TULSA, Okla. -- Northeastern State moved up to finish in eighth place after two days and as many rounds in the NSU Women's Golf Classic. The RiverHawks finished with a score of 638 (322-316) to open the season.

Talya Samir had the strongest showing among individuals for NSU, finding a 10-stroke improvement from the opening round to finish in a tie for 18th with a 154 (82-72). Samir was one-under through 11 holes and finished with three birdies and 11 pars.

"This is who [Talya] can be and is the majority of the time," head golf coach Scott Varner said. "[She] can be one of the best players in the region."

Savannah Du and Suri Rocha tied for 25th. Du had a one-stroke improvement from the previous round (79-78), while Rocha slipped to seven strokes behind her opening-round output (75-82).

Laia Llorens also improved by two strokes across the afternoon, finishing with a 170 (86-84) to start her season.

Varner was impressed overall by the effort of his young core after the trio of Samir, Du and Rocha all landed in the top 25 to start the season.

"That is a solid tournament by all three collectively," Varner said. "[They] make up a great nucleus. I'm excited about what the future is for each of them and for our NSU golf family."

The tournament, hosted by Northeastern State, was directed by former NSU Director of Athletics Matt Cochran, while special green ribbons were presented to each player in the field to recognize September, which is Non-Hodgkin lymphoma Awareness Month, and to honor Coach Varner, who is currently battling it.

"A special thank you to Matt and Southwestern Oklahoma State head coach Brad Fleetwood for buying the green ribbon pins for all the players in the field," Varner said.

Northeastern State returns to the course on Monday in Wichita, Kan., with the team's participation in the Newman Women's Fall Classic.