BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — Led by three players in the top seven, UTSA is in second place after round one of the American Conference Championship, which teed off Monday at Southern Hills Plantation Club (par 72/6,289 yards).
Lauren Rios is tied for fourth, while Daniela Abonce and Victoria Schuldt have a share of seventh in the individual race. That trio has helped the Roadrunners to runner-up positioning in the team standings with 36 holes left to play over the next two days.
UTSA posted an even-par 288 for the first round, good for second behind No 50 Tulsa, which turned in a 4-under 284. The Roadrunners are five shots ahead of a tie for third between East Carolina and South Florida and eight strokes in front of Florida Atlantic in the 11-team field.
Rios fired a 2-under 70 and sits only two shots behind individual leader Cherry Marley of South Florida, who posted a 68. Her opening-round scorecard featured a trio of birdies against only one bogey. The senior from Coppell, Texas, reeled off five pars to start her day and then bounced back from a five on the par-4 sixth with a par followed by her first birdie of the day, a two on the 154-yard eighth. She added back-to-back birdies on the 399-yard, par-4 11th and 490-yard, par-5 12th to get to 2-under for the day before closing out her season best-tying round with six straight pars.
Abonce logged five birdies en route to an even-par 72 on Monday. The senior from Veracruz, Mexico, countered a bogey on the fourth with birdies on the 476-yard, par-5 seventh and the 300-yard, par-4 ninth to close out a 1-under 35 on the front nine. The 2024 American Conference champion then wrote down three consecutive birdies on Nos. 12-14 before settling for a pair of bogeys and a double bogey down the stretch.
Schuldt matched Abonce with a 72 that was highlighted by an eagle and two birdies. The freshman from Hamburg, Germany, overcame a pair of early bogeys with birdies on the seventh and ninth holes to get back to even for the day. After a bogey on the 10th, she wrote down a three on the 490-yard, par-5 12th to get into the red before settling for a bogey on the 15th.
Maria Bastarrica provided the other counting score for UTSA on the opening day with a 2-over 74. The junior from San Sebastian, Spain, recorded two birdies with a three on the 372-yard, par-4 fourth and a four on the 12th. She has a share of 17th place.
Kayla Black rounds out the UTSA lineup in a tie for 41st after carding a 78 that included a pair of birdies.
The second round is scheduled for Tuesday and the Roadrunners will tee off from No. 1 beginning at 7:50 a.m. CT.
Live scoring will be provided at scoreboard.clippd.com. Live video coverage of Wednesday’s final round will be available starting at noon CT via ESPN+. Sean Salisbury, AJ Ricketts and Maria Trivelpiece will call the action. For more information about the conference championship, please visit Tournament Central.
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