By Timothy Walsh, Athletics Communications Writer

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- The Willamette University women's golf team finished the first day of the Northwest Conference Spring Classic at Wine Valley Golf Club on Saturday, April 3 in ninth place in the team standings.

George Fox University led the team standings by 35 strokes with a score of 11-over-par 299. Whitman College was second at 334, and Pacific Lutheran University and Whitworth University were tied for third place at 344. Pacific University was fifth at 362, and Lewis & Clark College owned sixth place at 369. The University of Puget Sound followed in seventh place at 373, with Linfield University in eighth at 417, and Willamette in ninth at 455.

Meghan Hook (Jr./So., Sunnyvale, CA/Homestead HS) led Willamette with a score of 101. Alexis Schwartz (Sr./So., Ontario, OR/Ontario HS) shot 106, Analyssa Ruiz (Sr./So., Keizer, OR/Blanchet Catholic School) carded a 109, and Kiki Fierstos (Jr./So., Redmond, OR/Redmond HS) shot 139.

Allie Slingsby and Makensie Toole, both from George Fox University, were tied atop the leaderboard with a 1-over-par 73. Alexandria McMenamin, also of GFU, was in third place at 2-over-par 74.  Nicole Matiatos from PLU was fourth at 77, and Emma Beyer from Whitman was fifth with a 78. Kamryn Ford of Lewis & Clark and Alison Takamiya shared sixth place at 79.

The NWC Spring Classic is one of three tournaments used to determine the overall NWC champion. The Spring Classic is worth one-fourth of the overall title, the NWC Fall Classic also is worth one-fourth, and the NWC Tournament counts for one-half. The tournament will conclude with the final 18 holes on Sunday, April 4.