By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

KENNEWICK, WASH. -- The Willamette University women's golf team is tied for second place at the Northwest Conference Spring Classic after registering a score of 339 on the first day of the two-day event at Canyon Lakes Golf Course on Saturday, April 5. George Fox University was in first place at 323. Whitworth University was tied with Willamette at 329.

Following the top three squads were Whitman College in fourth place at 343 and Lewis & Clark College in fifth at 359. Pacific Lutheran University was sixth at 382, while Linfield College was seventh at 395, the University of Puget Sound was eighth at 402, and Pacific University was ninth at 414.

Leading the Willamette team were Taneesh Sra (So., Fremont, CA/Mission San Jose HS), who was tied for third place, and Mckenzie Weinhold (Jr., Placerville, CA/El Dorado HS/Univ. of Nevada-Reno), who ended the round tied for fifth. Sra shot an 82 and Weinhold carded an 83.

All of the teams had to battle high winds. Even so, two golfers scored in the 70s and another nine scored between 82 and 85.

Syndey Maluenda of George Fox topped the leaderboard with a 77, while teammate Melissa Nugent was second at 79.

Sra shared third place in the standings with Nicole Lomax of Whitworth at 82. Weinhold was joined at 83 by three other golfers who also owned part of fifth place. They were Madison Perry of GFU, Michal Schuster of Whitworth and Katie Zajicek of Whitman.

Loreece Magsanide of George Fox was ninth with an 84. Claire Burke from Lewis & Clark and Halle Peterson of Puget Sound were tied for 10th at 85.

In addition to Sra and Weinhold, other Bearcats competing on Saturday were Jessi Weaver (Fr., Lincoln City, OR/Taft HS), LettaJoe Gallup (Jr., Alameda, CA/Holy Names HS) and Elise Levy (So., Reno, NV/Bishop Manogue HS). Weaver carded a score of 86, while Gallup earned an 88 and Levy shot a 93.

The NWC Spring Classic, which counts for one-fourth of the overall NWC Championship, will conclude on Sunday, April 6. The final round is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. (PDT).

Also counting toward the overall NWC team title are the NWC Fall Classic, which was held in October, and the NWC Tournament, set for April 26-27 at the Oregon Golf Association Golf Course in Woodburn, Ore.