Concordia Women Hold 28-Stroke Lead after First Day at CCC Champs/NAIA Unaffiliated Qualifer
FIRST DAY RESULTS
MONROE, Ore.—The No. 22 Concordia women’s golf team shot the two lowest rounds of any team at the CCC Championships/NAIA Unaffiliated Qualifier at Diamond Woods Golf Course Monday, putting them 28 strokes up at the end of the first day of competition.
Concordia finished the day with a two-round total of 664 (338-326), well ahead of Biola (345-347) and The College of Idaho (351-341), who each rank tied for second at 692. Northwest Christian also ranks fourth at the tournament after the first day, one stroke back of Biola and The College of Idaho at 693 (353-340).
The tournament will conclude with a final round Tuesday, April 16, when the Cavaliers will be going for their second straight NAIA Regional Championship, and their ninth straight appearance at the NAIA National Tournament.
The conclusion of the tournament Tuesday will also determine the CCC Championship, as the tournament represents the fifth and final tournament that counts towards the CCC standings. The Cavaliers currently lead the conference standings by 182 strokes, putting them in good position to close out their sixth straight CCC title Tuesday.
Outside of the top four teams, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) finished fifth after the first day with a two-round total of 726 (360-366), while Warner Pacific finished sixth at 747 (373-374), Corban finished seventh at 754 (379-375) and Simpson finished eighth at 769 (376-393).
Individually, Sunny Powers helped put the Cavs in the lead, as she leads the tournament by two strokes over Northwest Christian’s Haley Partridge after finishing the first day with a two-round total of 154 (75-79). Partridge, meanwhile, finished the day with a two-round total of 156 (78-78), while NCU’s Sarah Crofcheck (80-77) and The College of Idaho’s Trish Gibbens (77-80) finished the day tied for third overall at 157.
Powers’ strong first day also helped her extend her lead over Gibbens in the CCC Player of the Year award chase, which will be determined after the final round Tuesday. Powers leads Gibbens in the standings by 30 strokes now, putting her in good position to become the third different Cavaliers women’s golfer to win the CCC Player of the Year award, which goes to the individual with the lowest scoring average in conference tournaments during the season.
Powers also led a group of five Cavalier golfers that all placed in the top 20 after the first day of the tournament. Besides Powers, Patricia Little finished the day eighth overall at 167 (87-80), while Jennifer Gibbons finished ninth at 168 (85-83), Madison Alamillo finished 13th at 177 (93-84) and Holly Winburn finished 20th at 184 (91-93).
Meanwhile, for the rest of the top four teams, Ava Lourenco led Biola with a sixth-place finish at 164 (80-84), while Lauren Marlow finished seventh at 165 (80-85), Jasmine Rodriguez tied for 16th at 181 (93-88), Jackie Mata finished 18th at 182 (92-90) and Beth Williams finished 28th at 190 (96-94).
Gibbens then led The College of Idaho, with Baylee Borchers fifth after the first day at 163 (82-81). Besides them, Katherine Reed finished the first day 19th overall at 183 (96-87), while Sarah Boyd finished tied for 26th at 189 (96-93) and Reagan Sanford finished tied for 33rd at 195 (100-95).
Finally, Partridge and Crofcheck led the Beacons, while Emma Mitchum finished 14th at 178 (91-87), Sami Pitts finished 37th at 202 (104-98) and Taya Harbick finished 38th a 204 (106-98).
The tournament will also determine the All-CCC team, which comprises of the top seven golfers in the conference in terms of scoring average in conference tournaments. After two rounds Monday, Powers, Gibbens, Crofcheck, Patridge, Warner Pacific’s Scotti Jo Helmick, Borchers and Alamillo stand in line for the all-conference honors. The Cavaliers’ Gibbons could also earn all-conference honors, as she only stands one stroke off of Alamillo for seventh in the conference, and just three strokes off of Borchers for sixth.
ROUND ONE RECAP
MONROE, Ore.—The No. 22 Concordia women’s golf team stands in good place to defend its NAIA Regional Championship from last season, as it leads the CCC Championships/NAIA Unaffiliated Grouping Qualifier after the first round at Diamond Woods Golf Course on Monday.
Concordia shot a 338 in the first round to lead Biola, which shot a 345, by seven strokes at the tournament.
If the Cavaliers can hold onto its lead, it’ll mark the second straight season the team has won the NAIA Regional Qualifier, and would give them their ninth straight berth into the NAIA National Tournament.
The Cavs also lead the other CCC teams at the tournament, as The College of Idaho stands 13-strokes back of the Cavs as the next highest team in the standings after the first round. The Yotes placed third overall with a first-round score of 351.
The Cavs now lead the CCC standings by 167 strokes over The College of Idaho after the first round Monday. If the Cavs can hold onto the lead through the next two rounds, then they’ll win their sixth straight CCC title.
Individually, Sunny Powers helped lead the Cavs strong start, as she stands in first overall after shooting a 3-over par 75 in the first round, two strokes ahead of second-place Trish Gibbens of The College of Idaho, who shot a 5-over par 77.
Powers came into the tournament leading the CCC Player of the Year chase by 25 strokes over Gibbens, and pushed that lead to 27 strokes after the first round Monday. If Powers can win the CCC Player of the Year award, which goes to the individual with the lowest scoring average in conference tournaments, then she’ll become the third different CU women’s golfer to win the award since the conference adopted the sport for the 2007-08 season.
Besides Powers, Jennifer Gibbons shot an 85 in the first round to finished tied for eighth for the first-place Cavs. In addition, Patricia Little shot an 87 to finish in 11th place, while Holly Winburn shot a 91 to tie for 17th overall.
Biola, meanwhile, had two players tied for fourth place overall in Ava Lourenco and Lauren Marlow, who each shot an 8-over par 80 to lead the Eagles to a second-place finish after round one.
The College of Idaho then placed third thanks to Gibbens and Baylee Borchers, who placed seventh overall with a first-round 82. Besides those two, Katherine Reed and Sarah Boyd each shot 96 to tie for 28th overall.
Behind the top three teams, Northwest Christian ranks fourth after shooting 353 as a team in the first round, while Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) ranks fifth at 360, Warner Pacific ranks sixth at 373, Simpson ranks seventh at 376 and Corban ranks eighth at 379.
The tournament will also determine the All-CCC team, which comprises of the top seven individuals in the conference based on scoring average in all conference tournaments. After the first round Monday, Powers, Gibbens, Northwest Christians’ Sarah Crofcheck and Haley Partridge, Warner Pacific’s Scotti Jo Helmick, Concordia’s Madison Alamillo and Borchers stand in line for the all-conference honors. Concordia’s Gibbons also remains in the running for all-conference honors, as she only ranks one stroke off of Borchers for the seventh and final spot on the all-conference team.
The teams will play another round Monday, then conclude the tournament with a final round Tuesday.