Mountain West Conference Announces Women's Golfer of the Month

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - UNLV sophomore Therese Koelbaek has been selected the Mountain West Conference Women's Golfer of the Month for October.

Koelbaek opened the month by finishing tied for 14th at the Stanford Intercollegiate. She shot a 2-over 215 (68-76-71) on the 6,092-yard Stanford Golf Course to lead the Rebels in the Oct. 17-19 tournament played in Stanford, Calif.

She went on to close the month by turning in one of the best performances in collegiate golf history, shattering several UNLV records on her way to a 16-under 200 (68-66-66) performance for a second-place finish at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown. The score tied for the second-best round in NCAA history. Koelbaek opened with a four-under 68 on the 6,238-yard Boulder Creek Golf Course, then closed with back-to-back rounds of 66 (-6) to help the Rebels to a fourth-place finish and a school record score of 19-under 845.

The Holte, Denmark native was also one of two Rebels to play in the 2008 World Amateur Team Championships in Australia on Oct. 8-11, finishing 27th overall.

Koelbaek currently ranks first in the MWC for stroke average (70.67) for less than 10 rounds played and is ranked No. 26 nationally by Golfweek.

Colorado State in 14th Place in Las Vegas

Kasey Claussen has totaled a 143 after two rounds of the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown, leading the Colorado State women's golf team into 14th place at the tournament.

MWC administration

Mountain West Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson announced the hiring of Dawn Anderson as Director of Championships.

Anderson joins the Mountain West staff after serving the past year as Director of Championships and Special Events at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Her primary duties included championship implementation for men's and women's cross country, men's soccer, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's golf, and softball. Anderson also assisted with the development of in-season and championship policies and administrative agreements and coordinated the MAAC Merchandise and Sales program.

In her role at the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Mountain West Conference, Anderson will serve as the liaison for eight regular-season Mountain West Conference sponsored sports in addition to serving as the championship contact for men's and women's cross-country, women's soccer, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field and men's golf.

Lobos Tied for Fifth at Stanford Intercollegiate

Led by senior Morgan Grantham's career-best round of 69, the University of New Mexico women's golf team is tied for fifth place after the first day of the Stanford Intercollegiate. UNM shot a 2-under 282, the fourth-lowest round in school history, on the par-71, 6,092-yard Stanford University Golf Course. Live stats are available at www.golfstat.com.

UNM is tied with Arizona and No. 24 Arkansas. They trail leader and 3rd-ranked UCLA by five shots. The Bruins finished at 7-under 277.

It's a strong field as nine of the 15 competing teams are currently ranked in Golfweek's top-25 poll. The Lobos, currently ranked 47th, had a better day than four top-25 teams, including No. 6 Vanderbilt and No. 9 Duke.

Starting on the back nine, Grantham started strong with birdies on No. 11 and No. 16. Consecutive birdies on holes 6 and 7 pushed her to 3-under on before making bogey on the final hole. The Kingman, Ariz., native bettered her previous low round by two shots. She shot a 71 last year at the MWC Championships in Albuquerque.

Grantham is tied for 7th place, four shots behind Oklahoma State's Caroline Masson, who fired a 6-under 65.

Obviously, it was a team effort for UNM. Senior Mikaela Backstedt and junior Jodi Ewart each shot 1-under 70. For Backstedt, it was her lowest score since her sophomore year when she shot a 70 in the third and final round of the NCAA West Regional in St. George, Utah. Ewart closed strong today with back-to-back birdies on the final two holes.

Freshman Rebecca Hellbom shot a 2-over 73 followed by junior Britney Choy at 5-over 76.

UNLV Heads To Stanford Intercollegiate

LAS VEGAS - UNLV women's golf continues its fall season, traveling to play in the Stanford Intercollegiate which gets underway Friday and is being held at the Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, Calif.

The Rebels will welcome back Natasha Krishna and Therese Koelbaek to the lineup after they missed the last UNLV tournament to play in the 2008 World Amateur Team Championships in Australia. Krishna played on New Zealand's team while Koelbaek was a member of Denmark's squad.

UNLV will be part of an impressive field that will feature 14 teams that are currently in the Golfweek's latest top-25 poll, including No. 1 USC, No. 3 UCLA, No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 6 Vanderbilt and No. 9 Duke. A total of 16 teams will begin play Friday on the par-71, 6,117-yard course, and the tournament will conclude on Sunday.

Head coach Missy Ringler will field a lineup that includes Krishna and Koelbaek, along with sophomore Alejandra Guacaneme and freshmen Kristen Schelling and Bethany Glassford. The Rebels will play a practice round today heading into tomorrow's first round, with the first tee time set for 8:30 a.m. (PT).