ST. GEORGE — Rival universities finished one spot apart as Southern Utah finished sixth and Utah Tech seventh at the Western Athletic Conference women’s golf championships April 23-25.
The Thunderbirds were paced by Tsara Ralamboarison who finished tied for first and after a four-way playoff ended up tied for second.
Former Desert Hills standout Tori Thomas finished with a birdie in the final round and came into the clubhouse at 6-over par, finishing tied for 19th at plus-13.
Over the three-day tournament, which was staged at Semiahmoo Country Club in Blaine, Washington, SUU tallied 307-294-307-908, good for 44-over par.
Meanwhile, the Trailblazers went 306-306-311-923, putting them 59-over par and in seventh place. Freshman Corinne Lillywhite paced Utah Tech, finishing in a four-way tie for 24th at plus-14 230.
Sam Houston led wire-to-wire to claim the conference team championship, eight shots clear of runner-up Seattle U and nine strokes ahead of third-place New Mexico State.
The men’s WAC golf championship runs this Friday-Sunday at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nevada. The five-player lineup for the Trailblazers will feature seniors Davis Heslington (Beaver High School alum) and Tyler Jones, sophomore Taft Lewis and freshmen Zach Felts (Crimson Cliffs alum) and Parker Reese.
“I chose Utah Tech because I love where the golf program is going with Coach Sutterfield and I love living in St. George,” Felts is quoted as saying on the UT Athletics website.
Among those in the lineup for SUU is freshman Donovan Barnes, an alum of Cedar High School.