COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho –Timing is everything.
 
Natalie Eklund picked a perfect time to break out in a big way with the best round of her college golf career.
 
The Seattle Pacific sophomore started her day with a birdie, finished with another birdie, added one more in between, and posted a 1-over-par 73 on Tuesday and helping lift the Falcons into third place through two rounds of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships.
 
ROUND 2 IN A NUTSHELL
With that performance at The Coeur d'Alene Resort, Eklund bettered her previous low round of 74, which just happened to be her very first round of the year, last Sept. 22 at the Bob Grisham Memorial Shootout in DuPont, Washington to start the fall portion of the schedule.
 
Eklund's 73 was matched by junior Zoe Garcia, tying them for Tuesday's best individual round (along with Simon Fraser's Dana Smith). SPU sophomore Lauren Lee was close behind Eklund and Garcia with a 3-over 75.
 
Lee heads into Wednesday's final round alone in second place through 36 holes at 4-over 148. That's two shots behind leader Lauren F. Lee of Western Washington's 146 and one shot ahead of a three-way tie for third place. That deadlock at 149 includes Garcia. Eklund jumped from 24th all the way up to a tie for 14th at 156.
 
The Falcons, having already recorded their best-ever GNAC score of 314 in the first round on Monday, blew that away on Tuesday Their four total scores – Eklund and Garcia's 73, Lee's 75, and Stella Johnson's 82 – added up to 303 for a two-round total of 617.
 
Three-time defending champion Simon Fraser remains comfortably in front at 605. Western Washington is second at 613.
 
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS: COACH TYLER COPP
"We knew we were going to be one player short with Anika Schau being sick (Schau did play on Monday, but was unable to on Tuesday), so they all knew their scores were going to count and they responded well," Copp said. "It seems like they're getting more comfortable with the course and how to play it and taking smart shots. It's different pins each day, so that means we have to make different decisions on taking higher-percentage shots.
 
"Today, we kind of identified some holes based on yesterday's scoring average where we can walk away with an easy bogey or a par. Do that, and we're going to gain on the field. We only had one double-bogey between the four of them today, and that all adds up to good scores."
 
Copp was delighted with Eklund's best-ever round.
 
"Natalie has been working on her mental game. She really got into a rhythm really early in the round and kind of stuck with it."
 
Heading into Wednesday, with a strong possibility of rain, Copp said, "We're excited to play with two other top teams. That will be a good challenge for us to try to continue to play our game, try to make pars and bogeys on those really difficult holes, and try to keep our rhythm and have a good, positive attitude."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
--Eklund opened with a birdie-4 on the 500-yard No. 1 hole. She followed that with five pars and three bogeys for a 2-over 37 through the front nine.
--The back nine started with a bogey on the 409-yard 10th hole. Then came four straight pars, a birdie, two more pars, and a final birdie for a 1-under 36 and her total of 73.
--Garcia, who had nine pars and one birdie on Monday's final 10 holes, kept up her consistent performance on Tuesday. She had back-to-back birdies on Nos. 3 and 4 and finished Tuesday's front nine in 1-under 34. Her only hiccup was consecutive bogeys on Nos. 13 and 14. She responded with four straight pars to finish a 2-over 39 back nine.
--Lee carded two birdies on the front nine for a 2-over 37. She bogeyed two of the first three holes on the back nine, with a birdie in between, then settled into a solid groove with six straight pars to close out a 1-over 38.
--Freshman Stella Johnson checked in with an 82 for the second consecutive day. At 164, she is tied for 20th heading into Wednesday.
--SPU started the day in fifth place among the six teams, but was just five shots behind what was a three-way tie for second. While Simon Fraser is well positioned to win on Wednesday with its eight-shot lead on Western Washington, the Vikings are just four shots ahead of the Falcons. Fourth-place Montana State Billings is one shot behind Seattle Pacific.
 




QUOTABLE: NATALIE EKLUND
"I was just hitting the ball a lot better today I was able to hit a lot more greens and just put myself I better position," Eklund said. "I was hitting so much cleaner than yesterday. My short game stayed pretty good. It was good yesterday, but today, everything just came together really nicely and I was able to make a lot more pars."
 
Eklund added that a couple of tweaks that she made definitely helped.
 
"I did adjust a couple things in my swing and I was focused on keeping my body rotating through it and keeping my heels down. That was the main thing helping me hit the ball a lot cleaner.
 
She's hoping for more of the same during Wednesday's final round.
 
"It's just about keeping a positive mindset for tomorrow," Eklund said. "Probably the main thing is not overthinking my swing."
 
BEYOND THE SCORECARD
--At last year's tournament (which was just a two-rounder; this is the first year of three rounds for the women), the Falcons totaled 658. Their 617 through Tuesday is a 41-shot improvement.
--On Monday, Eklund had just one birdie and seven pars, along with eight bogeys and two double-bogeys on the way an 83. In lowering her score by 10 shots on Tuesday, it was three birdies, 11 pars, and four bogeys.
--At 148 through two rounds, Lee is eight shots better than the 156 she posted while a freshman at Western Washington last spring.
--Garcia's 149 is a 15-shot improvement from her 2025 two-round total of 164. Eklund's 156 is five shots lower than last year's 161.
--Eklund has made par-3 on the 144-yard "floating green" No. 14 hole both days so far. Lee also parred it on Tuesday after a bogey on Monday.
--Lee has the tournament lead with eight birdies, one more than WWU's Lauren F. Lee.
--Garcia leads the way with 27 pars, two more than Simon Fraser's Izzy Ferguson.
--In addition, Garcia's four bogeys are the fewest in the tournament.
 




UP NEXT
The third and final round of the tournament is set for Wednesday. The opening tee time is set for 7:30 a.m. PDT, and this time, play will begin from Hole 10 after starting on Hole 1 the first two rounds.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S GOLF
GNAC Championships
Monday, April 20, 2026
The Coeur d'Alene Resort / Par-72 / 5,802 yards
 
Team standings (through two rounds) – 1, Simon Fraser 605; 2, Western Washington 613; 3, Seattle Pacific 617; 4, Montana State Billings 618; 5, Saint Martin's 655; 6, Northwest Nazarene 661.
 
Top 10 – 1, Lauren F. Lee (WWU) 72-74—146; 2, Lauren J. Lee (SPU) 73-75—148; T3, Zoe Garcia (SPU) 76-73—149, Kelsie Inouye (StM) 70-79—149 and Dana Smith (Simon) 76-73—149; 6, Meera Minhas (Simon) 73-78—151; 7, Carly Ikel (WWU) 78-74—152; T8, Izzy Ferguson (Simon) 77-76—153, Ellen Tannenberger (MSUB) 77-76—153 and Orraya Jan , (MSUB) 77-76—154.
 
Other SPU – T14, Natalie Eklund 83-73—156; T20, Stella Johnson 82-82—164.
 
 
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