March 25, 2003

LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech's Sheila Mendez (El Paso, Texas/Franklin) shot an opening round 75 and leads the Lady Raiders in a 14th place tie after one round at the 2003 Pioneer Electronics UCLA Women's Golf Classic in Santa Clarita, Calif.

The 54-hole event continues Tuesday morning with the second round, followed by the final round on Wednesday at the par-72, 6,254-yard Robinson Ranch Valley Course.

Kim Kolb (Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman) and Jackie Ey (San Antonio, Texas/Churchill) are tied in 27th place after posting a pair of 77s, while Megan Hull (Mansfield, Texas/Mansfield) and Hazel Tan (Sarasota, Fla./Bradenton Academy) are tied in 86th place after struggling with a pair of 86s.

Texas Tech is currently in sole possession of 12th place in the 20-team field. Eighth-ranked California leads the event by four strokes over UCLA's "B" Team. Top-ranked Pepperdine and No. 5 Southern California are tied in third, while 12th-ranked New Mexico is in fifth. Stanford, Washington State and 13th-ranked UCLA are in a three-way for sixth.

Following San Francisco in ninth place, Oregon State and No. 11 Washington are tied in 10th, while Tech, San Jose State, No. 23 New Mexico State and BYU comprise the 12th through 15th positions. Long Beach State, Oregon, CSU-Northridge, UC-Irvine and Portland State round out the field.

USC's Mikaela Parmlid, who is ranked fourth nationally, and Washington's Lindsay Morgan each shot 71s and lead the tournament by a stroke over Cal's Sarah Huarte.