Chris Murray

cmurray@rgj.com

Wolf Pack sophomore Kaitlin Collom won the first individual college event in her career, and the first for a Nevada women's golfer since 2011, when she bested Sacramento State's Julie Becker in a tiebreaker Friday afternoon at the Cowgirl Classic in Wyoming.

Collom fired a final-round 69 to tie her with Becker after the completion of Friday's third round, which pushed them into a tiebreaker. Collom parred the 16th in the first playoff hole and took the title when Becker bogeyed. Both finished the event at 3 under. UC Irvine's Janet Yeo finished third at 2 under.

Collom, a native of Klamath Falls, Ore., has been playing some of the best golf of her career of late. The 3-under 69 was a career low. She began the day two shots behind Becker after a 73 and 71 in the first two rounds. Collom fired five birdies on Friday, including three on the back nine, to jump up the leaderboard.

Collom has now recorded three straight top-10 finishes. She was sixth and 10th in the two events preceding the Cowgirl Classic, where the Wolf Pack finished third out of 18 teams. This individual win was Nevada's first since Lauren Hernandez claimed the title at the Red Rocks Invitational in 2011.

Nevada carded a final-round 291 to finish at +17 as a team after a 292 in the first round and 298 in the second round. The three-round total of 881 set a 54-hole season low for the Wolf Pack and is the third-lowest score in school history. UC Irvine won the event at +10. Sacramento State was second at +16.

Wolf Pack freshman Katy Rutherford, playing as an individual, finished tied for 16th at +7. Teammates Mari Nishiura and Jordan Keyser also finished tied for 16th. Celyn Khoo finished tied for 52nd at +16 and Jenny Krause was tied for 78th at +22.

Next up for Nevada is the Mountain West Championship, which will be held April 17-19 at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Nevada results

1. Kaitlin Collom, 73-71-69 = 213 (-3)

T16. Katy Rutherford (ind.), 73-71-79 = 223 (+7)

T16. Mari Nishiura, 73-76-74 = 223 (+7)

T16. Jordan Keyser, 69-82-72 = 223 (+7)

T52. Celyn Khoo, 83-73-76 = 232 (+16)

T78. Jenny Krause, 77-78-83 = 238 (+22)

Team results

1. UC Irvine, 296-290-288 = 874 (+10)

2. Sacramento State, 291-297-292 = 880 (+16)

3. Nevada, 292-298-291 = 881 (+17)

4. UC Riverside, 293-298-294 = 885 (+21)

5. Santa Clara, 296-299-300 = 895 (+31)

* top five listed only; 18 teams were in event