Chris Day
ASC Sports Information
The Adams State College women’s golf team posted another solid team score of 334 and moved up slightly in the overall Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings as they tied for fifth overall and fourth amongst RMAC teams at the RMAC #2/Maverick Invitational, which concluded Tuesday at Bookcliff Country Club.
The team score of 334, tied for fourth best in the program’s 6-year history was keyed by junior Kelsey McSpadden’s second straight round of 81 and four other scores of 85 or below and allowed the Grizzlies to finish with a 36-hole, 2-day total of 672 on the 6,081-yard, par-72 course. That score is the second best in program history behind only the Grizzlies’ 664, set at their home course at the beginning of this season.
The Grizzlies tied Colorado State-Pueblo, which rallied to score a 329 on Tuesday, and earned three more points towards the RMAC overall regular season championship, one each for finishing higher than Chadron State, Colorado Christian and Nebraska-Kearney. The Grizzlies earned two points from the first RMAC event last week in Silver City, N.M. and now have five overall points, good for a tie for fourth place.
They had been in a tie for fifth entering the week.
The Western New Mexico Mustangs won the tournament, their second straight, with a RMAC event record 2-day score of 607 and now have 14 overall points. Host Mesa State finished second for the second straight week with a team score of 637 and now has 12 points. Montana State-Billings, a member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, finished third at 648 but does not figure into the RMAC Championship points.
Regis took fourth overall at 653 and scored five RMAC Championship points. The Rangers finished eighth and last at last week’s event and are now tied with the Grizzlies in the overall point chase.
Colorado State-Pueblo earned three more points in the RMAC Championship chase and now has eight points, good to stand in third overall.
Chadron State and Nebraska-Kearney are now tied for sixth overall with four points each. Chadron State, which tied the Grizzlies for fifth at last week’s event, took seventh overall and sixth amongst RMAC schools this week with a 2-day score of 703 to earn two additional points. Nebraska-Kearney, which took fourth a week ago, finished ninth and last overall with a 2-day score of 707.
Sandwiched in between was Colorado Christian, which took eighth overall and seventh amongst the eight RMAC teams with a 2-day total of 704. The Cougars now have two points in the overall RMAC points chase and stand eighth.
Individually, McSpadden finished in a tie for tenth place with a 2-day total of 162, a 3-shot improvement over her previous career-best turned in at the season-opening Grizzly Invitational at Cattails Golf Course. She now has seven career top-10 finishes, second most in program history and just one shy of the program-record of eight held by Christa Seitz.
The Grizzlies also got a solid round of 84 from senior Codi Hegg, who had posted an identical round on Monday. Her season-best total of 168 allowed her to tie for 21st place.
True freshman Kyra Garrison also posted a round of 84 on Tuesday and finished with a 36-hole score of 169 to take twenty-fourth place.
Sophomore Samantha Hall and senior Kendall Martin each posted 85’s on Tuesday. Hall finished in a 27th place tie at 173 while Martin tied for 30th with her 2-day score of 174.
Western New Mexico’s victory was fueled by the Mustangs going 1-2-3 in the individual standings. Faylyn Beyale claimed her second straight individual title with her 2-day score of 150 while Jessica Dailleboust took second at 151. Glynnis Price finished third at 152 after she carded a round of 74 on Tuesday, equal to the best of the day.
The RMAC teams will take a week off from conference play next week although many of the squads, including the Grizzlies, will compete in the Colorado Christian Invitational next Monday and Tuesday at Raccoon Creek Golf Course in Littleton, Colo.
The third of four RMAC Championship events and the last of the fall season will then be held Oct. 4-5 at Wild Horse Golf Club in Gothenburg, Neb.
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