Cowgirl golf wins tournament

by Wyoming Sports.org

MERIDIAN, Idaho -- A team tournament title can now be added to the already long list of accomplishments for the 2008-09 University of Wyoming women’s golf team. On Tuesday, the Cowgirls shot a team 300 (+12), which put them in a tie with four other teams in the 36 hole Fall Bronco Invitational and was then awarded the title based on the fifth player scorecard.

The title was the Cowgirl’s first since March of 1998 when the team won the Idaho Invitational in Moscow, Idaho.

“It was just amazing,” said UW head coach Josey Stender of the win. “I am really proud of our girls and how far they have come and how far this program has come. The girls really believed they could win today and they did.”

The Cowgirls were led by junior Sarah Fogerty, who shot a second round 75 (+3), but finished the tournament tied for eighth place, the team’s highest finish of the season. Freshman Juanita Rico was close on her tail with the Cowgirl’s best round of the day and her second round 73 (+1). Rico climbed 10 spots from the conclusion of Monday’s opening round to finish the tournament in a tie for 10th-place.

Sophomore Molly Black closed out the top-25 for the Cowgirls with her second round 76 (+4) and finished the day in a tie for 18th-place. The final two Cowgirls were sophomore Jenna Zamprelli (+12), tie for 26th-place and junior Jonelle Martinez (+15), tie for 35th-place. Zamprelli and Martinez had final rounds of 81 and 76 which came to become the decision maker for the winner of the tournament. Zamprelli’s 81 edged out Boise State’s Iris Ocariza’s 82 and gave the crown to the Cowgirls for the first time in 10 years.

“Jenna was our fifth best today and she really fought all the way to the end. If she hadn’t, we wouldn’t have won,” said Stender. “I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to a great fall. It is a great building block for us during our four months off and will be huge for us next semester.”

The Cowgirls will be out of action during the winter months and will get back on the fairways Feb. 15, to compete in the SDSU Lady Aztec Spring Classic.