April 5, 2005

ST. GEORGE, Utah - Seema Sadekar, Hwanhee Lee and Elena Kurokawa all finished in the top ten Tuesday afternoon to lead the UNLV women's golf team to its third-consecutive BYU Dixie Classic crown.

The Rebels carded a second-round 297 and finished with a two-day score of 617 (+41) to win by 14 strokes over No. 16 Arkansas. The tournament was originally schedule to be three rounds, with two rounds to have been played Monday. Severe rain and wind cancelled the second round, making the classic a 36-hole tournament held at Entrada Golf Club at Snow Canyon.

Sadekar shot a final-round, even-par 72 to finish second at the classic with a total of 150 (78-72, +6) and the sophomore was the only Rebel to post a round of par or better in the tournament. Just one stroke behind Sadekar was Lee, who carded a two-round score of 151 (75-76, +7) to finish third overall. Kurokawa cracked the top 10 as well, coming in eighth with a score of 155 (82-73 +11) to record her fourth-consecutive top-10 finish.

UNLV actually had four players in the top 10 at the classic with Christine Hentzner earning her first-career top-5 finish as the senior tied for fifth with a score of 154 (79-75, +10). Hentzner was playing as individual in the tournament however, meaning that her score could not count toward the team total.

Rounding out the Rebels' team scores were Young Pak, who finished tied for 20th with a two-round total of 161 (85-76, +17) and Allison Chell, who came in tied for 55th with a score of 172 (88-84, +28). Tina Mabanta also played as an individual for UNLV and she tied for 40th with a two-round score of 165 (83-82, +21).

Winning medalist honors was Rachel Newren of BYU as she shot a one-under 71 Tuesday to close with a two-day total of 149 (78-71, +5), edging Sadekar by one stroke. Jenny Judd of Boise State rounded out the top five individuals, finishing fourth with a 153 (77-76, +9).

BYU came in third as a team with a total of 636 (333-303, +60) and the Cougars were followed by Portland State (330-308-638, +62) and Colorado (335-310-645, +69).

This was the final tournament for the Rebels before the Mountain West Conference Championships, which will be held April 21-23 at the Meadow's Course at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore.

Full results may be found by clicking here.