Cougars cruise to record-setting victory in Vegas

BOULDER CITY -- The No. 14 BYU women's golf team cruised to an impressive, record-setting victory at the UNLV Spring Rebel Invitation on Wednesday at the Boulder Creek Golf Club.

The Cougars started the day with a seven-stroke lead and never looked back as they pulled away from the other contenders and finished with a 10-stroke win. In their wake the Cougars left behind conference rivals 15th-ranked New Mexico and 30th-ranked UNLV. BYU put together three consecutive rounds under par for the first time in school history, going 280-283-284--847 (-17). It's 17-under-par performance shattered the previous BYU record, set earlier in the year, by 20 strokes (867).

"I'm very proud of our team and the way they work," BYU head coach Sue Nyhus said. "They've elevated their game and put in the work to earn this victory. I really like their confidence and their belief in each other. They are doing everything we could ask and their efforts are paying off."

BYU's low record came thanks to the play of two of BYU's three seniors--All-American Rachel Newren and surprise starter Danielle von Arnim. Both Newren and von Arnim scored all three rounds at par or better and finished third and fourth respectively.

Newren led the tournament going into the final round, but an even-par third round was not enough to bring home a victory as Idaho's Kelly Nakashima scored a final-round seven-under-par 65 to claim individual honors. Newren finished seven-under for the tournament and earned her third consecutive top-10 finish.

Von Arnim, who hasn't been among the starting five all season, beat out four other teammates for the final spot on the Cougars roster in Vegas. Rather than just being happy about her spot on the roster she came out and scored a career round, finishing in fourth place at six-under-par. She had a final-round one-under 71 to earn her first career top-5 finish and first career tournament under par.

"This is the best I've ever played," von Arnim said. "I just wanted to show that I deserve to be here and it just went very well. It feels good because it's my last year and you want to leave on top, on a high note."

Natalia Jimenez was also outstanding for the Cougars. She finished tied for fifth place at four-under-par and earned her third top-20 finish on the season. Juli Erekson went two-under on the final day to finish tied for 38th at seven-over-par and Freshman Daphne Vines also finished in 38th place at seven-over-par.

With the victory BYU earned its first tournament win of the season after four second-place finishes and Nyhus earned her fourth victory as a head coach.

1 Brigham Young       280-283-284--847  -17 
2 New Mexico          284-290-283--857  -7 
3 Idaho               292-281-286--859  -5 
4 Indiana             285-285-294--864  E 
5 UNLV                299-286-288--873  +9 
6 San Francisco       298-290-286--874  +10 
7 New Mexico State    291-294-292--877  +13 
8 Washington State    300-301-280--881  +17 
9 Fresno State        299-296-287--882  +18 
10 Campbell           299-291-299--889  +25 
11 Texas Tech         298-291-302--891  +27 
12 Iowa               300-302-291--893  +29 
13 Nebraska           298-298-298--894  +30 
14 Long Beach State   300-298-300--898  +34 
15 Notre Dame         305-308-293--906  +42 
16 Boise State        300-310-297--907  +43 
17 Eastern Washington 317-301-290--908  +44 
18 San Diego State    298-310-306--914  +50
3. Rachel Newren       67-70-72--209  (-7)
4. Danielle von Arnim  71-68-71--210  (-6)
5. Natalia Jimenez     69-72-71--212  (-4)
38. Juli Erekson       76-77-70--223  (+7)
38. Daphne Vines       73-73-77--223  (+7)