By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director

ALOHA, Ore. -- Lexi Towner (Fr., Chico, CA/Chico HS) of Willamette University improved by two strokes on the second day of the Culturame Classic on Saturday, Oct. 1 at The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club. Teammate Maddi Barnett (Jr., Boise, ID/Timberline HS) lowered her score by one stroke during the second round.

The 36-hole tournament concluded on Saturday. Towner finished with  an overall score of 176 after shooting an 89 in the first round and an 87 over the final 18 holes. Barnett shot 179, with a 90 on Saturday and an 89 on Sunday.

George Fox University, which hosted the tournament, took first place at 602 with a score of 301 in each round. Whitman College placed second at 630 (312-318), while University of Redlands (Calif.) was third at 637 (318-319). Lewis & Clark College finished fourth with a score of 649 (323-326). Corban University was fifth at 654 (319-335) and Linfield College was sixth at 787 (394-393). Willamette did not field a complete team.

Sydney Maluenda from GFU, who shot a tournamnent-low 4-under-par 69 on Saturday, won the tournament at 145 after carding a 76 in the second round. She won by three strokes over teammate Kristin Elich, who shot 77-71--148. Rachel Drgastin, also from George Fox, was third at 154 (75-79).

Caroline Ordian from Redlands shot 79-66-155 for fourth place. Four golfers tied for fifth place at 156. The tie featured Shiyan Fang (78-78) from Whitman, Iris Kawada (81-75) from George Fox, Annie McCutchan (75-81) from Lewis & Clark, and Phoebe Nguyen (77-79) from Whitman.

Willamette will host the Northwest Conference Fall Classic on Saturday, Oct. 8 and Sunday, Oct. 9 at Emerald Valley Golf Resort in Creswell, Oregon. Action is set to begin at 10 a.m. (PDT) each day. The NWC Fall Classic counts for one-fourth of the overall NWC championship, with the NWC Spring Classic also counting for one-fourth and the NWC Tournament counting for one-half.