April 20, 2015
MW Championship First-Round Results | Video Highlights
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. - San Diego State freshman Mila Chaves fired a 6-under 66 on Monday to sit in first place after 18 holes and lead the first-place Aztecs to an even-par 288 at the Mountain West Championship. The annual tournament is being held at the par-72, 6,291-yard Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage.
SDSU finds itself five strokes ahead of second-place San José State (+5; 293) and 11 strokes in front of the field's two third-place teams, Nevada and UNLV (+11; 299).
Chaves made MW Championship history with her 6-under 66 effort, establishing the conference record for lowest opening-round score, erasing the 68 accomplished three other times, most recently by UNLV's Ellis Keena in 2011. Her 66 also tied the lowest single-round performance in MW Championship history, matching Kailin Downs (New Mexico) and Seema Sadekar (UNLV) in 2004.
The freshman from Paraguay reached her personal-record 66 thanks to a stellar back nine following two birdies and a bogey on the front. After making the turn, Chaves flip-flopped birdies and pars, and closed with a birdie on her way to a back-nine 5-under-par score. Prior to today, her previous single-round low was 69, accomplished at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown (third round) and at the UC Irvine Invitational (first round) earlier this season.
Joining Chaves in the top five is senior Paige Spiranac, who turned in an even-par 72, which is tied for third place. Coming off her lowest round (71 at the PING/ASU Invitational) since the team's opening tournament in September, Spiranac rebounded nicely from a rough front nine that featured three bogeys to post three birdies to end the day. She shares third place with Harley Dubsky of UNLV and New Mexico's Manon Molle.
Not far behind in a tie for 14th place are Emma Henrikson and Georgia Lacey at 3-over par. Similar to Chaves and Spiranac, Henrikson experienced trouble in the early going, posting a 4-over 40 on the front nine. The junior, however, was doomed by just two holes, the first and third, where she went bogey, triple bogey, respectively. On the back nine, Henrikson was able to trim one stroke off her score thanks to an eagle on No. 11 and a birdie on No. 15 to finish with a 75.
Lacey, meanwhile, was a model of consistency save for three holes. The freshman from Del Mar bogeyed the first hole, but went on to play even golf over the next eight. At the start of the back nine, Lacey bogeyed Nos. 10 and 12, before posting six consecutive pars to end her first conference championship round at 3-over (75).
The fifth member of SDSU's traveling team was sophomore Sirene Blair. The South Jordan, Utah native registered a 12-over 84 and enters second-round action in 44th place.
SDSU will return to action on Tuesday when the Championship continues with another single round. The Aztecs will be paired with SJSU and UNLV, and will tee-off at 8:30 a.m. PT. Live results can be found at GoAztecs.com.
2015 Mountain West ChampionshipRound One ResultsMission Hills C.C.Dinah Shore Tournament CourseRancho Mirage, Calif.Par 72, 6,291 yards
Team Scores1. San Diego State 288 (E)2. San José State 293 (+5)T3. Nevada 299 (+11)T3. UNLV 299 (+11)5. Boise State 301 (+13)6. New Mexico 303 (+15)7. Colorado State 304 (+16)T8. Fresno State 312 (+24)T8. Wyoming 312 (+24)
Individual Leaders (Top 5 of 45 players + SDSU)1. Mila Chaves, SDSU 66 (-6)T2. Megan Osland, San José State 69 (-3)T3. Paige Spiranac, SDSU 72 (E)T3. Harley Dubsky, UNLV 72 (E)T3. Manon Molle, New Mexico 72 (E)---T14. Emma Henrikson, SDSU 75 (+3)T14. Georgia Lacey, SDSU 75 (+3)44. Sirene Blair, SDSU 84 (+12)