Griz add Utah golfer

The Montana women's golf team has expanded its 2025-26 roster to eight with the addition of Salina Lui, who recently signed a scholarship agreement.

Lui, from Sandy, Utah, spent the 2022-23 season competing for Utah Tech before going on a two-year mission. She reached out to Montana coach Jimmy Mee last month in search of a new home.

"I thought she was looking for 2026, not this fall. I told her, we'd better get you up here on a visit," Mee said. "We wanted to add one more for this year but wanted to make sure it was the right fit."

Lui attended Alta High School. Her older brother, Sonatane, played football at Boise State and totaled 103 tackles, five sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss over four years as a defensive lineman.

He was honorable mention All-Mountain West as a senior in 2019 and voted the Defensive MVP of the Mountain West championship game after recording two sacks in Boise State's 31-10 win over Hawaii.

"She comes from a very athletic family," said Mee. "She's going to be a really good fit with the team. Bringing her in is going to help us create an even better team chemistry. It's going to be exciting."

Lui played in two tournaments for Utah Tech in the spring of 2023, competing as an individual at Utah Tech's and Southern Utah's events. Her best round as a freshman was a 79.

On her recent visit to Missoula, she played nine holes with Montana rising seniors Hannah and Raina Ports.

"She is a super-cool kid. She played with Raina and Hannah, and they really enjoyed playing with her," said Mee. "They thought she'd be a great fit with the team."

What intrigued Mee as much as Lui's life experiences and maturity was her swing speed, which hits 110 miles per hour. "That's 10 miles per hour faster than anyone else we have on the team," said Mee.

"We can teach her course management but we can't teach someone to swing it 110. You either have that kind of speed or you don't. It's just natural ability. It will be fun to see where that takes her."

Lui's addition will give Montana a roster of eight for the upcoming season, with Lui joining incoming freshmen Katie Lewis (Frenchtown, Mont.) and Hope Torres (Broomfield, Colo.) as Mee's new players.

Raina Ports (75.68), Bella Johnson (78.77) and Hannah Ports (79.95) are Montana's top returning scorers from a year ago. Kate Bogenschutz and Anna Stensrud also return.

"Sitting down with her and her parents, it was a very fun visit. You can't have too many mature players on the team," said Mee.

"We're excited about our two freshmen coming in, and getting Salina was huge. We're back to having a lot of competition in our top five."

Montana will open its fall season on Sept. 15 at the Yellowstone Intercollegiate in Bozeman.

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Kate Bogenschutz

Bella Johnson

Katie Lewis

Salina Lui

Hannah Ports

Raina Ports

Anna Stensrud

Hope Torres

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