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
DU was an automatic qualifier by virtue of winning the Summit League title — the Pioneers’ 13th consecutive conference crown — while CU made the 72-team regional field as an at-large selection on Monday.
Also among the Division I regional competitors will be Coloradans Jennifer Kupcho and Hannah Wood, and Colorado State freshman Katrina Prendergast. Kupcho, the CWGA Player of the Year in 2014 and ’15, is a freshman for Wake Forest. Wood, the 2014 CWGA Stroke Play champ, is a sophomore at Oklahoma.
(Updated April 27) When the fields were announced on Golf Channel for the four May 5-7 regionals, Colorado was seeded ninth for the regional in Stanford, Calif., where the top seed will be Pac-12 champion Southern California. Also competing will be host Stanford, the 2015 national champion. Wake Forest is likewise in the field, meaning Kupcho will play there, as will CSU’s Prendergast, a second-team Mountain West Conference selection.
As for Denver, it is seeded 14th for the Baton Rouge, La., regional, where Duke is No. 1.
For her part, Wood will compete in the Bryon, Texas regional as an individual.
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.
Colorado, ranked 21st in the nation by Golfweek and 34th by Golfstat, recently placed fifth in the ultra-competitive Pac-12 tournament and twice was a runner-up this season. The Buffs have qualified teams for the regionals three straight years and went to the national finals in 2012. On Tuesday, two of the leaders of the Buffs earned honors. Junior Esther Lee was named CU’s all-sports co-female athlete of the year, and senior Alexis Keating received an all-sports female career athletic achievement award.
Denver won two tournaments this season and is ranked 71st nationally by Golfweek and 72nd by Golfstat. This will be the 10th straight regional appearance by the Pioneers.
For all the women’s DI regional qualifiers, CLICK HERE.
Also on Monday, the fields were set for the women’s NCAA Division II regional tournaments — the ones that will determine the competitors for the NCAA DII championship finals that will be played May 18-21 at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora.
Metropolitan State University of Denver, which recently won its second straight women’s Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title, put two of its golfers into the West Regional as individuals. That tournament will take place May 2-4 in Stockton, Calif.
Representing Metro State — the host for the NCAA DII finals — will be RMAC Player of the Year Allie Johnston and Cha Cha Willhoite, both juniors. Johnston won the CWGA Match Play title in 2012. Metro State is coached by former CoBank Colorado Open champion Ben Portie, who recently was named the women’s RMAC Coach of the Year for the third straight season.
The top three team finishers at each regional, and the top three individuals not on those teams, will earn spots in the NCAA DII finals at CommonGround.
For the complete women’s DII regional field, CLICK HERE.
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