March 23, 2004

POTTSBORO, Texas - High winds and tough pin placements proved to be a troublesome combination for the Western Washington University women's golf team as it fell four places to finish ninth among 15 teams at the Texas A&M University-Commerce Lady Lion Invitational Tournament which concluded Tuesday at the Tanglewood Resort Golf Course.

The Vikings, ranked No.7 nationally in the latest Golfstat/NCAA Division II report, shot a final-round 348 to finish with a 36-hole total of 684. They were fifth, just four strokes out of the lead, after shooting 336 Monday.

That means Western needs a solid performance at the Grand Canyon Invitational on March 29-30 to stay in a strong position for a berth in the West Regional.

"We struggled all day long," said Western coach Dean Russell. "The wind wore on us mentally. The kids played hard and gave a great effort, but sometimes golf is brutal."

"We need to play well next week in Phoenix because we did a little damage to ourselves. But we played well there last year and we feel confident that we can do that again."

St. Mary's TX took team honors with a score of 652, finishing with a round of 317, the best of the two-day tourney by nine strokes. The Rattlers' total was eight strokes better than Central Oklahoma (334-326), the defending champion.

First-round leader Tarleton State, ranked No.11 nationally, placed third at 668 (332-336). Tying for fourth at 674 were No.10 Northeastern Oklahoma State (339-335) and host Texas A&M Commerce (338-336).

Pacing Western was Candice Wagner (So., Milton/Fife), who tied for 24th at 170 (85-85). Katja Trygg (So., Bainbridge Island) tied for 27th at 171 (81-90), Kelly White (Sr., Monroe) tied for 29th at 172 (88-84), Katie Bender (Fr., Tacoma/Bellarmine Prep) tied for 36th at 174 (85-89) and Sarah Cooper (Sr., Marysville/Archbishop Murphy) tied for 43rd at 176 (85-91).

Taking medalist honors at 11-over par 155 was Nicole Wyne from St. Mary's TX, who finished three strokes in front of teammate Marla Troester. Wyne fired a 2-over 74 Monday, the best round of the tournament.