Allendesalazar 2nd, CMU 6th at Rio Verde Invitational

RIO VERDE, Ariz. – Casilda Allendesalazar came as close to a win as a golfer can come on Sunday at the Rio Verde Invitational on the Quail Run Course at Rio Verde Country Club.

Allendesalazar, a Central Michigan sophomore, lost in a playoff to Xavier's Emma McMyler for medalist honors after both finished with a 1-over par 217 total.

Allendesalazar posted her second consecutive even-par 72 after opening with a 73 in the 54-hole, three-day event. Allendesalazar made eight birdies against nine bogeys on the weekend. Both she and McMyler birdied the first playoff hole; Allendesalazar bogyed the second while McMyler parred to win the hole and the tournament.

"Honestly it was a really impressive performance," CMU coach Ryan Williams said. "She played so solid all week. She made a ton of pars and it was that type of tournament where you had to make pars.

"I'm really proud of the way she played, the way she handled herself and tying for first in that field is awesome. There were some really good players in the field … it was just a really good performance overall."

Allendesalazar's 217 total ties for the second best 54-hole total in program history. Teammate Ashley Goh finished at 2017 at the MAC Challenge in February, 2021. The program record is 215, set by Bria Colosky in October, 2018.

The Chippewas posted a 304 team score in Sunday's final round to finish with at 911 and in sixth place in the 18-team field.

Xavier shot 293 on Sunday to finish at 875 and win the tournament by 17 shots over defending champion Kennesaw State.

CMU was one of seven Mid-American Conference schools in the field. The Chippewas finished behind just one of them, fourth-place Akron (908), and ahead of Ball State (ninth place), Bowling Green (11^th), Western Michigan (16^th), Ohio (17^th) and Eastern Michigan (18^th).

"Every time we get to see MAC schools and we beat them it helps build our confidence," Williams said. "We were battling pretty close with Akron all day and they pulled it out in the end. When we have performances that are directly comparable to solid teams in the MAC we're always happy and we can look at that as something to build confidence on."

Goh, a junior, closed the tournament with a 79 on Sunday for a 227 total and a tie for 23^rd place. Also for CMU, Padgett Chitty shot 77 to finish at 234 (T57); Rachel Kauflin shot 77 to finish at 235 (T64); and Zoe Vartyan shot 78 to finish at 241 (T72). Ninety-three players comprised the field.

"As a team we kind of leaked some oil over the last five or six holes and that's something that we're going to look at and try to correct," Williams said. "It's a skill to be able to get through and finish rounds and to go out there and stay hungry and go get it rather than steer it in.

"I think it's important to have that mindset that there's something to be learned from every experience that we're having and if we continue to learn, we're continuing to grow and get better which I think is going to result in some really special rounds coming down the stretch."

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Players Mentioned

Casilda Allendesalazar

Padgett Chitty

Ashley Goh

Rachel Kauflin

Zoe Vartyan