COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (September 20, 2022) – The Northern Arizona golf team finished the Coeur d'Alene Resort Collegiate Invitational at 41-over par 893 (299-292-302), good for 13th in their first tournament of the season.
"It's nice to be back in competition," said head coach
Brad Bedortha. "Aleks (Chekalina) was steady all three days and that's exactly what we need from a fifth-year senior. We had three freshmen in the lineup and they all showed flashes of good things; just unfortunately not enough consistent execution of shots that we needed to perform to as a team to be competitive."
Sacramento State claimed the team title at 1-under par 851 (284-279-288), six strokes better than Nevada. The Hornets were the only team to finish under-par in the 19-team field.
Although the Lumberjacks shot 18-over par 302 on Tuesday, they finished the tournament strong on the front nine. After NAU's four counting golfers shot 15-over par on the back nine, the four 'Jacks combined to shoot just 3-over par across the front nine.
Senior
Aleksandra Chekalina once again posted the Lumberjacks' low round, as her final round 1-over par 72 lifted her into a tie for eighth individually. It was Chekalina's highest individual finish since placing fourth at the Red Rocks Invitational in 2021. Chekalina closed at even-par 213 (73-68-72), which was her second-lowest 54-hole score in relation to par of her career behind the 1-under par 212 she shot at the 2019 Red Rocks Invitational.
Chekalina opened the third round with pars on nine of her first 10 holes before recording her first of two birdies to bring her back to even-par. She finished the tournament with a team-best 10 birdies, tied for eighth in the field.
Freshman
Ellena Slater and senior
Lorel Hayward carded rounds of 5-over par 76 to post NAU's second and third-lowest scores on the day. Both Lumberjacks were catalysts in NAU's strong second half of the round, combining to shoot 1-under par on the front nine.
Slater, who tied for 56th in her first collegiate tournament at 13-over par 226 (77-73-76), played her first six holes to even par before combining to go 4-over par on her next two holes. From there though, Slater recorded par on nine straight holes until a bogey concluded her round.
Like Slater, Hayward started the third round on hole 10 and resided at 7-over par at the turn before turning her round around. A par on 1 preceded a stretch of three birdies in five holes as part of a 2-under par showing on the front nine. Hayward tied for 67th overall at 16-over par 229 (77-76-76).
Freshman
Lizzie Neale was the Lumberjacks' final counting golfer on Tuesday with a 7-over par 78. Neale tied with Slater among an eight-way tie for 56th at 13-over par 226 (73-75-78), while freshman
Nina Lukyanenko was 89th at 21-over par 234 (76-77-81).
The 'Jacks were fourth in the field as a team with 35 birdies, but they were 17th out of 19 teams with 152 pars.
"Overall I would've loved to have shown up and had a top 10 finish and competed and played better, but we have a quick turnaround for our next tournament," Bedortha said. "Hopefully we'll get a few things squared away on Thursday and Friday and get ready to play better next week."
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Full Team Leaderboard
1. Sacramento State – 284-279-288 = 851 (-1)
2. Nevada – 287-283-287 = 857 (+5)
3. Gonzaga – 289-285-286 = 860 (+8)
4. Oral Roberts – 286-284-298 = 868 (+16)
5. UC Riverside – 294-291-287 = 872 (+20)
6. San Francisco – 291-301-288 = 880 (+28)
7. Grand Canyon – 294-287-300 = 881 (+29)
8. Cal State Fullerton – 295-284-304 = 883 (+31)
9. Seattle – 291-291-302 = 884 (+32)
10. Northern Illinois – 296-291-298 = 885 (+33)
11. Long Beach State – 297-296-293 = 886 (+34)
12. Cincinnati – 296-292-303 = 891 (+39)
13. Northern Arizona – 299-292-302 = 893 (+41)
T14. Wyoming – 295-294-306 = 895 (+43)
T14. Santa Clara – 300-302-293 = 895 (+43)
16. Georgetown – 294-310-292 = 896 (+44)
17. Florida International – 303-295-302 = 900 (+48)
18. Hawai'i – 305-301-301 = 907 (+55)
19. Southern Utah – 306-299-309 = 914 (+62)
NAU Individual Scores
T8.
Aleksandra Chekalina – 73-68-72 = 213 (E)
T56.
Lizzie Neale – 73-75-78 = 226 (+13)
T56.
Ellena Slater – 77-73-76 = 226 (+13)
T67.
Lorel Hayward – 77-76-76 = 229 (+16)
89.
Nina Lukyanenko – 76-77-81 = 234 (+21)
