DUPONT, Wash. – The Western Washington University women's golf team holds the lead through the first round of the 2021 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Golf Championships.
 
The Vikings turned in their third-best team score of the season (out of 9 rounds) with a 27-over-par 315 on Monday at The Home Course. WWU holds a nine-stroke lead over Northwest Nazarene heading into Tuesday's final round, with tee times beginning at 8:25 am.
 
WWU is aiming for its sixth GNAC team title and first since the 2014-15 season when the Vikings won the first five conference tournaments (2011-15). The winner of the 2021 GNAC Championships will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Championships West Regional May 3-5 in Denton, Texas.
 
"It's great to see all five players close together on the leaderboard," said WWU Director of Golf Luke Bennett. "The team was playing solid for most of the day, but we had a little hiccup at the end but that's in the past. We are looking forward to a great final round as a team tomorrow."
 
Freshmen Elise Sumner and Dani Bailey lead the WWU contingent tied for 3^rd place in the 20-player field at 6-over-par 78.
 
Both players are making their GNAC Championships debut, with Sumner's true freshman season cut shot in 2019-20 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The GNAC's scoring average leader heading into the tournament was steady once again shooting 3-over-par 39 on both the front and back nine.
 
Bailey, a native of Queenstown, New Zealand, is in her first season at Western. Through the first 14 holes of the opening round Bailey was at even-par and leading the tournament following four consecutive birdies to open her back nine. She slipped a little coming in playing the final four holes at 6-over-par.
 
Sophomore Sarah Shea is tied for 6^th following an opening-round 7-over-par 79 and junior Kolby Heggenes is tied for 8^th at 8-over-par 80. Reigning GNAC Player of the Week Sophia Schmidt is in 10^th place following a 9-over-par 81.
 
Saint Martin's have a pair of players tied atop the leaderboard, with Kathryn Crimp and Hoku Nagamine both carding 5-over-par rounds of 77 to hold a one-stroke advantage for individual medalist honors.
 
The final 18 holes of the 36-hole championship tournament begins with the first tee times at 8:25 am on the par 72, 5,815-yard layout situated just south of Tacoma. The final round will feature a live leaderboard through Golfstat at WWUVikings.com/WG_Live.
  Here is a look at WWU's individual results and the team leaderboard following the first round of the 2021 GNAC Women's Golf Championships at The Home Course.
 

2021 GNAC WOMEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS The Home Course  »  DuPont, WA Par 72  »  5,815 Yards
Pos.	Team/Player	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Total
1st	Western Washington	+27	315	--	315
T-3rd	Elise Sumner	+6	78	--	78
T-3rd	Dani Bailey	+6	78	--	78
T-6th	Sarah Shea	+7	79	--	79
T-8th	Kolby Heggenes	+8	80	--	80
10th	Sophia Schmidt	+9	81	--	81
Pos.	Team	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Total
1.	Western Washington	+27	315	--	315
2.	Northwest Nazarene	+36	324	--	324
3.	Saint Martin's	+38	326	--	326
4.	Montana State Billings	+49	337	--	337