NIACC women shoot opening round 361
ANKENY - The NIACC women's golf team shot an opening round of 361 at the NJCAA Region XI tournament Friday at the Otter Creek Golf Course.
Iowa Western is in first place with a 337 and DMACC is second with a 338.
The 361 by the Lady Trojans is their lowest team total of the season. The previous best was a 376 at the DMACC Invitational on April 5, which was also held at Otter Creek.
NIACC, which is in fourth place, was led by sophomore Courtney Tusler, who shot an 88. Other counting scores for the Lady Trojans were Sydney Fullerton (89), Brooke Maasch (92) and Morgan Luecht (92). Also for the Lady Trojans, Ashley Alert shot a 98.
The tournament resumes at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The second weekend of the tournament is set for April 27-28, also at Otter Creek.
The winning team and the next 10 individuals (not from the winning team) will represent the region at the NJCAA Division I national tournament at the Longbow Golf Course in Mesa, Ariz. May 14-17.
Tusler sits in seventh place in the individual competition minus the current team leader Iowa Western with her 88. Fullerton is in ninth place with her 89 and Maasch and Luecht are in a tie for 11th with their 92s.
Team standings - Iowa Western 337, DMACC 338, Southeastern 356, NIACC 361, Southwestern 405.
Iowa Western - Lisa Lied 71, Cassidy Evreniadis 74, Kim Park 93, Payton Schmidt 99, Sarah Blaylock 109.
Top 10 (minus Iowa Western) - Jaime Bellingham (DMACC) 79; Emma Pry (Southeastern) 81; Kortney Orr (DMACC) 81; Morgan Totsch (Southeastern) 83; Bianca Findlay (Southwestern) 86; Alison Schweers (DMACC) 86; Courtney Tusler (NIACC) 88; Annika DuMoulin (Iowa Lakes) 88; Sydney Fullerton (NIACC) 89; Sydney Golti (Southwestern) 90.