Nov. 15, 2013
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - San Diego State's Sirene Blair was named the Mountain West Women's Golfer of the Month for her performances in two tournaments played in October, the league office announced Friday. With her award, the South Jordan, Utah native becomes just the third freshman in the 15-year history of the MW to garner back-to-back conference monthly honors, joining former Aztec star Christine Wong (Oct. 2009/Feb.2010) and Mikaela Backstedt of New Mexico (Sept./ Oct. 2005).
Blair's first semester on Montezuma Mesa was highlighted by a first-place effort at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown, Oct. 27-29, when she bested 94 other competitors to become the Aztecs' first medalist in two years. Blair carded a 67 over the final 18 holes, her eighth consecutive round below par and fifth in October alone, finishing the 36-hole event with a combined 6-under 138, to help SDSU capture its first team title since 2011. In addition, Blair led the tournament with 10 birdies and a 2.63 par-3 scoring average en route to her first collegiate victory in just her fourth start.
"Sirene has enjoyed an incredible fall season, and best of all, this is just the beginning of her Aztec career," said third-year SDSU head coach Leslie Spalding. "She has great mental focus and is such a solid player for us."
Two weeks earlier, Blair recorded the third of four top-10 finishes of the fall campaign after tying for seventh place out of 94 golfers at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational, Oct. 13-15, in Austin, Texas, where she fired a collective 5-under 211 on rounds of 70-70-71.
Blair, who leads the Mountain West with a 71.82 stroke average this fall, has climbed to 24th in the Golfstat Cup standings and has earned a No. 29 ranking in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin index. Heading into the mid-year break, San Diego State is ranked 37th by Golfstat and 41st according to Golfweek/Sagarin.
Blair and the Aztecs will have the next three months off before returning to the course for the Peg Barnard Invitational, Feb. 15-16, 2014, in Stanford, Calif.