GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (GoThunderWolves.com - May 6, 2013) - Leina Kim (RFr., Saipan, CNMI) is close to accomplishing a feat never reached by a CSU-Pueblo women's golfer - winning a regional title as well as earning an individual bid to the NCAA Division II National Championships - as she holds a commanding seven-stroke lead heading into the final round of the West Super Regional at Grand Junction's Tiara Rado Golf Course.

Kim blew away the field Monday, following up her first-round 74 with another 74, two strokes better than any second-round score in the field.  

Of the two other golfers that were tied at first with Kim after one round - St. Edward's Haley Haught and Cal State-Monterey Bay's Arinda Bhanaraksa - each had off rounds, shooting 81 and 85, respectively.  

Kim achieved the huge lead in part by sinking three birdies on the day.  She also showed a mastery of the fast greens at Tiara Rado, not succumbing to repeated three-putts suffered by the rest of the field.

CSU-Pueblo head women's golf coach, Greg Dillon, said that another big factor that out-of-state golfers aren't used to is the big role gravity plays on the greens.

"I don't think a lot of golfers here are used to putting on greens with a real mountainous break," Dillon said.  "In Texas and California, they don't really need to worry about putting with a break, but here, a flat green can break extremely hard."

Kim also benefitted from sheer timing.  As an individual qualifier, she was among the first to get on the course to start her round.  As she was finishing, a huge wind storm, followed by a rain delay, stopped play and certainly impacted the scores.  The wind didn't hit until her final four holes, which saw her hit a birdie and two bogeys, including a three-putt on 17.

But her excellence in the early part of the day was the real reason behind her performance.  The tone was set on the very first hole.

"She knocked in a 50-footer," Dillon said.  "That was huge and it really got her going."

At 6-over-par, Kim's seven-stroke lead is daunting and has her in prime position to not only qualify for nationals, but also win the tournament outright.  Joining her among the trio of individual golfers that would qualify for Nationals if the tournament ended today were Sonoma State's Spencer Heller and Dallas Baptist's Mercedes Rios, each sitting at 13-over-par.

Play will conclude with the third and final round tomorrow.