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

TACOMA, Wash. -- Taneesh Sra (Jr., Fremont, CA/Mission San Jose HS) of Willamette University is tied for eighth place individually after shooting an 80 in the first round of the 2015 Northwest Conference Spring Classic in women's golf. Sra is tied with Nicole Lomax of Whitworth University, who also carded an 80. Willamette is in sixth place in the team standings.

The leader in the medalist race is Phoebe Nguyen of Whitman College with a 1-over-par 73. Loreece Magsanide of George Fox University follows in second place with a 77. Sydney Maluenda, also from GFU, is third with a 78.

Four golfers are tied for fourth place. They are Jeankie-Jhen Aczon of Pacific Lutheran University, Abbi Rautenberg of Lewis & Clark College, and Whitworth athletes Chelsea Bayley and Michal Schuster.

In addition to Sra, other golfers for the Bearcats are LettaJoe Gallup (Jr., Alameda, CA/Holy Names HS), Maddi Barnett (Fr., Boise, Idaho/Timberline HS) and Holly Steele (Fr., Stayton, OR/Stayton HS). Gallup shot an 86 in the first round and is tied for 23rd. Barnett carded an 89, while Steele shot 112.

George Fox leads the tournament's team standings at 317. Whitworth holds second place at 322, just one stroke in front of Whitman, which is third at 323.

Lewis & Clark is fourth at 327, with Pacific Lutheran in fifth at 330, Willamette in sixth at 367 and Linfield College in seventh at 370. University of Puget Sound is eighth with a score of 402 and Pacific University is ninth at 410.

The NWC Spring Classic will conclude on Sunday, April 12 with the second round of action at Lake Spanaway Golf Course. The course is set for 5,825 yards.

Tee times for Willamette on Sunday are 10:45 a.m. for Steele, 10:54 a.m. for Barnett, 11:03 a.m. for Gallup and 11:12 a.m. for Sra.

Each year, the NWC uses a combination of three tournaments to determine the overall team champion. The NWC Fall Classic is worth one-fourth of the title and the NWC Spring Classic is worth one-fourth. The NWC Tournament, set for April 25-26 this season, counts for one-half of the title.

Willamette placed fifth at the NWC Fall Classic with a 36-hole score of 702. The Bearcats were just one stroke behind Pacific Lutheran University, which took fourth place at 701. George Fox gained an early edge for the NWC title by winning the Fall Classic at 634.