LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Utah Valley University women's golf team recorded the program's third-best round in school history with a 2-over-par 290 during Wednesday's final round en route to earning a runner-up finish at the NM State Aggie Invitational at NMSU Golf Course. 
 
UVU also climbed three more spots up the leaderboard to finish in second place with a three-round total of 30-over-par (309-295-290—894) at the three-day event. After sitting in a tie for seventh place following Monday's opening round, Utah Valley then climbed two spots into fifth place after two rounds, and three more on Wednesday to finish in second place out of 17 teams. The 894 marks the eighth-best 54-hole total in program history for the Wolverines. 
 
"What a finish by our Wolverines! Nathalie (Irlbacher) made two of the greatest up-and-downs for par I have seen in a long time on her last two holes and Kate (Williamson) had it going for most of the day to finish at 3-under," head UVU coach Dr. Sue Nyhus said. "Bailey (Henley) finished strong again with a birdie on her final hole, while Kaylee (Shimizu) managed to turn things around to finish strong. 
 
"Victoria (Estrada) had a tough start but held steady through the rest of the round. We are proud of Victoria's play as well as all of our freshmen. It also didn't hurt to have coach Jackie Booth here coaching with us on her former home course (Booth was a long-time head coach at New Mexico State). Between the two of us, we had over 40 years of coaching experience on this course!" 
 
Sophomore Nathalie Irlbacher led the way for UVU at the event after carding her second consecutive round under par on Wednesday to finish in a tie for eighth place at 3-over-par (219). After opening with a 78 on Monday, Irlbacher then responded with a 2-under-par 70 on Tuesday and followed that up with a 1-under 71 during Wednesday's final round to lead the way for Utah Valley. After carding three more birdies on Wednesday, Irlbacher finished with an impressive tally of 10 birdies at the tournament. 
 
Behind a team-best 3-under-par 69 on the day, senior Kate Williamson was next by tying for 12th-place with a 4-over-par 220. The Wolverine senior carded rounds of 76, 75 and 69 en route to tying for 12th and too finished with 10 birdies at the event after recording an impressive six during Wednesday's final round. The 3-under 69 marks Williamson's best score in a UVU uniform. 
 
Senior Kaylee Shimizu too posted a top-20 finish by tying for 16th at the event with a 7-over-par 223 after carding a 2-under-par 70 on Wednesday. After opening with scores of 78 and 75, the reigning All-WAC performer responded with a 2-under 70 during the final round to finish in 16th place. Junior Bailey Henley was next by tying for 42nd with a 232 (77-75-80), while freshman Victoria Estrada rounded out UVU's competitors at the 17-team tournament by tying for 73rd with a 239 (78-77-84). 
 
By recording the season-best runner-up finish, the Wolverines finished ahead of WAC foes California Baptist (902), UT Rio Grande Valley (938) and CSU Bakersfield (989), as well as in-state foe Southern Utah (911), and UTEP (895), Northern Arizona (896), South Dakota State (898), Incarnate Word (911), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (925), UC Irvine (926), UT Arlington (931), Northern Colorado (931), South Dakota (934), North Dakota (945) and Stephen F. Austin (946) at the tournament. 
 
Conference rival and host NM State won the event with a 3-under-par 861 (296-281-284), while the Aggies' Amelia McKee earned individual medalist honors with a 5-under-par 211 (75-67-69). 
 
The Wolverines will head to the Pacific Northwest next week to compete at Seattle U's Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational at Tacoma Country & Golf Club on Oct. 14-15.