BYU women's golf: BYU women place 2nd in MWC

PROVO — The No. 30 BYU women's golf team finished in second place at the Mountain West Conference Championships last weekend in Albuquerque.

It was an all-around team effort as the starting five finished in the Top 20.

"Our team is playing better and better this spring," said BYU head coach Sue Nyhus. "They are focused and looking forward to a strong postseason and the first part of that was doing well at the conference championships."

Cougar junior Natalia Jimenez led the Cougars as she finished tied for second place, shooting 2-over-par for the tournament.

"(Jiminez) is really getting the confidence that she needs to play well and so are many other players on the team," said Nyhus. "We have a big group going and doing well every week."

The MWC also announced their postseason awards last week, where Jimenez and senior Juli Erekson were named to the 2008 all-conference team.

The Cougars will now be one of 63 teams named to the NCAA regional championships, which will take place May 8-10.

MEN'S GOLF: The BYU men's golf team shot a 9-over-par 293 in the final round of the MWC Championships to finish in third place overall. Sophomore Robbie Fillmore led the Cougars by finishing tied for second place at 1-under-par.

SOFTBALL: With a 5-1 record on the week, the BYU softball team took hold of first place in the MWC standings again. The Cougars go big wins over Idaho State on Tuesday, and then split two against San Diego State on Thursday. Then on Friday and Saturday the Cougars beat UNLV 3-2 and 7-6.

TRACK AND FIELD: The BYU women's and No. 17 men's track and field team put together 14 regional qualifying marks on Saturday at the 2008 Robison Invitational. Senior Matt Weirch concluded his last Robison Invitational by clearing 17 feet 4 1/2 inches in the pole vault. The Cougars also had three regional qualifiers in the steeplechase.

Seniors Amy Fowler-Layne and Ashley McAllister set qualifying marks in their perspective events. Fowler-Layne qualified in the 3,000-meter steeplechase after winning the event in 10 minutes, 40.26 seconds.

MEN'S TENNIS: The Cougars upset fourth-seeded UNLV in the quarterfinal round of the MWC Championships this past weekend in Fort Worth, Texas, but they fell to TCU 4-0 Friday in the semifinal match. The Cougars finished the season with a record of 16-12.