April 25, 2001
LAS VEGAS - The UNLV women's golf team has signed five players to national letters of intent, completing the program's first-ever recruiting class, head coach Kelley Hester announced Wednesday.
Signing with the Rebels were junior transfer Erin Borcherts and freshmen Hwanhee Lee, Tina Mabanta, Angela Olivarri and Young Pak.
"I was very pleased that I was able to round up and salvage a good recruiting class starting so late," Hester said of the group that will lay the foundation for UNLV women's golf. "I didn't start until Feb. 1, and traditionally most kids sign early in November.
"My expectations are very high for this team," she added. "I won't let them use the excuse that we're a new team. We want to be competitive immediately."
Only one of the incoming players brings any collegiate experience. Borcherts, a local product from Cimarron-Memorial High School, played two seasons at Oregon State before returning to Las Vegas last fall. She played in 41 rounds in two seasons at OSU, averaging 79.7 strokes per round, and helped the Beavers to the 2000 NCAA West Regional Championships.
Already enrolled as a student at UNLV, Borcherts was a three-time all-state and all-conference choice at Cimarron-Memorial. She led the Spartans to back-to-back state titles in 1995 and 1996 and won the Las Vegas Junior Invitational in 1997.
Lee may be the most heralded player of the incoming class. She ranks 17th among U.S. junior girls in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings and is the top-rated high school senior. An American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) All-American last year, Lee qualified for both the U.S. Girls and U.S. Amateur Championships.
A product of Cerritos High School in Cerritos, Calif., she was a member of the U.S. team that competed for the 1999 Junior World Golf Cup in Scotland. She has also had success at the junior level, claiming medalist honors at the 2000 Ping Landon Farms Classic and most recently finishing third overall at the 2001 Taylor Made Texas Junior Tournament.
Mabanta is a native of Vancouver, B.C., Canada, but comes to UNLV from Xavier College Prep in Phoenix, where she was a team captain at the same prep school that produced LPGA star Grace Park. She is ranked among the top-10 Canadian junior golfers and was ranked 49th in the U.S. in the latest Golfweek rankings. She chose UNLV over national powerhouse Arizona State.
A multiple event winner on the International Junior Golf Tour, Mabanta finished second at the Alberta Junior Girls Championship last year and still holds the course record at Phoenix's Apache Creek Golf Course after firing a 67 at the Junior Golf Arizona Association Fall Classic.
Olivarri, also a U.S. Amateur qualifier, is one of the top high school players in Texas at Highlands High School in San Antonio. Although she is lacking in national experience, she is expected to immediately contribute to the Rebel lineup.
Pak rounds out the 2001 class. Not only was she a 2000 U.S. Amateur qualifier, but she made the cut and advanced to match play. Like Lee, she is from Cerritos, Calif., but competed at nearby Gahr High School. She ranked 40th in the latest Golfweek rankings and among the top 10 high school seniors.
To her credit, she has qualified for three straight U.S. Girls Championships and was the 1998 Junior World Champ in the 13-14 age division. On the AJGA circuit last season, she posted four top-five finishes and eight in the top 10.
"In this class, we've landed some of the biggest names in junior golf," Hester said. "That brings some validity to your program by recruiting kids who are getting national attention and recognition and will continue to help our recruiting as we develop."
