SAN ANTONIO - Midwestern State's hopes of qualifying for the program's first NCAA Division II Regional may be bleak, but the Mustangs certainly increased the light at the end of the tunnel with a solid showing to open third in the opening round of the Lone Star Conference Championships Monday at the Par-71, 6,147-yard course at The Republic Golf Club.
 
Sophomore Kendra Whittley led the way by firing a 1-under 70 to stand third on the individual leader board to lead the Mustangs' to a third place team total of 303 (+19) after the first round.
 
"Kendra had a great round," MSU coach Jeff Ray said. "Today was a great day to score and she took advantage of it."
 
Whittley is just three strokes off the pace of tournament leading Carla Cooper of Tarleton State. Cooper birdied three of the last four holes to polish off a 3-under 6 rounds to leapfrog Incarnate Word's Jessica Cornish (69/-2), Whittley and Texas A&M-Commerce's Chantry McMahan (70/-2).
 
Sister Kyla Whittley recorded her best round of the season to Par notching three birdies on her to a 5-over 76 to tie for 18th, while sophomores Lindsay Burkhart and Lauren Romines combined for 22 pars record rounds of 77 (+5) and 80 (+8) to tie for 20th and 32nd, respectively.
 
Sophomore Taylor Klutts struggled to her worst round of the spring carding non-counting 83 (+12) to tie for 43rd.
 
"Taylor won't have two days in a row like she did today," Ray said. "She will give us a quality score tomorrow."
 
The Mustangs need a solid showing to move up from the 10th place position in last week's NCAA II South Central Rankings as the top nine teams advance to the regional tournament to be held from May 1-3 at the Tascosa Country Club in Amarillo.
 
"Our only chance would be to finish and hope," Ray said. "And that may not do it. You just have to do the best you can."
 
The Lone Star Conference Championship continues with a second round Tuesday morning before closing with the final round on Wednesday.
 

LSC Championships
The Republic Golf Course
San Antonio, Texas
Par-71,  6,147 yards
Team Leaderboard
Place									Team	Round Scores	Total	To Par
1									Tarleton State (Texas)	287	287	+3
2									Incarnate Word (Texas)	295	295	+11
3									Midwestern State (Texas)	303	303	+19
4									Northeastern State (Okla.)	305	305	+21
									Texas A&M-Commerce	305	305	+21
6									Central Oklahoma	307	307	+23
7									West Texas A&M	311	311	+27
8									East Central (Okla.)	313	313	+29
9									Angelo State (Texas)	316	316	+32
10									Cameron (Okla.)	320	320	+36
11									Southwestern Oklahoma	331	331	+47
12									Texas A&M-Kingsville	355	355	+71
Individual Leaderboard
Place									Player, Team	Round Scores	Total	To Par
1									Carla Cooper, Tarleton State	68	58	-3
2									Jessica Cornish, Incarnate Word	69	69	-2
3									Kendra Whittley, Midwestern State	70	70	-1
									Chantry McMahan, Texas A&M-Commerce	70	70	-1
5									Jacqueline Lau, Tarleton State	72	72	+1
6									Joanna De Sa Peirera, Incarnate Word	73	73	+2
									Hammerli Sriyai, West Texas A&M	73	73	+2
									Katy Ward, Tarleton State	73	73	+2
									Whitney McAteer, Northeastern State	73	73	+2
10									Sharon Lau, Tarleton State	74	74	+3
									Courtney Rutledge, Angelo State	74	74	+3
Midwestern State Scorecard
3									Midwestern State	303	303	+19
3t									Kendra Whittley	70	70	-1
18t									Kyla Whittley	76	76	+5
20t									Lindsay Burkhart	77	77	+6
32t									Lauren Romines	80	80	+9
43t									Taylor Klutts	83	83	+12