SAN ANTONIO — The two-time defending conference champion UTSA women's golf team will compete in the Conference USA Championship, which will be held Monday-Wednesday, April 19-21, at La Jovita Golf & Country Club (par 72/6,267 yards) in Dade City, Fla.
After a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 49th-ranked Roadrunners will look to make it three straight league crowns when they line up against FIU, Florida Atlantic, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, No. 33 North Texas, Old Dominion, Southern Miss, UAB, UTEP and WKU for the 54-hole, stroke-play event.
The field is scheduled to play 18 holes each day. This will mark the first time the conference tournament has been held at Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club after being played at Verandah Club in Fort Myers, Fla., since 2015.
UTSA has captured the last two C-USA team and individual titles under fourth-year head coach Summer Batiste, who has twice been named C-USA Coach of the Year.
In 2018, the Roadrunners carded a 10-over-par 874 to finish 13 shots ahead of runner-up UTEP behind a 1-2 individual finish from Julie Houston and Ana Gonzalez. Houston claimed medalist honors after firing a 4-under 212 (73-70-69) to end up one stroke ahead of Gonzalez (70-73-70—213).
One year later, Gonzalez ran away with the individual title to help UTSA rally for its second straight and fourth overall league championship. Gonzalez carded a 9-under 207 (69-67-71) to become the program's fifth all-time conference medalist and help the Roadrunners post a 10-under 854 — tied for the best 54-hole total in school history — for a 12-shot win ahead of the next closest team, Charlotte.
UTSA, which started its program from scratch in 2005-06, also claimed back-to-back conference crowns in 2011 and '12 as members of the Southland Conference. The Roadrunners also have a pair of runner-up finishes, in 2009 in the Southland and in 2014 in C-USA.
Five Roadrunners have captured individual conference titles, as Allie Jordan (2009) and Shannon Jungmann (2012) won Southland crowns, while Fabiola Arriaga was victorious in UTSA's first C-USA Championship appearance in 2014, before Houston and Gonzalez went back-to-back in 2018-19.
UTSA enters this week's C-USA Championship with a pair of runner-up team finishes under its belt this season. The Roadrunners rallied for a second-place finish at the Texas State Invitational on Feb. 8-9 and also collected silver at their annual home tournament, the Maryb S. Kauth Invitational, on March 9-10.
Camryn Carreon leads the Roadrunners with a 73.93 stroke average and the San Antonio native has three top-15 finishes, including a pair of fifth-place showings.
Hannah Holzmann owns the second-best scoring average, a 74.13, on the squad and has a team-best three top 10s, including a third-place finish with an 8-under 208 at the Texas State Invitational.
Gonzalez, the defending champion, boasts a 74.53 stroke average and has placed 31st or better in all five tournaments, including a tie for sixth at the Maryb S. Kauth Invitational.
Nicole Polivchak (75.07) and Katia Mexsen (78.25) round out the UTSA lineup for the event.
-UTSA-
