AVONDALE, Ariz. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's golf team finished with its best 36-hole score in program history to qualify for the RMAC title match after the conclusion of stroke play at the 2016 RMAC Championships. The Mountain Lions finished with a 31-over 607 for a runner-up finish in the stroke play and will take on MSU Denver in the championship match on Tuesday morning.
UCCS recorded a 14-over 302 today in the best single round in program history, a day after the team matched the previous record of 17-over. The Mountain Lions finished two strokes behind the Roadrunners in the 36-hole total and one stroke ahead of Colorado State-Pueblo. UCCS also secured four points against the ThunderWolves in the all-sport Steel & Silver Series with the better score in stroke play at the conference championships.
Alex Darwin led the Mountain Lions with a 1-over 145 and finished second in the individual championship. She finished two strokes off of medalist honors in the first top-five finish for a Mountain Lion in a tournament in program history. Her 145 was the second-best tournament score in program history behind
Michelle Romano's 144 in the Western New Mexico Fall Intercollegiate on Sept. 22-23, 2014. Darwin recorded the best round for the team this season with a career-best 72 and the second-best in program history.
Darwin hit a seven-foot putt on hole 18 to secure the second-place finish for the Mountain Lions as the last golfer in her group. A miss would have sent UCCS and CSU-Pueblo to a playoff hole to determine which team advanced to the championship match. She earned a spot on the RMAC All-Tournament Team with her top-five finish.
Timbrelee McNair earned her third top-10 finish of the season with an eighth-place finish today. She improved her score by six strokes in today's round with a 1-over 73 for her best round of the season. McNair recorded a season-best tournament score of 152, a four-stroke improvement from last week's Maverick Spring Invitational.
Amanda Crites recorded the third team score for the Mountain Lions with a 78 and
Forre Zook closed out the team score with a 79. Zook finished in a tie for No. 11 with a 153 to beat her previous career-best by eight strokes. Crites tied for No. 20 with a 157, a two-stroke improvement on her career best and nine strokes better than her season best.
Raquell Castillo improved by four strokes today and finished in a tie for No. 44 with a 170.
The Mountain Lions will play in a medal-match format for the first time in the three-year history of the program. The format will pair the golfers against each other on each team, and the winner of the individual matches will count as a single point for the team. Teams will participate in a draft tonight to determine which golfers are paired together for tomorrow's championship match.
