EL CAJON, Calif. –Shooting a team score of 317 in the first round, No. 13-ranked Concordia leads the six-team field at the GSAC/Cal Pac/CCC NAIA Qualifier held at Sycuan Golf and Tennis Club.

 

The Cavaliers (317) will enter the final round holding a 16-stroke lead over No. 19-ranked The College of Idaho (333). Warner Pacific (334) entered the clubhouse one stroke back of second place while tournament-host Point Loma Nazarene (339), ranked No. 22 in the latest NAIA coaches’ poll, is six strokes back of second place and 22 swings strokes shy of the tournament lead. Biola (346) and Corban (359) rounded out the field.

 

Concordia’s Sunny Powers and College of Idaho’s Trish Gibbens each carded and even-par 72 to share the individual lead amongst 32 competitors.

 

Finishing out the top five, Concordia's Sara Molyneux and Holly Speer each fired 4-over 76s to share third place with Point Loma Nazarene's Kathleen Crossley.

Kendall Cowley (79) paced Warner Pacific in sixth place while teammate Scotti Jo Helmick (80) joined Northwest Christian’s Haley Partridge (80) and Emma Mitchum for a piece of seventh place. For Corban, senior Morgan McComish sits in a five-way tie for 15th overall after carding a team-low first-round score of 15-over 87.

 

The qualifier includes teams from the Cascade Collegiate Conference, California Pacific Conference, and Golden State Athletic Conference.

 

The winning team earns an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championships in Greenville, Tenn. The individual champion will also earn a bid, should this player not already be on the championship team.  

 

The 36-hole event wraps up on Tuesday, April 24 with the first group teeing off at 8 a.m.