Cougars Compete Strong Against Top-Ranked Teams

TUCSON -- The BYU women's golf team shot 23-over-par in the third round of the Arizona Wildcat Invitational, giving the team a solid 12th place finish.

"We hung in there, and were able to beat two teams that are ranked ahead of us," said BYU head coach Sue Nyhus.

Junior Natalia Jimenez led the Cougars in the final round, shooting a 3-over-par 74. She finished the tournament tied for 32nd place at 15-over-par. Teammate Juli Erekson followed Jimenez tied for 40th place at 18-over-par.

The Arizona Wildcat Invitational consisted of 92 competitors from 16 schools. The overall individual winner was Amanda Blumenhurst of Duke who shot 68-72-73-213. Oklahoma state won the tournament with a team score of 32-over-par.

With the arrival of Spring weather, Nyhus looks forward to the women's team practicing outside.

"We are making great progress, and we just need more time on grass," she said.

The Cougars will next be in action on March 10, 11 and 12 at the UNLV Spring Tournament in Boulder City, Nev.

TEAM LEADERBOARD Round 3
Place    School              To Par     Today     Total
1        Oklahoma State      +32        +14       288-298-298-884
T2       Southern Calif.     +34        +6        296-300-290-886
T2       Duke                +34        +12       288-302-296-886
4        Arizona             +47        +19       288-308-303-899
5        Arizona State       +49        +14       287-316-298-901
6        UCLA                +52        +11       288-321-295-904
7        New Mexico          +55        +18       298-307-302-907
8        Pepperdine          +62        +21       293-316-305-914
T9       Auburn              +65        +27       292-314-311-917    
T9       Stanford            +65        +16       303-314-300-917
11       California          +72        +22       297-321-306-924
12      BYU                 +73        +23       309-309-307-925
13       Texas               +74        +20       304-318-304-926
14       Vanderbilt          +87        +22       305-328-306-939
15       Washington          +91        +38       307-314-322-943
16       UNLV                +99        +28       325-314-312-951
BYU Individual Leaderboard Round 3
Place    Player              To Par     Today     Total
T32      Natalia Jimenez     +15        +3        76-78-74-228
T40      Juli Erekson        +18        +8        77-75-79-231
T49      Ashley Childers     +20        +9        79-74-80-233
T52      Daphne Vines        +22        +3        77-84-74-235
*T82     Hannah Summerhays   +38        +11       80-89-82-251
T85      Sara Romero         +42        +23       79-82-94-255 
*Competing as individual.