In Idaho’s last WAC Championships before moving to the Big Sky Conference next year, Idaho finished in second place — just six shots behind the winner New Mexico State.
Not all was lost at the WAC Championships. Idaho’s Leilanie Kim won the individual championship. The junior from Canada finished with an eight-over-par 224.
“She really stepped up and showed her talent this week,” coach Lisa Johnson said. “She is the best player in the WAC. She played awesome. I couldn’t be prouder of her.”
Unfortunately, winning the individual championship doesn’t earn an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, only a team championship win would have.
Idaho led after two rounds of play, but New Mexico State fired a tournament low in round three with a collective 295 to edge out Idaho by six strokes and win the championship.
“We didn’t play well enough and New Mexico State played great,” Johnson said. “The nerves kind of showed up in putting. We had tons of birdie opportunities. We just didn’t convert. We hadn’t been in this position (to win a tournament on the last day) all year.”
As for the rest of the Vandals, sophomore Cassie McKinley tied for third with 13-over-par 229, freshman Amy Hasenoehrl tied for eighth with 20-over-par 236, junior Kaitlyn Oster tied for 12th with 21-over-par 237 and sophomore Kristin Strankman tied for 18th with 29-over-par 245.
Idaho may not have won the tournament, but they still earned a few trophies. Kim and Oster earned first team All-WAC for their play this season, and McKinley earned second team All-WAC. Kim also won WAC Player of the Year.
Korbin McDonald can be reached at [email protected]