Final Tournament Results

GOODYEAR, Ariz. - The Western Washington University women's golf team finished in 5th place at the Mustang Intercollegiate hosted by Western New Mexico University Monday and Tuesday at Palm Valley Golf Club.

The Vikings finished with a 36-hole score of 21-over-par 597 in the regular-season-ending tournament, placing 5th in the 19-team field. WWU entered the final round in 4th place after finishing with a 9-over-par 297 in Monday's first round, but were passed after Tarleton State turned in an even-par 288 in the final round.

"I thought we had a pretty decent day on the course, the birdies were just not falling like they did on Monday," said head coach Bo Stephan. "We needed a few early birdies to get the round going, but it just didn't happen. Overall I am proud of the team as everybody contributed and we hit a lot of good golf shots."

Junior Jenn Paul (Bellingham, WA) was the highest placing Viking in a three-way tie for 7th place, finishing the tournament at even-par 144. Paul turned in rounds of 1-under-par 71 in the first round and 1-over-par in Tuesday's final round. She heads into the GNAC Championships with a team-leading scoring average of 77.56 (+5.39 relative to par).

Senior Audrey Orem (Bellingham, WA) turned in a solid 2-over-par 74 in Tuesday's final round to finish tied for 29th, carding 14 pars, 3 bogeys and 1 birdie for her second-best round of the season.

Sophomore Hannah Drake (Pocatello, ID/Century) and senior Brooke Branigan (Bellingham, WA) tied for 40th at 11-over-par (155), while sophomore Stephanie Sewell (Kent, WA/Kentridge) slipped to a tie for 48th place at 12-over-par (156).

California Baptist won the team competition finishing 1-over-par (577), 7 strikes better than 2nd-place West Texas A&M. Tarleton State (+10, 586) and St. Edward's (+18, 594) rounded out the top 5 with Western Washington.

St. Edward's Johany Rivera won individual medalist honors with rounds of 71 (-1) and 70 (-2) for a 3-under-par final score of 141, one stroke better than Anya Anders (Texas A&M - Commerce), Laura Scrivner (California Baptist) and Casey Wild (Tarleton State). The 7th-place finish for Paul marked her second top 10 finish of the season, and 13th of her career.

WWU now heads to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championship held April 24-25 at Coeur d'Alene Resort in Idaho. Western has won five of the six GNAC Championships since the tournament debuted in 2011, having its five-year reign snapped last year finishing 2nd behind Simon Fraser.

"I think we have had a good last week and a half of practice and have a new mentality going into practice rounds," added Stephan. "We need to keep that going. The team is in a good state of mind heading into the GNAC Championships and we are going over there with the goal win the tournament."

Here is a complete listing of WWU's competitors in the tournament and the team leaderboard:

-- @WWUAthletics--