Albuquerque, N.M. – The 2016-17 University of New Mexico women’s golf season is about to get under way.
September 12-13 marks the beginning of what promises to be an exciting season for the Lady Lobos.
The stalemate of the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational opens the Fall campaign, and presents an opportunity to for the team to start strong, and build confidence heading into the 2016-17 campaign.
This year’s schedule is highlighted by prestigious events including the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational, hosted by the University of Texas, UNLV’s Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown, and the Bruin Wave Invitational, co-hosted this season by UCLA and Pepperdine.
This year’s returning Lobo squadron marks one of the the most experienced and decorated teams in recent memory. Senior leadership, something the head coach Jill Trujillo’s teams have lacked previously, is now a deeply rooted in the team’s identity.
“We have four seniors this year, two juniors, two sophomores and a freshman. We have a really good squad, it’s going to be really competitive within, so that only makes us better.”
This year’s four returning Seniors in Katerina Jaeger, Manon Mollé, the 2015 Mountain West Individual Champion despite an injury plagued Junior campaign, Eva Saulnier who finished tied for 21st place at last year’s Mountain West Championships and Kalyn Thayer who, due to a pestering back injury, played in just one event last season.
“The upperclassmen are really strong, they’ve all had really great careers, my hope for them is always to get better every year, and that seems to be the case so it’s going to be an exciting Fall.” explained Trujillo.
Junior standout Ingrid Gutierrez is coming off a season of immense success, in which she was named to the All-Mountain West First Team and is looking to continue gaining momentum. Gutierrez led the Lobos last season with two top-10 finishes and five finishes inside the top 20, along with being awarded Co-Women’s Golfer of the month in October of last year.
Fellow junior Alexandra Moisand Competed in all 29 rounds of competition last season, in addition to finishing tied for 30th at the Mountain West Championships.
Sophomore Darian Zachek is coming off last year’s season in which she went on to finish tied for 21st place at the Mountain West Championships. While Emma Edwards, also a Sophomore, is looking to bolster her competitive resumé after getting some serious experience last season.
The lone Freshman on this year’s roster is Zoey Akagi-Bustin, a native of Wahiawa, Hawaii. In her high school career Akagi-Bustin was a four-year member of the Iolani Girls Varsity Golf Team, along with being a member of the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association. She was also named Girls Player of the Year for the 15-18 division in 2013, and has competed in a number of tournaments from the HSJGA Junior Tour Series. Akagi-Bustin finished fourth at the US Girls’ Junior Amateur Qualifier and was also a member of the 2013 Asia Pacific Junior Cup champion team.
Trujillo is hopeful that the inner-squad competition will inspire the team to reach great heights,
“We’re highly competitive, they can’t let their guard down for one moment, there’s nobody that sits on the bench, the bench is home.” concluded Trujillo.