Sept. 6, 2016
RENO, Nev. - With the start of the new season approaching, the Nevada women's golf team boasts a youthful squad with much experience returning.
Head coach Kathleen Takaishi, who enters her fourth year at the helm, lost just one player from last year's roster. While losing a player like Caryn Khoo, one of the program's all-time greats, is a considerable loss, the rest of the team gained valuable competition experience last season.
Takaishi returns seven overall and added three newcomers, which will also provide her with depth options heading into the season.
"I feel like we underperformed last spring so I'm excited to begin a new year and see where we stack up in our first event," said Takaishi. "The three freshmen are talented and will probably see some playing time this fall. We are very deep this year which in turn should push each of them to work harder."
RETURNERS
The top returner this season will be junior Celyn Khoo, the team's leading returner in scoring average (74.2). Khoo had a breakout sophomore campaign where she recorded four top-15 finishes and shot the second-lowest score in program history (67) at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown.
The team's lone senior Bertille DuPont was a consistent starter for Takaishi last season before suffering a season-ending injury in March. Jordan Keyser, who will have two years of eligibility remaining, will be back after redshirting a season ago. Hannah Gregg will redshirt this year.
While most rookies see limited playing time in their first year, that was not the case last year for Chaithra Katamneni, Kaitlin Collom and Michelle Duan. Katamneni played in all but one event last season and notched a fourth place finish at the Sacramento State Invitational. Collom also produced a solid finish at the Sacramento State Invitational, registering an eighth place finish. Duan set the program's low round record at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown with a second round 66.
NEWCOMERS
The three newcomers all stem from different areas, Oregon, Hawai'i and Canada. Jenny Krause, who hails from Eugene, Ore., placed third individually at the state tournament as a junior in high school while leading her team to third-place finish.
A native of Mililani, Hawai'i, Mari Nishiura is a two-time individual champion in high school and is a four-time Western Division Player of the Year. Nishiura recorded a top-15 finish in every high school state championship in which she competed, including two top fives.
The final newcomer, Katy Rutherford from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, finished her high school career in Katy, Texas. She finished third her senior year at the district tournament, fifth at the regional tournament and averaged 74.8 during her final year in high school
SCHEDULE
The Wolf Pack's schedule features 11 total events, four in the fall and seven in the spring, concluding with the Mountain West Championship in mid-April. Nevada kicks off the fall season Sept. 12-13 where it did last year at the Ptarmigan Ram Classic in Fort Collins, Colo.
Opening the month of October, the Pack heads back to the state of Colorado for the Ron Moore Women's Collegiate in Denver. The fall season concludes with a familiar tournament Oct. 23-25, the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown in Henderson, Nev. Last season at that tournament Nevada set multiple individual and team records.
The spring campaign also kicks off where it did last year at the Peg Barnard Invitational, hosted by Stanford, in February. Nevada opens up the month of March at the Meadow Club Women's Invitational, a new tournament for the team. The team concludes the month March 20-21 at the Sacramento State Invitational where they finished second last season.
The Pack opens April and makes its seventh appearance in the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic in Maricopa, Ariz., a tournament it won during the 2014-15 season. The Cowgirl Classic will conclude the regular season action for the Pack as it gears up for the conference championship.
