Women's golf ends fall with a bang at Shocker invite

RELATED CLICKS:
Round one | Round 2

NEWTON, Kan. -- Northern Colorado's women's golf team finished its 2010 fall season strong earlier this week at the Wichita State Shocker Invitational at Sand Creek Station.

Sophomore Carleigh Silvers turned in scores of 76 and 74 (150, +6) in the two rounds to finish tied for fifth overall in the 45-player field and lead the Bears to a fourth-place team finish, their best finish this fall and just their third top 10 finish in the last two seasons.

The Bears, who finished Tuesday in 628 strokes (+52), previously came in second at the Cal Poly/Lamkin Grip Match Play event last spring and seventh as a team in this same Shocker Invitational last fall.

Host Wichita State won this week's event with a team score of 587, and Cal Poly (611) and Eastern Washington (616) also came in ahead of Northern Colorado.

The Bears had three players finish in the top 20 this week, including Junior Ali Nelson, who carded rounds of 76 and 78 (154, +10) to tie for 12th, and sophomore Hannah McNeley, who had rounds of 80 and 79 (159, +15) to tie for 20th. 

Emily Dougherty (tied for 30th) and Abby McNeley (40th) also participated for the Bears, and combined with Silvers, Nelson and McNeley to give Northern Colorado five season-best individual finishes.

"This was a positive way to end the fall," Nelson said, "and it gives us more confidence for the spring season. We still have a lot of work to do, but we are all prepared to work hard and come back next semester with a strong showing."