Colorado State golfer Katrina Prendergast is a freshman, but she certainly didn’t look the part Thursday in her first round of women’s NCAA regional tournament play.
Competing against a field that includes Pac-12 champion Southern California and defending NCAA champ Stanford, all Prendergast did was grab the individual lead after round 1 of the 54-hole event in Stanford, Calif.
Prendergast (pictured), who comes from Sparks, Nev., recorded a 3-under-par 68 despite starting and finishing with a bogey. She posted seven birdies and four bogeys overall at the Stanford Golf Course. That left her with a one-stroke lead over Mariah Stackhouse of Stanford and Jakeishya Le of Cal-Riverside.
Prendergast has been on a roll of late. Her runner-up showing at the recent Mountain West Conference Championships gave her six consecutive top-15 finishes.
Meanwhile, in the team competition at Standford, the University of Colorado is in good shape after Thursday’s round, sharing sixth place with a Wake Forest team that includes Coloradan Jennifer Kupcho. Both squads posted 11-over-par 295s, leaving them eight behind leader USC.
The top six team finishers and three individuals not on those teams from each regional will land spots in the NCAA championship finals, set for May 20-25 in Eugene, Ore.
Individually, Kupcho and CU’s Brittany Fan fired even-par 71s, good for seventh place, three shots behind Prendergast.
Meanwhile, the University of Denver, competing in the Baton Rouge, La., Regional, struggled on Thursday and sits in 16th place in the 18-team field.
Women’s NCAA Div. I Stanford Regional
May 5-7, 2016 in Stanford, Calif.
6. Colorado (out of 18 teams) 295
7. Brittany Fan 71; 16. Esther Lee 72; 42. Gillian Vance 75; 64. Alexis Keating 77; 81. Natalie Vivaldi 79.
Also
1. Katrina Prendergast, Colorado State 68
7. Coloradan Jennifer Kupcho, Wake Forest 71
Women’s NCAA Div. I Baton Rouge Regional
May 5-7, 2016 in Baton Rouge, La.
16. Denver 315
32. (out of 18 teams) Jessica Dreesbeimdieke 75; 61. Mariell Bruun 78; 68. Jessica Carty 79; 90. Kathi Baratta 83; 96. Sophie Newlove 88.
Women’s NCAA Div. I Bryan Regional
May 5-7, 2016 in Bryan, Texas
20. Coloradan Hannah Wood, Oklahoma 72
