Bellinghamgolfer.com

The Western Washington men's team finished sixth at the NCAA Div II Super-Regional in Albuquerque, NM., yesterday, bringing to a sad and abrupt end its 2010-2011 season that started so promisingly back in September. Entering the tournament as the No. 2 seed and the final round in third place, the Vikings lurched to a 12-over 300 on the University of New Mexico Championship Course - where they were fourth in the Western New Mexico Invitational last month - to finish the three rounds on 13-over 877 and a shot behind Hawaii-Hilo whose Blake Snyder finished birdie-eagle to help his team snatch the final qualifying spot.
“We just didn’t get the job done and at regionals you can’t take a day off,” said a disappointed Western coach Steve Card. “This was the most important day of the year, and we didn’t show up. The players tried hard, but it just wasn’t happening for them."
After three wins and a second in the Fall season, the team was naturally on a high moving into Spring and performed well at the Waikoloa Invitational in Hawaii where it went up against some of the best Division I teams in the country. Another win at the CSU-East Bay Pioneer Shootout at the beginning of March set it up for a great end to the season, but from mid-March through mid-April the team never performed anywhere near its best finishing fourth in New Mexico, fourth in Goodyear, AZ., and tied for sixth in Turlock, CA.
The team's fifth win of the season two weeks ago at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championship in Idaho where Nick Varelia won medalist honors came at just the right time, but the unchanged team was strangely unable to take that form to Albuquerque where it struggled once again.
Dylan Goodwin, the GNAC Player of the Year, led the Vikings for the seventh time this season finishing tied for 11th on level-par 216 with rounds of 70, 72 and 74. Varelia was tied for 25th on 219, Sandy Vaughan tied for 44th on 223, Brian Barhanovich was a shot behind and tied for 52nd, and Xavier Dailly, who won the season-opening Saint Martin's Invitational but never really hit his stride thereafter, came in tied for 59th on 226.
CSU-Monterey Bay won the tournament on nine-under 855 while the Otters' John Jackson won individual honors with a 54-hole total of eight-under 208.
Results here.

The men's team might not be going to Nationals but the women's team will be after finishing third in its Super-Regional at Tascosa CC in Amarillo, TX., Tuesday. Western shot a three-round total of 943 (+79) to wind up five shots behind St. Edward's and 20 behind the impressive Tarleton State team which won its fifth straight title.
Leading the Vikings was Sophie Elstrott who finished second individually on 11-over 227. The GNAC Player of the Year and medalist at the GNAC Championship in Idaho two weeks ago, now has seven top-ten finishes in eight starts this year and shot the round of the tournament in Texas with a one-under 71 on Monday. "She's just really motivated right now," said Western coach Bo Stephan. "Even after a tough first round (81), her confidence remained high. She expected to do what she accomplished."
Next best finisher for WWU was Kara Zitzman who was tied for 18th on 239. Christa Goldie tied for 21st on 240, Claire Rachor was T32 on 245, and Katie Sharpe wound up tied for 35th on 247.
After beating Central Oklahoma by eight to claim the third and final qualifying spot, Coach Stephan said how relieved he was the team would be going to Nationals for the first time since 2008. "It was tough to watch," he said. "But all in all they handled themselves very well."
Medalist was Tarleton State's Carla Cooper who shot six-over 222 for the three rounds.
Results here.