PALM DESERT, CALIF. – The Cortland women's golf team is currently in 33rd place after Day 1 of the NCAA Division III Championship, held at the Desert Willow Golf Resort.
 
The Red Dragons finished with a score of 365 on the resort's Firecliff Course. Cortland will compete Wednesday on the Mountain View Course starting at 9:45 a.m. PT (12:45 p.m. ET), and after Wednesday's round the top 15 schools in the 34-team field, along with six individuals not on those 15 teams, will continue playing in the final two rounds Thursday and Friday.
 
Cortland is seven strokes ahead of Suffolk and 16 strokes behind Transylvania in the team standings. Carnegie Mellon is the team leader after Day 1 with a 291, followed by Washington & Lee at 292 and Emory at 293.
 
Sophomore Gina Milazzo (Greenwood Lake/Warwick Valley) finished the first day wit a score of 84 on the par-72 course. Starting on the 10th hole, Milazzo registered a 40 on the back nine with seven pars and she had a 44 with four pars on the front nine. She is currently tied for 128th place out of 176 golfers.
 
Junior Mimi Rienzo (Stewartsville, NJ/Phillipsburg) is tied for 159th place with a 91. She posted a 45 on the back nine followed by a 46 on the front. Junior Pia Aguilar (Santiago, Chile/Colegio Highlands) is tied for 162nd with a 93 (49-44), sophomore Steffi Trombley (Plattsburgh) is tied for 171st with a 97 (49-48), and senior Kara Dumas (Jefferson/Gilboa-Conesville) is 175th with a 99 (51-48). Toral Bhatt of Washington & Lee leads the field after the first day with a three-under par 69.
 
Cortland is making its fourth NCAA appearance in the last five years. The Red Dragons earned an automatic berth into the national field after winning the Northeast Women's Golf Conference (NWGC) title in April.