Aggie women move up to 13th in regional golf

No. 1 Stanford takes over lead; NMSU’s Galloway tied for 38th

No. 1 Stanford is living up to its ranking, the West Coast schools are dominating, and the competition for which women’s golf teams advance out of the Albuquerque Regional figures to be tense during today’s third and final round at UNM Championship Course.

Led by Rio Rancho freshman Dominique Galloway, New Mexico State improved 10 strokes during Tuesday’s second round in mostly calm, favorable conditions. But the Aggies (28-over-par 604) moved up only one spot, from 14th to 13th after spending much of the round in 12th.

In fact, 15 of 18 teams bettered their scores Wednesday. The biggest improvers were Oklahoma State and Illinois, up four spots each to seventh and ninth, respectively. The No. 17-ranked Cowgirls, at 590, are three strokes behind sixth-place Washington, and the top six finishers advance to the NCAA Championships later this month.

Behind the long-hitting Cardinal at 3-under 573 on the par-72, 6,637-yard layout is No. 36 Pepperdine, the first-round leader, now at 1-over. Only fourthplace Duke (9-over) has nudged its way between Pac12 schools USC (4-over), Cal (10-over) and Washington (11-over) in places three through six.

In a field with the first- and second-ranked individuals, Stanford freshman Albane Valenzuela is leading the medalist race at 4-under par. Valenzuela, ranked 31st among NCAA golfers and the No. 1-ranked amateur in Switzerland, shot 3-under 69 on Tuesday. That score was eclipsed only by the 68 from Cal State Fullerton’s Martina Edberg, who is here without her team. She soared 12 spots to third place overall.

Bianca Pagdanganan of Gonzaga also is doing well by herself. She’s in a three-way tie for third at 142 after her round of 69 included eagles on two of

the course’s four par-5 holes. Meanwhile, top-ranked Andrea Lee of Stanford is tied for 13th at 1-over 145, one stroke ahead of No. 2 Leona Maguire of Duke.

Galloway shot 2-over 74 Tuesday, one stroke better than Monday, but fell eight spots in the medalist race to a tie for 38th at 5-over.

All five of the Aggies shot better Tuesday. Socorro High graduate Kristen Cline is tied for 48th at 7-over, followed by Pun Chanachai and Vale Macias at 8-over and Camille Orito at 15-over.

The Aggies are paired with Denver and Sacramento State today with starts ranging from 8:24 to 9 a.m.