Women’s golf team sits in fifth-place after day one of the 2010 NCAA National Championships

The Olivet College women's golf team sits in fifth-place after the first day of the 2010 NCAA Division III National Championships at the Mission Inn Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. The second day of the championships is tomorrow with Olivet's first tee time at 1:30 p.m. on hole No. 1. The team with the lowest cumulative score after the four days of competition will be declared the national champion.

Ranked No. 13 in the latest Golfstat.com NCAA Head-to-Head poll, the Comets carded a 338 team score. The score was the lowest of the 11 teams in the morning group. Methodist (N.C.) University leads the 20-team field with a 317. The rest of the top five are Wisc.-Eau Claire and Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) College tied with a 331 and Saint Mary's (Ind.) College with a 336.

Olivet was led by sophomore Lauren Campbell (Fenton), who is a part of a six-way tie for seventh place in the player standings with a 79. Starting her round on the back nine, she was one-under-par through nine holes with birdies on holes 14, 15 and 17. Campbell then shot a 43 on the front nine to give her a 79. Juniors Amber Conrad (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) and Abby Wheeler (Grayling) each shot an 85. Conrad had a 44 on the front nine and 41 on the back nine, while Wheeler was the reverse with a 41 on the front nine and a 44 on the back nine. They are tied with two other golfers for 29th-place in the player standings. Senior Megan Rimmel (Ithaca) posted an 89 to rank in a tie for 50th-place.