Monday, May 2, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – After amassing a team score of 16-over-par 304 over the first 18 holes at the Brookside Country Club, the Western Washington women’s golf team is tied for ninth at the NCAA Division II West Regional in Stockton, California after the first of three rounds.

In a competitive field, the Vikings are tied with Arkansas-Fort Smith, a stroke behind eighth-place Biola and a stroke ahead of 11th-place Cal State Monterey Bay. Texas A&M-International is currently leading the field at 1-over-par 289, four strokes ahead of Texas A&M-Commerce.

Individually, the Vikings have one player in the top ten in sophomore Dani Bailey, who is tied for sixth at even-par 72. Bailey, the runner-up at the GNAC Championships, was 6-over through the first eight holes after hitting a double-bogey on the 17th hole but caught fire on the front nine during the second half of her round. Bailey eagled the 18th hole before shooting 4-under over holes one through nine, which included three birdies and a second eagle on No. 7.

Five eagles were hit over the course of the round: two each from Bailey and Texas A&M International’s Sahara Washington and one by Colorado Christian’s Faith Kilgore.

Junior Megan Billeter, recently crowned the 2022 GNAC Co-Player of the Year, is the second-place WWU golfer, currently tied for 31st place after shooting a 4-over-par 76. GNAC Championships individual medalist and sophomore Elise Sumner is a stroke behind at 5-over-par 77, tied for 40th place. Claire Moon carded a 79 and Sarah Shea shot an 84 to round out the Vikings’ scores.

Washington leads the individual field at 6-under-par 66. One of her two eagles was a hole-in-one on the 160-yard par-3 third hole. She is one stroke ahead of Academy of Art’s Anahi Servin, the top-scoring individual, and two strokes ahead of Kilgore in third.

The second of three rounds will begin at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday. The first Western Washington golfer will tee off from hole 10 at 8:11 a.m.