LITCHFIELD PARK, Ariz. – Emily Shimkus kept her lead from Monday's opening round of the Southwest Minnesota State University Spring Classic and took home individual honors on Tuesday with a 147.  Overall, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's golf team finished tied for third overall, carding a two-round score of 637, improving by nine strokes today (323, 314).  Competing in their first tournament of the spring season, UCCS finished tied with Metropolitan State University of Denver, and just one stroke behind second place Bucknell.
 
INSIDE THE SMSU SPRING CLASSIC

• Course | Location: Wigwam Golf Course (Blue Course) | Litchfield Park, Ariz.
• Par | Yardage: 72 | 5,821 Yards
• Place | Score: Tie-3^rd Place | 637 (323, 314)

 
FROM THE TEE

• After shooting a one-over par 73 on Monday in the opening round, Shimkus tacked on just one more stroke on Tuesday with a 74, besting all 55 golfers with a 147.  Shimkus matched yesterday's birdies output with four today to bring her tournament total to eight.
• Kaya Kshatriya earned a top-10 finish after clipping off seven strokes from yesterday.  Kshatriya tallied a 75 in the second round behind two birdies as she penciled in a 75 on Tuesday, bringing her tournament score to 157 (82, 75) and a tie for sixth place.
• Tying for 18^th place overall with a 164, Samantha Saile notched one birdie and eight pars today toward an 81, two strokes better than Monday.
• Bringing in the Mountain Lions scorers was Olivia Florence.  Florence shot an 85 in each round to finish 27^th overall with a 170.
• Placing fifth for the Mountain Lions and 37^th overall is Rachel Penzenstadler, who knocked off 10 strokes today.  Penzenstadler registered a 178 after shooting rounds of 94 and 84.
• Eliana Vigil and Torri Leung competed in the SMSU Spring Classic as individuals.  Vigil finished in a tie for 40^th place with a 181, two strokes ahead of Leung's 43^rd place finish of 183.

 
TOURNAMENT LEADERS

• Lehigh University kept Monday's lead and finished on top of the eight-team tournament, scoring a 614 (311, 303), winning the tournament by 22 strokes.
• Shimkus won the individual title by one stroke, besting Lehigh's Tuki Zhu 148 performance.

 
BEYOND THE SCORECARD

• Today's round of 314 ties for the third lowest scoring round this season.
• The Mountain Lions closed out their spring-opening tournament finishing third in par 3 scoring (3.80), and fourth in both par 4 scoring (4.62) and par 5 scoring (5.18).
• UCCS' 83 pars were the third most in the field, and they added 16 birdies.
• Half of the Mountain Lions 16 birdies came from Shimkus who sank the most of any golfer (eight).
• Shimkus also led the field in par 3 scoring (3.25), and she was second in par 4 scoring (4.17) and third in par 5 scoring (4.83).
• Kshatriya tallied 20 pars between the two rounds, the second most in the tournament.

 
UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will head to Pebble Beach, Calif. for the Dallas Baptist University Invitational on March 20-21.

 
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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 16 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.