April 22, 2004

Results

SUNRIVER, Ore. - The No. 20 UNLV women's golf team matched the school record for low round with a 289 team total and holds a two-stroke lead over four-time defending champ New Mexico after the first round of play at the Mountain West Conference Championship on Thursday.

The Rebels were paced on the day by sophomore Elena Kurokawa, who carded a career best 68 at the par-71, 5,851-yard Meadows Course at Sunriver Resort. At three-under, Kurokawa leads the event by two strokes over BYU's Margaret Gibby and defending conference champ Katrina Lekovic of New Mexico.

The 68 was not only Kurokawa's best, but also matches the tournament record fired by New Mexico's Kristi Larsen in 2002. It marks the second best single-round total in school history, trailing the 67 shot by Sunny Oh at last year's NCAA West Regional.

Two other Rebels crowded into the top 10. Hwanhee Lee carded a one-over 72 and sits alone in sixth place. One step behind is sophomore Sunny Oh, who is in a three-way tie for seventh after shooting 73.

Both Young Pak and Seema Sadekar wrapped the team total up with a 76 score. The duo is tied for 16th overall.

"We played well today and feel good about that," UNLV head coach Missy Ringler said. "This is what we came out here to do. We just have to keep doing it for two more rounds."

Tournament scoring can be found online at golfstat.com. Second round play will begin at 10:00 a.m. PDT.