FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Nevada women's golf team earned a second place finish at the Ptarmigan Ram Classic to open its 2018-19 season and placed four individuals inside the top 25.
 
"I'm really proud of this team and how well they played this week," said head coach Kathleen Takaishi. "They came out today and fought and competed and that's all I can ask for. This should give them a ton of confidence going into our next event."
 
The runner-up finish marks the Wolf Pack's best start to open a season since it also finished second at the NW Inland Cup in 2008. Nevada saved its best round for last as it combined for a team score of 291 on Wednesday, the second-lowest team round of the day. The Pack, which began the day 11 shots behind eventual tournament champ Boise State, was 5-under after the front nine and owned a one-shot lead at the turn. Red numbers were hard to come by though on the difficult back nine and the Broncos did what they needed to regain the lead and win by two strokes.
 
Takaishi had her top four scorers all record top 25 finishes in the 75-player field, led by senior Chaithra Katamneni's tie for sixth place. It is Katamneni's second-best finish of her career and best since she earned a top five at the Sacramento State Invitational in the spring of 2016. She finished the tournament at even par after posting rounds of 70-73-73.
 
Nevada also got a top 10 finish from freshman Victoria Gailey, who earned a tie for 10^th in her collegiate debut. Gailey, who struggled to open the event with a 77 on Monday, finished with rounds of 70 and 72 to post a 3-over par score overall. She made nine birdies in the three rounds, which was tied for the team lead along with Katamneni and junior Jenny Krause.
 
Krause and senior Kaitlin Collom had an identical day, both firing 1-over par rounds of 73 and earning a tie for 21^st place at 7-over par. For Krause, the 73 tied her collegiate career-low round. Junior Katy Rutherford rounded out the list of Pack golfers as she tied for 58^th.
 
Nevada returns to the course Sept. 24-25 for Gonzaga's event, the Coeur d'Alene Collegiate Invitational, at Coeur d'Alene Golf Resort in Idaho.
 
Nevada Players
T6. Chaithra Katamneni – 70-73-73=216 (E)
T10. Victoria Gailey – 77-70-72=219 (+3)
T21. Jenny Krause – 75-75-73=223 (+7)
T21. Kaitlin Collom – 74-76-73=223 (+7)
T58. Katy Rutherford – 78-76-81=235 (+19)