Dalton State fired a team round of (-1, 287) on Monday to take the first round lead in the SSAC Championships at Arrowhead Country Club in Montgomery, Ala. The Lady Roadrunners are 20 shots clear of second place William Carey (Miss.), (+19, 307).
Faulkner (Ala.), (+24, 312), is in third, followed by Loyola (La.), (+31, 319), in fourth. Mobile (Ala.), (+38, 326), rounds out the Top-5.
Dalton State occupies the first three spots on the leaderboard headed by All-American Isabel Rijos.
Rijos fired a 3-under, 69 and is two shots ahead of teammate and fellow All-American Katie Dalton. Rijos would make the turn at 2-under with birdies at Nos. 5 & 7. Birdies at Nos. 12 & 14 would see her push the lead to 4-under, but a bogey at No. 16 coming in would see her still finish with the overnight lead.
Dalton's round would be a little more up-and-down. She would convert four birdies at Nos. 4, 8, 13, & 16, but bogeys at Nos. 6, 10, & 17 would keep her from shooting a very low number.
All-American Tia Teiniketo is the third Lady Roadrunner currently on the podium after an even-par, 72. Teiniketo would make the turn at 1-under with birdies at Nos. 3, 7, & 9. She would play the back 9 at even-par until a bogey at No. 17 slid her back to (E) overall.
All-American Caroline Griffin started off her final SSAC Championships with a (+3, 75) to sit in a tie for sixth with Alejandra Bedoya Tobar of Loyola (La.). Griffin would start out with a bogey on No. 1, but followed with nine-straight pars. A birdie-bogey-birdie stretch at Nos. 11, 12, & 13 would get her back to (E) overall, but a bogey-double-bogey stretch at Nos. 15 & 16 would push her score to (+3). She would finish strong with par on Nos. 17 & 18 to take some momentum into tomorrow.
Hannah Gasaway posted the fifth Lady Bird score with a (+6, 78). Gasaway would bogey two of the first three holes, but would get one back with a birdie at No. 5. Another bogey would follow at No. 6 to see her hit the back 9 at (+2). She would have a bad start on the final nine of the day with bogeys at Nos. 10, 11, 12, & 13. Gasaway would settle down from there a convert five-straight pars to finish out strong with a (78).
#2-ranked Dalton State will hit the course again on Tuesday, for the second of three rounds in the SSAC Championships at Arrowhead Country Club in Montgomery, Ala. The Lady Roadrunners will tee off hole No. 1 beginning at 8:00 a.m. (CDT) and will be paired with William Carey (Miss.), Faulkner (Ala.), and Loyola (La.).