Barnett Places 15th at Northwest Conference Tournament in Women's Golf

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications, (503) 370-6110

LAKEWOOD, Wash. -- Maddi Barnett (Sr., Boise, ID/Timberline HS) of Willamette University shot an 83 in the second round of the 2018 Northwest Conference Tournament to earn 15th place with a score of 167, as the 36-hole event concluded on Sunday, April 22 at Oakbrook Golf Club. Barnett registered nearly identical scores in each round with an 84 over the first 18 holes on Saturday before she added an 83 on Sunday.

"It was fun to watch Maddi in her last round as a Bearcat," Willamette Assistant Coach Ryan Melnychuk said. "She had a great round and was a huge part of us moving up the leaderboard in round two."

Lexi Towner (So., Chico, CA/Chico HS) shot 175 for the Bearcats to tie for 23rd place. She earned an 82 in the first round and a 93 in the second round. Kristen Barclay of carded a score of 183 (93-90) and Katerin Vasquez (Fr., Indio, CA/Coachella Valley HS) shot 209 (102-107).

"Conditions were harder today then yesterday and scores jumped a little bit, but I was really proud of our women's team for staying patient and still putting up competitive numbers," Melnychuk commented.

Shiyang Fan of Whitman College downed Kristin Elich of George Fox University in a playoff to claim first place in the individual standings. Fan (73-74) and Elich (74-73) were tied for first place at 147 after 36 holes. Phoebe Nguyen from Whitman placed third at 154 (78-76). Janelle Decker and Kayle Hunn, both from George Fox, tied for fourth. Decker shot 81-75 and Hunn shot 79-77.

Kacey Godwin of Whitman was sixth, as she shot 157 with an 80 followed by a 77. Hannah Roh of Whitman was seventh at 158 (80-78) and Emma Beyer of Whitman was eighth at 160 (83-77). Iris Kawada from GFU placed with a score of 163 (83-80). Three golfers tied for 10th at 165. They were Jane Almeida from Lewis & Clark who shot 83-82, Jaymie Pentony of Whitworth University who shot 77-88, and Madeline Rice of Linfield College who carded 80-85.

Whitman College won the team title with a score of 615 (311-304). George Fox was second at 622 (317-305), while Whitworth was third at 669 (332-337). Lewis & Clark placed fourth at 680 (342-338), with Pacific Lutheran University in fifth at 700 (353-347), and University of Puget Sound in sixth at 719 (361-358). Wilamette finished seventh at 734 (361-373), one stroke in front of Pacific University, which placed eighth at 735 (355-380). Linfield did not record a team score after one of its four players had two withdraw prior to the second round.

In addition to earning first place at the NWC Tournament, Whitman also secured the 2017-18 NWC Women's Golf Championship by prevailing on the third hole of a team playoff against George Fox. The playoff was required because both teams finished with the same number of points based on their finishes at the NWC Fall Classic, NWC Spring Classic and NWC Tournament.