Complete tournament scoring

Chandler, AZ - In easily the finest tournament performance in school history, the Portland State women's golf team decimated the field at the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic. The Vikings won the 54-hole event by 28 shots, recording a school-record 294-287-290=871 total.

In addition, sophomore Britney Yada captured co-medalist honors, tying the school-record for 54-hole scoring with a three-under par 71-70-72=213. Yada tied Carleigh Silvers of Northern Colorado for first, three shots clear of the field.

Making the wins particularly sweet was the fact that PSU beat the other eight Big Sky Conference schools on the same course they will play April 18-20 for the Big Sky Championship; the Ocotillo Resort. Portland State's nearest opponent was Northern Arizona, which finished fifth at 908, 37 shots behind the Vikings.

Head Coach Kathleen Takaishi was a little taken aback but just how well her team played: "I didn't necessarily expect (this level of play), but I will take it."

"I knew they were capable of playing that well. They each individually have gained confidence over the spring and it just came together this week. They are excited about how they played and I think they now know that they are this good."

PSU won the 23-team tournament for its second win in as many weeks. The Vikings captured the Anteater Invitational last week in southern California and have now won back-to-back tournament for just the second time in school history. That is pretty good momentum heading into the Big Sky Championship, which is the gateway to an NCAA Regional Tournament in May.

Portland State outplayed three teams ranked higher heading into the tournament. PSU was rated 76th among 255 teams in the nation by Golfstat.com prior to the tournament. Second-place New Mexico State, which came at 899, was ranked 64th. Third-place BYU (902) was ranked 48th, and fifth-place NAU was 73rd.

All five Vikings were outstanding in the event. While the field scoring average was 79.30 strokes per round for the week, Vikings players had a scoring average of 73.40 per round, including throw-out scores.

After playing brilliantly through her first two seasons at PSU, Yada finally won her first individual title. The native of Hilo, HI entered the tournament having been in the top 10 of six straight tournaments. Her 213 total matches the school record set by Sarah Tiller at the 2004 Bronco Fall Invitational. Yada was steady with two birdies and two bogeys on Tuesday. She posted nine birdies over three rounds and led wire-to-wire. Yada was one of three Vikings to shoot the best 54-hole scores of their careers.

PSU had three players in the top six, including Kalyn Dodge, who tied for third and Tiffany Schoning, who tied for sixth. Dodge, a senior, shot 74-69-73=216, breaking her personal best by six strokes. Her even-par score ranks fourth-best in school history. Schoning, a junior, had her best round of the week on Tuesday, finishing at 75-74-71=220.

Senior Alexia Brown tied for 13th place among the 121 golfers competing. She went out in 43 today, but came in with three birdies for a back-nine 33 and 76 total. Brown shot 74-74-76=224 to set a new personal best for 54 holes.

Freshman Lauren Taylor tied for 23rd place with 79-75-74=228.

The Ocotillo Golf Resort, a 6,184-yard, par 72, will host the Big Sky Conference Championship on April 18-20.

NEW PORTLAND STATE SCHOOL RECORDS SET AT THE WYOMING COWGIRL CLASSIC
Single-round team score: 287, second round    Previous record: 289, 2005 Big Sky Championship
36-hole score: 577 (287-290), rounds 2-3    Previous record: 590 (294-296), 2004 Big Sky Championship
54-hole score: 871 (294-287-290)        Previous record: 886 (294-296-296), 2004 Big Sky Championship
Largest victory margin: 28 stokes            Previous record: 11 strokes, 2005 Big Sky Championship
54-hole scoring, player: 213, Britney Yada (tied)

NEW PERSONAL BEST PERFORMANCES
54-hole score: Britney Yada (213), Kalyn Dodge (216), Alexia Brown (224)
18-hole score: Kalyn Dodge (69)

TAP-INS: Yada now leads the team in scoring this year with a 75.66 scoring average. She set a school record last year with a 76.37 scoring average. Her career scoring average of 76.03 is also a school record. She now has seven straight top 10 finishes… Yada's previous career best came last year in this tournament when she placed second with a two-over par 72-73-73=218. … Tiffany Schoning tied Yada with nine birdies for the week. On the flip side, Kalyn Dodge and Yada had just six bogeys each in three rounds… Yada and Dodge each led the tournament in par-four scoring (each two-under par), while Alexia Brown led the tournament in par-five scoring (three-under par)…  PSU is now 22-1 in head-to-head scoring against Big Sky schools this year, 92-21-1 against all teams, and now 16-14-1 against teams in the top 100… PSU's other back-to-back tournament wins came in 36-hole events in October 2003. The Vikings won the Colorado/Heather Farr Memorial and the Bronco Fall Classic… the Vikings' 303.3 scoring average this season is nearly eight strokes better than last year's school-record 310.1 mark.

Wyoming Cowgirl Classic
hosted by the University of Wyoming
Ocotillo Golf Resort, Chandler, AZ
April 4-5, 2011
6,184 yards, par 72
23 teams/121 golfers

Team Scores (with Golfstat ranking)
1. Portland State (76), 294-287-290=871
2. New Mexico State (64), 310-288-301=899
3. BYU (48), 308-301-293=902
4. UTEP (110), 304-298-304=906
5. Northern Arizona (73), 307-299-302=908
6. Montana (119), 315-308-288=911
7. UC Riverside (142), 312-301-299=912
8. Wyoming (138), 307-309-304=920
9. Louisiana-Monroe (152), 314-311-301=926
10. Xavier (122), 316-310-301=927
11. Boise State (136), 310-306-312=928
12. Northern Colorado (180), 308-316-306=930
13. Cal Poly (131), 315-311-305=931
14. Seattle (175), 317-305-314=936
15. Sacramento State (163), 309-320-309=938
16. Montana State (177), 323-322-306=951
17. Weber State (199), 324-320-316=960
18. Southern Utah (182), 315-324-323=962
19. Santa Clara (108), 328-328-308=964
20. South Dakota State (161), 338-312-319=969
21. Eastern Washington (203), 333-322-322=977
22. Utah Valley (212), 326-335-320=981
23. Idaho State (239), 346-326-325=997

Top 10 Individuals
t1. Britney Yada, Portland State, 71-70-72=213
t1. Carleigh Silvers, Northern Colorado, 73-71-69=213
t3. Kalyn Dodge, Portland State, 74-69-73=216
t3. Suteera Chanachai, New Mexico State, 76-67-73=216
5. Shang Huang, UTEP, 75-71-73=219
t6. Tiffany Schoning, Portland State, 75-74-71=220
t6. Taylor Yoshitake, Cal Poly, 73-71-76=220
8. Ashley Yee, UC Riverside, 76-70-75=221
t9. Bethany Leclair, Northern Arizona, 75-73-74=222
t9. Demi Mak, New Mexico State, 79-71-72=222

Portland State Golfers
t1. Britney Yada, 71-70-72=213
t3. Kalyn Dodge, 74-69-73=216
t6. Tiffany Schoning, 75-74-71=220
t13. Alexia Brown, 74-74-76=224
t23 Lauren Taylor, 79-75-74=228

Tournament Team Titles
2000-01    Cal State Northridge Classic
2002-03    Big Sky Conference Championship
2003-04    Colorado/Heather Farr Memorial; Bronco Fall Classic; Big Sky Conference Championship
2004-05    Big Sky Conference Championship
2007-08    Big Sky Conference Championship
2008-09    Bulldog and Eagle Invitational
2009-10    Big Sky Conference Championship
2010-11    Anteater Invitational; Wyoming Cowgirl Classic

Tournament Medalists
2000-01    Taya Battistella, Big Sky Championship
2002-03    Taya Battistella, Big Sky Championship
2003-04    Rebecca Randolph, Bronco Fall Classic
2007-08    Kayla Morinaga, Heather Farr/Colorado Memorial; Hannah Bews, Big Sky Championship
2008-09    Stephanie Johns,Bulldog and Eagle Invitational
2010-11    Tiffany Schoning, OSU/Washington Triangle (1 round) and Turtle Bay Collegiate Invitational;
    Lauren Taylor, Folino Invitational and Anteater Invitational
    Britney Yada, Wyoming Cowgirl Classic