Women's Golf | 10/14/2015 12:04:00 AM

Final Results

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – St. Edward's sophomore JOHANY RIVERA is having some kind of start to her sophomore campaign. On Tuesday, she shot a 72 to finish one stroke ahead of the field and capture medalist honors at the Lady Cardinal Classic. St. Edward's finished in a close second, matching Stephen F. Austin shot-for-shot before finishing one stroke behind at the Par-71, 6,002 yard The Republic Golf Club.
 
Rivera (68-72=140) was one stroke in front of Stephen F. Austin's Jessica White (69-72=141) after day one. Playing together in the final round, Rivera equaled White's score of one-over par to take home the title. Rivera led the tourney with nine birdies.
 
"JoJo played great again today," St. Edward's Head Coach Jennifer McNeil said. "She's really on fire and playing with so much confidence. I'm very happy for her to get back-to-back wins."
 
Rivera, who was last year's Heartland Conference Individual Champion, has now won two of the first three tournaments this season.
 
"I felt really great winning this tournament," Rivera said. "Winning last week boosted my confidence coming into the week, and I knew if I posted a low first round it would put me in contention for the last. I have been working hard on my short game these past few weeks, and it's definitely paying off."
 
Playing as an individual, junior BRIANNA VOGEL (75-73=148) played great in both rounds, finishing all alone in third place. She led the tournament in par-4 scoring at three-under par and second with 23 pars. Also competing for St. Edward's was SANDY LIVAS (72-77=149) who ended tied for fourth place. The top-five finish was Livas' first of her career.
 
JESSICA TAMEN (79-75=154) moved up five spots on the final day to finish all alone in 10^th place. ISABEL MORALES (76-79=155) finished one shot back in a tie for 11^th place. ANA SOFIA BENAVIDES (82-80=162) moved up two spots to end tied for 18^th place.
 
St. Edward's (295-303=598) led Stephen F. Austin (296-301=597) by one stroke going into the final round. Playing together, the NCAA Division I Lumberjacks shot two better than the Hilltoppers to overtake St. Edward's in the two-team race. The next closest team was host Incarnate Word (310-316=626) who finished 29 shots behind the Hilltoppers.
 
"While winning is always a goal of ours, I feel good about our play this week," McNeil said. "Everyone made some strides towards getting better, and that is more important right now than winning. Any time we have multiple players in the Top-3, you know it was a good week."
 
The Hilltoppers will be back in action Oct 24-25, when they travel to Rio Grande, Puerto Rico to compete in the Illinois-Springfield Island Getaway. The tourney will be played at the Rio Marr Country Club.