By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

TACOMA, Wash. -- The Willamette University women's golf team played in the first round of the 2022 Northwest Conference Spring Classic on Saturday, April 9 at Oakbrook Golf Course. Anushka Srivastav (Fy., Pune, India/Mahindra International School) shot a 101 to lead the Bearcats. Willamette ended the round in ninth place in the team standings.

George Fox University topped the team leaderboard at 312. The Bruins held a 27-stroke lead over Whitworth University. The Pirates were in second place at 339, with Pacific Lutheran University in third at 346 and Linfield University in fourth at 369. Whitman College held fifth place at 387, while Lewis & Clark College was sixth at 389, the University of Puget Sound was seventh at 409, Pacific University followed in eighth at 421, and Willamette was ninth at 438.

Makensie Toole from George Fox was the individual leader after 18 holes with a score of 73. She led by three strokes over teammate Alison Takamiya, who was second at 76. Brianna McNelly of Whitworth and Kaitlyn Tonia of GFu were tied for third at 81, while Liana Brown of GFu and Lauryn Tsukimura from Pacific Lutheran were tied for fifth at 82. Julia Dias of Whitworth held seventh place with an 83.

Srivastav is one of four Willamette golfers entered in the tournament. Kiki Fierstos (Sr., Redmond, OR/Redmond HS) and Alexis Schwartz (Grad., Ontario, OR/Ontario HS) each carded a 112 on Saturday. Meghan Hook (Sr., Sunnyvale, CA/Homestead HS) shot a 113.

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. Action in the NWC Spring Classic will conclude with the second round, set for Sunday, April 10. The NWC Tournament is scheduled for April 23-24 with Willamette hosting at Creekside Golf Club in Salem, Oregon.