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Leina leads NCAA Division II
Leina Kim, seen here gauging her shot during a photo shoot for TAGA Sports magazine, leads the statistics rankings in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II. (Taga Sports)
Kim, based on the latest and official statistics rankings posted on golfstat.com, registered an average score of 71.25 in the four tournaments she played for CSU-Pueblo in the 2014-2015 RMAC fall season.
The Marianas Baptist Academy graduate so far has won three individual titles while finishing tied for third with fellow Lady ThunderWolf Julia Sanchez in her fourth competition of the season, the RMAC #2 Tournament. Her excellent games also helped the Lady ThunderWolves finish in the Top 10 of the four tournaments, including a runner-up honors in the Samuel Proal Lady Wolf Pack Invitational and third in the RMAC #1 Tournament.
So far, Kim has fired 29 birdies and an eagle with still one tournament left—the final round of the West Texas A&M Lady Buff Invitational in Texas—in the RMAC’s fall season.
With her outstanding rookie and sophomore seasons and her strong showing in the first four competitions this season, Kim is considered as one of CSU-Pueblo’s most successful female parbusters in the school’s history. She was named RMAC Golfer of the Year twice (last two seasons) and won the Rookie of the Year honors, too. Kim was also the first Lady ThunderWolf to earn an NCAA All-Super Region honors and finished 28th overall in the Division II national championships.
Kim also holds the RMAC lowest individual round and tournament scores of 66 and 133, respectively, which she recorded in the Mustang Women’s Fall Intercollegiate last Sept. 22 to 23 at the Coldwater Golf Club in Phoenix, Ariz.
The CSU-Pueblo junior is leading the Lady ThunderWolves in the current RMAC season with an average score of 71.3, while teammate Julie Sanchez notched 76.5 strokes per round to place second. The entire team posted an average round score of 318.2.
In the NCAA Division 2 rankings, Kim holds a 0.25 lead over Elaine Wood of University of Montevallo, while Tarleton State’s Isabelle Jimenez Perea is in third place at 71.60. St. Mary’s sophomore Allison Howarth (72.50) and Rebecka Surtevall of Arkansas Tech (72.67) placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
Golfstat Inc. will award the top ranked players and teams in these categories after the spring championships. (Jon Perez)
