Women's Golf | 10/18/2024 10:19:00 AM

Utah Tech women's golf returns to action this upcoming week as the Trailblazers head to the Islands to play the 27^th-Annual Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine Invitational. The three-day, 54-hole event will take place on Monday-through-Wednesday at the par-72, 6,231-yard Kapolei Golf Club on the island of Oahu.

The 15-team tournament field will include the Trailblazers along with fellow WAC member Grand Canyon, Austin Peay, Colorado State, Eastern Michigan, Gonzaga, Kansas State, Nevada, North Dakota State, Osaka Gakuin (Japan), Sacramento State, Santa Clara, UC Irvine, Wyoming, and the host Rainbow Wahine. 

The five player lineup for the Trailblazers will feature juniors Jenna Anderson and Jane Olson, sophomores Mia Cesarek and Samantha Phelan, and freshman Maria Purroy Galan.

HEAD COACH LINDSEY STUCKI: Lindsey Stucki (Utah Tech, 2007) is in her ninth season as head coach of the Trailblazer women's golf program. 
        Last season, Coach Stucki led the Trailblazers to eight top-10 showings in 10 team events, highlighted by a fifth-place finish as hosts of its Utah Tech Trailblazer Invitational in February, and a seventh-place showing at the Western Athletic Conference Championships.
        In addition, all seven of her players went on to earn 2023-24 Academic All-WAC, and WGCA Academic All-America Scholars honors, while three others were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team.  
        During her tenure as Utah Tech head coach, Stucki has guided the Blazers to a runner-up Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference team finish in 2019, and to consecutive fifth-place finishes at the Pacific West Conference Championships in 2017 and 2018. 
        Prior to her arrival at Utah Tech, she served as assistant golf professional at the Sand Hollow Golf Resort, and as an LPGA assistant teaching professional for the City of St. George. Stucki also spent two seasons on the coaching staff of the Hurricane High School girl's golf program, including a one-year stint as the Tigers' head coach in the 2010-11 season. 
        Coach Stucki, who is an apprentice member of the LPGA T&CP, played collegiately at the University of Central Arkansas, where she helped lead the Bears to six-consecutive team tournament wins and a Gulf South Conference championship.
        Coach Stucki is joined on her staff this season by first-year assistant coach Caylyn Ponich, who just completed her four-year collegiate playing career at Utah Valley.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech continued its fall season with an 11^th-place team finish at the Loyola-Chicago Parkinson Family Invitational, which took place this past Oct. 7-8, at The Merit Club in Libertyville, Ill. 
        After battling through a tough opening round plus-33 321 on their morning 18, the Trailblazers combined to pare 20 strokes off that score on their afternoon loop, closing the day one with a 13-over 301. That effort helped move Utah Tech up two spots on the team leaderboard to 11^th at plus-46 622. 
        However the Blazers could not make up any more ground on the field, wrapping up their tourney with a 16-over 304 to finish at plus-62 926. 
        Phelan paced the Trailblazers with her third top-15 finish in as many starts as she finished in solo 14^th-place at plus-8 224.
        Phelan, who penciled in a team-high nine total birdies during the event, bounced back from an opening 6-over 78 with three birdies and 13 pars on her way to a team tournament low even par 72 in her second round. The sophomore then finished with a final round 2-over 74 with three more birdies. 
        Cesarek tallied two birdies overall and shot rounds of 76, 78 and 79 to finish in a five-way tie for 39^that plus-17 233. 
        Meanwhile, Purroy Galan rebounded from an opening 12-over 84 with four birdies as part of a 2-over 74 in round two. The freshman, who rolled in eight total birdies over her three rounds, then closed with a 4-over 76 to tie six others for 44^th at plus-18 234.
        Olson rallied from a tough 36-hole start (86-77) with a final round 3-over 75 to vault 11 spots up the leaderboard into solo 56^th at plus-22 238, and Anderson (83-90-81) tied for 78^th at plus-38 254.

TRAILBLAZERS AT A GLANCE: Through three events this fall season, Phelan leads the team with a 73.68 stroke average through eight rounds with a co-team high three par or better rounds, while Purroy Galan is second 74.00 with three par or better rounds over her first eight rounds collegiate overall.
        Cesarek is third in stroke average at 76.38 through eight rounds, followed by Olson in fourth at 78.13, and Anderson in fifth at 79.50 after three tourneys.

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech wraps up the 2024 fall season on Wednesday, Nov. 6, with a tri-match with CSUN and CSU Bakersfield. The event will be played at the Sandpiper Golf Course in Goleta, Calif.