Vikings finish big

In a spectacular finish to the regular season, Portland State freshman Britney Yada placed second out of 120 golfers at the University of Wyoming Cowgirl Classic on Tuesday.

Yada finished the event two over par with 218 strokes (72–73–73), two shots above Northern Arizona freshman Stephanie Kim, who finished with an even par of 216 to win the classic. This was a personal best for Yada and is the third-best 54-hole score ever by a Viking. She finished the season as the scoring leader in six out of eight events with a scoring average of 76.67.

The Vikings shot 902 (295–304–303) to place fifth out of 23 schools—their best finish this season and second-best in school history. The best 54-hole team score on record was set at the 2004 Big Sky Conference Championship with a score of 886. The best individual score of 213 was set by Sarah Tiller in 2004 at the Bronco Fall Invitational.

This was the first event of the season where the Vikings competed with their top players.  Injuries and other issues prevented the team from playing with their five best, but head coach Kathleen Takaishi believes strongly in the effort of her entire team.

“These five are playing their best right now,” Takaishi said. “Having Stephanie Johns back in the lineup has definitely helped, but the other four members of our team got us to this point by stepping up and pushing themselves when they were needed.”

PSU ended its regular season 15–4 in head-to-head scoring against Big Sky Conference schools.

The team’s performance for the season was not as consistent as they had hoped when it started, but they ended with a bang.

“We got off to a little bit of a slow start but we’re definitely all playing well now,” Takaishi said. “It’s all about timing and I think we’re in a good place to compete for the Big Sky Championship in a couple of weeks.”

The University of Texas-El Paso won Tuesday’s event with 883 strokes, 14 below Colorado State and Northern Arizona who ended the tournament tied for second. The University of Nevada beat the Vikings by only one stroke to finish fourth.

Senior Stephanie Johns had a top-10 finish in a tie for ninth place with 222 (74–74–74), her own personal best as a Viking. Sophomore Tiffany Schoning matched her personal best at Portland State and finished tied for 29th with 230 (72–80–78). Junior Kalyn Dodge tied for 35th with 232 (77–77–78) and junior Alexia Brown tied for 70th with 241 (79–81¬–81).

The Wyoming Cowgirl Classic was played at the Ocotillo Golf Resort in Chandler, Ariz., also the setting for the Big Sky Conference Championship on April 19–21.