Maricopa, Ariz. - Freshman Kirsten Ishikawa finished an impressive 29th in the 110-player field to highlight the Eastern Washington University golf team's showing at the Cowgirl Classic this past Monday and Tuesday, April 4-5
Eastern shot a total of 927 (310-307-310) over the two-day event at the Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club to place 14th out of 19 teams.
Hosted by Wyoming, the tournament featured the largest field of competition EWU has faced thus far on the season, with 110 individual players and 10 out-of-conference schools. The Eagles finished ahead of fellow Big Sky Conference members Montana State (928), Portland State (939) and Weber State and finished 17 shots back of Southern Utah and Montana.
"The team put together three consistent rounds this week on a course that can present difficult approach shots that require a little more course management than what we are used to seeing. We came away with wins over MSU, WSU, and PSU. Those three teams are ranked ahead of us in the conference, so it is great we were able to leave the event atop those three solid conference teams", said head coach Brenda Howe.
Leading the team was Ishikawa, who improved after every round, finishing with a score of 226 (77-75-74) and placing her in a tie for 29th in the 110-player field. Her third round total of 74 strokes was EWU's best for the tournament. Sophomore Kimberlie Miyamoto followed up her great performance last tournament, shooting an identical 232 (78-76-78) and tying for 52nd. The other three Eagles all finished within one stroke of each other, leading to one of the team's most consistent performances this season. Senior Marissa Borja shot 236 (77-79-80), while freshman Mercedes Khumnark finished with the same score, 236 (78-78-80). Borja and Khumnark placed in a tie for 72nd. Junior Hannah Kim scored 237 (81, 78, 78), tying for 77th place.
Coach Howe went into detail on the team's play, saying, "Overall, I feel we still need to work on our finishes (final five holes or so.) We had a couple of really solid rounds going and just struggled finishing them. In the couple weeks heading into Conference, I really want to work on some different techniques with the ladies that will help with the mental side of the game, and in turn, hopefully aid in solid finishes."
Ishikawa leads Eastern with an average of 77.95 strokes per round, over 22 total rounds. Her score of 226 this tournament was Eastern's best three-round, event score on the season. "Kirsten really impressed me this week. She struggled in our last event, and she really got things back on track. Not only did she strike the ball better, but her mental game, which has usually been on point this year, was back in full force", said Howe.  Right behind Ishikawa in average strokes is Borja with 78.14 over 22 rounds.
The Eagles travel to Goodyear, Ariz., for the Bobcat Invitational, their last tournament before the Big Sky Championship. The event is hosted over two days at the Golf Club of Estrella, starting on Monday, April 11.
Full Results:
Eastern Washington – 310 307 310 927
T29 - Kirsten Ishikawa (2) 77 75 74 226
T52 - Kimberlie Miyamoto (4) 78 76 78 232
T72 - Marissa Borja (1) 77 79 80 236
T72 - Mercedes Khumnark (5) 78 78 80 236
T77 - Hannah Kim (3) 81 78 78 237
