Celia Barquin Arozamena, European women's amateur golf champ, found dead on Iowa course

A former Iowa State University golfer was found dead at a golf course Monday, and a man was charged with murder.

The body of Celia Barquin Arozamena, 22, was found at the Coldwater Golf Links in Ames and officers determined she had died after being assaulted, police said in a news release. 

Collin Daniel Richards, also 22, was charged with first-degree murder.

Police were called to the golf course around 10:20 a.m. after golfers found a golf bag with no one around it. Officers found a body some distance from the bag.

A criminal complaint filed Tuesday said she was repeatedly stabbed by a homeless man at the golf course, which is near the school campus.

Officers recover knife

The complaint says Richards was living in a tent in a temporary camp near the golf course and that he had allegedly told an acquaintance about his "urge to rape and kill a woman."

Officers say Richards had several scratches on his face and a deep laceration on his left hand. They recovered a knife in his possession.

Barquin Arozamena was the 2018 Big 12 champion and Iowa State Female Athlete of the Year. The university said the native of Puente San Miguel, Spain, was finishing her civil engineering degree this semester after exhausting her eligibility at Iowa State in 2017-2018.

The women's golf team of Iowa State University has withdrawn from the East & West Match Play tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich., to be with friends and family.

Barquin Arozamena was one of the most accomplished players in Cyclone golf history, the university said. In April, she became the second women's golfer at Iowa State to earn medallist honours at a conference tournament when claiming the 2018 Big 12 Championship. She did it with a three-shot victory.

Barquin Arozamena, who was ranked No. 69 nationally by Golfweek, ended her career as a Cyclone with a fourth straight NCAA Regional appearance and earned All-Big 12 Team honours for the third time — the second player in Iowa State's history to do so.

She became the third Cyclone golfer from the university to compete in the U.S. Women's Open Championship, the university said. She missed the cut at the event May 31-June 3 in Shoal Creek, Ala.

Barquin Arozamena then went on to win the European amateur women's championship in Slovakia in late July.

LPGA and Hall of Fame golfer Annika Sorenstam and other members of the golf world expressed shock and condolences on social media.

Iowa State President Wendy Wintersteen said in a statement on Twitter that she was "deeply saddened to learn of the tragic death" of Barquin Arozamena, describing her as a "dedicated civil engineering student" and an "acclaimed golfer with a bright future."

Head women's golf coach Christie Martens said in a release that Barquin Arozamena was "loved by all her teammates and friends" and an "outstanding representative of our school."

"We will never forget her competitive drive to be the best and her passion for life."

The women's golf team at the school has withdrawn from a tournament his week in Michigan.

It is the second fatal stabbing of a female student in Iowa in recent months. An immigrant from Mexico is charged in the July 18 kidnapping and stabbing of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts, who vanished while out for a run in the small town of Brooklyn.

That case drew national exposure given the accused uncertain legal status in the country.