SALEM, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College women's golf sophomore
Ahika Jani posted the lowest-round in the field on Sunday, to earn the individual win at the Willamette Valley Cup by two strokes.
THE BASICS
Women's Golf – 3
rd out of 10 Teams – 648 (328-320) +80
HOW IT HAPPENED
Jani claimed her second win of the season and third of her career on Sunday. She shot a 72 (+1) to outpace the rest of the field by two strokes. Women's golf edged Northwest Conference rival Pacific University by one stroke across 36 holes, to finish third overall and second out of seven Northwest Conference teams.
After entering the day in a three-way tie for second, Jani posted 15 pars, one birdie and two bogeys on Sunday to claim the win. Jani posted a bogey on the fourth hole, but that would be her only blemish through her first 13 holes of the day. She caught Saturday's leader, Ashlyn Johnson, after eight holes. Johnson would post back-to-back bogeys to start her back nine but evened the score when Jani bogeyed and Johnson birdied the par 3 14
th hole. Jani would grab the lead right back on the next hole. She posted her lone birdie of the day on the par 4 16
th and Johnson notched a bogey moments later to push the lead back to two. Jani would close her round with two more pars to seal the win. She finished the weekend with a 147 (+5) to finish first out of 53 golfers.
Fellow sophomore
Evie Denton placed tied for 17
th and second on the team. Denton posted two birdies and eight pars to shave six strokes off her score from Saturday. She notched a round of 79 (+8) to finish the tournament with a two-day total of 164 (+22). After five bogeys in her first seven holes, she closed out the front nine with back-to-back birdies and added six of her pars on the back nine.
First year
Darwyn Kormany placed third on the team and 25
th overall. Kormany jumped off to a terrific start on Sunday with two birdies and four pars through her first seven holes (-1). The first year ran into trouble last with bogeys or worse on four of her final five holes to wrap up the day with an 85 (+11). She came up huge for the team finish on her final hole of the tournament. Kormany posted her team-high third birdie of the day on the par 3 17
th to help Lewis & Clark ensure they would finish ahead of Pacific. The first year wrapped up the tournament with a score of 167 (+25).
First year
Kimber Yoder tied for fourth on the team and finished the weekend tied for 29
th overall. Yoder notched eight pars on Sunday, including posting three pars in a row at the turn and on three of the final four holes in her round. The first year posted an 87 (+16) to close out the tournament with a 170 (+28).
Sophomore
Natalie Nuñez Lezama matched Yoder on Day Two to place tied for fourth on the team. She improved her score by a team-best eight shots on Sunday. Nuñez Lezama carded an 87 (+16) to finish 41
stoverall. She opened her day with a par and added five more across her 18 holes. Nuñez Lezama notched a two-day score of 182 (+40).
BY THE NUMBERS
- Jani has won two of the three tournaments this year where the majority of the NWC teams have been present. She won the Pacific Invitational in the Fall by three strokes and finished tied for second at the NWC Fall Classic.
- Lewis & Clark finished fifth as a team on par 3s (3.52, +26), fourth on par 4s (4.70, +63) and fifth on par 5s (5.78, +31).
- #23 George Fox University (+54) edged NAIA #22 Lewis-Clark State (+55) by one stroke to win the team title this weekend.
- Jani finished tied for first in the field on par 3s (3.00, Even), second on par 4s (4.28, +5) and tied for third on par 5s (5.00).
- Kormany and Jani finished tied for the fourth in the field in birdies with three. Kormany posted all three of her birdies on Sunday.
- Jani led the entire field with 26 pars and posted the fewest bogeys in the field (six). She also finished tied for first with just one double bogey.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will return to action after Spring Break. They will travel to the GFU Invitational on March 30-31 in their final tune-up before the NWC Spring Classic.
