Ruiz Leads Willamette as Bearcats Finish NWC Tournament
By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications, (503) 370-6110
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Analyssa Ruiz (Sr./So., Keizer, OR/Blanchet Catholic School) provided the lowest individual round for Willamette University this weekend, as the Northwest Conference Tournament in women's golf concluded on Sunday, April 18 at the Kalispel Golf and Country Club. George Fox University won the team title and also claimed the overall NWC Championship. The Bearcats finished in ninth place at the NWC Tournament.
By winning the overall NWC Championship, George Fox earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins won all three events used to determine the NWC Champion -- the NWC Fall Classic, NWC Spring Classic, and NWC Tournament.
Ruiz carded a score of 106 on Sunday. She completed the 36-hole tournament with a score of 216, including 110 in the first round. Alexis Schwartz (Sr./So., Ontario, OR/Ontario HS), who also shot 110 on Saturday, added 115 in the second round to end the weekend at 225. Kiki Fierstos (Jr./So., Redmond, OR/Redmond HS) shot 248 (127-121), while Meghan Hook (Jr./So., Sunnyvale, CA/Homestead HS) shot 276 (134-142).
George Fox earned a winning score of 603 at the NWC Tournament after shooting 307 in the first round and 296 in the second round. Pacific Lutheran University took second place at 686 (350-336) and Whitman College was third at 689 (346-343). Whitworth University placed fourth at 711 (348-363), Pacific University claimed fifth place at 775 (387-388), and the University of Puget Sound achieved sixth place at 793 (403-390). Lewis & Clark College was seventh at 806 (399-407), with Linfield University in eighth at 874 (447-427), and Willamette in ninth at 965 (481-484).
The Bruins took the top five places in the individual standings. Medalist honors went to Alison Takamiya. She won by eight strokes with a score of 1-over par 145, as she registered a 75 in the first round and a 2-under par 70 in the second round. Allie Slingsby was second at 153 (77-76), while Alex McMenamin placed third at 154 (77-77). Mackensie Toole was fourth at 155 (82-73). Kaitlyn Tonai completed GFU's 1-5 sweep by finishing fifth at 158 (78-80).
Pacific Lutheran's Nicole Matiatos claimed sixth place at 161 (83-76). Emma Beyer of Whitman was seventh at 162 (82-80) and Madeline Hahn from Whitworth took eighth place at 168 (85-83). Kamryn Ford of L&C and Vreni Todd of Whitman tied for ninth place at 172, as Ford shot 84-88 and Todd carded 89-83.
In the NWC Championship race, George Fox scored 32 points. Pacific Lutheran was second with 26.5 points, followed by Whitman in third at 25.5, Whitworth in fourth at 20, Pacific in fifth at 16, and Puget Sound in sixth at 11. Lewis & Clark was seventh with nine points, Linfield was eighth with three points, and Willamette was ninth with one point.