Westfield, Ind. – The Tulsa golfers recorded a tremendous 9-under par 279 first round to lead the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Indiana Regional at The Club of Chatham Hills in Westfield, Indiana.  Tulsa will continue play with the second round on Tuesday and the final round scheduled for Wednesday.

“It was a solid start,” Head Coach Annie Young said.  “I think the team came out ready to go and on this golf course if you hit fairways and greens, you can shoot really well, but if you don’t, it can be a very tough course.  We kept it simple, and we hope to do that again tomorrow.”

Tulsa is two strokes up on #5 Mississippi State (280), who is in second place, while #44 Michigan (283), #20 Iowa State (286) and Oregon State (286) round out the top five.

Lovisa Gunnar, a sophomore from Linkoping, Sweden, paced the Golden Hurricane with a four-under par 68 to tie for second place.  She birdied five holes (No. 3, 5, 7, 17 and 18) on the day, bogeyed hole No. 13 and was even par on the other 12.

A freshman from Springdale, Ark., Grace Kilcrease finished one stroke back in fifth place.  She had a team-best five birdies (holes 1, 5, 6, 13, 15, 18) on the day, but also had three bogeys (holes 3, 4, 14).

Jenni Roller, a freshman from Jenks, Okla., and Sydney Seigel, a sophomore from Phoenix, Ariz., both turned in one-under par 71 scores in the first round to tie for 13th place.  Seigel birdied four holes (No. 6, 13, 15 and 17), while Roller birdied three holes (No. 5, 15, 17).

Lilly Thomas, who is the lone senior on the roster and has led TU in four tournaments this season, turned in a one-over par 73 to sit in 30th place.  Thomas finished the day with five birdies (No. 5, 7, 13, 15, 17), two bogeys (No. 6, 8) and two double bogeys (No. 14, 16), while finishing even on the other eight holes.

Mississippi State’s second-ranked Julia Lopez Ramirez leads the individual race with a five-under par 67.

Thirty teams will advance to the championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., May 19-24 — five from each of the six regional sites.

 Team Results

1. #36 Tulsa – 279

2. #5 Mississippi State – 280

3. #44 Michigan – 283

T4. #20 Iowa State – 286

T4. Oregon State – 286

T6. #25 Virginia – 287

T6. #17 Vanderbilt – 287

8. #40 Tennessee – 288

9. Xavier – 289

10. #8 Oregon – 294

11. Morehead State – 296

12. Lipscomb – 299

Tulsa Individuals

T2. Lovisa Gunnar – 68

T5. Grace Kilcrease – 69

T13. Sydney Seigel – 71

T13. Jenni Roller – 71

T30. Lilly Thomas – 73

Top-5 Individuals

1. #2 Julia Lopez Ramirez (Mississippi State) – 67

T2. Hannah Levi (Mississippi State) – 68

T2. Madde Sund (Oregon State) – 68

T2. Lovisa Gunnar (Tulsa) – 68

T5. #40 Amanda Sambach (Virginia) – 69

T5. #18 Celina Sattelkau (Vanderbilt) – 69

T5. Grace Kilcrease (Tulsa) – 69