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Top 10 finish for Leina, Lady T-Wolves 5th
Saipan native Leina Kim ended up tied for 10th, while senior Julie Sanchez had her third top five finish this season to help the Colorado State University-Pueblo Lady ThunderWolves to joint fifth in the Las Vegas Desert Classic.
Leina Kim, second right, and the CSU-Pueblo Lady ThunderWolves finished tied for fifth place after the two-day Las Vegas Desert Classic held at the Paiute Golf Resort in Nevada. (CSU-Pueblo)
According to the CSU-Pueblo Lady ThunderWolves website, Kim tallied a two-day total of 13-over 157 held last March 1 and 2 at the Paiute Golf Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada to join University of Missouri-St. Louis Tritons’ Joana Yanez at 10th place.
The Pete Dye-designed course proved to be challenging for the CSU-Pueblo junior Kim as she opened the two-day event with a 6-over 72 before concluding with a 7-over 72 for that 157 total.
Kim said that the team was forced to practice in an indoor driving range before they left for Las Vegas due to snow.
“We’re quite lucky toward the beginning of the year with amazing golf weather but the past week has been nothing but snow. We had to stay indoors and hit straight to a net. It’s not ideal but it’s better than nothing,” said Kim, who still has a year of eligibility left.
Sanchez, who had a tournament best five birdies, had a closing 1-under 71 for a two-day haul of 5-over 149 to push her from seventh to third. She limped with a 6-over 78 on the opening round.
It was the third highest finish for CSU-Pueblo in the 2014-2015 season as the Wolf Pack’s 654 tally landed them at fifth behind tournament winner Oklahoma Christian (623), runners-up Midwestern State and Central Oklahoma (624), and fourth placer University of Redlands (639).
Anna Arrese Cortadellas of the Oklahoma Christian University Eagles and Central Oklahoma’s Maria Souvannasing finished tied on top with 148s and was just one shot ahead of Sanchez.
CSU-Pueblo’s Samantha Geisick (173) finished tied for 40th, while Natasha Navarro (175) ended up at joint 42nd and Megan McCutcheon (190) landed at 63rd spot.
Kim, Sanchez, and the rest of the Wolf Pack will take a two-week break before heading to Wichita Falls, Texas for the Midwestern State Invitational from March 16 to 17.
