History at the Harbottle.

For just the fifth time ever, a UBC Thunderbird has won the individual championship at an NCAA Division I tournament.

Second-year Sienna Harder climbed seven spots thanks to an unbelievable finish to her third and final round at the Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational on Tuesday, carding a blistering 68 (-4) to secure medalist honours by two strokes, finishing at -4 overall at Seattle University's event.

"I was just trying to contribute to the team," said Harder, after receiving her trophy. "I wasn't really thinking about winning because it was a DI event, we were just trying to place as best we can. I knew we came third last year, so we were just trying to match that.

"Even today, I didn't go in thinking that I would be at the top. I was about four back and I was more cheering on Keira Hou, who was playing with the leading group, I thought she had a chance a two-under. Then at the 16^th hole I checked the scoreboard and saw I was tied or one shot back. But even then, I wasn't really thinking about winning. But then I birdied my last three holes. I still didn't even realize until after I finished, I wasn't thinking about it when I was playing."

Harder is only the second T-Bird to accomplish the feat in the last 30 years, joining Tracey Lipp (1992), Shelly Comadina (1994), Jason Monteleone (1994) and former teammate Grace Bell (February, 2025) in a highly exclusive group of UBC Division I medalists.

"The thought kind of came into my head on the last hole, but I didn't want to think about it," added Harder. "I haven't really been in that situation before. I didn't really know what to do, so I kind of forgot about it and started thinking about school work and what I was going to do after so that I wouldn't mess anything up."



Harder had a strong start to the tournament, shooting a strong 71 (-1) to sit in a tie for sixth after the opening round at Tacoma Country and Golf Club. She followed that with a solid 73 (+1) in round two, slipping to eighth place. The Science major from Langley appeared to be on a similar trajectory in round three, sitting at +1 for the day, until the final six holes of the 54-hole event when, suddenly, something clicked.

"I didn't feel different on those last holes, things just sort of worked out," she noted. "I had just missed a bunch of longer putts through the tournament, then suddenly they were dropping."

Birdie, birdie, par, birdie, birdie, birdie. Just like that, an already impressive top-10 finish became a historic win.

"I hit one on 13^th within a foot for a birdie, my putt on 14 fell in, 15 was a par, and I got another birdie on 16," recalled Harder. "Then I was thinking that if I birdied one more I could break 70, which I hadn't done before, I was more focused on that than winning the tournament.

"On 17, I hit a good shot, then I genuinely thought I missed my putt by a lot, but it lipped in. On 18, I made a 90-footer for birdie, which you never expect.

"I kind of don't react when I make big shots. But I looked over at (coach) Jeff Buder and he was giving me the thumbs up and looking happier than I was. That's when I thought 'oh, yay!' and then just sort of walked off."

Harder played very clean golf throughout the tournament just to give herself the opportunity to make the incredible, late charge. She did not record a double bogey in any round and only had two bogeys in her final 18, before finishing with the walk-off 90-foot putt.

"I was just trying to two-putt to make sure that I broke 70," mused Harder. "It felt good when I hit it, but you never know.

"I didn't know for sure that I'd won went it went in, because one of the girls near me was in the group behind. I figured that would at least force a playoff, but I didn't know for sure."

Harder made waves as a first-year by recording an ace in her first ever collegiate event and would go on to finish her rookie season as the No.14-ranked player in the NAIA. She was ranked fourth among all first years nationwide, powered by a runner-up finish at the SOU Spring Classic, despite having to battle just to draw in to a UBC lineup loaded with talented seniors that would go on to win the NAIA Championship.

"I really want to thank Jeff Buder," she concluded. "He's really fun to have on the course, I look forward to seeing him out there and he's really helpful. Seeing his reactions made me happy as I was playing.

"I'm also grateful for all of my teammates. None of them knew what was going on because none of us had data on the course, but they were very supportive and happy for me when they found out. It was a really good event for all of us too, we did really well."

While Harder may have stolen the headline, the third-place team performance by the UBC women deserves plenty of attention as well.

The young T-Birds women's squad (+9), featuring only one player beyond her second year, finished ahead of 12 NCAA DI schools in an extremely impressive showing at the Harbottle, trailing only powerhouse programs Santa Clara (-2) and champion Gonzaga (-9) on the leaderboard. Third place matches last year's result at the tournament, which was then UBC's best finish at a Division I event in a decade. Matching that mark is especially impressive because four of the five T-Birds who competed at the Harbottle in 2024 have since graduated.

Individually, behind Harder, fellow second-year Keira Hou had an outstanding showing of her own, shooting even par to tie for sixth in the 84-player field. Behind her was first-year Katherine Hao (+6) in 27^th, Jessica Ng (+8) in 35^th and first-year Sarah Yang (+11), making her T-Birds debut, in 44^th.



Slightly overshadowed by Harder's historic feat and a Div I podium from the women, was a strong showing at the nearby Western Washington Invitational from the even younger UBC men's team. With no seniors on the roster, and three combined years of experience as a T-Bird in the five-player lineup, it was first-year Manpreet Lalh who led the UBC men (+2) to a fourth-place finish at the 14-team NCAA Division II event.

Lalh (-5) finished in a tie for sixth, but was just two shots off of what turned out to be a four-way tie for first. Following a playoff, Jacob Torres (-7) of Hawaii-Hilo took home medalist honours.

Supporting Lalh in helping the 'Birds hold off the Victoria Vikes (+9) for fourth was Aneesh Kaura (+2) in 17^th, first-year Hunter Auramenko (+3) in 27^th, Forrest Van Alstine (+5) in 32^nd and Jake Houston (+11) in 54^th in the 81-player field. Shunkichi Yamamoto, who transferred to the T-Birds from the Vikes, shot even par while entered in the tournament as an individual, placing him 13^th.



Next up for both teams is a two-week break before they compete in their second Cascade Collegiate Conference event of the season. The blue and gold will be heading to Caldwell to compete in the College of Idaho Invitational, October 13-14 at TimberStone Golf Course.