San Francisco, CA--- The Academy of Art woman's golf team wasted no time showcasing their talents on the links as the youthful squad, consisting of all freshmen, registered four top ten finishes during their fall season.
In just their second tournament appearance in school history, the Lady Knights, as a team, took first place in the DT Women’s Invitational hosted by George Fox University. "I was happy to see the team play well on the Black Horse Course those greens can bring very seasoned players to their knees", said Head Coach Michele Larkey.
Highlighted by freshman Crystal Superals’ four individual first-place finishes the young team showed repeatedly on the course that they were the team to beat in many of the tournaments they entered. The AAU 2009-10 women’s golf program has set the bar high for seasons to come after finishing their inaugural first season ranked 13th in the west region and ranked 27th out of all Division II programs.
Freshman Crystal Superal led the Urban Knights in almost every regular season tournament and in stroke average (79.24). Superal started the fall season with a first place finish in the 16-player field at the DT Invitational hosted by George Fox University. The Dasmarinas, Cavite, Philippines, native recorded eight top 15 finishes and seven top 10 finishes in her first collegiate season.
The Urban Knights continued to challenge the opposition on the course and earned third place at the Somona State Women’s Invitational. The Tournament featured four teams whom finished the season ranked within the top 25 programs in the nation. Superal had a strong showing against the field of talent, she placed seventh versus some of the top Division II golfers, beating out golfers from host institution Sonoma State, Cal State Monterey Bay, and Western Washington to name a few.
Superal fired a career-low round of 69 at the Dominican Invitational where the Urban Knights also turned in their lowest tournament total of the year (607). Three golfers notched season-low totals at the event in San Rafael, with Andrea Nieto shooting a 155 over two rounds, Lyra Yoe shooting a 148, and Superal seizing first place honors with a 144. Overall, the Urban Knights took four of the top ten spots.
Superal followed the showing with back-to-back first place finishes. This time she garnered first against a tough 54-golfer field at the InterWest Chico State Invitational to lead the team to a fifth-place finish at the Butte Creek Country Club. As a team, the Academy of Art’s two round score of 656 (336-320) was enough to place them above host Chico State, St. Martin’s University, and fellow Pacific West Conference opponent University of Hawaii - Hilo.
Freshman Lyra Yoe started to play her best golf towards the end of the season. She turned in a few of her season low tournament scores over the course of the last four invitationals. Fighting the inclement weather conditions, Yoe sat in sixth place in a field of 35 golfers after the final round of play in the Sonoma State Women's Spring Invitational at the Fountaingrove Golf & Country Club in hail and rain-soaked Santa Rosa.
Yoe’s strong play helped the team as a whole take their eighth top five finish, placing them in third. Yoe ended the season with a third place individual finish at the Dominican Invitational, and an 80.14 shooting average over 21 total rounds of golf. "
Lyra has incredible focus as a competitor. I am expecting that she will return very strong for the 2010-2011 season", said Larkey.
Laura Huertas finished the season just behind her teammate (Yoe) in terms of shooting average with an 80.90 average. Huertas earned her lowest tournament total (158) twice, first at the Somona State Women’s Invitational, where she shot 80-78 to finish tied for 11th place. She then tied her lowest again at the Lady Otter Spring Invitational finishing tied for 25th out of the 95 golfer field. It was at the Pioneer Shootout where she registered her career season low round score of four over par- 76, and registered one of her five top 10 finishes, finishing tied for sixth. Huertas garnered her lowest place of the season at the Dominican End of the Year invitational; she placed second out of nine players.
Andrea Nieto finishes third on the team in scoring average with an 84.14 average. Nieto earned career bests at the Dominican Invitational, including a career lowest round score of 76 on the Par-71 Peacock Gap Golf Course, a season tournament low score 155 over two rounds, and her highest tournament finish, tied for fourth place. She finished the season with a fourth place finish, again on the Peacock Gap Golf Course, this time in the Dominican End of the Year Invitational.
Khadija Del-Lero joined the Urban Knights’ for the spring and continuously improved over the course of the season. She boasts some career bests as the year comes to an end, and the players head home for summer. The Freshman earned her first top 10 finish in the Urban Knights’ final tournament, placing sixth at the Dominican End of the Year Invitational, and shooting 195 over two rounds of golf. However, she shot a career low tournament score of 184 at the Grand Canyon Women’s Invitational, which included a career low round score of 89.
This year’s team boasted an impressive (324.43) and will return its top three golfers in terms of stroke average next season. The Urban Knights will use all the knowledge and experience gained throughout the season as they look to continually contend in the in the upcoming seasons.
"I am eagerly looking forward to 2010-2011 season. We have set goals for our summer that will build upon our achievements this past year", said Larkey.