Tubert makes sudden impact
The following are updates on local athletes at the collegiate level.
Emily Tubert (Burroughs High, 2010) freshman, Arkansas University golf: Most athletes need time to get acclimated after jumping to the next level of competition. Tubert, on the other hand, hasn’t needed a grace period to adjust to college golf.
Tubert has won three of her eight tournaments and earned two Southeastern Conference Women’s Golfer of the Week honors already this year, most recently on March 29. The distinction came after her performance at the MountainView Collegiate tournament in Tucson, Ariz. on March 25.
The former All-Area Girls’ Golfer of the Year shot a 207 in the competition, a two-stroke tournament record and five shots better than second place. Her third-round score of 67 tied for the best individual round in tournament history. Tubert has also won the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic in Norman, Okla. and the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown earlier this year.
The freshman also shot a 145 in the opening two rounds of the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic in Athens, Ga. on Friday and Saturday. The score placed Tubert in a second-place tie on the leader board and Arkansas 10th out of 23 teams in the tournament, which concludes today.
Tubert has emerged as Arkansas’ statistical leader this season, posting a team-best 72-stroke average and guiding the Razorbacks to a No. 12 ranking by Golfstat.com. She’s also currently ranked first in the U.S. and fifth in the world by the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
Kourtney Zilbert (Burbank High, 2007) senior, Whittier College basketball: Zilbert capped off her collegiate career in style, being named to the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference second team this year. It was Zilbert’s fourth nomination in as many years.
Zilbert finished her senior season as one of the top five scorers in league and the conference’s leading rebounder. Her 222 rebounds this year were a career-high for a single season, averaging 8.9 per game. The forward scored 1,259 points in her career and led the Poets in scoring this year, posting 12.6 points a game while producing eight double-doubles.
Whittier finished the season 12-13 (6-8 in SCIAC) and 53-48 in Zilbert’s four-year career. She produced a total of 830 rebounds, 266 steals and 163 assists as a Poet.
Kassy Uchida (Burbank High, 2010) freshman, Utah State softball: Uchida has already shown why she received a softball scholarship from Utah State.
The team’s shortstop and last year’s All-Area first-team selection leads the Aggies at the plate with a .307 (27 for 88) batting average. Uchida has hit a home run, three doubles and driven in six runs so far this season, posting a .375 slugging and .378 on-base percentage.
Uchida went three for 11 in the Aggies’ three-game home stand against New Mexico State this weekend. Utah State hasn’t been faring as well as Uchida this season, dropping all three games against New Mexico and falling to 5-30 (0-6 in Western Athletic Conference) this season.
Utah State will look to get back in the win column on Tuesday and Wednesday, opening a two-game set on the road against Weber State.
Zack Torres (Crescenta Valley High, 2009) sophomore, UCLA track and field:
Torres has continued to improve this season. He placed ninth in the 3,000-meter run (8 minutes, 39.86 seconds) and sixth in the 3,000 steeplechase (9:40.98) at the University of Texas Tri-Meet on March 25.
UCLA finished second in the meet with 145 points, four behind Texas (149) and 39 points higher than the University of Arkansas (106).
The sophomore bested his previous time in the steeplechase in a home meet against the University of Tennessee on Saturday. Torres completed the 3,000 steeplechase in 9:22.59, good for third place and his best time this season. The Bruins went on to defeat the Volunteers 111-50.
Lonnie Kauppila (Burbank High, 2010) freshman, Stanford University baseball: Kauppila boosted his batting average to .286 (16 for 56) on Friday, going three-for-four against Washington State. Stanford entered the eighth inning up, 8-2, but the Cougars came back to win the first of the three-game set, 10-8, scoring eight runs in the eighth inning.
Kauppila has eight RBIs, five doubles and one homer on the year for a .429 slugging percentage and .333 on-base percentage. Stanford is 11-7 overall and 0-1 in the Pac-10 so far this season. The Cardinals will look to get revenge on Washington State today at noon.