Desert remains unbeaten at midway point in schedule

We've reached the midway point in the conference schedule and College of the Desert remains unbeaten with a comfortable lead while the battle for a post-season playoff berth is starting to heat up.

Desert captured both conference events this week, shooting a 4-person team score of 325 to capture Monday's event at the El Prado course and adding a 316 team score on the Oak Glen course at the Sycuan resort.  Fumika Matsumoto, who leads the conference in scoring average at 76.2, was the medalist on Monday with a 5-over-par 77.  She was the individual runner-up on Wednesday with a 4-over-par 76.

Irvine Valley placed second in both events and is starting to separate as the clear No. 2 team in the conference as Leleaga Meredith shot a 77 on Monday for medalist honors as the Lasers posted a 339 team score.  Cindy Dang carded a 3-over-par 75 on Wednesday to help the team post a 330 score.

Fullerton was able to finish third on Monday, followed by Palomar, Saddleback, and Orange Coast.  Mt. San Antonio finished third on Wednesday, followed by Fullerton, Palomar, and Saddleback.  Fullerton's Kacy Kaichi was one stroke behind the medalists on Monday with a 78 while Saddleback's Rina Tomihari, Mt. San Antonio's Sarah Juelch, and Desert's Sam Stewart each shot a 77 on Wednesday to finish behind Dang (75) and Matsumoto (76). 

The battle for the additional two expected playoff spots from the conference are becoming a good, competitive race.  Fullerton is currently in third place with 35 wins this season while Mt. San Antonio and Palomar are tied for fourth place with 26 wins.  Saddleback remains in the hunt with 23 wins. 

The second half of the schedule gets underway on October 15 as Saddleback hosts an event on the Arroyo Trabuco course starting at 11:00 a.m.