pack at No. 22, while junior Christine Fernandez is at at No. 81. Senior Christina Spence is ranked 117th and sophomore Ashley Rollins is at 152nd.
Downs, who set the UNM junior scoring-average mark last season with a 73.91 average, is looking to topple Katrina Leckovic’s career scoring average of 75.34 in her last season. After three years and seven tournaments, Downs’ average is at 74.23. The preseason All-American was named the Mountain West Golfer of the Month in September and October, marking the sixth and seventh times in her career she has won the award. She leads the Mountain West with a 73.95 scoring average.
Christina Spence helped lead the Lobos to the 2003 Mountain West Championship. |
Fernandez, the Lobos’ top finisher at the 2004 NCAA Championships, is having a stellar junior season, as she is second on team with a 75.19 average, which is also good for fourth in the Mountain West. Spence is seventh in the MWC with a 76.17 average while Rollins, the 2004 Mountain West Freshman of the Year, is eighth in the conference with a 76.33 average. Redshirt freshman Giselle Claux (77.67 avg.) has started four tournaments and freshman Alexandra Phelps (79.93 avg.) has started four times for UNM this season.
THE CLASS OF THE MOUNTAIN WEST – The Lobos are clearly the class of the Mountain West Conference when it comes to women’s golf. UNM has won four of the five MWC Championships and is currently the highest ranked team in the league at No. 14 in the nation. The Lobos own four of the top 10 scoring averages in the MWC and Kailin Downs has already been named the MWC Golfer of the Month twice this season. Downs leads the league with a 73.95 average, while Christine Fernandez is fourth at 75.19. Christina Spence is seventh, Ashley Rollins is eighth, Giselle Claux is 15th and Alexandra Phelps is 23rd in the conference.
BY THE NUMBERS –
— New Mexico has made 12 appearances at the NCAA Championships (1982, `83, `84, `85, `87, `88, `93, `95, `96, `98, 2001, 2004)
— The Lobos have been ranked in the top 15 since Sept. 29, 2003 (78 straight weeks)
— New Mexico has made 12 straight postseason appearances
— UNM has claimed 13 conference championships
— The Lobos have won 39 tournament titles in their history
— The Lobos have won 12 tournament titles in the last four years
— The Lobos currently have the 8th toughest schedule in the nation
— The Lobos are 72-33 overall vs. all opponents in tournament play
LAST YEAR AT THE MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS:
No. 5 LOBOS POST SEASON-BEST SCORE, BUT STILL COME UP SHORT IN QUEST FOR FIFTH STRAIGHT MOUNTAIN WEST TITLE (April 22-24) – The No. 5 New Mexico women’s golf team came up short in its quest for a fifth consecutive Mountain West title as No. 20 UNLV became the first team in the history of the conference other than the Lobos to win the championship. The Rebels dethroned UNM, who had won the previous four Mountain West Championships, with a 4-over 856 (289-291-276), two strokes better than New Mexico’s score of 291-290-277-858 (+6). The Lobos still posted a season-best score of 858 for the tournament and season-best round of 277 on the final day.
The race for the championship came down to the wire as the Lobos and UNLV were tied at 4-over after 15 holes. New Mexico, which began the day one stroke back, took a brief two-stroke lead mid-way through the round before UNLV tied it back up after the turn. The Lobos lost two strokes during the last three holes, however, as UNLV stayed on par to win the title.
UNLV’s Sunny Oh claimed medalist honors with a 2-under 211 (73-70-68), two strokes better than Shannon Johnson and Katrina Leckovic, who each placed in second with an even-par 213. Johnson shot a 71 in every round to place second, which marks her highest career finish. Leckovic, last year’s MWC Champion, also shot even-par on Saturday.
Kailin Downs jumped up 10 spots to place in a tie for ninth tying a course record with a 5-under 66 on Saturday. Downs and UNLV’s Seema Sadekar each shot a 66 in the final round, besting the previous score – held by Katrina Leckovic – by one stroke. Overall, Downs was 6-over at 219 (78-75-66).
Christine Fernandez also turned in a nice final round, shooting a 2-under 69 to place in a tie for ninth overall with a score of 75-75-69-219 (+6). Ashley Rollins placed in a tie for 15th in her first Mountain West Championship, carding a 9-over 222 (75-72-75).
2004 FALL RECAP – The New Mexico women’s golf team wrapped up another successful fall season after winning the Landfall Tradition for the second straight year and by placing in the top 10 in all five of its tournaments. The Lobos closed out the fall ranked eighth in the Golf World College Coaches Poll and 12th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.
In their last tournament of the fall season, the Lobos placed ninth at the prestigious Collegiate Match Play Championship played in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. UNM defeated UNLV, 4-1, on the last day of the tournament to claim the consolation bracket title. After falling in the first round to Florida, the seventh-seeded Lobos rattled off three straight victories in taking ninth place. The Lobos were one of only five teams in the tournament to win at least three matches.
The annual Collegiate Match Play Championship features 16 seeded teams in a double-elimination bracket while playing in a match-play format. The Lobos defeated 15th-seeded North Carolina and sixth-seeded Tennessee on the second day of the tournament.
Before the Match Play Championship, the Lobos won their second straight Landfall Tradition title Oct. 29-31 in Wilmington, N.C. New Mexico also placed in the top 10 in its first three tournaments, taking second at the Dick McGuire Invitational, seventh at the Stanford Intercollegiate and eighth at the NCAA Fall Preview.
Individually, Kailin Downs was named the Mountain West Golfer of the Month in September and October.
LAST TIME OUT
LOBOS PLACE 11TH AT PING/ARIZONA STATE INVITATIONAL (April 1-3) – In the final tuneup before the Mountain West Championships at the end of the month, the 12th-ranked New Mexico women’s golf team placed 11th at the PING/Arizona State Invitational with a 303-299-305–907 (+43). No. 7 Arizona State and No. 2 UCLA each finished with an 870, but ASU walked away with the title by winning the tiebreaker, which was the score of the fifth player.
Individually, Christina Spence tied for 16th place with a 74-73-76–223 (+7), marking her eighth career top 20 finish. Ashley Rollins also placed in the top 20, shooting a 74-72-78–224 (+8) to tie for 20th.
Christine Fernandez fired a 13-over 229 (77-76-76) to tie for 46th, while senior Kailin Downs carded a 17-over 233 (78-80-75) to tie for 62nd. Alexandra Phelps finished in 84th with an 81-78-83–242 (+26). Playing as an individual, Giselle Claux tied for 75th with an 86-77-75–238 (+22).