Javelina golfer Kristina Gutierrez is on her way to becoming a household name in the Lone Star Conference (LSC). The sophomore engineering major was a high school standout before being impressed by the Texas A&M University-Kingsville campus.
\n \u201cThe school was really nice. A lot of campuses aren\u2019t given much attention. It was good to see,\u201d Gutierrez said. The university\u2019s environment wasn\u2019t the only thing exciting Gutierrez. \u201cI went on a tour around the school with coach, and it was fun to meet someone here with a similar personality. It was cool to see that coach was doing something different at the school and that she really cared,\u201d she continued.
\nGutierrez wasn\u2019t the only party impressed during the recruiting process. In her second year as head coach, Stefanie Gray hoped to improve her roster\u2019s depth and lower her team\u2019s overall score.
\n\u201cShe was a great junior player and had a lot of success at the TAPS level. Getting a recruit of her caliber was huge. She turned out to be a lot more competitive than I thought she was, and that has turned out to be really handy,\u201d Gray said.
\nUpon her arrival to Kingsville, Gutierrez realized the steep learning curve that comes with a collegiate golf career.
\n \u201cStarting college golf was a very different experience. I had to learn to be more competitive mentally. Thirty-six rounds can take a toll on you,\u201d Gutierrez said. Her competitive spirit endured. In her freshman year, Gutierrez accrued two top 5 finishes and completed the year with an 80.6 stroke average.
\nThe pressures of putt and par weren\u2019t the only tasks in front of Gutierrez. A civil engineering major, her industrious nature had to extend beyond the fairways. To be a full-time athlete and full-time engineering student, \u201c\u2026It is very hard, but I have friends that are supportive and willing to help.
\nThere are other athletes who are civil engineering majors and they\u2019re always pushing you to do your best,\u201d Gutierrez said.
\nThe 2018-2019 golf season has proven to be a high-point in Gutierrez\u2019s golf career. Out of six events, she has placed in the top 20 four times and the top 10 thrice. She also obtained her first collegiate tournament title at the Skyhawk Women\u2019s Fall Intercollegiate in Albuquerque, shooting a 141 over the course of two days.
\nThis was the first individual title won by a Javelina in Coach Gray\u2019s tenure as coach. Her performance in New Mexico earned her a LSC Golfer of the Week award.
\nGutierrez then began the spring 2019 season with a bang, placing 6th at the Jack Brown Memorial Invitational with a two-day score of 227. Her hometown performance earned her a second LSC Golfer of the Week Award, making her the first Javelina to receive the award consecutively, and the first women\u2019s golfer to win the award twice in one year since Ashley Rivera did it during the 2014-2015 season.
\n\u201cI was really surprised the second time. It\u2019s a relief to know I\u2019m getting better. My hard work is being noted,\u201d Gutierrez said.
\nHer recent accolades not only highlight her personal success, but also underscore the rising momentum of the Javelina Women\u2019s Golf team.
\n\u201cIt is a step forward for the program to have someone competing at the conference level because we have a very deep conference in women\u2019s golf,\u201d Coach Gray said. But Kristina\u2019s accomplishments come with implications that carry beyond the realm of conference play.
\n\u201cHaving a player that is being competitive at our conference level and nationally is good. We\u2019re getting some national recognition that we\u2019ve never gotten before. We\u2019re in the top 100 for the first time. From the recruiting perspective it\u2019s already helping,\u201d Coach Gray said.
\nWith tournaments in McAllen and Fort Smith, and the Lone Star Conference Championship still left to play, Gutierrez\u2019s work in 2019 is far from over.
\n\u201cI hope to get consecutively lower scores. I want to close the gap between myself and girls ranked higher than me,\u201d Gutierrez said. \u201cI want to get as high up as possible. I want to do the best I possibly can.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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