NCAA Women's Golf Central Regional Recap

Courtesy Josh Deer, Concordia-St. Paul sports information director

AUGUSTANA, CONCORDIA AND WESTERN NEW MEXICO ADVANCE TO DII CHAMPIONSHIPS

May 03–FINAL RESULTS | COURSE STATS | PLAYER STATS

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The 2011 NCAA Division II Women's Golf Central Region Championships came to a close on a sunny day at Hillcrest Golf Club, with Augustana, Concordia-St. Paul and Western New Mexico all advancing to the Division II Championships which will be held May 11-14 in Allendale, Mich. Individuals Jill Preeshl (Upper Iowa),Kristina Casillas (Mesa State) and Jennifer Hilts (Mesa State) also advance as individual competitors.

The final round saw some intense competition for the final team spot, which impacted the individual invitations as well. Western New Mexico got off to a slow start in the tournament, firing a 353 in the first round and starting in seventh place. But they moved up to fourth with a 328 in the second round, putting them in striking distance heading into the final round.

Mesa State was in second after two rounds, a stroke ahead of Concordia. The Golden Bears were consistent throughout, firing rounds of 336, 334 and 334 while Mesa State came in with rounds of 344, 325 and 346.

No one was even close to Augustana, as their slim six stroke lead over Concordia was expanded to an 18-stroke lead over after two rounds as they closed out the tournament with a 37 stroke margin.

But things were close between RMAC rivals Mesa State and WNMU, coming down to the final holes of the day. It was a deadlock until the last scores were reported, but the RMAC Champions prevailed to make up a 12 stroke gap on the final day.

With WNMU finishing in the top three as a team, it opened up two spots for Mesa State leaders Casillas and Hilts who finished at 246 and 248, respectively.

But the individuals came down to the last reported score as well, with Minnesota State's Samantha Bergmann finishing just a stroke behind Hilts for the final individual spot. Bergman fired an 80, making up four strokes on Casillas and six strokes on Hilts, but it was one shy of a national tournament invitation.

Tournament champion Augustana featured the individual champion, freshman Allie Ostrander (235) who beat out fellow freshman and teammate Maggie Leland(237) by just two strokes. Ostrander shot a tournament low score of 75 in the final round to finish in the top spot. Augustana also had fifth place finisher Kate Tobin(245) and the 11th (Molly Leland) and 13th (Emily Kvidera) individual finishers.

The two Augustana players were able to overtake UIU's Preeshl for the top spot, as Preeshl entered the final round in the individual lead. Preeshl shot an 82 in the final round and finished at 238, a stroke behind Ma.Leland and three behind Ostrander, but enough for a trip to the national championships next week.

WNMU was led by fourth place finisher Glynnis Price (242).

Concordia advances to their second NCAA Championships in three years as they had two top-10 finishers and all five players in the top-20. Freshman Monica Enderlin led Concordia by tying for eighth place with a 249 thanks to rounds of 80 and 81 to close out the final two rounds. Sophomore Laura Petterson took 10th place after starting strong with rounds of 80 and 81, finishing at 251.