Mississippi State’s Valeria Mendizabal is through to the Round of 32 at the U.S. Women’s Amateur after winning her first match 2-and-1 over Kentucky’s Laney Frye on Wednesday at Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York.
Two birdies at the turn gave the Guatemalan control of the match. Frye opened with a birdie on the first tee to take a one-hole lead, but Mendizabal tied the match on Hole 5. She then quickly took a lead on the sixth tee when Frye bogeyed the hole and would never trail again.
“This is really fun to see Val having success this week at the U.S. Amateur,” Bulldogs golf coach Charlie Ewing said. “She’s playing with so much freedom, and I’m not sure anybody is enjoying themselves on the golf course more than she is right now. It’s a great testament to how important mindset is to performance.”
Mendizabal extended her lead with birdies on Holes 9 and 10, building a 3-up advantage to start the back nine. The pair split Holes 12 and 13 before Frye began mounting a comeback. Frye birdied Hole 14, and Mendizabal carded a bogey on Hole 15 to see her lead trimmed to 1-up.
The Bulldog senior won the 16th tee, and the pair tied on the 17th to give Mendizabal the 2-and-1 victory.
“She’s a great player, and she’s earned herself a fantastic opportunity by reaching the Round of 32,” Ewing added. “The whole Mississippi State family is behind her as she continues her run.”
Mendizabal will match up with Michigan State’s Valentina Rossi in the Round of 32 at 6:10 a.m. Thursday. Rossi won a playoff hole in her Round of 64 match after being tied through 18.
Olympics
Pen Freitas posts
season best in 1,500
A season best for Marta Pen Freitas was not enough to advance out of the women’s 1500 meter semifinals at the Tokyo Olympic Games on Wednesday morning.
Pen Freitas, a former national champion at Mississippi State, needed to finish in the top five of her heat or post one of the next two fastest times across the two semifinals. Her heat went out slowly, erasing the possibility of a time qualifier.
The Portugal native held her own in the first half of the race, sitting in fifth place at the 700-meter mark. She was as high as eighth at the 1,000-meter mark but couldn’t keep pace when the leaders kicked on the final lap. Pen Freitas crossed the line in 4:04.15, a season best but not quick enough to reach the final.
The slowest time to reach the final was 4:01.69t. The former Bulldog was 10th in her heat.
Bougard grabs two
season bests
Erica Bougard’s quest for an Olympic heptathlon medal is off to a solid start. With two season-bests under her belt already, the former Mississippi State athlete sits in sixth place with 3,837 points after one day of competition.
Bougard sits just 16 points shy of her Day 1 total from the 2019 World Championships in Doha, where she finished fourth and missed the podium by 90 points. She is currently 84 points outside of bronze position. The American’s medal hopes got a boost on Wednesday morning when reigning world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson of Great Britain pulled up with an injury in the 200 meters.
The Mississippi native began her first Olympic Games with a 13.14 run in the 100-meter hurdles, the fourth-fastest time in the field. She followed that performance with a 1.86-meter (6 feet) clearance in the high jump, which was just a centimeter shy of her personal best and good for second place in the event. She sat in silver medal position through two events.
When the heptathletes returned to the stadium for the evening session in Tokyo, Bougard continued to perform well, even in one of her weaker events. She threw a season-best 12.69 meter (41-7.75) on her final attempt in the shot put, and she closed the first day with a 24.08 run in the 200 meters to finish seventh in that event.
The heptathlon continued Wednesday night, with the final event, the 800 meters, set for 7:20 a.m. Thursday.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 38 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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